Padres trade frenzy continues, seven-player deal with Mariners completed
Credit: AP Photo
The Padres and Mariners agreed upon a seven-player deal late on Sunday night.
The San Diego Padres are a team of relevancy in 2020.
After years of an abusive relationship with their fan base, the team recently blessed the people of San Diego with a total commitment to winning it all. Free-agent signings of Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado in back-to-back off-seasons were a clear sign that this is no longer your father’s Padres.
In the last 24-hours, A.J. Preller traded for Mitch Moreland from the Boston Red Sox for Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario. San Diego also obtained Jason Castro from the Los Angeles Angels for Gerardo Reyes. The team is serious about contending, and the franchise is once-again, showing a commitment to success. There were issues at the catcher’s position, and the team addressed them this weekend.
Late on Sunday, the Mariners and Padres agreed upon a seven-player deal in which Austin Nola, Dan Altavilla, and Austin Adams were all obtained by the Padres for Ty France, Taylor Trammell, Andres Munoz, and Luis Torrens. A steep price for a trio of players that most casual fans are not educated upon.
Neither of the three players acquired by the Padres comes with a massive pedigree of long-term success. If you don’t follow the game closely, you would have a hard time justifying their value.
Each player is enjoying recent success at the major-league level and capable of taking their game to the next level. They are pieces to the puzzle for a team on a quest for a championship. Nola is the big acquisition for the Padres as he is statistically the best hitting catcher in the Major Leagues right now. The right-handed hitter, teamed with a left-handed hitting Jason Castro means that the Padres have an excellent duo behind the plate. The future of Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia is cloudy at best.
Nola, in 300 plus major league at-bats, holds a .827 OPS. The right-handed hitter is versatile and can play first base and second base if needed. The 30-year-old played eight years in the minors and knows what it takes to become a major leaguer. He is a gamer and could see time all over the field in this modern era of the game, where players are expected to be able to perform at multiple positions during a game.
7-player deal, going to be finalized tonight, per source:
Padres get: C Austin Nola, RHP Dan Altavilla, RHP Austin Adams
Mariners get: IF Ty France, OF Taylor Trammell, RHP Andres Muñoz, C Luis Torrens
And no, the Padres aren’t done trying to maneuver.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) August 31, 2020
Altavilla and Adams strengthen the bullpen after the loss of Kirby Yates. The Padres want a veteran option in the pen and these two men provide that for San Diego.
The Padres may have traded an excellent crop of young players, but the major league team has easily improved. When you are in search of a championship trophy, you need to make deals like this. A.J. Preller shows that he is not afraid to make a trade. Expect more from the young G.M. as the trade deadline is Monday afternoon.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
Any team with some mediocre players on their roster they would like to swap for high ceiling prospects should be calling A J Preller.
That just happened. Preller just got swindled by the Indians. He gave up a stunning amount for a guy who WAS very good, but now…not so much.
I think the team chemistry was just blown up! A significant move at the deadline was hoped for but… this is beyond ridiculous! France was coming into his own this year. Quantrill seemed to be figuring things out. I’m wondering if Preller will blame the players for “not coming together”.
I saw how yesterday’s trade and the previous could all be tied together going forward. I didn’t like it but I could see it. Now, with this too! I think Preller has gone too far! We’re an older team with more redundancy and experience but… I think too much youth was taken from the club and farm. I see this not only hurting now but for years to come.
Of course, everyone with the team will HAVE to say positive things. Which is too bad. Because I cannot believe the players are happy to have the team blown up and replaced with all these new faces. I’m envisioning a skid of 2-8 over the next 10 games due to this disruption. I’ve been a Padre fan since their expansion in ‘69. I had high hopes for the next 6-10 years of winning baseball. I hope we have enough to still make that happen.
Honestly though, I now hope the Pads slide enough to miss the playoffs in the asterisk year and AJ is terminated.
I’m glad you’re happy with this trade. I’ll give this a couple days. I can see how the moves all fit together going forward for the MLB team. However, my fear of AJ mortgaging the future for an asterisk playoff birth appears to have come true.
Unfortunately, when AJ gets fired (finally) he will have stripped us of some good young players. He’s trading to keep his job by winning this year. I’m NOT a Preller fan and I’ve gone past that point now.
The Mariners will be giving their GM a nice bonus and extension.
Yes, the Mariners leveraged a couple of average-to-good-ish guys into a lot of capital, as did the red sox. That is easy when dealing with a desperate GM. How do Moreland and Nola and Castro fit? Nola is not a catcher (i.e. he is not good at his position, at least throwing out runners), so, first base? Trading for a DH? That is the easiest position to fill, and a nice luxury to rotate giving players off defensively, now that is gone. If Preller were going to get rid of Hosmer with this trade then it might make sense to some degree. France was as good, if not far better offensively as Nola, and maybe better defensively; and they gave up Trammel, plus more? I shudder to think what he will give up in the next 14+ hours. Please kidnap Preller until 1pm tomorrow!!