Padres don't trade Derek Norris at the deadline, and that's okay

For quite some time leading up to the 2016 non-waiver trade deadline, it was assumed that it was inevitable that the Padres would deal catcher Derek Norris. The cutoff has since come and gone, and Norris is still occupying a locker at Petco Park. While the lack of a move is in some ways surprising, there are a number of reasons that this could be a good example of the old axiom that sometimes the best trade is the one you don't make.

Early this morning -- or late this morning if you live closer to the inferior ocean -- our very own Roy detailed five reasons it could be beneficial to the Padres if Norris was retained. While all of his points were valid, including the fact that Norris's value is at an all-time low and that there weren't a slew of potential trade partners to work with, the most salient remains that this way the Padres can continue to hold catcher-of-the-future Austin Hedges in AAA El Paso. Hedges has absoluted dominated in all facets of the game for the Chihuahuas, but the fact remains that if he is on the big league roster for more than 17 days this year, pre-September roster expansion, the organization will lose a year of control. Keeping Norris allows the club to hold on to Hedges for longer in what should be his prime, when the Padres are hopefully a contender, all while giving Norris a chance to recoup some value.

Of course Norris could still be dealt between now and the end of August; he will nearly certainly be placed on revocable waivers as most players are. If a deal is worked out that way, the Padres could still keep Hedges at AAA and instead recall Hector Sanchez, who put in a month of work with the big club earlier this season.

In addition to the couple of points I briefly rehashed, all of Roy's pre-deadline reasoning is spot-on, and I recommend that you go check that out if you haven't already.