Robinson Canó trade to Braves could come back to haunt the Padres

The San Diego Padres officially traded away Robinson Canó to the Atlanta Braves for “cash consideration” over the weekend.

His career in San Diego was short-lived and had little success, but the trade could quickly come back to haunt the Padres.

He’s expected to start with the Braves for the first time on Monday night at second base after being named to the team just one day prior.

The Braves have a history of doing well with veteran careers, as noted by Mark Polishuk at MLB Trade Rumors. They took on Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall in 2021 and won a World Series for the first time since 1995. Given Canó’s highly successful history, he could likely do just as well with the Braves.

Canó sat out the entire 2021 season due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension. However, the season prior, he was performing extremely well with the New York Mets. In 2020, he was hitting .316/.352/.544 for an OPS of .896.

He seemingly had a difficult adjustment trying to come back in 2022. He played 12 games with the Mets and hit .195/.233/.268 for an OPS of .501 before being let go and picked up by the Padres, who took a chance on him because of his relationship with Fernando Tatís Jr.

With the Padres, he played another 12 games and hit significantly worse at .091/.118/.091 for an OPS of .209. He was optioned by San Diego and eventually accepted a Triple-A El Paso spot, which he initially rejected, to keep a potential MLB career open.

In Triple-A, his performance got much better. He was hitting .333/.375/.479. Though he was a level below MLB, his increased performance still proves he has potential.

Canó was mainly a designated hitter in San Diego. If he continues to hit the way he did in Triple-A or similar to how he did last season, he could become better than the Padres current designated hitter Luke Voit.

Padres could be missing out on a better designated hitter

Voit is currently hitting .228/.321/.415 for an OPS of .736. He has the second-best slugging percentage on the team and has produced the second-most home runs, but his other numbers aren’t as great. He has the sixth-best on-base percentage and batting average.

If Canó was still on the Padres with his Triple-A numbers, he’d have the best batting average and second-best OBP and slugging percentage. He’d have a strong impact on a team that lacks power in the lineup.

Canó may show San Diego a reason they should’ve kept him for longer this season but it remains to be seen.