The San Diego Padres have been arguably MLB's biggest disappointment this season, and after an offseason full of wheeling and dealing may be ready to undo a lot of their work. First-year general manager A.J. Preller re-vamped the team's whole outfield, and also added an ace, James Shields, and a closer, Craig Kimbrel.
Currently, the Padres are eight games under .500, and eight games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers, and are willing to listen to offers for just about any player on the roster. Preller is reportedly most interested in moving two pitchers though, Shields and fellow right-hander Andrew Cashner.
#Padres listening on at least half their staff. But they "really want to move" both James Shields and Andrew Cashner, other teams say
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) July 24, 2015
The Padres signed him this offseason to a four-year, $75 million contract to be the staff ace, and he's gone 8-3 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. Those are solid numbers, but below average for a No. 1 starter, and a bit misleading based on his 4.12 FIP. Shields, 33, has shown a big uptick from 2014 in his walk rate, and slight slippage in his velocity.
Cashner has been more disappointing than Shields. After posting a 2.55 ERA in 19 starts last season Cashner has been more homer-prone, and pitched to a 4.12 ERA this season while struggling with runners on base. He has never pitched more than 175 innings in a season, but at 28 years old he remains young enough to entice a solid package in return.
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