Padres keeps adding, acquires Yu Darvish from cubs

Less than 24 hours after acquiring Blake Snell, the Padres swung another instant trade to bolster their starting rotation.

The Padres reportedly acquired Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini from the Cubs on Monday night in exchange for veteran judge Zach Davies and prospects Reggie Preciado, Ismael Mena, Yeison Santana and Owen Caissie. Kevin Acee and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune first post the complete list of players involved in the trade.

Darvish (34) finishes second in the NL Cy Young Award poll in 2020, while Caratini gives the Padres an experienced backup behind Austin Nola as a catcher. With Snell and Darvish, the Padres now have some established forwards they could challenge in 2021, even with Mike Clevinger for the year after the Tommy John surgery and Dinelson Lamet’s health status uncertain after missing. the post-season with an elbow injury and received a platelet-rich plasma injection.

This is the latest agreement in which the Padres have traded depth from their valued prospects to strengthen the roster in the league. Since the 2020 trade deadline, the Padres have traded 18 prospects as well as recent prospective graduates, Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Francisco Mejia and Ty France, among other big proponents, in eight separate industries.

Preciado, Mena, Santana and Caissie were the prospects of Padres no. 15, 17, 18 and 20. Everyone is 20 years or younger and only Santana played a professional game. The quartet strengthens a Cubs farming system that ranks 21st on the mid-season organizational talent rankings, but at the expense of the club’s ace.

CUBS ACQUIRED:

Zach Davies, RHP
Age: 27

Davis has been solid over the course of five seasons with the Brewers and has thrived after a trade to the Padres in 2020, starting 7-4, 2.73 in 12. He finished fifth in the National League in ERA and eighth with a 1,067 WHIP, while achieving the highest pass rate (8.2 K / 9) and the second lowest rate (2.5 BB / 9) in his career. The outbreak of Davies was due to the reduction of its fastball consumption by about 10 percent and the increase by the same amount. His fast ball averages 88 km / h, but he can manage to detect it and keep hitters in balance with his change, which has developed to a dominant, swing-and-miss pitch. He also has a cutter and a curveball, but he throws his fast ball and change together more than 80 percent of the time. The appearance of Davis’ conversion made him dominant against left-wing batsmen, but in 2020 more susceptible to right-holders. Over the course of his career, his division of the peloton has been more even. Davis will team up with Kyle Hendricks as right-handers for fast balls ahead of the Cubs rotation. He is in his final year of arbitration and will be a free agent after the 2021 season.

Reggie Preciado, SS
Age: 17

Preciado trained with his father Victor, a former Yankees minor, and presented him as Panama’s leading prospect in the international class for 2019. The Padres signed him for $ 1.3 million. He has not yet played an official professional match, but did participate in the teaching league in 2020. Preciado has grown an inch since signing and now stands 6 feet with a lean, projectable frame. He’s not too fussy, but he has the ability to be at the table in time. Preciado’s left swing is a switch and has a slightly elliptical path and its right swing is a more compact stroke. They have different swings, but he has shown the ability to drive the ball from both sides and has room to grow to strength as he fills. He is still learning to control the strike zone. Preciado is a runner-average runner, but his advanced instincts and polished defensive skills let him handle short stops for now. His arm strength above average should improve as he gets stronger. Preciado has a lot upside down, but he is only 17 and a lot depends on how his body fills up. He will make his professional debut in 2021, likely in the Arizona League at the Rookie level.

Ismael Mena, OF
Age: 18

Mena was one of the most athletic players in the 2019 international class and signed with the Padres for $ 2.2 million, the biggest bonus the club awarded in that year. His professional debut was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but he lifted a good weight of 7-10 pounds and stood out during the teaching league. Mena is a slender, sleek midfielder with plus-plus speed in the outfield and at base. He is a sleeping hit who sprays the ball with a slap swing from the left, although he has added power and leverage and started floating the ball in the air. Mena’s swing can sometimes be too steep and he tends to knock out, but it can improve with experience and maturity. Mena’s routes and instincts in midfield are a work in progress. He has the fast position but needs experience to refine his game. He has a plus arm that can get even stronger when he fills. Mena shows tips from a potential top fielder, but he is, like Preciado, a teenager who played another professional game and he has many years of development ahead of him. He’s likely to open 2021 in the Arizona league at Rookie level.

Yeison Santana, SS
Age: 20

Santana is the only prospect the Cubs have acquired to play a professional game, and what he has shown so far has been promising. Santana, who was signed for $ 300,000 from the Dominican Republic in 2017, quickly added strength and, in his state debut in 2019, ranked as one of the top players in the Arizona league at the Rookie level, and in fourth place in the batting average (.346) ended and sixth on base percentage (.429). He continued to impress in the teaching league in 2020. Santana is an aggressive hitter who swings, but has hand-eye coordination and barrel awareness to make consistent contact. He directs the ball to all fields, especially in the middle and opposite direction, and shows a keen eye for the striking zone. He is a lithe, writhing athlete with explosive hands and can grow to strength as he grows taller. Santana plays with energy in the field and has a good awareness for the game. He occasionally plays too fast, but has the chance to stay short with his solid range and improved arm strength. Santana was frequently questioned in trade talks before the Cubs acquired him. Evaluators consider him at least a potential useful player with the chance to be an initial midfielder, depending on how his power and defense develop.

Owen Caissie, OF
Age: 18

Caissie had the biggest power play for the junior national team in Canada and caused a buzz in the spring when he hit a home from the victim’s eye in the Blue Jays’ training stadium. The Padres drafted him 45th overall in June, signing him for just over $ 1.2 million to relinquish Michigan’s commitment. Caissie was hit on the alternate camp by a stab in his elbow and suffered a hairline fracture, but he recovered in time for the teaching league. Caissie is a big left-handed hit with plus raw power and room to give even more power. He places some of the best exit speeds and longest home distances in every environment he plays. Caissie’s swing can get long and he tends to hit out, but if he gets a quick ball over the board, he smashes it. He is a hard worker who spends every free moment in the batting box on his swing. Caissie is much more raw defensive. He has average speed and an average arm, but he does not feel comfortable with high flying balls and still learns the right footwork in the right field. Caissie’s left – handed power makes it easy to dream on 30 – team home runs, but he needs to show that he can make enough contact to come to his power consistently and do a lot of defending. He has yet to play an official professional game and is likely to make his debut in the Arizona League at Rookie level in 2021.

OBTAINED ADDRESS:

Yu Darvish, RHP
Age: 34

Darvish started for the Cubs only eight times in his first season after signing a six-year, $ 126 million contract due to an elbow injury and struggling in the first half of 2019 after returning, but he has the form rounded off and a 2.76 ERA in 13 starts after the starburst and continued to perform in a dominant 2020. Darvish’s fast ball averaged 95.9 km / h in 2020, his highest average speed since leaving Japan in 2012 came to the US, and his move and cutter is the foremost as the top swing-and-miss deals in its famous wide variety of stands. Darvish has completed at least six innings in 21 of its last 25 starting dates from the 2019 all-star break, giving the Padres much-needed durability at the forefront of their rotation. He has three years and $ 59 million left on his contract.

Victor Caratini, C
Age: 27

Caratini made his MLB debut in 2017 and gradually established himself as Willson Contreras’ backing behind the pitch, while also seeing time on first base. The switch was a modest contributor with a career of 0.250 / .327 / .372, but he was an excellent framework and was Darvish’s personal catcher in 2020, reaching all 12 of his starts. According to Baseball Savant, he is excellent at pulling balls in the strike and ranks among the top 10 of the biggest league catchers in most frame stats. In his career, he threw away 24 percent of the effort to basic players, slightly below the league average of 27 percent in his four seasons in the majors. Caratini is under team control until 2023. He will be primarily Nola’s backup and will continue to act as Darvish’s personal catcher.