The San Diego Padres' reputation as Yankees West only increased further on Thursday when they traded baseball's No. 3 prospect in Leodalis De Vries in exchange for super closer Mason Miller of the A's and old friend JP Sears to bolster their rotation.
Even when the Padres don't trade directly with the Yankees, they make it even clearer how much they value New York's development pipeline. That familiarity helped push the Yankees' Juan Soto blockbuster across the finish line last winter (with Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vásquez, and Jhony Brito), and it could help Brian Cashman swoop in and take care of business again this afternoon.