There have been rumors about the San Diego Padres trading for Cleveland Indians starter Trevor Bauer before the Trade Deadline, but they should not complete a trade.
2020 is the official start of the San Diego Padres contention window, but we are still in 2019. Yes, the big league club is overachieving, as they are over .500 in June for the first time in a long time, and they are doing this without Fernando Tatis Jr.
But they have the youngest rotation in all of baseball, and Chris Paddack and Matt Strahm will be shut down at some point with innings limits. Other than Kirby Yates, the bullpen has been shaky.
For those two previous reasons, San Diego should not complete a trade for Trevor Bauer.
A big reason why they should not do it is because of the team in front of them in the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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The Padres seem to be playing great baseball at the moment even without Tatis who is currently in Amarillo on a rehab assignment, but the Dodgers have been playing even better.
They sit 11.5 games behind Los Angeles, 3.5 back of a wild card spot, and we are only in June, so I would expect the Dodgers lead to either increase or remain the same.
This whole decision leans on the fact that the Padres are going to be in contention next season, and will at best fight for the Wild Card this season, and the front office should not want to sprint towards the finish line this year just to sacrifice the next four or five years of winning.
Although San Diego would be getting an All-Star pitcher, Cleveland would want a big package that the Padres wouldn’t want to give up.
Cleveland would ask for really talented prospects who will be in the big leagues either this year or in 2020 like Luis Urias, Logan Allen, and a major league ready outfielder like Hunter Renfroe or Franmil Reyes.
Logan Allen will be in the rotation next year, and he is a left-handed starter that will contribute in a big way to the rotation.
Although there may be a possibility of trading Urias after the San Diego Padres drafted C.J. Abrams to play center field and they have Xavier Edwards to slide to second base, Urias is still in the plans to be the second basemen.
Finally, as long as Renfroe and Reyes are hitting, they will not be letting either of them go.