Padres Trade Target: Andre Ethier

The Los Angeles Dodgers are once again shopping their outfield surplus. With big names like Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier on the chopping block, their is no shortage of suitors. All three are owed big money and the Dodgers are willing to eat a sizable chunk of it in order to move one of them out of Los Angeles. It’s no secret that the San Diego Padres are in need of a right fielder and these available bats could be on their radar. If you ask me (Which you probably aren’t but let’s pretend just for fun) one of San Diego’s top targets should be Andre Ethier.

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Ethier has played his entire nine-year career with the Dodgers and has been an above average overall player for many seasons now. He sports a career .285 batting average along with 145 home runs and 629 RBI. He’s a very solid defender as evident by his Gold Glove Award back in 2011 and at 32-years-old, he offers veteran experience. He’s everything the Padres need and they should be very active in trying to acquire him.

Signed through 2017 (with a vesting option and buyout option for 2018) Either is set to make about $53 million dollars over the next couple seasons. That’s easily the smallest contract between he, Kemp and Crawford. That means he’s within the Padres’ budget and would allow them wiggle room to improve other holes on the roster. What would the Dodgers be looking for as far as prospects go? Well they’d probably ask for some pitching and an infielder or two. Do the Padres have this to spare? Yes, they do, but A.J. Preller will have to decide whether he wants to build the system further or start to parlay those young players into established players.

Barring any other moves (Looking at you Yasmany Tomas) Ethier would immediately slot into the three hole in the Padres’ lineup. Ethier can also play left field and center field but the Padres have more pressing needs in right. He’s a far better player than the likes of Jeff Francoeur and would allow Rymer Liriano to have more time to develop. This move is obvious. All that’s left is for the A.J. Preller and the rest of his front off comrades to pull the trigger.