29 Trades for 29 Teams: San Diego Padres

Originally this began as two separate trade ideas. I came up with a trade for one of the players and Brandon C came up with the trade for the other. We ended up combining the trades to something that looks fair for both sides, but then that no good Brandon left me with everything to write. Here goes:

Yankees Get: Cameron Maybin and Cory Lubeke

Padres Get: Dellin Betances, Zoilo Almonte, Kevin Whelan and Eduardo Nunez

The Yankee Side:

The Yankees would make this trade because they need pitching, but what they need more than that is young, cheap pitching and Luebke will give them that. 2011 was his rookie year and what he accomplished was just in line with what he was averaging in the Minors. So while he did pitch in the NL West, he still adapted well to Major League batters and even upped his K/9. He had a 2.93 FIP a K/9 of 9.9, a BB/9 of 2.8 so if he continues to strike out a ton and continue to walk very little, he will excel in the AL East and Yankee Stadium. He also looks to be a good innings eater, having already pitched 130 innings last year and three years in the minors pitching over 100 innings. He would fit into the rotation behind CC, leaving AJ Burnett, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes to compete for 2 spots.

The Yankees would use Maybin as their 4th outfielder for 2012 and then would be in the position to replace Swisher with a cheap, younger option. Andruw Jones (if we sign him) would be moved to 5th outfielder and strengthen the depth of our bench, or he could prove to make Jones unnecessary and save us $5M. Maybin had a break out year this year with a 112 wRC+ and is already 6.6 UZR/150 fielder and adds a ton of speed in both the outfield and the base path (with 40 SBs in 2011, could you imagine him in the lineup with Gardner??). There's a reason Maybin has bounced around a lot and its because he has a ton of potential and all he needed to do was tap into that potential. We would be able to pick him up for very little cost and we wouldn't have to wait around for him to finally 'figure it out'.

The Padres Side:

Having just traded away their ace in Mat Latos, the San Diego Padres have decided to enter another rebuilding period. Any team looking to build a winning team will need pitching. Dellin Betances can provide that top of the rotation pitching that the Padres now lack. Betances strikes out a ton but also walks too many, so if he can master his control he should be pretty tough to beat and the pairing of Betances and Casey Kelly at the top of the rotation should make a strong 1-2 punch.

I don't know much about Zoilo Almonte, but according to scouting reports he is a young speedy center fielder. He has improved his fielding in the last few years and has become a good base stealer as well. While he may never be a power hitter, he has shown some power and as a switch hitter he offers great versatility. He can also hit to all parts of the field, which will help him in a park like Petco. If all goes well for Almonte, he could be comparable to Maybin. He should be ready for the majors in the next year or two so he still has some time to develop.

Kevin Whelan will help anchor down a Heath Bell-less Padres bullpen. They may have gotten Huston Street, but his injury history leaves little to be excited for so I think they will need as much depth as possible. He's no closer, but I think Whelan should be very useful as a cheap bullpen option that should benefit in spacious Petco Park.

Eduardo Nunez will save the Padres from a a middle infield of Jason Bartlett and Orlando Hudson. Seeing as how none of San Diego's Top 10 play 2B or SS, Nunez could add some youth (he's still only 24) into the middle infield. He could replace Bartlett and provide infield and outfield support as needed. Nunez will inject speed into the San Diego lineup and he should play out well in Petco Park. Most importantly, he can help right now and will continue to improve.

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So there's the trade. What say you? Whatever you disagree with, just blame it on Barndon.