1. Add a Frontline Starter
Look, the San Diego Padres have not had an ‘ace’ in their prime since Jake Peavy. What happened when they had a true ace? They made the postseason.
That can happen once again next season if the Padres add an ace to the staff. The ace would have a huge responsibility of leading the youngest rotation in the league.
MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino or coming but they won’t be an ace from the getgo. Chris Paddack has established himself in his rookie year as an ace at times but hasn’t been able to do it consistently.
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Giving him an ace to learn from would certainly help out his game and could make him that more dominant every fifth day.
Gerrit Cole fits that bill. I know that Ron Fowler just backed up the truck for Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado each of the last two offseason but if the Padres were to get rid of Myers’ contract (which is step 3) would give them more money to spend on a frontline starter like Cole.
Stephen Strasburg also fits that bill. He has the choice to opt-out of his contract after the season with the Nationals, and why wouldn’t he want to return home.
After all, he pitched in the FIRST baseball game ever at Petco Park while at SDSU.
In addition to striking out 23 in one game and pitching to a 1.59 ERA at San Diego State, he has pitched well at Petco as well.
In 5 career starts in San Diego, the opponent batting average is barely above .200 and has logged 30 strikeouts.
Noah Syndergaard is a starter that the Padres have targeted since last offseason but haven’t been able to come to terms because the Mets are asking for an arm and a leg.
In order for the Padres to trade for a starter of the caliber of Syndergaard, they would have to give up top prospect starters like Adrian Morejon, major league starters like Eric Lauer or Joey Lucchesi, and most likely a high upside bat-like Luis Urias.
Some might not want to give up Luis Urias, but they should let him go. He just simply hasn’t been consistent to be the everyday second basemen the Padres need when they are in contention.
To fill the gap, the Padres gave plenty of options in-house if Urias is shipped away. Greg Garcia and Ty France have done well this season when Tatis was on the shelf.
Owen Miller will be up next season, as he has continued to produce offensively. Xavier Edwards and C.J. Abrams will be in San Diego in the future, although it will be a little bit farther down the road than 2020.
Adding a frontline starting pitcher is going to be huge if the San Diego Padres want to contend in 2020.