Padres should look to Texas Rangers for another bat

The Padres and the Texas Rangers would make sense as trade partners, given the loss of Corey Kluber and the excess pitching San Diego has.

One of the more intriguing aspects of this shortened season will be watching how teams approach the trade deadline. Set for August 31, I think we’ll see teams who are either experiencing injuries early on or COVID-19 positive cases make trades to keep their postseason hopes alive. And I wouldn’t put it past Padres general manager AJ Preller to already be looking to make a move.

The Rangers recently received the news that Corey Kluber will be out for quite some time. The former Indians ace was acquired during the offseason to bolster the starting rotation. Looking around the rest of the league, there have been several key injuries in starting rotations. For example, the Chicago Cubs are without Jose Quintana after he required stitches unloading the dishwasher.

The Astros could be without Justin Verlander for the season, although there are conflicting reports on that end. Still, if the Padres are looking for another bat, the Rangers might be a perfect trade partner. The Friars have an excess number of starting pitchers, and there’s likely a scenario out there that could involve the Rangers receiving guys not named MacKenzie Gore or Luis Patino.

I mean, we’re talking about 60 games this year. The Padres shouldn’t mortgage their extremely bright, long-term future. But if there’s a bat that can potentially put them over the edge, I think Preller must, at least, consider it.

With Joey Gallo occupying right field, Adolis Garcia may potentially be available for, let’s say, Adrian Morejon? Garcia is already 27 years old and had a cup of coffee in the majors with the St. Lous Cardinals, hitting .118 in 21 games in 2018. However, he was a monster for Triple-A Memphis last year, posting a .253/.301/.517 slash line with 32 home runs and 96 RBI in 132 games.

Garcia was added to the 60-man player pool, but there’s obviously the complication of playing time. There is the potential for a trade with the Rangers to involve multiple players that would clear up some playing time. Not even a week in, and with the unknown of the full 2020 season actually being completed, I don’t expect teams to be active in the trade market quite yet.

However, if the Rangers can hang around without Kluber, they might be inclined to pull the trigger on acquiring a pitcher. The Padres might also be able to off-load either Joey Lucchesi or Cal Quantrill straight-up for a bat. It’ll be interesting to see which domino falls first.