Suitor #1: San Diego Padres
Stephen Strasburg dominated in every game he pitched at San Diego State in his senior year, including striking out 23 of 27 batters in one of his starts. That season helped him be drafted as the first overall pick in the draft by the Washington Nationals.
Now let’s talk about the major league team that resides in San Diego.
The San Diego Padres are on the verge of being a force to be reckoned with for many years to come, but one of their missing pieces to the puzzle is frontline starting pitching.
Chris Paddack, Garrett Richards, and Dinelson Lamet will headline their rotation in 2020 with top prospect MacKenzie Gore and a young Luis Patino are shortly to follow at some point next season.
But I think they will be able to develop faster and be able to learn from a veteran like Stephen Strasburg at the top of that rotation.
Not to mention that he would be a perfect fit, and would be able to be close to his parents all season long instead of being across the country.
Padres owner Peter Seidler mentioned after the Jayce Tingler press conference last Thursday that the Padres are willing to complete another Manny Machado or Eric Hosmer type deal.
“If there’s another Hosmer contract or Machado contract that really makes sense, the answer from our organization is going to be, ‘Tell me more,’” he said. “If it lines up and it’s big money, we’re going to consider it.”
I think Strasburg is more than a perfect fit and would be greatly loved by Padres fans.
Let’s move to his second suitor, who is in dire need of starting pitching help.