NEWSLETTER
It was just recently that we were talking about how each of the top six teams in the National League have a theoretical weakness that could give them problems this year (some thinner than others), and the one for the San Diego Padres was the rotation.
Although they look strong at the front, with Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell, there are loads of questions from there, and not nearly as much high-quality prospect depth as they had before their trading binge of the last few years.
So, naturally, the Padres went out and signed the last remaining sure-fire starting pitcher on the market:
Wacha, 31, was reportedly holding out for a relatively well-paying two-year deal after posting a 3.32 ERA in Boston last year. The rub, and why his market probably stalled, is that the ERA came with mediocre peripherals, and it came after three straight seasons of kinda looking like he might be toast. I could understand some hesitancy by the market.
But even if he’s merely a league-average starter, that’d be a big lift to the Padres’ group. Which, if you’re hoping the Cubs can have multiple remote chances to make the playoffs, isn’t helpful for them.
