The Minnesota Twins may be close to adding another pitcher, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports they are “working to acquire” Chris Paddack from the San Diego Padres.
Twins working to acquire Chris Paddack from Padres, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 6, 2022
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres have targeted Twins closer Taylor Rogers in return. Rosenthal and Dan Hayes, who is the Twins beat writer for The Athletic, confirmed that Rogers is involved in the talks which are “fluid” with a “lots of moving parts.”
Among the many things they are working on, the Padres are talking with the Twins about LH reliever Taylor Rogers, sources tell me and @sdutSanders. It is unclear everything a deal with the Twins might involve. @Ken_Rosenthal reported the Twins are trying to acquire Chris Paddack.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 7, 2022
Source confirms to me and @DanHayesMLB: Padres’ target is Taylor Rogers. Talks fluid, lots of moving parts. https://t.co/3HSSjEtC1w
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 7, 2022
Paddack burst onto the scene as a rookie for the Padres, going 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA in 2019. But he hasn’t been able to build off that success. The 26-year-old struggled last season, going 7-7 with a 5.07 ERA in 23 games (22 starts). The right-hander is also coming off a rough spring training, where he allowed five earned runs in eight innings.
The Twins have been looking to bolster their rotation this spring and have had mixed results. Although they acquired Sonny Gray in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, the Twins resorted to signing Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer as reclamation projects.
They are also using two rookies in the rotation: Bailey Ober and Opening Day starter Joe Ryan.
Related: What will the Twins’ opening day batting order look like?
Whether a deal gets done could be a matter of how much the Twins are willing to give up. Rogers went 2-4 with a 3.35 ERA while earning his first All-Star selection this season. But he is also eligible for free agency at the end of the 2022 season.
At 31-years-old, the Twins could be making a pre-emptive move in order to bolster their rotation.
The Padres are on the opposite end of the spectrum. After acquiring Sean Manaea from the Oakland Athletics, the Padres have an embarrassment of riches on the mound.
San Diego Padres starting pitcher options:
• Sean Manaea
• Yu Darvish
• Joe Musgrove
• Blake Snell
• Mike Clevinger
• Dinelson Lamet
• Nick Martinez
• Ryan Weathers
• Chris Paddack
• MacKenzie Gore
• Reiss Knehr
• *Adrian Morejon (TJ surgery last April) pic.twitter.com/Z7Vc4gxL4e— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) April 3, 2022
Paddack isn’t a top-of-the-rotation arm but he is one that has logged major league innings. With former Padres manager Jayce Tingler as the Twins new bench coach, maybe the Twins have a connection that could bring him back to his rookie form.
