Should the San Diego Padres be ‘sellers’ in this offseason? USA Today says yes, they should.
USA Today Major League Baseball writer Bob Nightingale published an article titled 카지노“10 Biggest Questions Ahead of Next Week’s MLB Trade Deadline” on the 23rd, looking ahead to the major league transfer market.
The Padres, who have been underperforming despite aggressive investments this season, are also on the radar.
San Diego bled quite a bit to acquire Juan Soto. Photo: MK Sports DB
“There are still delusions of returning to postseason contention, but they’ve been a mediocre team all season, and there’s nothing magical about the second half,” the outlet said of the Padres.
San Diego has recently won back-to-back sweeps against the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers, but still finds itself in a tough spot.
With 24 games left to play, the Padres sit in fourth place in the National League West with a 48-51 record. They are 10 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. In the wild card race, they are 5.5 games behind the third-place Cincinnati Reds. It looks like a ‘tree they can climb’, but they have to get past the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins ahead of them.
USA Today advised that the Padres should “swallow their pride and trade All-Star outfielder Juan Soto”.
The Padres acquired Soto and first baseman Josh Bell in last summer’s trade, giving up Luke Voit, CJ Abrams, Mackenzie Gore, Robert Hassel, Harlin Susana and James Wood.
Abrams and Gore have established themselves as major league starters, while Wood is MLB.com’s No. 1 clubhouse prospect, Hassel is No. 5, and Susana is No. 6. For the Nats, who had one of the weakest prospect pools in the majors, the trade was a rainy day in a drought.
Soto is batting .268 with a .422 on-base percentage and .506 slugging percentage in 99 games through 24 games, but he is a free agent after the 2024 season and has shown no signs of extending his contract with the Padres.
Given that his agent is Scott Boras, it’s likely that he’ll be evaluated on the market rather than extend his contract.
If he’s going to be let go after next year anyway, the Padres should try to staunch the bleeding a bit with a trade, USA Today argues. However, the outlet adds that the Padres are showing no signs of unloading Soto just yet.
Instead, they are looking to trade players whose contracts expire after this season, including closer Josh Hader and starter Blake Snell.