Paddack to Twins, per reports

MLB Trade Rumors: The San Diego Padres are sending Chris Paddack to the Minnesota Twins, per reports on Twitter. The Padres are also sending Emilio Pagan to Minnesota, and are receiving closer Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker.

Paddack, 26, was an 8th round pick by Miami in 2015 out of Cedar Park High School outside of Austin. He was largely unheralded when, a year later, the Padres plucked him from the Marlins in exchange for Fernando Rodney. Rodney had posted a 0.31 ERA in 28.2 IP in 2016 for the Padres before being traded, then put up a 5.89 ERA in 36.2 IP for the Marlins after the deal.

Paddack appeared in only three games for the Padres before being diagnosed with a torn UCL which necessitated Tommy John surgery and kept him out until 2018. He had a breakout year in 2018, however, putting up a 2.10 ERA in 90 innings over 17 starts between high-A and AA, and landing on most top 100 lists that offseason.

Paddack opened the 2019 season with the Padres and was outstanding at first, putting up a 1.55 ERA in his first seven starts of his major league career. He had some issues the rest of the way, however, putting up a 4.05 ERA and a 4.58 FIP over his final 19 starts.

In 2020-21, Paddack didn’t perform up to expectations, as he put up a 4.95 ERA (albeit with a 4.22 FIP) in 34 starts and a relief appearance covering 167.1 IP. Paddack has been rumored for a while to be on the move, particularly once the Padres acquired Sean Manaea, but with just three years of team control remaining and an uninspiring performance the last couple of years, his stock was down.

In Taylor Rogers, the Padres get a lefty reliever with closing experience who was excellent from 2017-19, but who saw his ERA bump up in 2020, and who only pitched in 40 games in 2021, although he was named to the American League All Star team. Rogers is a free agent after 2022, so this is a rental for San Diego.

Pagan is a righthanded reliever who turns 31 next month, and who has bounced around in his career, despite only having a little over four years of service time. He was dealt to the Oakland A’s by the Seattle Mariners in the deal that sent Ryon Healy to Seattle after the 2017 season. A year later, he was part of the three team deal with Texas and Oakland that sent Jurickson Profar to Oakland and Eli White and Brock Burke to Texas, with Pagan landing in Tampa. A year after that, Pagan was dealt to the Padres for Logan Driscoll and Manny Margot.

Rooker, 27, is a righthanded hitting corner outfielder who was drafted twice by the Minnesota Twins out of Mississippi State — in the 38th round in 2016, and in the first round in 2017. He has a .212/.299/.413 slash line in 234 major league plate appearances.

UPDATE — Jon Morosi is saying on Twitter that “[o]ther components could be involved.” I’m not a Paddack fan, but even so, this return seems a little light to me, which makes me wonder if the Twins are paying some of Rogers salary, in order to help San Diego with their luxury tax situation, or if there are other pieces going to the Padres.

UPDATE II — The Twins are reportedly also getting a PTBNL, and will be sending cash to the Padres in the deal.