San Diego Padres: Will They Win the NL West? SportyShades
New Post has been published on http://www.sportyshades.com/san-diego-padres-will-win-nl-west/
San Diego Padres: Will They Win the NL West?
Will Matt Kemp stay healthy in San Diego?
The San Diego Padres mean business this off-season, signing free agents and making trades for players all over the place. Last season, they were a roster full of nobodies, role players and young, up-and-comers. Now, they suddenly have an all-star caliber lineup and pitching staff. But is it enough to get them to win the NL West?
Matt Kemp is the biggest, household-name player the Padres have signed, but he’s definitely not the only player who will call San Diego home this season.
First, the Padres signed journeyman infielder, Clint Barmes. He’s no slouch. He’s under-used, has a lot of experience, and has some decent seasons under his belt. He won’t play full-time, we don’t think, but you mark our words: he’ll show flashes of game-saving, offensive brilliance.
More importantly, the Padres traded for Derek Norris, a young catcher with the Oakland A’s the past 3 seasons. He’ll be 26 this season, he already has experience catching top-notch pitchers, and he’ll be a .270-ish hitter with the potential to hit 20 HRs and drive in 80+ runs, especially being in the Padres’ new lineup.
Speaking of catchers, the Padres also got Tim Federowicz from the Dodgers along with Kemp. Federowicz is either an excellent backup to Noris or he’s (more) trade-bait for San Diego to wave at other teams.
The Padres also signed free-agent, Brandon Morrow, a talented pitcher with great stuff. He’s injury prone, so the Padres offered him a deal laden with incentives. Look for Morrow to have a breakout year in Petco Park.
Justin Upton was also acquired by San Diego in a trade with the Braves. To be clear, Justin Upton is the better of the two Upton brothers (BJ being the other one). Justin Upton is a beast, he’s only 127 years old, and with Kemp in the lineup with him, those two should feed off each other, pending Kemp staying healthy.
To finish the new picture in the Padres’ outfield, San Diego also managed to get Wil Myers away from the Tampa Bay Rays… somehow. Sure, San Diego traded away a bunch of prospects, but Wil Myers has already shown he can play in the big leagues, and he’s only 24 years old. With Upton, Kemp and Myers in the outfield, the Padres are solid on offense and defense. Even if Kemp does get hurt, Upton and Myers could easily live together in the San Diego outfield for another decade. That’s a scary thought to the rest of the NL West.
As if the above transactions weren’t enough, San Diego also traded catcher Ryan Hanigan to the Red Sox for third baseman, Will Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks was supposed to be the next big thing at third base for the Red Sox, but Boston finally gave up on him. Midlebrooks is only 26 and he has serious pop. With the protection – and new-found expectations and excitement – in San Diego, Middlebrooks could be on his way to a breakout season, too.
Grading the Padres New Roster
The bottom line is that the San Diego Padres dominated the headlines during Major League Baseball’s San Diego Winter Meetings. As a result of their dealings during the winter meetings, the Padres new roster is incredibly talented, deep and young to boot. The offensive improvements they have made are tremendous improvements, and opposing pitchers are no longer going to relish the opportunity to mow through the Padres lineup. The Padres are stacked with proven power as well as potential power.
Overlooking the Padres’ Pitching Staff?
Andrew Cashner is 28 years old and his ERA is 2.87 over the past two seasons, combined.
Tyson Ross will be just 27 this season – his ERA over the past 2 seasons is 2.95.
Ian Kennedy is 30 and he’s a solid starter. With the pressure on him if Cashner and Ross pitch as well as expected, Kennedy could revert back to his previous form of a sub-4.00 ERA.
Odrisamer Despaigne, as far as we know, will be 28 this season. In 16 starts in 2014, Despaigne held a 3.36 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP and 6+ strikeouts per 9 innings.
Robbie Erlin is a question mark, but he’s only 24. He’s young enough to develop into a quality starter, and he has good enough stuff to be trade-bait if the Padres want to make another deal.
There’s more to the Padres’ off-season story, but we’re going to let the rest unfold… like will Wil Myers get traded; will the Padres re-sign Josh Johnson… so stay tuned. But in our opinion, the Padres are absolutely committed and primed to win the NL West.