The San Diego Padres are desperate for starting pitching and former MLB executive Jim Bowden believes the team will be in on all the top options at the trade deadline.
The San Diego Padres have a clear need with the Aug. 3 trade deadline around the corner and need reinforcements if they want to make some noise in the wild card picture.
The Padres are 46-46 and presumably out of the National League West race with the Los Angeles Dodgers owning a 14-game lead over the Friars but sit a manageable 4.5 games back from the final wild card spot.
San Diego has had the worst offense in baseball, which is concerning considering how expensive its star players are. Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado, center fielder Jackson Merrill and shortstop Xander Bogaerts are expected to carry much of the load and those guys have severely underperformed in the first half.
It’s unlikely that the Padres go out and trade for an impact bat. The Padres have to hit themselves out of trouble, but San Diego must trade for a frontline starting pitcher if it wants a chance to contend in October.
Former Major League Baseball executive and current columnist for The Athletic, Jim Bowden, released an article regarding the latest trade buzz and named which teams should be sellers as well as best fits for contenders. The Padres were urged to buy frontline starting pitching.
“The Padres’ top priority should be to land a top-of-the-rotation starter, and it won’t surprise me if they target Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan and are willing to swap their best prospect, Ethan Salas,” Bowden wrote Monday. “Why? Because that’s what they do. However, it’s probably more realistic they land either Freddy Peralta, Sonny Gray, Robbie Ray or Reid Detmers instead.”
After trading away its top prospects to acquire All-Star closer Mason Miller, who has been named in trade rumors himself, the Padres probably aren’t going to be able to stomach the price it would cost to get their hands on Skubal or Ryan.
The Los Angeles Angels may be reluctant to move Detmers, who has years of control and is just 27-years-old, so his cost may be too high for general manager A.J. Preller. Gray's contract situation is murky and Ray wouldn't really fit what the Padres are after.
That leaves Peralta as the best fit for San Diego.
“Rather than swing for Skubal or Ryan, the Padres are more likely to take a chance they can get Peralta back on track, given that the prospect price to acquire him will be much lower than it was before the season.”
Peralta isn’t having the kind of season he nor the New York Mets expected. The two-time All-Star is 5-7 with a 4.68 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 98 strikeouts to 39 walks through 19 starts (100 innings).
San Diego’s starting rotation is thin and in desperate need of a shot in the arm. Perhaps being a Met has led to Peralta’s misfortunes, and if not, he is a free agent at the end of the season.
