Padres Named Top Landing Spot for $40 Million Starting Pitcher at Trade Deadline

The San Diego Padres could perhaps be one of the busiest teams at the July 31 trade deadline.

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Currently, the Padres are half a game back of the final National League Wild Card spot. With the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers set to face the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, the NL West could be shaken up depending on how things play out.

Either way, the Friars could use some key additions in order to cement a championship roster. The uncertainty surrounding the Padres top two starters, Michael King and Darvish, could be reason enough for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to pursue a pitcher this summer.

While Darvish made his first start of the season this week, he was sidelined for nearly half of the season with elbow inflammation. King isn't set to make his return until August, but he has begun ramping up.

Therefore, R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports proposes the Padres are a good landing spot for Baltimore Orioles right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin.

Eflin is sporting a 5.95 ERA with 42 strikeouts and 1.435 WHIP across 12 starts this season.

"Eflin’s bloated ERA is the product of an inflated home-run rate, one that isn’t necessarily reflected in his ball-tracking data," Anderson writes. "He’s allowing harder contact than last year, to be certain, but he’s closer to the league-average mark than not in that respect. More concerning is that both his cutter and curveball have lost effectiveness as swing-and-miss offerings, causing his strikeout rate to drop to its lowest mark since 2017. It’s to be seen if the Orioles sell; if they do, he’s an impending free agent whose best work this season could lie ahead."

Preller has earned a reputation for keeping things interesting at the deadline, and it's safe to assume that pattern will only continue this summer.

“We feel like we have a pretty good pulse on the league and who’s out there,” Preller said to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “It doesn’t always mean you’re going to make great decisions. But I think we’re in position with talented players in the organization at the Major League and Minor League level to at least be in these conversations.”

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