Padres complete trade with Rays, send Esteban Quiroz to Tampa

There’s not much transaction news going on right now, but the San Diego Padres gave us something to talk about by completing the Tommy Pham trade.

With the news cycle for baseball pretty much coming to a halt with the suspension of the season, the San Diego Padres confirming the name of “player to be named later” makes me feel like the hot stove season is back.

It was reported on Thursday that the Padres are sending Esteban Quiroz to the Rays to complete the trade that also included Tommy Pham, Jake Cronenworth, and Xavier Edwards.

This was a bit of a surprise to me as I really like Quiroz and think he is solid middle infield depth, but I guess the Padres feel they have enough depth there already.

Quiroz had a really big offseason playing for the Mexican national team and in the Mexican Winter League season.

He came into spring training with the Padres as a long shot to earn a spot on the roster and compete for time at second base.

Unfortunately, he was never really able to get going and collected just 3 hits in 16 at-bats with a walk and 7 strikeouts over 10 games.

Last season in Triple-A he hit .271 with 19 home runs and he’s hit double-digit home runs in three of his last fours season while hitting for a high average.

I obviously haven’t been able to see much of him, but his numbers tell me he’ll be able to hit at the big league level if given the chance.

But most likely the 28-year-old left-handed hitting infielder will get a utility role at some point, and perhaps he finally breaks through with Tampa Bay.

I really do wish the best for Quiroz and hope he at least gets the cup of coffee he deserves.

This now completes the trade between the Rays and the Padres. Hopefully we get to see these players with their new teams soon.