San Diego Padres: 3 options who could be a big boost at first base

Josh Naylor, Cleveland Guardians

Of the players I'm listing here, Naylor is the one true legit big bat who will likely also bring the heaviest price of a top prospect and possibly a player on the current San Diego big league roster.

The one-time Padre is batting .308 with 15 homers and 79 RBI and is batting .344 this month after hitting .370 in June. Naylor is Cleveland's primary first baseman, but does frequently serve as their designated hitter as he's had 89 at bats in that role carrying a .270 average. Cleveland just traded their last true quality starter Aaron Civale to Tampa Bay, so although just a half-game behind Minnesota for the AL Central lead, the Guardians front office may be thinking what everyone else already believes to be true, "whether its Cleveland or the Twins, not much is going to happen for the AL Central this postseason."

Not only would Naylor be a huge upgrade at first base and designated hitter, but he'd automatically be one of the best offensive weapons on the Padres roster. Naylor is on his second one-year, arbitration-avoiding contract with Cleveland so this could turn out to be just a rental, but hey, they're going for it. Right?!

A quick note before going shopping for the Josh Naylor statue materials: as great as the past two months have been for Naylor at the plate, over his career he's a career .247 hitter in August and .238 in September/October.

Andrew Vaughn, Chicago White Sox

Though far less scintillating than Naylor, Andrew Vaughn would be a much cheaper option still capable of filling the need. The 25-year-old is batting .247 while on course for career highs in home runs (13) and RBI (58) in his third season in the majors, all on the south side of Chicago. Vaughn has hit .333 over the past week and is riding a six-game hitting streak heading into August.

The White Sox have been active over the past handful of days having already traded Lucas Giolito, Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lopez and Lance Lynn with rumors swirling around a potential Dylan Cease move. Vaughn's been in a bit of a crowded house at first base in Chicago as manager Pedro Grifol has been platooning Vaughn with Yasmani Grandal and Gavin Sheets. Vaughn is on a $760,000 one year contract and becomes eligible for arbitration next March. Vaughn is a guy who could probably fetch a third-tier prospect in return. Again, he's not batting .308 like Naylor but he's also not batting .216.

Joey Meneses, Washington Nationals

The running theme in this search of first base offense for the Padres is that the teams of these players are not going anywhere in 2023. Yes, Cleveland is only a half-game out of first in the AL Central, but the general consensus is that kind of won't mean much come October so let's just work with that caveat.

The Nationals are dead last in the NL East, a mere 23.5 games behind Atlanta, and 12.0 games out of the NL Wild Card. As its been known since about the Kentucky Derby, it ain't happening in D.C. this season. It's time to keep looking towards the future in Washington, the somewhat distant future. The Nationals' status as a bottom of the standings team would make you think that they'd be wheeling and dealing heading into the August 1 trade deadline, but its been the complete opposite in Washington. The only moves the Nats have made over the past few weeks have all been internal within the organization, promoting, designating, re-assigning minor leaguers in and out of Washington and their minor league locations. The activity gives the look of a team evaluating what they have in their farm system rather selling those who have made it or will make it to play in the nation's capital. I'll give them credit for that, but there's one player Washington should be all ears on.

Although 31 years old, this is only the second season for Joey Meneses in the bigs and he's another sophomore slugger who is excelling in The Show. The designated hitter who can also play some first base is hitting .283 with eight homers and 58 RBI, building nicely off his .324 rookie average over just 56 games.

Meneses' first full season is putting him on pace to best both his home run and RBI rookie totals. After hitting .280 in April and .315 in May, the Nationals DH cooled off in June to the tune of a .238 average, but has rebounded in July with a .261 average. Meneses has hit .291 over the last seven days and has hit safely in nine of the last 11 games. Some splits that should look tantalizing to Padres brass is that Meneses hit .333 last August and .318 in September/October and, although he's primarily been the DH this season, he is a .316 hitter when playing first base. Meneses is also on a one-year $700,000-plus contract.

Like Vaughn, but a tad bit pricier, Meneses could fetch the Nationals two nice prospects from San Diego.