The San Diego Padres are currently in fourth place in the National League West. Winning the division will be a difficult task in 2023 given their current unfavorable standings placement. Making an NL Wild Card run remains a possibility though.

Nevertheless, players such as Blake Snell and Josh Hader could be made available if San Diego opts to re-tool. The good news for the Padres is that they still feature a quality core of stars with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Xander Bogaerts locked into long-term contracts. Meanwhile, Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish also recently signed contract extensions.

This leaves the Padres in a challenging spot, as they decide whether to trade Juan Soto or not ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. Soto has one more year of control remaining (per Spotrac), but San Diego could receive a massive trade package in return by dealing him away this season. If Soto is made available, he will obviously receive plenty of attention on the trade market.

Let's take a look at the five best Juan Soto trade destinations if the Padres decide to shock the MLB world.

New York Yankees

The Yankees are in the market for a corner outfielder. New York has been linked to Cody Bellinger of the Chicago Cubs, but trading for Juan Soto would make sense.

It would be difficult for New York to create a trade package tempting enough to cause the Padres to deal him away without including top prospects such as Jasson Dominguez. If the Yankees can create a good enough offer though then Soto would be a good fit in New York alongside Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies opened up an outfield spot by moving Bryce Harper to first base. Now, Kyle Schwarber can DH which gives the Phillies an opportunity to add outfield depth.

Again, Bellinger has been mentioned as a possibility. But Soto makes sense as well. In fact, the Phillies and Yankees situations are fairy similar.

Philadelphia features a talented lineup already and they do not desperately need offensive help like New York. That said, the Phillies want to give themselves the best possible chance to make another World Series run and win it all this time around. Trading for Soto, who's already won a World Series with the Washington Nationals back in 2019, would place them in a favorable position.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins are trying to run away with the AL Central. The Cleveland Guardians are hanging around though, and they have already added pitching help in the form of Noah Syndergaard. Minnesota could counter that move by adding an offensive bat such as Tommy Pham or Mark Canha of the New York Mets.

If the Twins really want to make a statement though, acquiring Juan Soto is the answer. It would not only put the Guardians on notice, but the rest of the American League. Not many teams are worried about the AL Central contenders right now but that would change by adding a star like Soto to the division.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers are playing their typical brand of baseball. Milwaukee is pitching at a respectable level and receiving just enough offense to get by. They currently lead the NL Central but it's difficult to envision them making any kind of deep playoff run with teams such as the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers standing in their way.

Trading for Juan Soto would give those juggernauts something to think about. Adding Soto to their decent lineup would obviously boost their all-around offensive production. Given the already impressive state of their pitching staff as well, the Brewers would instantly become one of the more interesting teams in the National League.

San Francisco Giants

Finally, and probably the most unlikely option, is the Giants. The fit makes sense and San Francisco clearly wants to add a superstar after making offers to both Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa during the offseason.

San Francisco is a good team that doesn't feature much in the way of star power. They are currently just a few games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, and should be able to make an NL Wild Card run at the very least.

The reason this trade seems unlikely to happen is that San Diego and San Francisco play in the same division. The Padres probably do not love the idea of dealing one of their stars to a division rival. For the right trade package though, it is something that cannot be completely ruled out.