Derek Norris to Padres: Latest Trade Details, Analysis and Reaction

The San Diego Padres have been one of the more active teams in Major League Baseball this offseason. Their personnel machinations continued on Thursday, as they traded for Oakland Athletics catcher Derek Norris.

MLB.com's Jane Lee had the official word:

Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News first broke news of the deal.

Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan reported that the A's will get Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez in return:

Norris is coming off the best season in his career. He hit .270/.361/.403 with 10 home runs and 55 runs batted in en route to earning his first trip to the All-Star Game. According to FanGraphs, his 2.5 WAR was 11th-best among catchers with at least 300 at-bats.

It's a bit tough keeping up with all of the roster moves San Diego's made so far. Norris will almost certainly fill the void left by Yasmani Grandal following the Matt Kemp deal, which Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported will still happen despite a slight snag:

Although the Padres also acquired Ryan Hanigan along with Wil Myers, few expected Hanigan to be the everyday catcher. With Norris, they now have a more reliable option.

ESPN's Buster Olney noted how San Diego has addressed one of its largest issues from 2014—offense—in a major way over the last few weeks:

Grantland's Jonah Keri also feels Norris is a good offensive threat but that his defense can be a bit questionable:

For the A's, dealing Norris is likely part of the team's overall rebuild, largely sparked by the Josh Donaldson trade. According to Jane Lee of MLB.com, Oakland's dealt five different All-Stars since last summer:

Norris is a solid if unspectacular catcher. Although it can be somewhat difficult finding a good backstop, teams can never have too many young arms. Plus, Hahn has a wealth of potential, going 7-4 with a 3.07 ERA last year in 12 starts with the Padres.

Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk feels that Oakland will be more than compensated for Norris' departure:

This trade looks to represent the differing aims of the two franchises in 2015.

The Padres haven't made the playoffs since 2006, but they're making a concerted effort to turn things around and build a winner on the field right now.

Meanwhile, the A's, who've gone to the postseason in each of the last three years, are blowing it up and starting anew.