San Diego Padres: A Mookie Betts trade unlikely, but that’s OK

Gotta prove it

While I understand trading for Mookie Betts now would certainly make the Padres a favorite to win a wild card spot going into the season, it makes more sense to let this team prove they can win first before making such a short-sighted moved.

Again, I’m under the assumption Betts is more likely to get moved during the season and will still be available at the trade deadline.

This team was a .500 team going into July last season and I really think Preller was ready to add for a playoff run.

But then team absolutely collapsed, Tatis later got injured, and the young pitching seemed to wear down.

Point being, as excited as I am about this team going into 2020, you never know how a season is going to unfold. And an injury or two early in the season could completely derail everything.

And while I think the arms in the starting rotation have the potential to be really good, Richards and Dinelson Lamet are big question marks.

If this team starts out hot and everything is going the way we hope, then Preller will still have the same options to upgrade this team at the trade deadline.

That’s probably the smart way to let this play out as well.

I’m certainly not going to be upset if they trade for Betts now, and as I said at the top, if that rumored deal is even a possibility the Padres would be stupid to not accept that deal.

But I can also understand wanting to wait and see just what this team is capable of in the first half of the season before making a big slash in a trade.

I believe this team is good enough now to compete going into the season, and I’m perfectly fine with waiting until the trade deadline to make a move that possibly puts them over the top. And there may be even better players available then.