Regrading the Juan Soto trade with Drew Thorpe's White Sox debut looming

The biggest trade of this past offseason saw the New York Yankees acquire Juan Soto, one of the best players in baseball, in a trade with the San Diego Padres. The Padres traded him to ensure they get some value back for him before he hits free agency after the 2024 campaign. The Yankees did it because, well, it's Juan Soto.

While the Padres did lose Soto, they managed to flip the best prospect that they got in the deal, Drew Thorpe, and land former Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease. Losing out on Soto's MVP production has obviously hurt, but Cease has been the Padres' best and most consistent starting pitcher.

The only team that hadn't gotten much out of the deal yet was the White Sox, but now that Thorpe is set to make his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, it's time to re-evaluate this trade. Who is winning it as of now?

MLB trade regrade: Who is winning the Juan Soto trade?

Here's what the original Soto trade looked like. San Diego also received Thorpe in this deal.

Even for one guaranteed year of Soto, this trade has been a home run for the Yankees. They already have one of the best rotations in the league without Gerrit Cole, so the losses of King and Thorpe don't loom large. Kyle Higashioka hasn't done much in San Diego. Jhony Brito has been a solid reliever for San Diego but probably would be in the minors if he remained in New York. The same can be said for Randy Vasquez who has struggled in his seven MLB starts.

Meanwhile, while Grisham has done next to nothing, Soto has performed like an MVP, slashing .318/.424/.603 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI in 64 games. He's been a perfect fit in the city and with the team that desperately needed another bat to pair alongside Aaron Judge.

While losing Soto hurts, the Padres did better in this deal than people might think. King has a 3.58 ERA in 14 appearances (13 starts) and has twirled some gems including seven shutout innings in a May start against the Dodgers with 11 strikeouts. He has an extra year of club control.

San Diego wound up using Thorpe, arguably the most valuable piece in the deal, to land Cease, a pitcher who has fit well at the top of their rotation. Cease has a 3.58 ERA in 13 starts and that's with his last couple of outings being pretty shaky. Like King, Cease comes with another year of control.

Brito is a smaller piece, but he has a 3.66 ERA in 20 appearances in relief and he has only gotten better as the season has progressed. He comes with tons of team control and can prove to be a nice asset for San Diego.

The Yankees have gotten everything that they could've wanted for Soto, but the Padres return should not be slept on, especially since they traded Thorpe for Cease. With all of the injuries and inconsistencies that their rotation has had, the Padres would probably have a worse record with Juan Soto than they do with Cease and King, as crazy as that might sound.

Yankees trade grade: A
Padres trade grade: B+