Do Padres Regret Juan Soto Trade With Nationals? AJ Preller Answers

San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller insists the Padres feel no regret for the substantial package they sent the Washington Nationals for Juan Soto.

“Honestly,” Preller said to The Athletic, “I think in the baseball ops group we look back with a lot of pride and not regret.”

The Padres sent six players to the Nats in the trade, parting with first baseman Luke Voit, pitchers MacKenzie Gore and Jarlin Susana, shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielders James wood and Robert Hassell III.

Abrams made the 2024 All-Star Game, and Gore and Wood have good cases to make their first Midsummer Classic in July as well. Gore has a 3.09 ERA this season and would be a huge boost to a depleted Padres rotation, and Wood's 22 homers would lead all Padres by at least seven.

“You’re hoping that we could trade for Juan Soto with none of those guys in there, but we know that’s not realistic,” Preller said of the package. “We had a team that ended up getting to the NLCS for the third time in franchise history and was three games away from a World Series. And from day one, I’ve talked about playing on the big stage. That’s what it’s about for our franchise, is getting to a World Series and winning a World Series for San Diego.

“And with (late owner) Peter [Seidler], having an ability from a payroll standpoint and a prospect standpoint to be in that conversation, I think ultimately it set us up for the last few years of playoff runs. Juan, last year, ends up doing what he did with the Yankees but also (giving the Padres) the ability to make the trade we made to set us to up to be in the position last year to be back in the playoffs and have a team that was one of the better teams in the league and had a chance to win a World Series. That’s the goal every year. I think that move directly, indirectly ends up helping us get there over the last few years.”

After a season and a half with Soto, the Padres sent him to the New York Yankees, who gave them starters Michael King, Drew Thorpe and Randy Vasquez, reliever Jhony Brito and catcher Kyle Higashioka.

Thorpe was then traded to the Chicago White Sox in the deal that brought Dylan Cease to San Diego.

The Padres are currently in the hunt for the playoffs again and are half a game back of the third and final Wild Card spot at 44-37.

The Nationals, on the other hand, are 34-48, heading toward another losing season.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.