As is the case every year, Spring Training has brought a handful of significant pitching injuries. The Yankees have been hit the hardest. They that theyre losing to Tommy John surgery a week after went down for months with a lat strain. The Mets will open the season without or . The Mariners ( ) and Orioles ( ) will each begin the year without a pitcher who wouldve been in the upper half of their respective rotations. The injuries have reignited speculation about a Spring Training jolt to the trade market. A few fanbases are surely hoping their teams can line up with the Padres. San Diego Yadier Molina Jersey entertained interest in impending free agents and early in the offseason. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller has shown a willingne s to make significant trades at unconventional times on the calendar, including last springs deal to land Cease from the White Sox. That still seems unlikely. Preller indicated at that the teams focus was on retaining its rotation. That hasnt stopped teams from calling about the Padres top two starters. However, writes that King is virtually a sured of sticking with San Diego into the regular season. The door seems just slightly more open on Cease. Acee reports that the Padres would only consider moving Cease if the return includes a significant upgrade in one or more of their weakest lineup positions: catcher, left field, and designated hitter. Budgetary constraints limited the Padres free agent activity for most of the offseason. They moved late to add on an extremely backloaded four-year free agent deal. A few days later, they brought in on a $1.5MM contract. They could round out the rotation behind Cease, King, and . San Diego opted for low-cost acquisitions to fill out the lineup. is back on a $3.5MM contract to catch. They added and for a combined $2MM to work as the left field platoon. The Padres dont have a set designated hitter. Rotation depth is still a question. Hart is coming off a strong season in Korea, but he has 11 career MLB innings (which came five years ago). Injuries will force them to rely on the likes of , and throughout the season. Its hard to envision them trading Cease without netting at least one starting pitcher whod jump directly into their rotation. Other teams are presumably reluctant to part with a controllable starter and a significant lineup upgrade. Thats especially true at a stage of the offseason when they wouldnt have many options to backfill the lineup in free agency. King and Cease could be the subject of more realistic trade rumors in a few months depending on the teams place in the standings. Theyd be highly sought after rental targets if the Padres underperform in the first half. San Diego will almost certainly make qualifying offers to both pitchers if they dont deal them, but theyd land much stronger prospect returns in trade if they fall out of contention. Alfonso Rivas Jersey
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