The San Diego Padres need to play well over the next eight games to convince GM A.J. Preller to buy at the trade deadline or else he may trade away some of his top relievers.
The San Diego Padres kicked off the biggest stretch of their season thus far with a huge win over the Miami Marlins on the road in the series opener on Friday.
The Padres need to play well in their three series against the Marlins, Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline to convince general manager A.J. Preller to be buyers instead of selling.
San Diego wouldn’t sell off core offensive players like right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado or center fielder Jackson Merrill, but platoon first baseman Ty France could be a nice addition for contenders looking for a cheap right-handed bat.
Other than that, the Padres would sell off some of its top relievers if Preller was blown away by a lucrative offer. Right-hander Ron Marinaccio was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this week, and although he isn’t considered a leverage reliever, he drew interest from a team in the National League playoff mix.
There is a lot of speculation regarding a possible trade involving All-Star closer Mason Miller, and while just about every contending team will be calling about the price to acquire him, it’s probably more likely than not that Miller stays put.
Miller has more than three years of club control and has established himself as the best closer in Major League Baseball. His stats are absurd and he will probably get votes for NL Cy Young as a closer.
San Diego isn’t under any pressure to deal the guy they traded a haul to get at last year’s trade deadline, but if a team like the New York Yankees offers a ridiculous package for him, Preller may have no choice but to accept and move on with a new closer.
Among the teams that have a real chance to put together a package that could pry Miller from the Padres is the Pirates, a team that has exactly what San Diego needs.
“If San Diego winds up dealing Mason Miller, the Pirates certainly have the type of young starting pitching to anchor a deal for a reliever who would transform the back end of their bullpen -- but like other small-market teams, they would have to decide whether they're willing to cut into their pipeline to make a big deal like that,” ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote Friday.
Miller may cost too much for Pittsburgh if they didn’t want to sell the house for him, but Olney mentioned that the Pirates are under some pressure to make the team better and could pivot to lefty Adrian Morejon.
Morejon would still cost a lot but not nearly as much as Miller, making him a more than respectable consolation prize. He has a 3.25 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 63 strikeouts to 14 walks through 48 appearances (55.1 innings).
