Chicago Cubs: 3 potential (and 1 surprising) Craig Kimbrel trade partners

Chicago Cubs – Craig Kimbrel trade destinations: #1 – SAN DIEGO PADRES

To be fair, San Diego already boasts a top bullpen in the league. Mark Melancon has a league-leading 27 saves. However, there is reason to believe the Padres will come calling in the coming weeks and that is simply this:

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The Padres are going for it.

Seemingly out of nowhere, San Diego traded for Mike Clevinger and Blake Snell. They also picked up an All-Star closer for pennies on the dollar.  They traded for Joe Musgrove, who threw San Diego’s first-ever no hitter back on April 9. You may also remember a recent trade involving a certain ace from Chicago, Yu Darvish, for players who, besides Zach Davies, I can’t even remember unless I looked it up.

Although Clevinger is out for the season, with Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack in the mix, Slam Diego needs to worry very little about the strength of their rotation at the moment. Injuries are always a concern, though, and that could prompt AJ Preller to add to the bullpen this month.

With a lineup of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and the list goes on and on, they also have very little to worry about offensively sitting at a solid +75 run differential.

This “all-in” mentality is exactly why we have placed San Diego at number one our list. If not for anything else, to stop the Dodgers from getting him. Best case scenario, the Padres and the Dodgers get into a bidding war until Hoyer can pull the trigger, which hopefully culminates in a short-term loss for some long-term gains.