Fans Cry “Poverty Franchise” at Padres as a $50 Million Loan Could Be the Reason Behind Losing Generational Talent Juan Soto to the Yankees

San Diego Padres is a team famous for a lot of things. Though winning ain’t one of them, they’re called by many fans the “Poverty Franchise”. This is because of their historical underperformances and consistent bad decision-making. The team tried to change its trajectory under the new ownership but has again found itself getting trolled by baseball fans. This time for reasons that are even more absurd.

In the modern Baseball world, teams tend to overspend in order to stay competitive. Even after the introduction of measures like taxation, teams need to spend the money to win. Teams that have been historically big have an enormous pool of cash, but smaller teams sometimes lead themselves to embarrassing situations. Something similar happened with the Padres. Fans now wonder, could this be the reason for their losing Juan Soto to the New York Yankees?

San Diego Padres take a loan to address shortfalls in payroll

San Diego Padres is famously in the top 5 of the biggest payrolls in MLB right now. Their success has been nowhere near that level, so it’s not surprising that they are finding it hard to sustain this high expense. Per The Athletic’s Evan Drellich’s “Sources: The San Diego Padres took out a loan for about $50 million in September to address short-term cash flow issues and meet their obligations, including player payroll.”

In 2023, the team’s payroll is over $250 million. For a team that finished 3rd in their division and has historically been an underperformer, that is a huge amount. In 2019, the payroll of the Padres was $76 million. In four years, the team increased it to the present level. They have crossed the CBT threshold for three consecutive years. Hence they will have to pay 50% tax this time, this is apart from other taxes they will have to pay.

The team as a whole has been spending a lot of money and getting limited success in exchange for it. To understand just how high their payroll is, one only needs to look at the teams below them. The Texas Rangers (2023 World Series Winners), the Los Angeles Dodgers (Winners in 2020), the Philadelphia Phillies (2022 finalists and 2023 NLCS finalists), the Houston Astros (2022 Winners), and the list goes on.

These are the teams that have a strong fan base and a better record than the Friars. Yet the Friars have a higher payroll than them. The only two teams above the Padres are the New York Mets and the New York Yankees – the traditional big teams of the league. Hence, now they are speculated to trade their star player, Juan Soto. And among the trade rumors, the Yankees are believed to be one of the contender to getting the Dominican outfielder.

Juan Soto – New York Yankees link

Lately, as the Padres are rumored to trade Juan Soto, the Bronx Bombers are appearing among three top contenders to sign him per MLB analysts and reporters. Moreover, The team which did not have a very good 2023 is looking to improve itself. The fundamental problem for the Pinstripes was their offense. This is where Juan Soto can play a huge role.

The Yankees already have their Captain Aaron Judge in a fabulous hitting form. But they lack someone to support that and provide depth to their offense. With Juan Soto’s signing, they can get that depth per fans. In one fell swoop, most of the batting woes of the Yankees would get solved, as not only would they get a good batter, but a much-needed left-handed as well. Has there any official conversation taken place yet?

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Per the Athletics, “According to multiple sources inside the Yankees’ organization, talks between the Yankees and Padres regarding Soto’s potential availability have not yet happened. Those same sources said that doesn’t mean talks won’t eventually occur; they just have not begun. There could be a couple of reasons for this.” Zooming in to the Padres’ loan, the fans were quick to react to the news.

Fan reaction to the San Diego Padres taking a loan

They wouldn’t let go of a chance to troll the Padres. They started calling them a “Poverty Franchise”. This fan speculated that the Padres were going to trade Soto to an interesting place.

This fan compared them to the Mets owner. However, under their tweet, others pointed out that the Padres actually had 7 more wins than the Mets this year.

This fan wondered if the salary cap was going to come to MLB now due to present overpaying.

This fan had an interesting pun for the Padres.

So capping it all off, this fan just had two words to say.

Now as the offseason is beginning, will Juan Soto sign with the Yankees? How will the San Diego Padres reduce their payroll without lowering their squad’s quality too drastically?

Watch the Story – Yankees Fans Eagerly Await Juan Soto, Willing To Sacrifice For His Arrival In New York