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.
— 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.
— 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