Rays, Padres Reportedly Working on Big Trade Involving Wil Myers (UPDATES: Could Get Bigger)

December 16, 2014, by Brett Taylor MLB News and Rumors

Say what you will about the San Diego Padres’ moves over the past few months, with the new front office taking over, but they’re definitely not boring.

To wit:

Sources: #Padres, #Rays discussing significant trade. Talks involve a number of players. Wil Myers would be main piece going to SD.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2014

Not known if SD-TB trade is close. Would involve some of #Padres’ better prospects and likely take them out of Justin Upton sweepstakes.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 16, 2014

This should be fun to follow and dissect, should something ultimately go down. Myers, 24, is a former top prospect who broke out with the Rays after a trade from the Royals (James Shields). He followed that breakout with a .222/.294/.320 disaster in 2014, including a wrist injury that cost him a chunk of the season.

Assuming Myers isn’t broken for good, he’d be a great pick-up for the Padres, who really want to add another bat in the outfield. The Padres also really want to contend in 2015, which may not be great for a fringe Wild Card type team like the Cubs. But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves on both fronts there.

An interesting bit on the mention of Upton: Jerry Crasnick reported, shortly before Rosenthal, that the Mariners were on the verge of acquiring a hitter. Any chance there’s a connection there? It’s possible, given that the Mariners have been known to want Upton for a long time.

UPDATE: Legs!

Sources: Significant optimism that Wil Myers to San Diego gets done. Said to be very close. @Ken_Rosenthal first mentioned the trade talks.
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— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2014

UPDATE 2: Now we’ve got some intrigue …

Sense among those in the know is that while Padres-Rays deal involving Wil Myers is straight-up, players dealt could be on the move again.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2014

Could be a similar situation to what happened with Andrew Heaney: traded to one team, onto another. GMs these days always five steps ahead.
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— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2014

What Passan means there is that there is a sense that other teams covet the players involved in the San Diego/Tampa Bay talks, and the Padres/Rays know it. So they could be acquiring players that they already know they can and will trade to other teams.

UPDATE: And sure enough, Marc Topkin makes it even more explicit:

Here's another element in #Rays–#Padres talks on Wil Myers – heard there is a possibility of a third team and thus even more names
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 17, 2014