Padres Shake Up Offseason With Trade Acquisitions

In a seemingly overnight twist on what had initially been a pretty boring offseason, the San Diego Padres gave fans something to finally cheer about again. A.J. Preller generated buzz across the internet on Dec. 27, 2020, as news of SP Blake Snell being traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to San Diego hit Twitter. 

This came nearly three weeks after the Padres announced on Instagram that they had acquired OF Brian O’Grady from the Rays. Random, I know. 

The comments under that post were as follows: “I saw a TB hat and thought it was Snell lol,” “Snell next!” and “They misspelled Snell.” 

Evidently, Preller can take a hint. Heading into the 2021 campaign, the starting pitcher will be donning brown and gold alongside three other trade acquisitions that the Friars picked up immediately after signing Snell: Korean INF Ha-Seong Kim, and Chicago Cubs’ SP Yu Darvish and C Victor Caratini. 

The aftermath of Preller’s impressive handiwork has been pretty exciting.

Revised Projections 

To begin, FanGraphs Baseball did a reprojection of the 2021 Padres prior to even issuing one for the Pittsburg Pirates (sorry, Pittsburgh). Their thoughts on the Friars? They’re a team that could definitely give the Los Angeles Dodgers a run for their money. Barring any injuries, FanGraphs’ prediction of the NL West standings show the Padres and Dodgers finishing with 98 wins and 64 losses apiece. The Boys in Blue have slightly more positive divisional, wild card, playoff and World Series outcomes, but there’s no doubt that the Padres will be solid competition. 

Padres Twitter 

Aside from optimistic projections, the Padres new and improved roster has also jumpstarted Padres Twitter. Like the team, the Friars’ Twitter fanbase is lots of fun, which has become even more evident over the past weeks.

“It’s pretty awesome knowing Preller runs the Padres the same way I do in MLB The Show,” tweeted Brady Lim of the Friar Faithful Chronicle (@BradyLim619). 

Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) of CBS Sports also tweeted,“Leave it to the Padres to save baseball from the most boring offseason in recent history.”

My personal favorite? Keith’s (@keith_SD) tweet likening Dodger Stadium and Petco Park to the $600 and $2,000 stimulus checks, respectively. 

World Series Contenders 

After their most exciting and arguably most successful season in 2020, the Padres are ready to carry that momentum into the new year. The addition of these new faces doesn’t hurt. With their newfound pitching depth, consistent starters and the acquisition of another defensive utility guy, the Friars are looking at a thrilling upcoming campaign. 

America’s Finest City has suddenly become the swaggiest thanks to Snell and 2021 holds a lot of potential for the upstart Brown and Gold.

Photo courtesy of Nuccio DiNuzzo/MLB Photos