4 possible trade partners for the Cubs and Kris Bryant
By Sean Sears
Can Bryant move to the outfield full-time?
The Padres have one of the most talented farm systems in all of baseball, currently ranked second by Baseball America, and have already made some improvements to their roster. Adding a player like Kris Bryant to San Diego’s roster would instantly put the Padres in the playoff conversation, but with Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer at the corner infield positions, Bryant would have to be comfortable moving to the outfield.
The outfield isn’t anything new for Bryant, having played in 187 career games across all three outfield positions, but he’s never been exclusively an outfielder. An athletic 6’5″, Bryant does play well at third base, but with Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jurickson Profar, Bryant is clearly the lesser defender and shouldn’t have a problem adjusting to the outfield.
In terms of prospects, it’s unlikely the Padres would part with top pitching prospect Mackenzie Gore, but outfielder Taylor Trammell could be moved with Bryant and newly acquired Tommy Pham on the MLB roster. Right-hander Luis Patino is ranked 30th out of the top 100 and has shown he has elite stuff with an 11.7 percent K/9 in high-A and double-A last season.
If the Padres want Kris Bryant, they have the pieces the Cubs would ask for in return, but San Diego general manager AJ Preller might be better off spending those assets on a front-end starting pitcher.