Things are looking sunny and bright in San Diego, and we’re not talking just about the weather. Earlier today the San Diego Padres acquired slugging outfielder Justin Upton from the Atlanta Braves in a six player trade. This trade has completed and transformed the Padres outfield.
Padres get:
OF Justin Upton
RHP Aaron Northcraft
Braves get:
LHP Max Fried
OF Mallex Smith
All via trades, the Padres have added Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, and now Justin Upton, making them have one of the best outfields in the whole league. Last season alone, Kemp and Upton combined to hit 54 home runs and drove in 191 runs. They should be able to help the Padres this season after being last in runs scored and 28th in home runs in the MLB.
A key factor for San Diego in all of these trades is the fact that Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy, and Tyson Ross all still remain on the team. A few weeks back it was stated that they were all available to be traded and that at least one, maybe two could get traded. Right now the Padres rotation remains very similar to last year’s and was clearly a strength of the team.
Overall, pitching was San Diego’s biggest strength, it was the offense that really struggled throughout last season. Having some good flashes of players like Tommy Medica and Seth Smith wasn’t enough to keep the Padres in contention. Things appear to be changing quickly, picture a middle of the lineup with Kemp, Upton, and Myers in that order.
Padres Possible Lineup:
Matt Kemp
Justin Upton
Wil Myers
Pitcher Spot
After winning the rookie of the year award in 2013, Wil Myers had a down year at the plate in 2014. He only managed to hit for a .222 average with 6 home runs. His WAR also took a generous drop from 1.9 in his rookie season to -0.9 last season. We all know the talent is there for Myers, he just has to put it together in a whole season and hope that a change of scenery will help him as well.
Matt Kemp had his best season in 2011 when he arguably should have won the MVP award over Ryan Braun. After 2011 Kemp has been fighting the injury bug, but last season he managed to play 150 games, the most he’s played in since 2011. Last season he batted for a .287 average with 25 home runs. A very intriguing sign is that Kemp is a .292 career hitter and the Padres will finally have a bona fide 3-hole hitter everyday in their lineup if he can stay healthy.
The newest of the three outfielders, Justin Upton had a great season in 2014 and one could argue that it has been his best season of his career surpassing his season in 2011 when he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Upton hit for a .270 batting average with 29 home runs and 102 RBI’s, a career high and the first time he reaches triple digits in RBI’s. Although his WAR was much higher in 2011 (6.6 WAR), Upton earned a 3.3 WAR in 2014, his highest since 2011.
The Padres are definitely in a win-now mode. The last time they appeared in a playoff series was in 2006 when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS 3-1. This team certainly will be competitive and have a chance to compete and reappear in the playoffs.
The most interesting thing in this situation is that the Padres now have too many outfielders. Seth Smith, Carlos Quentin, Will Venable, and Cameron Maybin are all still part of the roster. Look for the Padres to continue to make trades and fill other needs like the bullpen and bench. The starting pitching also remains a mystery, after San Diego signed pitcher Brandon Morrow, we could probably expect them to move at least one of their starters and bring back another good player.
The Padres front office is putting in good work this off-season and they still have flexibility and trade pieces to continue to improve their ball club. Keep an eye out on the NL West division this season, it will be much tighter.
Photo Credit: JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES
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