Five Possible Trade Destinations for Tyson Ross
Credit: AP Photo
The San Diego Padres are going to trade Tyson Ross.
Well, they hope so at least.
Ross held the Pirates to two earned runs over six innings in his last outing. After two injury-marred seasons, performances like that have continued what has been a bounce-back campaign for the right-handed hurler.
Ross has compiled a 3.35 ERA through nine starts while striking out 55 in 53.2 innings. His performance so far has helped stabilize what has been a young, unproven starting rotation for the Padres in 2018.
In December, Ross signed a minor league deal with the Padres worth $1.75 million in base salary and $4.25 million in incentives that kick in after every fifth start. The contract, combined with his production, has sparked speculation that he could be used as trade bait come the deadline in July.
With that in mind, take a look at the five most likely teams to acquire his services.
The search was narrowed by excluding teams that are not likely to be in playoff contention come the July trade deadline.
That included the following teams:
1. Kansas City Royals
2. Baltimore Orioles
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Texas Rangers
5. Detroit Tigers
6. Cincinnati Reds
7. Miami Marlins
The next group includes the Padres’ divisional opponents. While it’s certainly not impossible to trade him to these teams, it is very unlikely.
8. Los Angeles Dodgers
9. San Francisco Giants
10. Colorado Rockies
11. Arizona Diamondbacks
This is a group of teams that don’t exactly have a need for starting pitching. The Astros have five pitchers that could be slotted toward the front of any rotation in the big leagues. The Cardinals seem to have an endless supply of young starting pitching. The Red Sox have a solid rotation with some depth to follow. The Cubs have five big league-caliber starting pitchers, but if one of them were to go down, they would be a logical landing spot for Tyson Ross.
12. Houston Astros
13. St. Louis Cardinals
14. Boston Red Sox
15. Chicago Cubs
This process has already eliminated half of the league, but this is where it gets difficult. Any of the fourteen teams left could potentially make a run at Tyson Ross if the right circumstances arose. I don’t expect the Rays and all their rotation gymnastics to be competing deep into the year. The A’s, Blue Jays, and Twins have a shot, but it’ll be an uphill climb.
The Mets are showing they lack the required depth to win over the course of a 162-game season. Although, with Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom at the top of their rotation, they should not be counted out. The Brewers could be a fit, but they have some arms they like over there. Ross would have to be enough of an upgrade to justify sacrificing a prospect to acquire him. The Indians, Nationals, and Yankees are all in win-now mode. They all theoretically could slot Ross in towards the back of their rotations and hope he continues to have an impact come the post-season.
Maybe:
16. Tampa Bay Rays
17. Oakland A’s
18. Toronto Blue Jays
19. Minnesota Twins
20. New York Mets
21. Milwaukee Brewers
22. Cleveland Indians
23. Washington Nationals
24. New York Yankees
That leaves us with five teams:
25. Seattle Mariners
26. Los Angeles Angels
27. Pittsburgh Pirates
28. Philadelphia Phillies
29. Atlanta Braves
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I’ve been a Padres fan for most of my life. I am currently a Baseball Video Scout Associate at Sports Info Solutions. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University in December of 2016. My grandfather, Ed Kirkpatrick, played Major League Baseball in the 60’s and 70’s. He played for several teams including the Angels, Royals, Brewers, Pirates, and Rangers.
I think they should sign him to a one year extension. He isn’t going to fetch anything close to what he is worth because he is on a one year deal. We’d be giving him away for a single A player, we don;t need anymore single A players.
I love the idea of trading him in July for a prospect and then signing him to a 2-3 year deal this offseason.
Take out Seattle. They do not have the prospects necessary to acquire Ross. Take out the Braves. They have plenty of pitching not currently in the rotation (Gozara, Sokara and others).
Insert Milwaukee. Suter belongs in the bullpen. Davies is nothing more than a #5 SP. They could trade for a SP and still have a spot in the rotation when Nelson returns. Plus they have some chips to trade.
I don’t think Ross will cost more than one decent prospect with his injury history. I’m sure Preller can find some unheralded teenager he likes in the Mariners system. I mentioned the Braves because I thought they might want to protect their younger pitchers from throwing too many innings this year. I think Milwaukee will acquire a starting pitcher. I just think it’ll be someone with more control.
I think that the Padres should not be afraid of trading Ross within the division since he is on a one year deal anyway.
I don’t think the Padres would have an issue with it at all. I just think the teams in the division would be reluctant to part with anything worthwhile to the Padres. Always a little harder to match up with divisional opponents.
Well done post, thanks Kenny