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Update, April 7 — The Twins and Padres reached an agreement on the deal, which is Rogers for Paddack and a reliever, per Rosenthal.
Twins, Padres in agreement on trade that will send Taylor Rogers to San Diego and Chris Paddack and a reliever to Minnesota, sources tell @TheAthletic. Details being finalized.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 7, 2022
The Minnesota Twins are close to acquiring SP Chris Paddack from the San Diego Padres, per Ken Rosenthal. The Padres are focused on getting All-Star RP Taylor Rogers from Minnesota in exchange for Paddack, per Rosenthal.
The Twins have had an interesting spring. Once the lockout ended, they shipped out catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers. Then, they sent shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who came over in the Garver trade) and third baseman Josh Donaldson to the New York Yankees for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez. It looked like the Twins were making moves to do a brief rebuild.
Free agency began and Minnesota signed shortstop Carlos Correa, who was the top player in this year’s free-agent class. With this move, the Twins are gunning for the AL Central crown and want a playoff run. Their biggest remaining weakness was their pitching staff. Enter Chris Paddack.
If a deal happens, we don’t know who or what the Twins may be giving up to the Padres, but Paddack would instantly become Minnesota’s ace. He is coming off of a 7-7 season with a 5.07 ERA in 22 starts in 2021. Even with those numbers, Paddack would be the best arm in the Twins rotation that isn’t a rookie. He had a solid 2019 season, when he went 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA, and if he can return to that form, Paddack should feast on the “competition” in the AL Central.