It would have shocked fans of both fanbases this time last year but the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres are much more similar that you would think.
The Padres only finished 4.5 games ahead of the Colorado Rockies in 2021 despite being 15 games ahead of them on May 29. That swift downturn in events for the Padres led to the firing of Jayce Tingler and the hiring of Bob Melvin as manager.
Melvin is the first veteran manager that the Padres have hired since Jack McKeon literally hired himself (he was the GM of the Padres too) in 1988. Their last manager with MLB managing experience before him was Hall of Famer Dick Williams, who was hired before the 1982 season.
The Padres, despite having a great core of offensive infielders (like Fernando Tatis, Jr., Manny Machado, and Jake Cronenworth) and a good starting pitching staff, the Padres have don’t have a ton else, especially in the depth department. They had a Triple-A team that was the worst in the Triple-A West and a Double-A team that was below .500.
Does that sound familiar Rockies fans? Because it should.
But the San Diego Padres have one thing that the Colorado Rockies don’t
Despite the two franchises being very similar, the San Diego Padres have a better chance at being a playoff contender in 2022 than the Colorado Rockies. They also are different than the Rockies in one aspect: they have a much better bullpen.
With both teams being in the NL West, they are unlikely to pull off a big trade with each other. So as much as the Rockies would like to add Wil Myers to their team so he can be a right-handed Barry Bonds at Coors Field, it’s highly unlikely to happen and we are dealing with realistic (or semi-realistic) trade targets.
That’s not to say that it won’t happen (the Rockies traded their closer Huston Street to San Diego in December 2011) but that’s their only trade (not including purchases) since 1998.
Here are three bullpen trade targets the Colorado Rockies should have with the San Diego Padres.