This season has been like the Twilight Zone for Padres fans.
Usually the offense is holding back a solid Padres pitching staff, but this year it’s the other way around. And today, two Opening Day starters got traded to the Miami Marlins.
Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea, along with minor league relief pitcher Tayron Guerrero, went to the Marlins in a seven-player trade with Josh Naylor, Jarred Cosart, Carter Capps and Luis Castillo coming to the Padres organization.
Cashner has struggled this season but his last three starts have been his best of the year. The 29-year old right-hander is 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA in 16 starts. The former first rounder drafted 19th overall by the Chicago Cubs in 2008 has struggled with location this season.
So has 26-year old righty Colin Rea. In 19 games (18 starts), Rea is 5-5 with an ERA of 4.98. The Indiana State University product had spent his entire career in the Padres organization after being drafted in the 12th-round in 2011.
Tayron Guerrero is the final Friars piece heading to Miami. The 25-year old minor league relief pitcher has 32 outings between the Padres Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso teams. The Columbia native made his Major League debut this season with a relief appearance against the San Francisco Giants in May. Guerrero went two-innings giving up three-hits and one earned run taking the loss.
In return, the Padres are continuing to add pitching depth and an infielder.
Local
Carter Capps has four-years of big league experience between the Marlins and Seattle Mariners. The 25-year old relief pitcher is currently on the 60-day disabled list after undergoing season ending Tommy John surgery this March. Capps has a career 3.99 ERA with 23 hold and has only given up 15 home runs in 135.1 innings pitched.
Jarred Cosart is the one who should make the quickest impact with his new club. With Cashner, Rea, Drew Pomeranz and James Shields all gone (along with Opening Day starter Tyson Ross who’s on the DL), Cosart is expected to slide into the new Padres rotation with Christian Friedrich, Luis Perdomo, Edwin Jackson and Paul Clemens.
In 58 MLB games, Cosart is 16-18 between the Houston Astros and Marlins with 3.69 ERA. His time in the big leagues has had mixed results but the 26-year old who is 3-5 with a 4.14 ERA this season gives the Padres options.
The Padres also get two Single-A players in pitcher Castillo and infielder Naylor. Castillo was named a 2016 Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star and is ranked as the Marlins number six prospect by MLB.com. He’s 7-3 with a 2.25 ERA racking up 84 strikeouts with just 15 walks this season.
Infielder Naylor was named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star after hitting .269 with nine home runs, 54 RBI and 42 runs scored in just 89 games in Greensboro. The 19-year old who the Marlins drafted 12th overall in 2015 was Miami’s number one prospect according to Baseball America and the 100th overall prospect.
In addition to players, the Padres are essentially paying the salaries of Cashner and Rea for the rest of the season and the Marlins are doing the same with Capps and Cosart.
