A.J. Preller is looking to work his magic yet again.
The San Diego Padres general manager is looking to make moves to improve a roster that won 93 games and took the Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink in the National League division series. Given salary constraints, it appears Preller will need to make trades to improve a roster that already has some holes.
So far this offseason, the Padres have seen catcher Kyle Higashioka land with the Texas Rangers, while reliver Tanner Scott, outfielder Jurickson Profar and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim have all hit free agency. San Diego also has three key pieces entering the final years of the contracts, as batting champ Luis Arraez and starting pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael King will hit free agency after the 2025 season.
With that in mind, it wasn't shocking to hear reports that Preller was in trade discussions during baseball's Winter Meetings. On Wednesday night, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported the Padres were listening to offers for several of their "stars."
The names Heyman mentioned were Cease, Arraez and Xander Bogaerts.
The Padres are 'listening' on their star players, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/S9d0XYjwn4
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) December 11, 2024
Cease and Arraez are both projected to make around $13 million in arbitration this year. Meanwhile Bogaerts will be entering the third season of an 11-year, $280 million deal that carries an average annual value of $25.45 million. Moving any of those guys would give the Padres a lot of payroll flexibility.
Moving Bogaerts will prove to be difficult given the size of his contract and his diminished play. He has struggled with injuries since arriving in San Diego Bogaerts has slashed .276/.332/.415 with 30 home runs and 102 RBIs while playing in 266 games over two seasons. He has posted 5.6 WAR in that time, but has not reached the heights he did with the Boston Red Sox. The five-time Silver Slugger winner might need a change of scenery.
The Padres landed Cease in a trade with the Chicago White Sox at the end of spring training and he went on to have an excellent season. He went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 224 strikeouts against 65 walks in 189 1/3 innings. He also threw the second no-hitter in Padres history. Given the astronomical cost of starting pitching so far this offseason, Cease is a wildly-attractive trade candidate, even as a rental.
San Diego traded for Arraez in early May, bringing him over from the Miami Marlins. He went on to win his third consecutive batting title, hitting .314 with 200 hits and an on-base percentage of .346. Arraez brings very little power to the table, but he puts the ball in play as well as anyone in baseball.
The Padres have attractive players to move, and given the money being doled out in free agency, their available pieces come relatively cheap.
Preller is baseball's most prolific dealmaker. We'll see what he can come up with.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Padres 'Listening' to Trade Offers for Several Impact Players.
