Looking at Padres trade targets

There's a trade coming, at some point, to help boost the Padres offense. But what is that trade going to be? What will it bring back and what will it cost?

So, a funny thing happened. I predicted in the paywall section of yesterday’s post that today might be a day where we see A.J. Preller make an early trade. It’s an off-day followed by 11 straight games against NL West opponents, and something has to pull this team out of its tailspin besides time.

Then, this morning, Kevin Acee (who I have butted heads with several times but is definitely more plugged in than I am) dedicated the most important space in his newsletter to guaranteeing that the team would be trading for a bat soon. He even laid out a list of likely targets.

So, since trade targets are fun, let’s look at his list and assume it’s pretty close to A.J. Preller’s list. Then let’s see if we can add anyone to it.

• C/DH Wilson Contreras, Cubs

• 1B/OF/DH Trey Mancini, Orioles

• OF Andrew Benintendi, Royals

• 2B/OF Whit Merrifield, Royals

• OF Bryan Reynolds, Pirates

Okay, that’s a pretty great list to start with.

I want to go all-in on Whit Merrifield because of the versatility, which could come in handy if Preller also finds a taker for Eric Hosmer or Wil Myers, but his numbers this year paired with his age make him a pretty scary prospect (and not in the good way).

I’d be fine with Contreras, although it would be a sign that the Nola experiment is basically over. That’s also fine.

I still love the idea of adding someone with Bryan Reynolds’ skill-set, but I believe he’s the only one on this list that is still four seasons away from free agency. He would cost a ton, and I think there’s an okay reason to not give up a ton. More on that in a minute.

Any one of these guys would help the offense. Especially if adding them also, somehow, coincides with Eric Hosmer being taken out of the lineup. Maybe the Royals think bringing Hos back would make their fans happy and sell some jerseys/tickets?

I stated in Saturday’s mailbag post that I thought Charlie Blackmon made a ton of sense, despite being in the division, so toss that name on the pile too.

I still like Kevin Kiermaier, but he’s got the same concerns tied to him as Whit Merrifield in terms of his age and his production this year.

With people starting to talk about how safe A.J. Preller’s job would be if the Padres were to go through yet another collapse, I imagine he’s going to do literally everything in his power to try and alleviate the weaknesses of the 2022 team. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with, and when.