NL West

The San Diego Padres are all-in on the 2021 season.

On Monday, Sahadev Sharma, Dennis Lin and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported the Padres are acquiring pitcher Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitcher Zach Davies and prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Yeison Santana and Ismael Mena.

The stunning move comes on the heels of another marquee trade involving a household name at pitcher.

Lin, Josh Tolentino and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Sunday that San Diego traded for pitcher Blake Snell, sending the Tampa Bay Rays Luis Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox.

The additions of Darvish and Snell means the Padres will have one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball:

• Yu Darvish
• Blake Snell
• Dinelson Lamet
• Chris Paddack
• MacKenzie Gore/Joey Lucchesi/Adrian Morejon/Ryan Weathers

What's more, they will have Mike Clevinger available in 2022 even though he will miss the 2021 campaign because of Tommy John surgery. Adding him to that group will make San Diego even better over the course of the next couple of seasons, which is surely concerning to the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego has won just one playoff series since it reached the World Series in 1998 but has the pieces in place to change that with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado leading the offense and Snell and Darvish spearheading the rotation.

Snell was the 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner who helped lead the Rays to last year's World Series, while Darvish was a Cy Young contender last season who helped lead the Cubs to a National League Central title.

Darvish finished the 2020 campaign with a 2.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 76 innings.

If he comes anywhere close to that in 2021, the Padres will be on the short list of championship contenders.

The San Diego Padres may not be done acquiring All-Star pitchers, with Yu Darvish reportedly on their radar. 

Per Dennis Lin, Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the Padres are "deep into talks" with the Chicago Cubs about Darvish that would include "multiple players" going to Chicago if the deal gets done.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported there is "growing optimism" the Padres will finalize a deal for Darvish "as soon as today." Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the Padres had agreed to the price the Cubs were asking for Darvish. 

Coming off their first playoff appearance since 2006, San Diego's front office is being aggressive in trying to maximize its roster's championship window.

Lin, Josh Tolentino and Ken Rosenthal reported Sunday night that the Padres have an agreement in place to acquire 2018 American League Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for Luis Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox. 

MLB.com's Jon Heyman noted that San Diego isn't among the teams on Darvish's 12-team no-trade clause on his contract, meaning the Cubs can deal him without needing his approval. 

The Cubs are among many teams in Major League Baseball that appear to be in cost-cutting mode this offseason. Kyle Schwarber was non-tendered a contract as he was heading into his final year of arbitration.

ESPN's Buster Olney reported in November that Chicago was willing "to move almost any veteran—as well as just about anyone from the core group of position players who won the 2016 World Series, including shortstop Javier Baez."

Darvish's $22 million salary in 2021 is projected to be the highest on the Cubs roster. The right-hander finished second in National League Cy Young voting last season. He went 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 76 innings. 

The dead of Major League Baseball's winter has been broken, courtesy of the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays.

Late on Sunday night, those two clubs came together on a five-player trade that will send 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to San Diego. 

In doing so, the Padres sent a warning shot across the bows of their competition in the National League West, including the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Meanwhile in the American League East, the Rays' rivals ought to be smelling blood in the water.

      

The Trade

Padres get:

• LHP Blake Snell: 28 years old and signed through 2023 for $40.8 million

Rays get:

• RHP Luis Patino: 21 years old and MLB.com's No. 23 prospect
• C Francisco Mejia: 25 years old and formerly a top-100 prospect
• RHP Cole Wilcox: 21 years old and formerly San Diego's No. 7 prospect
• C Blake Hunt: 22 years old and formerly San Diego's No. 14 prospect

      

What Snell Brings to the Padres

Even after losing Mike Clevinger (Tommy John surgery) for the 2021 season, the Padres had a darn good foursome of starters lined up in Dinelson Lamet, Zach Davies, Chris Paddack and Adrian Morejon.

In Snell, they now have a new No. 1 to round out their rotation.

He's only two years removed from breaking out as an ace with a 1.89 ERA, 221 strikeouts and 112 hits allowed in 180.2 innings. Even in "regressing" over the last two years, he's still posted a sturdy 3.96 ERA while whiffing 12 batters per nine innings.

Snell thrives on electric stuff, including a four-seam fastball that averages 95.1 mph with rising action. He also boasts two nasty breaking balls in his slider and curveball, which combined to hold opposing hitters to an .088 average in 2020.

Blake Snell, Filthy Slider/Curveball K Sequence. 🦖 pic.twitter.com/6foLXEjAyf

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 22, 2020

The catch with Snell is that he has yet to prove himself as a workhorse. He's averaged only 5.1 innings per start for his career, and he has logged at least seven innings only 13 times out of his 108 total outings.

Yet that could change now that Snell is no longer on the Rays, who've generally demanded few innings from their starters since 2018. Especially after he prematurely got the hook in Game 6 of the World Series, Snell himself might be coming to San Diego with a chip on his shoulder regarding his future workload.

If the Padres lengthen his leash accordingly, there will be little keeping him from contending for additional Cy Youngs.

       

What the Snell Trade Means for the Dodgers and the NL West

The Padres were tied atop the NL West as of August 1, but they never seriously challenged for first place after that, as the Dodgers racked up an MLB-best 43-17 record. Of course, the Dodgers also swept the Padres in the National League Division Series.

Yet the actual talent gap between the Dodgers and Padres was never that wide this past season.

Beyond going 37-23 in their own right, the Padres had an even better expected record based on how many runs they scored and allowed. Led by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., they were an elite team offensively (third in OPS+) and defensively (first in outs above average). Likewise, their hurlers ranked seventh in ERA and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings.

With Snell now aboard and uber-prospect MacKenzie Gore slated to join a homegrown core that already includes Paddack and Tatis at some point in 2021, the Padres look ready to retain their place among MLB's leading contenders next season.

While the Dodgers also have a spot in those ranks, they now face pressure to do something to maintain the buffer that existed between them and the Padres in 2020. 

Apart from their trade for one-time All-Star closer Corey Knebel, the Dodgers have done nothing to strengthen their roster for 2021. That's a problem, given that their list of free agents includes hitters Justin Turner, Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez and relievers Blake Treinen, Jake McGee and Pedro Baez.

Elsewhere in the NL West, none of the San Francisco Giants (29-31), Colorado Rockies (26-34) or Arizona Diamondbacks (25-35) finished above .500 in 2020. And right now, each of the three might be wary of committing resources to changing that next season.

The Giants could, but they look like more of a threat to spend big money next winter after their books clear up. The Diamondbacks seem content to bet on what they already have in-house, while the Rockies may well begin a rebuild with trades of Nolan Arenado and/or Trevor Story.

This is to say that the NL West will likely be a two-horse race between the Padres and Dodgers once again in 2021. And because Snell is sticking around through at least 2023, that may be the case for a while.

      

The Rays Just Opened Up the AL East

Despite beginning the season with MLB's third-lowest payroll, the Rays paced the American League with a 40-20 record in 2020. Their pitching, which yielded MLB's third-lowest ERA, was the driving force behind their success.

It's precisely because of Tampa Bay's budgetary limitations that Snell will be pitching for San Diego from now on. These limitations also contributed to fellow starter Charlie Morton signing with Atlanta.

The sting of these losses is undeniable. For while Patino and free-agent signee Michael Wacha are candidates to fill the voids left by Snell and Morton in 2021, the former has yet to establish himself, and it's been years since the latter resembled a top-of-the-rotation starter.

After finishing behind the Rays in 2020, the New York Yankees (33-27) and Toronto Blue Jays (32-28) should take note. With the right moves, either or both could leapfrog the Rays in the AL East's power structure.

Heck, even the Boston Red Sox might be able to do so despite their 24-36 finish in 2020. Combined with potential comebacks from J.D. Martinez, Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale, they might have a path to the top of the AL East in 2021 if they address their needs at center field, second base and on the mound.

The bright side amid all this for the Rays is that their farm system, which was arguably the best in baseball to begin with, is now even deeper after the Snell trade. But since the benefits of that will more likely be felt later than sooner, their glory days of 2020 could become ancient history in a hurry.

     

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

The San Diego Padres are hoping to build off their success in 2020 by reportedly agreeing to a deal with South Korean star Ha-Seong Kim, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

ESPN's Buster Olney previously reported the Padres were "taking a serious run" at the 25-year-old shortstop. 

The reported addition of Kim comes as San Diego is closing in on getting Blake Snell. Lin, Josh Tolentino and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Padres have an agreement in place with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire the 2018 American League Cy Young winner for Luis Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox

Kim made his debut in the Korean Baseball Organization as an 18-year-old in 2014. He was originally a third-round draft pick by the Nexen Heroes and spent five seasons with the team. 

Over the past two years, Kim (5'10", 172 lbs) has been the starting shortstop for the Kiwoom Heroes. He ranked 11th in OPS (.920), 12th in on-base percentage (.397) and 20th in batting average (.306) in 138 games during the 2020 season. 

In May, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America named Kim as the top Major League Baseball prospect playing in the KBO: 

"He is a good athlete with good instincts at the position and has the average arm strength to stay on the left side of the infield. He projects to be an above-average hitter and has enough power to hit 12-15 home runs per year in the majors. Kim is likely to face an adjustment period at the plate when he first arrives in the U.S., but he has the athleticism and twitch to adjust and eventually hit major league velocity."

The Padres aren't lacking for infielders at the moment. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. finished in the top four in NL MVP voting last season. Jake Cronenworth was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up after posting an .831 OPS in 54 games. 

Cronenworth primarily plays second base, but he played multiple infield positions last season. Kim will presumably be asked to play second base if he signs with the Padres because Tatis is entrenched at shortstop. 

The San Diego Padres are gearing up for another playoff run.

On Monday, Dennis Lin, Josh Tolentino and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Padres agreed to acquire starting pitcher Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Luis Patino, Francisco Mejia, Blake Hunt and Cole Wilcox, pending medical reviews.

That means Snell will join an already-formidable rotation for the next two years, as ESPN's Jeff Passan pointed out:

         

Padres 2021 Rotation

• Blake Snell
• Dinelson Lamet
• Zach Davies
• Chris Paddack
• MacKenzie Gore/Joey Lucchesi/Adrian Morejon/Ryan Weathers

Padres 2022 Rotation

• Blake Snell
• Dinelson Lamet
• Mike Clevinger
• Chris Paddack
• MacKenzie Gore/Joey Lucchesi/Adrian Morejon/Ryan Weathers

           

It should be noted Mike Clevinger will miss the 2021 season because of Tommy John surgery but is scheduled to return for the 2022 campaign and add another formidable arm to the rotation.

The Padres made the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season, which was their first postseason appearance since the 2006 campaign. They also have won just one playoff series since they went to the World Series in 1998.

They have a win-now roster in place with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and a starting rotation with a high ceiling after the addition of Snell to a group that already had Dinelson Lamet and Zach Davies.

Snell won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award when he was on the Rays and finished the 2020 campaign with a 3.24 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 63 strikeouts in 50 innings. He also pitched well in the playoffs with a 3.03 ERA and helped lead the Rays to the World Series.

While his Fall Classic will be best remembered for Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash's decision to pull him early in the team's Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Snell is a postseason-tested veteran who can anchor San Diego's rotation into October.

Having him available with some of the younger players and forming a one-two punch with Clevinger in 2022 should help the Padres compete with the Dodgers and others in the National League West.

The San Diego Padres are desperately looking for starting pitching after Mike Clevinger was shut down for the season to recover from a second Tommy John surgery, but the hunt for his replacement hasn't been easy.

According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the team is considering trading to secure an arm, and they've chatted with the Chicago Cubs about a deal for ace Yu Darvish, who was the runner-up to Trevor Bauer for the NL Cy Young Award in 2020.

Acee reported that there's mixed indication regarding "how far along those talks are." 

Darvish, who finished with 123 points in the Cy Young voting compared to Bauer's 201, went 8-3 through 12 starts in 2020, with 93 strikeouts and 14 walks en route to a 2.01 ERA. He earned seven consecutive wins while giving up one run or less from July 31 to Sept. 4 of this year. 

After an injury-plagued 2018, Darvish struggled through the first half of 2019, compiling a 5.01 ERA. After the All-Star break, he composed a 2.76 ERA and fanned 118 with seven walks through 81.2 innings. 

With Clevinger sidelined, the Padres will promote Dinelson Lamet (3-1, 2.09 ERA, 93 SO, 20 BB in 2020) to the top starter, followed by Zach Davies, who was traded to San Diego from Milwaukee last year, and third-year starter Chris Paddack. 

The Padres were among the teams considered to be finalists in landing 28-year-old Japanese star Kohei Arihara but joined the Boston Red Sox in losing out when he signed a two-year deal worth between $6 million and $7 million with the Texas Rangers on Friday.

San Diego is also considering Tomoyuki Sugano, a two-time MVP in Japan's Central League, though the 31-year-old reportedly carries a more expensive price tag than Arihara and must sign with a MLB team before Jan. 7. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly have signed free-agent relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle, who spent the past three-plus seasons with the New York Yankees, to a two-year contract. 

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the news Wednesday.

Kahnle underwent Tommy John surgery in August to repair damage to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his throwing arm. His potential availability for the start of the 2021 season is unknown.

The 31-year-old right-hander pitched a scoreless inning in his only appearance of 2020. He posted a 3.67 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 88 strikeouts in 61.1 innings across 72 appearances in 2019, which represented an important bounce-back campaign after his 6.56 ERA in 2018.

He was a fifth-round pick of the Yankees in the 2010 MLB draft. He didn't make it to the major leagues during his first stint with the organization, though.

The Colorado Rockies selected Kahnle in the 2013 Rule 5 draft and he proceeded to make the club's big league roster in 2014. After two middling years in Colorado, he started to transform into a key bullpen assets across two seasons with the Chicago White Sox.

He compiled a 2.63 ERA for the South Siders in 2016 and held a 2.50 ERA when the White Sox traded him to the Yankees in July 2017.

In all, Kahnle owns a 3.82 ERA with 344 strikeouts in 277.2 innings across 285 MLB games.

Once healthy, he should slot in as a middle-innings reliever as part of a strong Dodgers' bullpen headlined by Kenley Jansen, Victor Gonzalez and Brusdar Graterol.

The San Diego Padres are reportedly a "possible suitor" if the Chicago Cubs decide to trade starting pitcher Yu Darvish before the 2021 season. 

Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported the news Wednesday:

The #Padres are one possible suitor for Yu Darvish, as I mentioned on @MLBNetwork a few moments ago. San Diego has high-end prospect depth from which to trade, and A.J. Preller knows Darvish well from their time together with the #Rangers. #MLBNHotStove

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 23, 2020

Although Darvish's name has been floated in trade talks, the chances of him actually being moved by Chicago are "very low," a source told the MLB Network's Jon Heyman on Monday.

Darvish is coming off a terrific 2020 campaign. He posted a 2.01 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 93 strikeouts in 76 innings across 12 starts during the coronavirus-shortened season.

The strong numbers represented something closer to what the Cubs expected when they signed him to a six-year, $126 million contract in February 2018. He posted a modest 4.16 ERA in 39 appearances across his first two years in Chicago, including a 2018 season hampered by injuries.

"I feel weird," Darvish told Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago in August. "Most people when you get old, you lose [velocity] and a lot of stuff, but I feel really good, more than when I was 25, 26. So I feel weird."

The 34-year-old Japan native is under contract through 2023, and the Cubs are once again a strong bet to make the playoffs, so it's hard to imagine there's any urgency to trade a starter with ace-level stuff.

That said, the Padres do make a lot of sense should Chicago's front office begin to rework the roster following the departure of former president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.

San Diego emerged as a championship contender last season thanks to an offense led by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Wil Myers. Dinelson Lamet and Zach Davies were formidable leading the starting staff, and Chris Paddack should bounce back from his 4.73 ERA, but the rotation could still use a boost.

Acquiring Darvish without giving up any of the prospects who've already graduated to key roles on the major league roster may be the type of move that could help the Padres overcome the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the National League pennant.

Even without that type of blockbuster, San Diego is still right there with L.A. and the Atlanta Braves as the top teams in the NL heading into 2021.

While Nolan Arenado is widely expected to stay in Colorado, multiple teams have reportedly considered pulling off a complicated three-way trade for the third baseman.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Monday that "several" teams have considered being a "way station" for Arenado.

"Here's how it would work: The team would take a player it believes has an onerous contract and deal him to the Rockies for Arenado. The team that acquires Arenado then would flip him—and cash from what it saved by ridding itself of the bad deal—to a third team for prospects," Passan wrote. 

Arenado has six years and $199 million remaining on his contract, making him nearly impossible to trade during an offseason where teams have been penny-pinching amid the COVID-19 pandemic. His surprising regression in 2020 also plays a factor in teams being unwilling to pay more than $33 million per year for a distressed asset.

The overwhelming odds are that Arenado returns to form in 2021. His 48-game sample last season amounts to an extended slump, which could have easily been course-corrected over a typical campaign. He doesn't turn 30 until April and is coming off an eighth-straight Gold Glove. He's still really good, even in non-MVP-caliber seasons.

The Rockies remain interested in moving Arenado in large part because they have no immediate avenue to contention and will likely struggle to compete in the NL West for at least a couple seasons. Paying Arenado limits their flexibility elsewhere on the roster, and they might benefit from shoring up their farm system if a team decides to go all in. 

The San Francisco Giants announced they have agreed to a one-year deal with pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the contract is expected to be in the range of $6 million. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported the two sides were nearing a deal Wednesday.

The 30-year-old is coming off a miserable 2020 season in which he produced a 7.22 ERA in nine appearances for the Cincinnati Reds. He had 25 strikeouts with 16 walks in his 33.2 innings.

DeSclafani was much better in 2019 over a full season, finishing 9-9 with a 3.89 ERA and a career-high 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

The right-hander has a 4.29 career ERA and has been a reliable back-end starter, which could make him a sleeper in this class despite a disappointing last season.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports also noted the pitcher changed his slider last season with plenty of success, causing swings and misses on 36 percent of pitches while opponents hit just .190 against it.

If DeSclafani can get his fastball back on track, he could be set for a bounce-back season in 2021.

This could be a nice addition for a San Francisco team that has a lot of question marks about its pitching staff going into next season.

Johnny Cueto had just a 5.40 ERA last year, while Tyler Anderson and Trevor Cahill are both free agents. Logan Webb also hasn't proved he can handle a starting role in the majors. 

It leaves Kevin Gausman and a lot of unknowns for a 29-31 team seeking a return to the postseason after falling short in four straight seasons.