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Heading into the MLB offseason, the San Diego Padres are one of the more interesting teams across the entire landscape of the league. Following another poor outing in the playoffs, the Padres have a lot of questions to answer around the roster for next season.
Many of these are coming from the pitching staff, and the Padres could be looking at a reality where their starting pitching is depleted. Ace pitcher Dylan Cease is a free agent, same with right-hander Michael King.
Both players are expected to return to the team, and the Padres just lost star pitcher Yu Darvish for next season due to injury. The rotation is very thin right now, and it could see the front office look to be aggressive in adding this offseason.
San Diego has wanted to drop salaries in recent years, which has seen the franchise allow multiple players to leave the team. But this offseason, the Padres have to address this issue; otherwise, it could be another long season for them.
This is just a prediction, NOT a report!
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San Diego Padres Will Trade For Joe Ryan
As the Padres build out the offseason plan, the idea of them making a trade to address the pitching problems has grown much louder. One option could be for the team to go after pitcher Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins.
Minnesota held trade talks for Ryan at the trade deadline last season, and this could see them look to move him this winter. If he is made available on the trade front, the Padres could be one of the teams lined up at the forefront to land his services.
In 31 starts for the Twins this past season, Ryan posted an ERA of 3.42. The veteran pitcher also struck out 194 batters over 171 innings of work, showing some impressive skills on the mound.
If the Padres could add him to the rotation for next season, it could help offset some of the losses that the team is expected to have. Ryan has proved that he can be consistent on the mound, and the Padres’ rotation could heavily benefit from having him.
San Diego has to do something to keep up a solid rotation in place, and making a trade for someone like Ryan could be the move. The Padres have stayed away from big free agent signings, especially pitchers, in years past, so a trade could make more sense.
Ryan also has multiple years of team control on his current contract, and this could be a way for the Padres to have a cheap arm for the future. If anything, we can’t count out the Padres in a potential Ryan deal, especially considering how the team has operated in recent years.