What the Sean Manaea trade means for San Diego Padres, Oakland A’s

The San Diego Padres continue to look for ways to not only strengthen their roster but make a run at a National League West title. On Sunday, the Padres believe they took another step in both of those directions by acquiring starting pitcher Sean Manaea from the Oakland A’s.

What does the trade between the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres involving Sean Manaea mean for both teams?

Here is how the trade looks, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Last season, the San Diego Padres saw their postseason hopes dashed as their starting pitching was decimated by injuries and those brought in to plug the holes caused by the injuries that eventually landed 13 pitchers on the season’s final injury list failed miserably. San Diego eventually finished with a 79-83 mark as the Padres were closer to fourth place in the division than second.

However, San Diego looks to start 2022 with an arsenal of starting pitching that has the potential to be among the best in the National League. Yu Darvish will get the start on Opening Day, then will likely be followed by Blake Snell and Manaea, who finished last season with an 11-10 mark, 3.91 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 1.227 WHIP, and ERA+ of 104.

This season, San Diego also has Mike Clevinger back as well, along with Joe Musgrove, who threw the first no-hitter in San Diego history last season.

With the addition of Manaea, San Diego not only gains a quality starter, but also answers questions about its fifth starter role. It also allows the Padres to use pitching prospect MacKenzie Gore whenever the team likes rather than rushing him along.

Along with Manaea, the Padres are reportedly getting 21-year-old right-hander Aaron Holiday, who pitched 5.2 relief innings for Oakland’s Arizona Complex League team last season.

For the A’s, the Manaea trade continues what has been a fire sale already this offseason, with Oakland trading third baseman Matt Chapman, first baseman Matt Olson, and starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to completely remake the look of their roster and start a rebuild for the future.

Oakland has already been collecting prospects in return for its top players, and that trend continues with this deal with the Padres.

Euribiel Angeles is a 19-year-old infielder who advanced to High-A last season. He was sitting at 12th on San Diego’s prospect list after slashing .329/.392/.445 between Low-A and High-A in 2021. MLBPipeline.com estimated his MLB debut coming in 2023, so Oakland fans will have to be patient to see the level of trade return with him.

Meanwhile, Adrian Martinez is much closer to an MLB appearance after making nine starts last season for Triple-A El Paso and logging a 5.28 ERA in 44.1 innings. The 25-year-old right-hander earned the call-up to Triple-A after dominating in Double-A, going 7-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 17 games (13 starts).

He will likely get a chance to pitch with the A’s this season as Oakland’s rotation now has plenty of question marks with the departure of Bassitt and Manaea.

There is also reportedly great interest from teams in Oakland starter Frankie Montas. However, reports have said that the A’s wanted to focus on Manaea first. Now, with Manaea on his way to San Diego, Oakland will likely shift its attention to the future of Montas in green and gold.