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Padres division-by-division trade targets: NL Central

By Jake Mastroianni

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 12: Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring the game-winning run in the 8th inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on July 12, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Pirates 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 12: Kris Bryant #17 of the Chicago Cubs is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring the game-winning run in the 8th inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on July 12, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Pirates 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 16: Lorenzo  Cain #6 and Ben  Gamel #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after Cain scored a run in the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Miller Park on September 16, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 16: Lorenzo  Cain #6 and Ben  Gamel #16 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after Cain scored a run in the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Miller Park on September 16, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

We continue our division-by-division breakdown of potential trade targets for the San Diego Padres taking a look at the NL Central.

As the San Diego Padres and A.J. Preller continue to scour the league for trade partners, we look at players in the NL Central who could be potential targets.

In our first installment, we took a look at the NL East, which has some promising pitching targets the Padres could look at.

But now we shift to the NL Central. The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers are certainly looking to contend in 2020, while the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are in between.

And the Chicago Cubs are in a very weird position as they possibly look at doing a quick re-tool job with a new manager, but certainly, they want to stay competitive.

We’ll look at each team and focus on players that will help the Padres become a contender in 2020 and possibly beyond.

Brewers

The Brewers are not deep in starting pitching as it is, so I don’t think there will be a fit there for the Padres.

Maybe the only area the Brewers could help the Padres is in the outfield.

Reviewing the Brew wrote an article a couple of weeks ago highlighting three players that could be traded this offseason.

Ben Gamel is the outfielder they mentioned who could be traded.

Gamel has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues now. He was a full-time player for the Seattle Mariners in 2017 and hit .275 with 11 home runs in 509 at-bats.

But over the following two seasons he’s hit just 8 home runs (7 of those in 2019) and he hit just .248 this past season.

He’ll turn 28 in May and is under team control for three more season. Perhaps if he were given a starting role we could see him be a .275 hitter with 20-25 home runs, but I’m not sure that’s a risk the Padres will take.

If the Brewers were willing to part with Ryan Braun, Lorenzo Cain, or Trent Grisham, then we might be talking.

The Padres have some starting pitching depth they could send to Milwaukee for one of those players.

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