Padres Fans Hang On to Your Hats

If the Padres did too little last year heading into the trade deadline, 2016 might go down as the year the Padres went all in on the trade deadline. History suggests they are just getting started.

First went starter James Shields, followed by closer and All Star Fernando Rodney. Then just two days after his first All Star Game appearance and as a Padre went Drew Pomeranz. How many more will go?

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So far these trades have nearly all been pretty one-sided as far as trading major league veterans for top minor league talent. The Shields trade has largely been seen as a wash for both sides, as Shields perhaps “helped” the Padres look better by pitching atrociously his first few Chicago starts.

The Rodney and Pomeranz trades are similar in several aspects. For one, both are having terrific seasons that are outplaying their previous few seasons. Second, they both have injury or ineffectiveness histories which at this time of the year with one or two bad outings could reduce the trade value substantially. Last of all, with many teams in contention the Padres seem to be getting top tier minor league prospects – unlike the Shields salary/player dump.

The next question of course is how many will be gone when the dust settles? Jon Jay hurt his trade value dramatically with his recent injury but his contract is up this year. He might even be a good fit for his old team the Cardinals looking to make a push in the NL Central still this season. The Dodgers or Blue Jays are options as well.

Will the Padres be able to get any teams interested in Matt Kemp or Melvin Upton Jr. Would Ryan Buchter be a fallback for teams who can’t get Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller?

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Andrew Cashner is by no means an “impact” starter at this point, but he would get in some quality innings or provide injury insurance for a contender down the stretch and as an impending free agent would be good for the Padres to cash (no pun intended) in on too. The Orioles are a potential target here or his hometown Rangers, though again the return would likely be minimal for either team.

One player not likely to get traded but just as important for the future of the Padres is Tyson Ross. His rehab has been very slow and just putting in a few quality starts in the last month or so of the season would give the Padres a big boost heading into 2017.