San Diego Padres: 5 trade targets from the NL West

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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers flies out in the first inning against the Washington Nationals in game four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

We continue our division-by-division break down of potential trade targets for the San Diego Padres looking at teams in their own division.

It’s rare for teams to make a big trade within their own division, but it’s certainly not unheard of. We’ll see if the San Diego Padres matchup with anyone from the NL West.

And in case you missed our first two installments of this series, here they are:

NL East

NL Central

Going into 2020 the Padres are actually in a pretty good spot to contend in the NL West as the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies appear to be in a transition stage.

But at the same time, you have to deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers who are trying to win a World Series every season.

Dodgers

With the report on Friday (subscription required) that Kenta Maeda is not happy with the way the Dodgers are using him, they could look to trade him this offseason.

Maeda has gone back-and-forth from being a starter and a reliever, but no matter the role he’s been in, he’s been very effective.

He has a career ERA of 3.87 in 589 innings with 641 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.15.

This past season he made 26 starts and had 11 relief appearances with a 4.04 ERA in 153.2 innings with 169 strikeouts and a spectacular WHIP of 1.07.

If LA does decide to deal him, he could make a lot of sense for the Padres rotation, and he’s under team control for four more seasons at just over $3 million a year (but he does have some bonuses in his contract).

The Dodgers are pretty loaded in the outfield and have been rumored to shop Joc Pederson before (although we haven’t heard any mention of that this offseason … yet).

The 27-year-old would give the Padres the left-handed bat they desperately need, and he would add a ton of power to the lineup.

He hit 36 home runs in 2019, but he’s just a career .233 hitter and will be a free agent after the 2020 season.

Giants

The San Francisco Giants actually have a couple of veteran pitchers that would make since for the Padres in Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto.

Samardzija is the likelier choice because Cueto’s contract is almost impossible to move.

Related Story. 3 Giants likely traded. light

The Shark has one year left at $19.8 million, which is really high, but maybe the Padres shed a bad contract in return or get the Giants to eat some money and throw in a decent prospect.

The 34-year-old righty was actually really good in 2019 with a 3.52 ERA in 181.1 innings and a WHIP of 1.11.

It was actually his best season ERA-wise since his only All-Star season back in 2014.

The K/9 has dropped dramatically going from 8.9 in 2017 all the way down to 6.9 in 2019.

Still, he could be a very nice middle of the rotation arm for San Diego.

They also have a couple of outfielders in Kevin Pillar and Steven Duggar who could be available.

Pillar is under arbitration control for one more season, is a Gold Glove defender in center, and has hit at least 15 home runs in each of the past three seasons.

Diamondbacks

More from Friars on Base

I’m not sure what the plan is for the Arizona Diamondbacks going into 2020, but if they decide to trade some assets to rebuild, the Padres should be banging on the door for David Peralta.

The 32-year-old is a left-handed hitting slugger who could fill a huge hole for the Padres this offseason.

He only played in 99 games in 2019, but he still put up good numbers with a .275 average and 12 home runs with an OPS of .804.

In his six-year career he has a .290 average and a .824 OPS with 85 home runs.

Peralta would be a rental as he’s only under team control for one more season, but he’d be relatively cheap as he’s projected to make around $8.5 million in his last year of arbitration.

And he just won a Gold Glove … go get this man.

They could also try to move Steven Souza Jr., but that’ nearly as attractive as he’s basically Hunter Renfroe.

Robbie Ray has been rumored to be on the trading block in the past and could be a good fit in the Padres rotation.

He posted a 4.34 ERA in 2019 with 235 strikeouts in 174.1 innings with a WHIP of 1.34 mostly because of a high walk rate.

Rockies

We wrote about this on the site already, but if Jon Gray is indeed available he would be a great fit for the Padres.

Gray could add boost to rotation. light. Related Story

The former third overall pick has had some ups-and-downs with the Rockies, but he was a 4 WAR pitcher in 2019 when he posted an ERA of 3.84 in 150 innings with 150 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.35.

Consistency has been the issue for Gray as he’s made more than 30 starts in a season just once in his first four full seasons and has never thrown more than 172.1 innings in a season.

He’s under team control for two more seasons through arbitration, and if the Rockies do make him available there will be a lot of teams coming after him with his potential.

I’m not sure I really see much help from the Rockies that would fit, and again, I’m not sure what their intentions are going into 2020.

They could be a team that waits to deal during the season if they fall flat again.

Ian Desmond and Daniel Murphy both have bad contracts that I’m sure they’d like to trade, but I can’t see either of them being a bit for the Padres.

There are rumors they could look to save some money and trade Trevor Story with Brendan Rogers ready, but again, Story doesn’t seem like a fit.

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It’s not always to make a move within your own division, but with a couple of teams who might be looking to rebuild, there could be an opportunity for the Padres to find a trade partner in the NL West.

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