Flurry of Offseason Moves Positions Padres as Sleepers in the NL West

The San Diego Padres share a division with the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the biggest-spending club in baseball. So it'd be fair to call the Friars a forgotten team, an underdog, an afterthought.

Nearly two months into the offseason, it's clear they intend to change that.

On Thursday, San Diego acquired All-Star catcher Derek Norris from the Oakland A's, per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, the latest in a flurry of moves that should propel the Pads back into relevance. 

The Norris trade came on the heels of the three-team blockbuster that sent 2013 American League Rookie of the Year Wil Myers to San Diego and should be made official on Friday, per Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Tribune.

Another headline-grabbing swap that will net outfielder Matt Kemp from the Dodgers is "all but done" according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports, after being held up for nearly a week.

That's three, count 'em three, significant acquisitions for a team that began the offseason looking like the ultimate bridesmaid.

As Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports notes, Padres general manager A.J. Preller "whiffed when shopping in the upper echelons of the free-agent market with Pablo Sandoval and Yasmani Tomas, the allure of life in San Diego simply not enough to overcome either less money or the perception of a lesser chance to win."

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Instead, Preller has gone the trade route. And he's managed to add significant pieces to an offense that defined futility, finishing dead last in MLB in runs scored and hitting a combined .226.

"We had a lot of guys that had down years," manager Bud Black said after San Diego's 77-win season, per MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. "Can you bounce back? Of course. Are they going to? I don't have the crystal ball."

Each of the players Preller snagged comes with warts. Myers followed up his stellar rookie campaign with a disappointing, injury-riddled 2014.

Kemp is coming off a bounce-back year but knows a thing or two about injuries. Once among the most feared sluggers in the game, he missed 145 games between 2012 and 2013 with an array of ailments. 

One of the reasons the Kemp trade was held up, ESPNLosAngeles.com's Mark Saxon reports, is a physical revealed arthritis in both of the 30-year-old's hips. 

Norris, meanwhile, posted a .270/.361/.403 slash line with 10 home runs in a breakout season with Oakland, though his numbers dipped in the second half when he hit just .245 with two home runs.

The right-handed swinger will help fill the hole created when catcher Yasmani Grandal was shipped out in the Kemp trade, and could also share time at first with the left-handed hitting Yonder Alonso.

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Nitpicking and flaws aside, the Padres have clearly upgraded their lineup. And they don't need to become the '27 Yankees to contend, thanks to a pitching staff that posted the second-lowest ERA in the National League last year.

San Diego's rotation is highlighted by a pair of stud right-handers, 27-year-old Tyson Ross and 28-year-old Andrew Cashner, who appear poised to move into the elite upper tier of MLB arms, if they aren't there already. 

And their system is loaded with pitching depth, including top prospect Matt Wisler, giving San Diego the ability to swing more deals if they choose or simply sit on an embarrassment of riches. 

Oh, and lest we forget: These pitchers toss half their games at Petco Park, the second-most pitcher-friendly yard in baseball, per ESPN.com.

That's not the best news for San Diego's newly arrived hitters. But, again, if they can elevate the offense to merely respectable, mark down the Pads as a serious sleeper.

They'll have to get past those reigning champs to the north and their deep-pocketed Southern California counterparts. It'll take health, and probably some more wheeling and dealing.

As Matt Calkins of U-T San Diego points out, "[G]iven the glut of outfielders on the roster (Kemp, Myers, Carlos Quentin, Will Venable, Seth Smith, Cameron Maybin, etc.), you can rest assured that Preller's work isn't done."

So far, at least, the NL West's forgotten team has enjoyed a memorable winter.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.