Padres Rumors: Lucas Giolito Return Proves Friars Should Sell Pieces at Deadline
In case you missed it, there was huge news across MLB on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Angels acquired starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for catching prospect Edgar Quero and left-handed pitcher Ky Bush, the Angels' No. 2 and 3 prospects in their organization, respectively.
And even though that deal doesn't directly involve the Friars, that doesn't mean that the Padres can't take notes from the Angels ahead of what's sure to be an intriguing trade deadline of their own.
As of now, it's not known whether the Padres will be buyers or sellers ahead of the August 1 deadline. But signs have been pointing to the Friars being buyers in MLB's dealing extravaganza, especially given the news that they've been declining all trade offers for ace starting pitcher Blake Snell and shutdown closer Josh Hader.
But there's a certain point where reality has to come into play, and with the Padres sitting six and a half games back in the chase for the NL's final playoff spot as of Wednesday night, it's likely time for the Padres to consider dealing their two best hurlers with an eye toward the future.
Given the White Sox' tremendous return for Giolito and Lopez -- who've put up 3.79 and 4.29 ERA's respectively this year -- the haul that San Diego could get in exchange for a starter in Snell who's has a microscopic 0.71 ERA over his last 11 outings and the best closer in the sport in Hader would make the Chicago's package look incredibly weak by comparison.
It really comes down to this.
For all intents and purposes, the Padres are highly unlikely to turn their season completely around in order to 1) even make the playoffs and 2) go on a deep run if they were to make it to October.
And given that the White Sox just received two top prospects for two pitchers that have been far from perfect at times this year, the Padres should trade their two lockdown hurlers in Hader and Snell.
They would probably get an incredible package in a prospective deal, one that could help the Padres turn their future around.
And for a team that already has Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts locked in for the long haul, a Padres "rebuild" would likely be a short blip in the road for a franchise that has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few seasons.
