Padres News: AJ Preller on trade rumors, Brandon Drury departs, Carlos Correa

The San Diego Padres won't stop making moves! After inking Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract, general manager AJ Preller has put the pedal to the metal by signing Seth Lugo to fortify the starting rotation and bullpen, and the versatile Matt Carpenter to fill the DH void and defend multiple positions.

Nobody knows what else Preller is scheming, but it wouldn't hurt to add another bench player, and another starter so Lugo and Nick Martinez -- who are capable of starting or coming out of the bullpen -- aren't forced to start all season.

Not one to shy away from making a big trade, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported the Padres have received calls from teams poking around the available of middle infielder Ha-Seon Kim and gold glove center fielder Trent Grisham.

The Padres certainly have the flexibility to float Kim and Grisham as trade bait, but Preller isn't keen on moving either player.

“With the Bogaerts signing, our intention is to play this position group together,” Preller said, via Rosenthal. "We like the flexibility and the versatility it gives our team.”

There you have it, folks. While things can change at the drop of a hat -- more on that in a minute -- it doesn't look like Kim or Grisham are going anywhere.

More Padres News:

• As we noted earlier, the Padres signed Matt Carpenter. It's a one-year contract for 2023, with a. player option for 2024. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but MLB.com's AJ Cassavell reported it would pay Carpenter $6 million in 2023 and another $6 million in 2024 if he opts in. The deal can climb up to $21 million in total value with performance incentives.

• Signing Carpenter all but ruled out a Brandon Drury reunion, which didn't look likely when the offseason started. Ironically, not long after the Carpenter news broke, Drury found a new home with the Angels on a two-year, $17 million deal. With Shohei Ohtani locked in as LA's everyday DH, Drury slots in as the everyday second baseman, and will hit fifth or sixth behind Anthony Rendon and Hunter Renfroe.

• Getting back to Carpenter, the 37-year-old is an all-time good guy. He was a seamless fit in the Yankees' locker room last season, and our guess is it wont take long for Padres fans to warm up to the three-time All-Star. Check out what Carp had to say about why he signed with San Diego.

MLB News:

• In the biggest shocker of what has been an offseason full of shockers, the Mets wrested Carlos Correa away from the Giants in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Correa joins New York on a 12-year, $315 million deal just a week after agreeing to a historic $13-year, $350 million contract with San Francisco.

• Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, Correa's agreement with the Giants fell apart after the team expressed concerns with his physical. As a result Correa reopened his free agency, and struck a deal with the Mets, who've now doled out a whopping $806.1 million in free agent signings this offseason.

• That ungodly sum of money includes the re-signing of reliever Adam Ottavino on a two-year, $14.5 million contract after he compiled a 2.06 ERA in 66 appearances as the set-up man for Edwin Diaz last season.