Padres Open to Trading Two Intriguing Players

The San Diego Padres sure have had a busy offseason, committing close to $380 million to their free agent signings. But there’s one thing GM A.J. Preller hasn’t been doing and that’s making huge trades. However, we’re still a few months away from spring training and the Padres may be starting to listen to trade offers for a couple of their players.

It seems like the Padres want to keep their intentions hidden from the public as The Athletic’s Dennis Lin is reporting that San Diego is open to talking about potential trades for either outfielder Trent Grisham or infielder Ha-Seong Kim.

Via The Athletic.

Publicly, the Padres have downplayed the possibility. Speaking with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal last week, Preller acknowledged he had received inquiries on Grisham and Kim. “With the Bogaerts signing, our intention is to play this position group together,” Preller added. “We like the flexibility and the versatility it gives our team.”

Industry sources, however, have indicated that San Diego is open to discussing either player — Grisham, in particular.

Well, hello.

So, the Padres are looking for some pitching because although the top of their starting rotation looks pretty good with Yu Darvish, (I’m still mad about that trade) Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell, they’re also relying on Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo to cover a lot of innings, which neither have consistently done during their MLB careers. The other glaring issue for San Diego is that Darvish, Snell, Martinez and Lugo can all become free agents following the 2023 season.

Enter the Cubs.

Now, I’ll admit that maybe this isn’t a perfect trade match because the Cubs don’t necessarily have a clear-cut starting pitcher available in a trade, but Keegan Thompson has proven to be a quality MLB pitcher, showing the ability to get outs as a starter and as a multi-inning reliever. You add Thompson to San Diego’s current starting group and it certainly alleviates some of the pressure on the back-end of the rotation.

Sure, the Padres could just sign one of the remaining free agent pitchers, but Lin also noted that the Padres aren’t particularly interested in spending more money this offseason. So, Thompson, who won’t be a free agent until after the 2027 season, and is still in pre-arb, would be a cheap alternative for San Diego.

But maybe that’s not enough, which is fair because San Diego has reportedly shown interest in Miami Marlins starting pitcher Pablo López, who has a better track record of success. However, even López is only under team control through 2024.

So, maybe if the Cubs are interested in either Grisham or Kim, maybe they offer the Padres Ian Happ? San Diego could use a more consistent-hitting outfielder, which Happ has shown to be in the last year and a half.

Grisham, 26, was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Padres after the 2019 season. The outfielder’s first year with the Padres was solid, posting an .806 OPS in 59 games during the short 2020 season. His numbers dipped in 2021, when he slashed .242/.327/.413, in 132 games and they got even worse in 2022. But Grisham has still been able to provide value because of his great defense.

Despite only having a .626 OPS this past year, he put up a 2.1 fWAR and won his second gold glove award in center field. Grisham is still relatively young and although he does strike out in a quarter of his plate appearances, he also draws his fair share of walks, with a career 10.9 BB%. He also has some pop in his bat, hitting 15 and 17 home runs in the last two seasons. Grisham will be eligible to hit free agency after the 2025 season.

As for Kim, the Cubs could potentially have one of the best defensive infields in MLB if they traded for him. The 27-year-old was a three-time gold glove winner in Korea and in 2022 Kim was a gold glove finalist at shortstop, after stepping in for Fernando Tatis Jr.

Kim had a 3.7 fWAR in 2022, and had a slash line of .251/.325/.383, with 11 home runs in 150 games. It’ll take a few players to get him because he’s also signed to an inexpensive contract, having two years and $14 million left and another $7 million option for 2025.

I would definitely love to see the Cubs explore a trade for one of Grisham or Kim. Would you? Let us know in the comments!