Blue Jays: Which NL contenders could come calling for a starting pitcher?

San Diego Padres

If there’s an ideal place to trade Marcus Stroman this summer it’s probably with the San Diego Padres. In fact, there’s a good chance a lot of that groundwork was done during the offseason when there were reported talks between the two parties.

The Padres also have the benefit of one of, if not the best minor league system in baseball. The Blue Jays have one of those too, but it’s not seen on quite the same level and they’re also in a much different position than the Padres right now, who are hoping to contend as early as this season.

The Padres are currently 2.0 games back of the 2nd wild card spot, and while they’ll have plenty of competition I don’t think it’s out of the question to consider them real contenders. That said, they could use some help in the rotation, and a multi-year fit like Stroman could be more enticing to them than a rental acquisition.

They have some solid starters in guys like Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Chris Paddack, and young talent like Cal Quantrill, but an experienced veteran would go a long way to solidifying this group, especially if they were in a playoff series. They have experienced playoff veterans like Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado already, but having one in the rotation would help, and Stroman can provide that.

They wouldn’t have to deal the best of their prospects in order to make a deal here, but the Padres would have to do better than what they reportedly offered this past winter. That offer didn’t get it done back when Stroman had a lot more questions around his performance, and now that he’s shown he’s a capable top-end starter again he should command a little more than he did before.

I really do believe that the Blue Jays would be better off extending Stroman than they’d be by trading him, but if there’s a fit that works I think it’s in San Diego.

Likelihood= 4/5