The San Diego Padres won the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
San Diego acquired the superstar outfielder and first baseman Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals, the Padres announced Tuesday.
The Nationals received left-hander MacKenzie Gore, shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, right-hander Jarlin Susana, and first baseman Luke Voit.
"Props to the San Diego Padres. They're not afraid. ... (president of baseball operations and general manager) A.J. Preller is not afraid," Nationals top executive Mike Rizzo said, according to the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes.
Rizzo added the Padres exceeded Washington's asking price for Soto and Bell.
"It shows what we've done in the past," Rizzo said, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN. "We're on a bumpy road right now, but coming out of it, we think it will lead to a beautiful place."
Eric Hosmer was included in the original deal but was dropped from the package after he exercised his no-trade clause, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
Soto, the 2021 NL MVP runner-up, slashed .291/.427/.537 with 118 home runs, 108 doubles, 460 walks, and 357 RBIs over five seasons with the Nationals.
Meanwhile, Bell slashed .301/.384/.493 with 14 homers and 57 RBIs in 103 games this season for Washington.
Abrams is the Padres' No. 1 prospect, Hassell is No. 2, Wood is No. 4, and Susana is No. 10, according to Baseball America. Abrams has gone deep twice and owns a .605 OPS over 46 games with the Padres during the 2022 campaign - his first in the big leagues.
Gore is a top former pitching prospect who was putting up a solid rookie season before going down with an elbow injury. The 23-year-old accrued a 4.12 FIP with 9.3 K/9 over 70 innings (13 starts).
Voit has 13 homers with 48 RBIs in 82 games for the Padres after landing with the club in the offseason following a trade with the New York Yankees.
