Padres make 5 trades, land P Clevinger, C Nola, among others

It’s been a very, very hectic past few days for the Padres.

While San Diego was laying it on the Rockies in a 13-2 victory on Sunday afternoon, A.J. Preller and company were working the phones in an attempt to make sure the Padres had everything they needed to make a deep run in the playoffs this season.

The first transaction came on Saturday when the team sent OF Edward Olivares and a player to be named later to Kansas City in exchange for reliever Trevor Rosenthal. This move doesn’t need much of an explanation other than the Friars have struggled to close out games this season, even with sizable leads heading into the later innings.

Then, on Sunday morning, it was announced that they made a move for Mitch Moreland, who will take over as the team’s primary DH for the rest of the season. The Padres sent back outfield prospect Jeisson Rosario and infield prospect Hudson Potts in return.

He’s currently hitting .328/.430/.746 on the season.

They say when it rains, it pours.

That’s how I’d be describing Preller’s mindset through this weekend as his decision-making skills seem to be going 100 m.p.h. with no signs of stopping. His next trade of the weekend was a whopping seven-player deal that sent IF Ty France (sad), outfield prospect Taylor Trammell, C Luis Torrens, and P Andre Munoz to the Mariners in return for C Austin Nola, RHP Dan Altavilla, and RHP Austin Adams.

The addition of Nola is set to pair nicely with their next acquisition of ...

... Angels C Jason Castro! In return, the Padres sent back RHP Gerardo Reyes.

The 33 year old Castro was a former first-round pick of the Astros back in 2008 and is currently hitting .192 on the year. He’ll rotate in with Nola throughout the remainder of the season but starts are likely going to be skewed in Nola’s favor.

The cherry on top of this trading spree by the front office was made official Monday morning with the news that San Diego has acquired Mike Clevinger from Cleveland, along with OF Greg Allen and a player to be named later.

Clevinger becomes the Padres’ front-line starter, which should bring a sigh of relief to the fan base knowing that the struggling Chris Paddack no longer has to hold that mantle on his shoulders.

In three starts prior to being placed on the Indians’ restricted list, Clevinger posted a 3.24 ERA through 16 ²⁄₃ innings.

Since 2017, Clevinger has a 2.90 ERA as a starter, which is second only to Justin Verlander’s 2.82. The 29-year old is 42-22 in his career with a 3.2 ERA and 584 strikeouts in 523 ¹⁄₃ innings.