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San Diego Padres: 3 more moves to win the NL West

ByJake Mastroianni|
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals reacts after allowing a solo home run to Alex Bregman (not pictured) of the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals reacts after allowing a solo home run to Alex Bregman (not pictured) of the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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SEATTLE, WA – MAY 29: Mitch  Haniger #17 of the Seattle Mariners hits a two-run home run off of relief pitcher Drew Smyly #33 of the Texas Rangers that also scored Mallex Smith #0 of the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on May 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – MAY 29: Mitch  Haniger #17 of the Seattle Mariners hits a two-run home run off of relief pitcher Drew Smyly #33 of the Texas Rangers that also scored Mallex Smith #0 of the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning of a game at T-Mobile Park on May 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

The final outfield piece

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With the bad contracts moved and the frontline starter on board, now we just need to finish the outfield rebuild.

To me, there are three trade options out there to finish this off: Mitch Haniger, Trey Mancini, and Clint Frazier.

All are set to make less than $6 million in 2020. I really like Frazier in this exercise as he’s still pre-arbitration eligible and I think he has a lot of upside.

But Haniger makes a lot of sense as well and might be easier to get done with a Mariners team that is clearly rebuilding.

And I really like Mancini, but he’s more expensive and is a defensive liability.

Let’s say for this exercise the Padres trade for Haniger with a package headlined by Luis Campusano. And let’s also say we throw Manuel Margot in the deal to save a couple of million.

Now let’s look at what our NL West contending roster could look like.

1. Tatis Jr. – SS

2. Pham – LF

3. Machado – 3B

4. Hosmer – 1B

5. Haniger – RF

6. Profar – 2B

7. Mejia/Hedges – C

8. Grisham – CF

1. Strasburg

2. Paddack

3. Richards

4. Lamet

5. Davies

Payroll: $150 million

I really like that lineup and rotation. You’d still be banking on players like Grisham and Lamet to take huge steps forward, and hoping Profar and Richards bounce-back (Richard coming off an injury, Profar off a down season).

But if all of those players play to their potential, I think that’s a roster that should definitely at least earn a Wild Card spot, and one that could push the Dodgers in the NL West.

This is certainly a dream scenario that is not likely to happen, but there is at least a path to get it done if there is a willingness from Preller and the front office.

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