Over the past few weeks the San Diego Padres have acquired Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton, among others. They managed to salvage many of their top prospects in all of those trades, which could mean they're looking to land Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was noted about a week ago that the Padres were interested in Hamels, but their degree of involvement in such trade talks was unknown. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe originally made this known, but Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Inquirer confirmed it. Lawrence noted on Sunday that the Padres have "had discussions about trading for San Diego native Cole Hamels with new outfielder Wil Myers as potential bait, according to a baseball source."
When Cafardo spoke of the Padres' interest in Hamels it was largely pushed aside since they had only acquired Kemp at that point. Their roster was mediocre at best and they finished third in the NL West (only ahead of the two worst clubs in the MLB) with a 77-85 record. The fact that Hamels has much control regarding his future destination in a trade would have made it laughable to even consider the Padres an option before their transactions over the past two weeks. But now that they have one of the most powerful outfields in the MLB, added Derek Norris as their catcher, and are close to officially getting third baseman Will Middlebrooks from the Boston Red Sox, their roster is a few moves away from having all-around talent.
Hamels could be the final move to give them a significant advantage in the NL West because he would undoubtedly become the ace of their starting rotation. Ian Kennedy (3.63 ERA), Andrew Cashner (2.55 ERA) and Tyson Ross (2.81 ERA) would be the definite starters behind him, which would all of a sudden give them competitive depth. Additionally, Myers being mentioned as the centerpiece in the possible trade makes sense because he isn't a centerfielder and is a youthful option Philadelphia may consider. Phillies' general manager previously noted he wants top prospects in exchange for Hamels and the Padres also didn't give up any of theirs in the trades for Kemp, Myers and Upton, which would help their case in such a deal.
The reason the Padres could be using Myers as bait is because he isn't a center fielder. Kemp and Upton will take over the corner spots in the outfield and manager Bud Black said Myers is "a possibility" for center, which may indicate the team has been planning to move him all along. The Padres have a logjam in the outfield with Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Seth Smith, Will Venable and Rymer Liriano, so it's possible they're not done making moves with their personnel in those positions.
Coincidentally, the Phillies are in need of a power-hitting outfielder and would surely like to shed payroll (Hamels is owed $96 million over the next four seasons). Their interest in Myers is unknown, but it's safe to assume they would consider a package involving him because he's MLB-ready and under club control through the 2019 season. Hamels recently said geography and a team's drive to win are the two top factors in his possible trade destination, and it's clear San Diego is a great geographical location and it's even more apparent general manager A.J. Preller wants to win.
San Diego still has prospects Austin Hedges, Matt Wisler and Hunter Renfroe, so if Myers doesn't appeal to Philadelphia then one or more of those players should. Nonetheless, any trade talks are simply speculation at this point.
