Baseball rarely wastes time turning a routine Padres roster decision into a potential revenge plot. Part of that is on the Padres considering how many former players are scattered across the majors.

They recently DFA’d Germán Márquez on August 5 to clear room for Robbie Ray. He was officially released three days later, and now the Minnesota Twins are bringing him aboard on a minor-league contract. The timing couldn’t be any more convenient. The Twins will visit Petco Park for a three-game set beginning August 21, giving Márquez a clear runway to make a Triple-A appearance and potentially join the Twins in San Diego. We’ve all seen enough of the sport to know where this script wants to go.

Germán Márquez could quickly go from Padres castoff to revenge-game threat

Márquez doesn’t need a month-long buildup. He was starting and working extended relief for the Padres before they cut him loose. On July 31, he delivered five scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Giants to record the first save of his career.  Four days later, he surrendered four runs and two homers in one inning against Arizona. He was then booted him off the roster the following day.

That two-appearance swing captured the entire Padres experience with Márquez. One week, he was a stabilizer. The next week, things could fly off the rails. When the Friars acquired Ray, the writing was on the wall for Márquez.

The decision made sense. He carried a 5.26 ERA and 1.49 WHIP across 48 innings. It would’ve been strange to see those numbers survive a deadline overhaul.

The Twins have options on how they’d like to deploy him if they call him up.They could use him as a starter, or deploy him in a similar piggyback role. He’s familiar and comfortable with both.

What is more interesting is Márquez’s history with the Padres. During his decade with the Rockies, he went 11-5 with 119 strikeouts in 21 career appearances against the Friars. His 4.87 ERA in those games doesn’t tell us that he was unhittable. But 11 victories against one opponent is nothing to sneeze at.

He also spent the entire season inside the Padres’ clubhouse. He knows their hitters, their tendencies and the way their coaching staff prepares. There’s nothing sinister about that familiarity, but it certainly won’t hurt Minnesota if it decides to put him on the mound during the series.

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