It's been a wild offseason and the San Diego Padres have been a big part of it. The MLB club traded away a number of its contributing players (Craig Kimbrel, Joaquin Benoit, Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko) in an attempt to start rebuilding. Rumors suggest that could only be the beginning of their long-term plan.
The Pads still have a number of valuable contributing veterans, specifically James Shields, Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and Derek Norris. Shields, Ross and Cashner have been the subject of trade rumors for a while due to the need for starting pitching throughout the MLB. Ross has been the most attractive option among those interested teams because he's under club control through 2017.
Cashner, who is owed $7.15 million in 2016, will become a free agent after the upcoming season. Shields will likely be the hardest player for the Padres to trade because the veteran will make $64 million through the 2018 season.
However, there's also a demand for catchers, so Norris could be an attractive trade target for other clubs. The soon-to-be 27-year-old is under club control through the 2018 season and the Pads have rookie Austin Hedges who could soon be capable of taking over as the team's starting backstop.
"The market for catchers is extremely thin, which is why the Brewers' Jonathan Lucroy is so attractive, and at some point, the Padres could get something good for Derek Norris," writes ESPN's Buster Olney. "Pitchers Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner will have varying degrees of value, based on their performance and, just as importantly, how much they pitch; rival evaluators are mostly concerned about the risk of injury when they assess Ross and Cashner."
Olney also says Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte could be profitable trade assets if they play well during the first half of 2016.
The bottom line is that there will be MLB clubs looking for help at the trade deadline. At this point it doesn't seem awfully likely the Padres are going to move one of the aforementioned players before the start of the baseball year because they don't want to completely throw away the season and/or they need to wait for some of those players to re-establish their value.
Barring a miracle, the Padres will be the subject of various trade rumors between Opening Day and Aug. 1 (the non-waiver deadline). Ross and Norris should carry the most value, but don't be surprised if there's also a good amount of interest in Shields, Cashner, Myers and Solarte, as all of them are certainly capable of contributing effectively at the MLB level.
"With a weak free agent class on the horizon, the Padres should continue pursue future opportunities to swap veterans for prospects, restocking their farm system while subtly weakening their major league team for the season ahead - and theoretically improving their position for the draft and draft dollars in 2017," Olney adds.
The good news is that the Pads have three draft picks in 2016 after losing Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy, so the future isn't looking so bleak if the club can capitalize on adding the best young talent possible in both the draft and via trade.
