3 moves the Padres need to make before Spring Training starts

Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Padres Spring Training at the Peoria Sports Complex in just a few weeks and the 2024 roster is still anything but complete. They still have somewhere in the range of $25 million of space under the Competitive Balance Tax threshold to play around with.

Obviously, a few savvy moves are in order, and if we've learned anything over the last decade it's that AJ Preller knows how to make savvy moves. Of course, he also likes to make blockbuster trades that make everyone say the Friars have "won the off-season." So, here are three ideas that range from savvy to blockbuster as the Friars try to iron out their roster kinks.

1) Find Jesus

San Diego could still use another starting pitcher or two (maybe three). The Marlins have been dangling Jesus Luzardo as a trade option. You could do a lot worse than a 27-year-old who's set to make $5.5 million this year, has two additional years of contractual control, had a 3.58 ERA with 208 strikeouts in 178 innings in 2023, and throws with his left hand. All that begs the question:

Why would the Marlins want to trade him, especially with Sandy Alcantara likely to miss the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery?

The easy answer is their system is stocked with pitching. The Marlins have multiple young (read: inexpensive) arms they want to take a look at. What they need is more offense, especially on the infield.

Even with all the arms the Padres acquired in the Soto deal Luzardo would immediately slot into the rotation behind Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Michael King. Plus, it probably won't take a whole lot to get him out of Miami. There were reports that the Marlins were seriously entertaining a trade that would have sent Luzardo to Kansas City for 1st baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who doesn't exactly set the world ablaze with his bat or his hype. The trade proposal:

Padres get:
LHP Jesus Luzardo

Marlins get:
IF Jake Cronenworth
1B Nathan Martorella (Padres #11 prospect)

Parting with Cronenworth's contract would be a dream scenario for the Padres. Why would the Marlins do this? Because they don't have any proven shortstops at the moment. Cronenworth can play anywhere on the infield and, after a terrible start to 2023, legitimately looked like his 2-time All-Star self for a couple of months before being hit by a pitch and breaking his hand. Throw in Martorella, a slugging 1st base option who reached Double-A last year, and Miami ... who says they aren't in a rebuild ... can swallow Jake's deal and be a lot stronger up the middle.

2) Turn Prospects Into a Sure Thing: Trade for Arozarena

This falls squarely into the BLOCKBUSTER category.

In December the baseball world lit up for a few days because it looked like Tampa Bay was willing to trade superstar Randy Arozarena. That talk died down after the Winter Meetings and really hasn't picked back up again. Of course, really nothing big has happened since the Dodgers spent the GDP of Grenada on a few big-ticket free agents so don't be fooled into thinking the Rays have pulled their slugging left fielder off the market (keep in mind they got OF Jonny DeLuca in the trade for Tyler Glasnow and you don't trade a talent like Glasnow for a rotational outfielder so the pressure will be on for DeLuca to join Jose Siri and Josh Lowe as everyday players).

The Padres only have two outfielders on their 40-man roster (Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Azocar). They like young prospect Jakob Marsee, and rightfully so, but he's never had an at-bat above Double-A so asking him to man the outfield at Petco Park on Opening Day might be a bit too aggressive.

Arozarena is arguably the best big-game player in baseball today. In 33 career postseason games he's hit .336 with 11 home runs, 17 RBI, and 23 runs scored. He was a huge part of Team Mexico's unexpected run to the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic, putting up an absurd 1.507 OPS in six games. The more eyes on him, the better he gets, which makes me think he'll be a borderline Hall of Famer with the Padres.

The Rays, as consistently good as they are, don't draw many fans. If you add up their average attendance from the last three years they drew 41,227 fans per game. In 2023 alone the Padres averaged 40,389 a game at Petco Park. More energy in the building is very likely going to bring Playoffs Randy to the yard on a much more consistent basis.

He signed a 1-year deal worth $8.1 million for 2024 and still has two more years of contractual control so Arozarena is on the fringe of affordability. But, if you're going to replace a superstar like Juan Soto you might as well do it with another superstar, one I would argue fits the personality and clubhouse vibe in San Diego a lot better than Soto did anyways. Here's the trade proposal:

Padres get:
OF Randy Arozarena

Rays get:
OF Samuel Zavala (Padres #5 prospect)
RHP Drew Thorpe (Padres #6 prospect)
RHP Jairo Iriarte (Padres #7 prospect)
C Brett Sullivan

I threw Sullivan in there because Tampa Bay only has one catcher on its 40-man roster and probably wants a little depth option there. Zavala is a rising talent and Iriarte is just about big league-ready as either a starter or a reliever. I know Thorpe was just acquired from the Yankees in the Juan Soto trade and I know I'm in the minority here but I like Randy Vasquez a lot more.

Maybe it's because I've been through several trades where a star was dealt away for a package headlined by a top prospect with a suspect fastball and that pitcher just doesn't work out. Remember Casey Kelly? Probably not. He was the centerpiece in the Adrian Gonzalez deal. I was in Arizona when Curt Schilling was sent to the Red Sox for a prospect package built around Casey Fossum. Those two pitched to a career -2.4 bWAR and a big part was they didn't have a great heater. Thorpe has the same kinds of concerns about his #1 so I'm OK with dealing him while he still has top prospect status.

3) Old Guys Rule

With Cronenworth gone (per the first part of 3-step plan) the Padres have an open spot at 1st base, more payroll flexibility, and a need for some left-handed hitting. Go get Joey Votto.

Yes, he's 40 years old. Yes, his numbers have declined dramatically since he put up a Hall of Fame-caliber decade. Yes, he's had injury issues. No, I don't care, and not just because he's already in the interview HOF.

Votto says he's been rehabbing the ailments that have slowed him down and feels great physically. This doesn't strike me as a Matt Carpenter/Nelson Cruz scenario where both guys ended up being shot and bogging down the lineup. We saw Albert Pujols find the fountain of youth his final year in St. Louis. My gut tells me Votto can do the same thing. New Padres manager Mike Shildt saw more than his share of Votto across the field when he was the skipper in St. Louis. He's well aware of the leadership and culture building presence Joey carries with him.

Offer Votto a 1-year, $5 million contract with a whole truckload of incentives:

450 plate appearances: $500,000
130 games played: $500,000
All-Star Game appearance: $1 million

You get the picture. Make it clear that the Padres want him here, but they REALLY want the best version of a man who's going to make a very strong case to have a plaque in Cooperstown some day.

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