The San Diego Padres had high hopes coming into the 2015 season as they added a handful of former All-Star talents like James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton.
Now all four of them could be on the move, especially the first two, as Buster Olney of ESPN reports it’s ‘likely’ the San Diego Padres will trade both James Shields and Craig Kimbrel before the MLB trade deadline.
While this isn’t the first we’ve heard of such reports, it’s coming from one of the more reliable baseball sources, which seems to suggest their days in ‘American’s Finest City’ are coming to an end.
A rival evaluator places odds of James Shields being dealt before July 31 at 75 to 90 pct.,and thinks SD will move Craig Kimbrel, as well.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 18, 2015
Assuming the Padres do trade James Shields and Craig Kimbrel, you have to imagine they’ll do what they can to trade both Justin Upton and Matt Kemp as well, considering they’d be in full re-build mode.
Either way, things haven’t went they way the Padres envisioned they would with their completely re-tooled roster. Some might preach patience, but, with the Giants and Dodgers leading the NL West, it’s doubtful San Diego would overtake their rivals in the coming months.
