FanPost

What if the Padres did not trade for Wil Myers?

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Wil Myers has always been in the center of discussions regarding his trade. Of all the trades AJP made during his early rock star stage, few were as heavily discussed as Myers. The reason for this is that the Padres gave up two hugely important pieces to get him, Joe Ross & Trea Turner. Both of whom have had good success with the Nationals.

Just for kicks let's see what happens if the Pads don't trade for Myers (to make things easier I'm going to assume that the Upton, Kimbrel, Kemp & Norris trades still happen).

1) The Padres retain Burch Smith, Rene Rivera and Jake Bauers
While Burch Smith might have been useful, he would likely have spent the season in AAA or in Long Relief. it's the other two that I feel are more interesting. Norris and Rivera are the primary catchers. That means Federowicz is likely sent back to the minors where he will backup Austin Hedges for El Paso. Hedges therefore doesn't spend a year on the bench in San Diego because Rivera is sufficient as a backup. Results: Norris isn't burnt out from overuse as Rivera, while not meeting his levels from 2014, is at least passable defensively and hitting. That means Norris likely hits in the .260s with 18HRs, making him look even better in the off-season. It also means Hedges takes that big development step in 2015 with El Paso, serving as that team's big offensive bat.

Bauers is interesting, he has never shown a ton of power and likely would've been at Double A. I don't think he would be considered a top prospect, wouldn't have been a long term possible addition. They already have a weak hitting 1B in Yonder Alonso, but they wonder about some other options....

2) Trea Turner & Joe Ross come up in September 2015, wows people and are penned into the Padres roster.

This should be obvious. Ross joins his brother starting 2016 and teamed with Cashner and Shields form a very good group of pitchers.

3) Seth Smith isn't traded, is pidgeonholed into CF where he doesn't perform great, and no Brandon Maurer

Wil Myers was shoved into CF around the same time as Upton was acquired. Without him the Padres don't have any real CF options. So they take their LF in Seth Smith and move him to Center. It provides some left handed hitting in a RH power hitting line up but it's the defense that takes a big hit. While he does ok, he's clearly not an acceptable CF option. While someone is coming up through the minors, they don't think he's ready just yet despite making a huge jump from a destroyed 2014. Maurer isn't part of the team but honestly a reliever isn't an issue.

4) 2015 Padres still under perform

Ross and Turner wouldn't have made a difference for the 2015 Padres. Defense still a problem.

5) AJP remains the blockbuster trader sending C Derek Norris, RHP Andrew Cashner and UT Yangervis Solarte for 3B Joey Gallo

The Rangers still have catching issues, Hedges is banging on the door even after Norris had a full all-star worthy year. Cashner continues to entice and Solarte beat out the much hyped Will Middlebrooks all year long. On top of which they have Beltre who they're confident can continue to play well. As such the first case of multiple major league players being sent for a prospect, as the Padres nab the insane power hitting Gallo and put him right at 3B. Hedges is anointed starting catcher. Gallo is immediately penned at starting 3B.

6) Padres select two relief pitchers in the Rule V draft, no Blash or Perdomo

The team seems pretty content in the outfield and in the pitching staff, so they don't bother taking flyers

7) Padres still trade Kimbrel, but no Guerra

Take this for whatever its worth. Shortstop is set in stone with Turner, so the Padres certainly don't need Guerra as the center piece. Margot, Asuaje and Allen still come over, but the Padres aren't certain of Gyorko so they ask for another prospect instead, someone the young GM had his eyes on early - Anderson Espinoza - as a throw in.

8) Yonder Alonso is still traded to the A's, with Jedd Gyorko being anointed starting 1B

At this point the Padres have 3/4 of their infield set but there's still the issue of Gyorko. The Padres gave him a bunch of money, he did hit better and they need to find a place for him. Gallo and Spangenberg have Gyorko's primary positions locked up and the team doesn't want to eat any salary. So Alonso, still underperforming even as a spare lefty bat, is shipped to the A's for pitcher Drew Pomeranz.

Padres 2016 Line Up: SS Turner 2B Spangenberg RF Kemp 3B Gallo1B Gyorko LF Seth Smith CF Upton Jr
Padres 2016 Starting Pitching: Tyson Ross James Shields Joe Ross Colin Rea Drew Pomeranz

9) Padres still struggle, but it's not full on tanking.

Tyson Ross and Corey Spangenberg are still lost for the year within the first game. The Padres are shut out in their first game but score a little while still getting swept. The team remains middling, not as horrible. Gyorko and Kemp hit the ball far...when they hit it. Smith is back in his comfortable LF position and starts hitting like he did in 2014. 8th inning reliever Joaquin Benoit joins with new closer Fernando Rodney to form the early bird special, shutting out games early. They still have their big wins like crushing the Mariners 10-1 in May but the team is still not performing up to snuff. Owner Ron Fowler is frustrated but doesn't name names. Hedges and Gallo are playing great with Turner being the top flight SS the Padres had been missing since Khalil Greene.

10) Melvin Upton Jr and Fernando Rodney are traded, but Shields, Kemp & Pom are not.

The Padres decide not to fully tank but do decide to send out some of the pieces that have played well. However Shields remains the anchor of the rotation, especially with Ross on the DL. AJP starts wondering if Shields will decide to leave in a bad FA market. Pom is a revelation and though he struggles down the stretch, he remains set as a part of the team's future. Kemp is kept however as the Padres still need some kind of power veteran presence. With Renfroe and Margot knocking on the door and Smith/Jankowski performing tolerably, the team decides to rethink this in the off-season.

11) No AJP suspension

Without the need to trade Pom or the ability to trade Cashner, the entire issue about double records isn't discovered and the Padres GM is seen as ok but his team isn't performing so the whispers about letting him go begin.

12) Padres spend over their international signing levels but don't break the bank.

WIth some still expensive pieces on the roster by necessity the Padres aren't able to break the international bank. They still sign Luis Almanzar, the talented SS, and sign Jorge Ona, but aren't able to put out enough money for Gabriel Arias (#4 shortstop) and don't have the funds to win a bidding war for pitcher Adrian Morejon. As such the Padres, even with the same draft, are maybe high teens for farm systems.

13) Padres are stuck in the middle with no clear direction.

The team will need to make some decisions going into this off-season as the direction is still hampered by the big contracts during the rock star phase. The team has a good young core in Turner, Joe Ross, Drew Pomeranz, Joey Gallo and Austin Hedges with players like Manny Margot and Hunter Renfroe ready to be contributors. But what will they do about the heavy contracts of Matt Kemp and James Shields? Would anyone want to take Kemp on?

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball staff or SB Nation.