Padres News: Writer Predicts Friars Trade for All-Star Starting Pitcher From Athletics

Friars could look to stack their roster even more with this move.

Your San Diego Padres have done an excellent job of filling out their roster these past few seasons and they have very few weaknesses from top to bottom. Their payroll has definitely reflected their efforts but which championship aspirations being spread all throughout the franchise, they are doing what needs to be done.

However, in order to capture a World Series ring, everything has to go right and weaknesses cannot reveal themselves as the year goes on. Despite the Friars coming away with one of the best hauls out of all MLB teams this past offseason, they also lost some key guys that made their pitching staff strong. If not for the late addition of Michael Wacha, their six-man rotation may not have formed itself officially.

Joe Musgrove's freak injury has made things quite interesting again for San Diego's front office. Despite his reassurance that he will be back as soon as possible and Bob Melvin's positive attitude regarding his recovery, you never know when it comes to these types of timelines. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter certainly thinks they will make a big trade this season and makes a specific prediction his latest article.

"The Padres could find themselves in the market for another rotation piece by midseason," said Reuter. "Paul Blackburn was the Oakland Athletics' lone All-Star representative last season, going 6-5 with a 3.62 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 97.0 innings during the first half, but injuries limited him to just three starts after the break."

It would be quite interesting if the Padres do make a move for Blackburn and allow their roster to have even more backup. The Friars are always looking to retool their lineups and Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove would greatly appreciate having more pitching talent.