San Diego Padres: Trade Deadline Deals: Brad Hand

It is with great pleasure that I introduce my first article on all things San Diego Padres. Today, I discuss possible trades which could be in the club’s near future.

Since this will be my debut article, I’ve decided to lead off on the hot topic surrounding not just my favorite team but all around baseball, the trade deadline.

With less than two weeks left in baseball’s annual purge, we have already seen some blockbuster trades over the last week.

Just yesterday alone the Yankees maneuvered to add three pieces for a deep postseason run. The Diamondbacks acquiring a big bat to bolster their run for a post season berth. The Nationals also acquired two key pieces for their majors worst bullpen.

And we can’t forget last weeks beginning to the frenzy, with the Cubbies getting arguably the best starting pitcher available on the market.

But those who follow baseball closely know the details, so they do not need to be reviewed.

I am here to talk strictly about the Padres possibilities.

I do mention those trades though just because the Padres have been linked to the Yankees in almost every publication I’ve read on the subject. I even had researched the Yankees top thirty prospects list to try to get a feel for who they could target if such a development were to occur.

Of course, the player being mentioned most as being dealt for the Padres is relief pitcher Brad Hand, and rightfully so. Since the Padres picked him up on the waiver wire last April, all he has done is turn into arguably the best late inning relief option the Padres have. He might not be on the same level as last years deadline darlings, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, but he isn’t that far off, and is just as consistent.

Hand’s numbers speak for themselves. (an ERA of 2.25 with 11.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 47.7 percent ground ball rate with 61 K’s and an 0.98 whip in 43 innings pitched).

Any contender would love to add this kind of reliever to their staff. And when you consider he is under team control for the next few seasons, that really increases his appeal.

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Where do I believe he could be dealt? Hmmm…. that could be just about every team in contention.

Considering what I’ve read or watched on the subject though, it would make sense to shrink that list to teams who need bullpen help the most.

What also has to taken into account though are the teams who have what the Padres are looking for in return.

Anyone who knows the Padres well enough already knows that this means teams with shortstop prospects.

A look at the prospects on the top ten list on mlb.com, there are six prospects that could have a possibility of being part of a trade. Of course some will have a better chance of being acquired than others, and there is also the possibility of acquiring a young controllable piece who is not on this list and could very well be on a major league roster now.

Having a somewhat feel for how Padres general manager A.J. Preller likes to maneuver though, I believe we just might see someone on the top ten list of prospects.

With that being said, I will rank the six prospects from least likely to most likely on who could be the Padres shortstop of the future:

# 6-Gleyber Torres-Yankees

# 5-Nick Gordon-Twins

# 4-Kevin Maitan-Braves

# 3-Brendan Rodgers-Rockies

# 2-Willy Adames-Rays

# 1-Jorge Mateo-Yankees

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The first four on this list are pretty much interchangeable. Also, all of them already have someone at the major league level or in the minors that is a higher rated prospect or is a young under team control player.

My reasoning for choosing Mateo #1? Simple really. He has two players that fit the above mentioned criteria. The Yankees already have a young under team controlled asset in Didi Gregorius at the major league level. They also happen to be blessed with possessing the second ranked prospect in all of baseball in Torres.

Next: Getaway day news and notes, injury updates

Hand may not be with the organization when it is on a contention course. But maybe, just maybe, he helps add the key piece to that contention time frame.

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