Padres Rumors: Could the Padres Still Trade for Tulowitzki?
The Colorado Rockies are just about done with their slugging shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. He has been grumbling for a while about the competitiveness of the Rockies. Tulowitzki is known as a consummate team player so it’s a surprise that his frustration has become public knowledge. Tulowitzki is probably the best all around shortstop in Major League baseball so if the San Diego Padres have a chance to acquire him, then they will surely try.
Tulo signed a 10-year/$157.75 million dollar contract through 2020, with a $15 million dollar option and a $4 million dollar buyout for the 2021 season. He has approximately $109 million dollars guaranteed on the contract. At the age of 30, Tulowitzki is still young enough to have some productive years in his future. The questions are if Tulowitzki can remain healthy and can he produce prolific numbers offensively outside of Colorado?
The two teams would also have to agree on a deal. The Rockies have been looking to move Tulowitzki for a while but have not found the right combination of prospects. The Mets are too in need of a shortstop but balked at the Rockies insistence that they deal one of their young starting pitchers for Tulo. The Rockies are surely looking for pitching in return for their All-Star shortstop. They would probably need at least two legit pitching prospects and another player or two of lesser degree. The Padres farm system is out of top pitching prospects unless you count Colin Rea who is currently in Triple-A.
Jon Morosi recently was of Fox Sports was recently on MLB Central and spoke about Tulowitzki. He specifically named the Padres as a team to watch for Tulowitzki. The team could most definitely use him as shortstop but could they afford the $109 million guaranteed? The answer is yes, but the team would have to be really creative in order to take on that huge salary.
In recent days there has been a lot of talk around the National Media that the Padres are shopping James Shields in an effort to shed some payroll. There are also reports the team is discussing dealing Tyson Ross and/or Andrew Cashner. Trading Shields would save the Padres a lot of money and perhaps they could in turn take that money and put it into Tulowitzki. Cashner and Ross are both arbitration eligible next season and their salary could easily climb to the $12-16 million dollar range. Could the Padres be trying to move them as well in order to free up salary?
There are a lot of crazy scenarios that could very well happen as the Padres intend to restock their team. The Padres do not intend to be sellers but will move players in an attempt to bolster their team for next season and beyond. To receive draft picks for all these impending free agents would be useless for the near future of this team. To get 3-5 extra picks next June would be nice, but the benefits of those picks would not be reaped until 2017 or 2018 at the absolute earliest. That does nothing for the Padres in time being.
The fact that Colorado plays in the western division could hold up this deal from a Rockies stand point. Could you imagine if he was dealt to the Padres and came into Colorado a couple of times a year and beat up on the Rockies? The Fans of the Rockies would kill the front office. The two teams have a lot of hurdles to overcome before a deal could be agreed upon.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
