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Hacksaw’s Trading Deadline Day Show
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“PADRES-WIN TRADING DEADLINE DAY”
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AJ Preller at the poker table has no-fear.
No hesitation either at the trade table.
You sense he lives for days like Thursday.
There were a record 70-trades made at the Trading Deadline.
The Padres stole the thunder, cleaning out their farm system for the 4th time in Preller’s 10-years, this time to fill out the holes on his Padres roster.
The new look Friars will have lots of new faces in the lineup returning to the field for Friday night’s game as they continue their pursuit of the 1st place Dodgers.
When he was done with cell phone calls, with texts, with zoom meetings, Preller had engineered 5-more trades.
He dealt away 11-prospects including 9-of his top 30-rated players. Among those who exited were their #1 prospect, the 18-year old shortstop Leonardo DeVries and top rated Class A-pitcher Boston Bateman.
The shopping spree cost him some depth, with two of his finds, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert, plus utilityman OF-Brandon Lockridge used as bargaining chips. There were 4-for-2 and 6-for-2 deals.
When he finished at the deadline, the Padres GM had added another closer Mason Miller from the A’s, who could be a starter next year. He added a back of the rotation starter JP Sears.
In need of a catcher, here comes ex-Royal Felix Fermin.
The holes in the batting order will be filled by power hitting Ryan O’Hearn and OF-Ramon Laureno, who hit for average and popped some homers in Baltimore.
And he added an insurance policy starter in former Yankees lefthander Nestor Cortes, once he comes off the DL.
He finished with a minor league prospect infielder Will Wagner via Toronto
The wheeling and dealing comes at a price, beyond trading away alot of the future. The Padres take on another (4.7M) in salaries this year, meaning a higher luxury tax bill coming in October.
If Preller’s shocking day of trades were one thing, the fact he still has Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez on the roster is equally stunning. Maybe he could not find the right buyer. Maybe no one wanted to over pay for 2-months of rentals for the two pitchers before they hit free agency in November.
Maybe this team, now loaded top to bottom, will try and get a World Series ring for Peter Seidler’s memory. Maybe they let Cease and Suarez leave, thereby clearing (24M) payroll space in the off season. Maybe too, the game plan is Mason Miller goes back to being a starting pitcher to replace Cease in the rotation next year.
But first things first. Enjoy what the hot-lava GM did. Let’s see if they can make Dodger Blue really blue in the postseason. Let’s see if there are World Series games at Petco Park.
Preller is different. Preller is unorthodox. Preller is relentless. Let’s see if Preller can do what has never been done before. He’s won the Trading Deadline before. He’s won the Winter Baseball meetings. Let’s see now if he can deliver a World Series ring to cap off what’s going on at the corner of Tony and Trevor-Petco Park.
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