Juan Soto’s first series with the Yankees has Padres fans fuming all over again

The start of the 2024 season has represented a chance for the San Diego Padres to move on from what was a truly painful offseason. It was bad enough to have guys like Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and other leave in free agency, but San Diego made the brutal choice to trade Juan Soto, one of the best hitters in all of baseball.

The decision to trade Soto represented a clear change in direction for the Padres as a franchise. They no longer had free reign of Peter Seidler's money to go out and make splashy moves, profits be damned. San Diego was going to have to start being run more efficiently, and unfortunately Soto was a luxury that they didn't feel like they could afford.

Unfortunately, Soto's first series with the Yankees hasn't exactly made Padres fans feel any better about the whole situation.

Juan Soto's hot start is maximizing Padres fans' pain

We should have seen this coming as Padres fans got to watch firsthand what Soto is capable of. However, that doesn't change the fact that through his first four games with the Yankees, Soto is hitting .529/.600/.765 against a very good Astros team. Now, there is no way he will come close to sustaining that over a long season, but it's a reminder of how Soto can carry an offense. Unfortunately, New York is reaping the benefits these days.

If there is a silver lining, it's that the Padres' offense has actually looked just fine without Soto. The Padres are averaging over seven runs a game and the lineup looks formidable (assuming their young guys continue to improve). Unfortunately, Michael King, a key piece in the return for Soto, hasn't looked great in his first couple of appearances, but it is still early.

Sadly, this sort of seller's regret was inevitable. The ideal scenario for the Padres was that they get some franchise cornerstones while Soto struggled in New York. The verdict is still out on the return for Soto (and Grisham) as to how those players will fit in San Diego's plans going forward, but Soto was always going to get his wherever he ended up playing.

To no surprise, he's off to a particularly torrid start to his walk year, something the Padres would've benefitted greatly from as a likely Wild Card team.

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