On Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal reported that Hunter Renfroe and Kirby Yates will be in trade discussions, but should San Diego pull the trigger on either player?
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote an article on Tuesday morning that said San Diego Padres outfielder Hunter Renfroe is “quite popular in trade discussions” as he is having his best season. He also went on to state that their closer may be on the move as well.
“Some with the club believe general manager A.J. Preller will treat closer Kirby Yates as this year’s Brad Hand, trying to maximize his value by trading him at the deadline.”
Hunter Renfroe Should be Traded
Both of these statements are interesting because the San Diego Padres have a log jam in the outfield with multiple players coming back from the Injured List including Franchy Cordero, which means one outfielder has to go.
Now that could be by trade or optioning an outfielder to the minors, which has been talked about in recent days.
If San Diego were to option a player, it would most certainly be center fielder Manuel Margot.
Margot has been given many chances over the past two seasons to be the franchise’s future center fielder but has simply not been able to hit.
Some would say Josh Naylor would be the odd man out, but he has forced himself into the lineup because of his recent success with his bat.
Wil Myers is being paid north of $80 million, so the team will continue to give him at-bats and hope he starts putting the ball in play more often.
Franmil Reyes has had his best year yet and may be on his way to Cleveland for his first All-Star appearance or Home Run Derby, so San Diego will obviously not be trading him.
Franchy Cordero is the bat the Padres have been waiting for to occupy the center field, as Myers and Margot have not produced offensively as the center fielders.
The Pads seem to want Reyes to be their right fielder of the future, so Renfroe may be on the move to another contender that wants a bat.
Renfroe has been clutch as a pinch hitter this season, highlighted by the walk-off grand slam back in May against Kenley Jansen and the Los Ángeles Dodgers.
He has already hit 18 home runs this season with an OPS nearly at .900 so contending teams would love to have his bat so it isn’t a surprise to see him gain some traction with some front offices as we get closer to July 31.
Hunter Renfroe would be a valuable piece for contending teams like the Phillies who need more outfielders as Andrew McCutchen and Adam Hasely are both on the IL.