Padres, Cardinals swap outfielders in FanSided’s Mock Winter Meetings

The San Diego Padres continue to be active on the trade market in FanSided’s Mock Winter Meetings after swapping outfielders with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In an effort to revamp the San Diego Padres outfield, Hunter Renfroe was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in our Faux Winter Meetings for Harrison Bader.

Since these Faux Winter Meetings began, I’ve been looking for the best way to revamp the outfield.

The first part of that was moving the Wil Myer’s contract to free up some payroll. And then we traded for a couple of left-handed sluggers in Nomar Mazara and David Peralta.

Then it was just finding someone to compete with Manuel Margot in center field.

I’d tried looking for an upgrade in center, but they’re just aren’t that many good options out there this offseason.

Instead, I turned to a young but talented option with some upside.

This was pretty much an even swap, but if you use the trade simulator it values Bader a lot more than Renfroe.

While they’re both under control for four more seasons, Bader still has one year left as a pre-arbitration player and is two years younger. So the Padres actually save about $3 million in this deal towards the 2020 payroll.

Bader was a 3.6 WAR player in 2018 according to FanGraphs when he hit .264 with 12 home runs in 138 games while playing exceptional defense in center field.

Despite a significant dropoff at the plate in 2019, he was still a 1.8 WAR player because of his defense.

Renfroe was a 1.9 WAR player in 2019, the highest total of his career, and that was boosted by his improved defensive play.

I think both players have some upside left in their game, but I also think both would benefit from a change of scenery.

It shouldn’t take much for Bader to get back to his 2018 totals when he was close to a 4 WAR player. And if that happens, it would be a significant upgrade over Manuel Margot in center who has been a 1.9 and 1.6 WAR player the past two seasons.

This seems like a pretty safe and fair trade for the Padres. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.