Padres' offseason personnel moves and stacked roster have made them the talk of the leagueMLB.com
The Padres are doing what every other MLB team "should do when they arrive at the juncture of contention and mediocrity: shove all the chips in the middle and say 'Let’s dance,'" according to Chris Bumbaca of USA TODAY. As the domestic free agent market "remains frozen, with tight-pocketed teams essentially dictating the pace of the offseason," the Padres "are taking advantage." On Tuesday, the Padres officially acquired Ps Blake Snell and Yu Darvish via trades. However, the goal "isn’t to win the offseason" -- it is to "overtake the defending World Series champion" Dodgers. Padres Chair Peter Seidler, Vice Chair Ron Fowler and their partners are "dedicating the financial resources that are usually reserved for teams with World Series aspirations" (USA TODAY, 12/30).
TIME IS NOW: In L.A., Bill Shaikin notes Snell and Darvish "represent the baseball commodity that is supposed to be most difficult to acquire: premium, proven, controllable starting pitching." Being able to acquire them is a "testament to the Padres’ deep farm system, built during a major league drought in which the owners invested heavily in player development and international scouting." But it also is a "testament to the Padres for playing to win, a mission we can no longer assume goes without saying everywhere else." The Padres, "in a position to win, have put the pennant first and the pandemic second." It is a "welcome reminder to owners that they should back up their talk of teams as public trusts, especially when their ballparks are publicly financed" (L.A. TIMES, 12/30).
