The San Diego Padres have acquired LHP Sean Manaea and RHP Aaron Holiday from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for IF Euribiel Angeles and RHP Adrian Martinez.
The long-awaited Manaea trade has finally come. Now all that is left for the A’s to complete before Opening Day is to trade Frankie Montas. The complete destruction of their roster this offseason started with Matt Olson and Matt Chapman.
The return here is nothing special. Manaea is a free agent after the season, and you could tell by the weaker return. The Padres’ farm system is not incredibly deep anymore, and all that they got in return were MLB Pipeline’s 12th and 26th best prospects from San Diego. Plus, Martinez is already too old to be around when the A’s will be trying to win again. Angeles is the more interesting piece. A small and young infielder from the Dominican Republic, his first full minor league season saw solid results.
Angeles, 19, had 491 Plate Appearances in 2021 between Single-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne. In them, he hit four home runs with 19 stolen bases, a .330 average, .392 OBP, and a .837 OPS.
Martinez, 25, had a 3.38 ERA in 2021 between AA and AAA with 122 strikeouts and a 1.240 WHIP in 125 innings pitched. In his minor league career, he has a 4.30 ERA with 332 strikeouts and a 1.378 WHIP in 326.2 innings.
The Padres’ rotation may not be the best in baseball, but it is certainly up there, with an amazing name brand. Manaea is an extremely solid starter with a great changeup. His 7.2-foot extension and high groundball rate are intriguing attractions for teams. Manaea also had just a 5.4 BB% last season while having a career-best strikeout rate.
He also gives San Diego more rotation depth. He currently slots behind Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, and the rehabbing Mike Clevinger on the depth chart. Add Nick Martinez, who was signed after a strong stint in Japan, and prospects Ryan Weathers and MacKenzie Gore, and the Padres have fixed the problem of Vince Velasquez and Jake Arrieta making late-season starts in 2021. Chris Paddack is also in the mix, but he looks to be on the trade block.
Holiday was drafted in the 13th round in 2021 out of Old Dominion, where he showed promise but also major control issues. He struck out eight batters in 5.2 innings during his short professional debut.
Manaea, 30, had a 3.91 ERA with 194 strikeouts and a 3.66 FIP in 179.1 innings for Oakland in 2021. In his MLB career, all for the A’s, Manaea has a 3.86 ERA with 641 strikeouts and a 3.96 FIP in 727 innings.
Holiday, 21, had a 2.95 ERA with 102 strikeouts and a 1.424 WHIP in 79.1 innings pitched.
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