Detroit Tigers: Could San Diego Padres be perfect trade partners?

With each day, the MLB trade deadline inches closer, and Detroit Tigers fans continue to speculate on which clubs GM Al Avila will strike deals with for some of the team’s most valuable assets.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Matthew Boyd has been implicated in countless trade rumors over the past couple of months, with things heating up as July 31st nears. The Astros, Yankees, Dodgers, and a few other organizations are just part of the growing list of teams possibly interested in acquiring Detroit’s lefty, who has had an outstanding year so far.

Recently, another team has popped up on that list, that club is the San Diego Padres. Last week, Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com reported that San Diego has been eyeing Boyd as a possible trade target with the deadline looming.

The idea of a deal between the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres was brought up again on Tuesday, as USA Today’s Jesse Yomtov listed Boyd to the Padres among his five deals we want to see get done before the MLB trading deadline. Though San Diego may not be poised to make a serious push for the World Series this season, a deal for Matthew Boyd could prove highly beneficial for both teams over the next few years.

Despite his 12.0 K/9 ratio and 3.95 ERA, the real reason Matthew Boyd is such an attractive commodity for several teams is the fact that he is under team control through 2022. At 28 years old, Boyd could serve as a valuable piece in the starting rotation to serve alongside the Padres’ young, up-and-coming arms such as rookie Chris Paddack and highly touted prospect MacKenzie Gore.

For the Tigers, San Diego could prove the perfect trade partner because they can offer in return seemingly exactly what Al Avila is looking for. Not only do the Padres have possibly the best farm system in all of baseball, but they could also provide a relatively young, big-league outfielder in the form of Hunter Renfroe or Franmil Reyes.

Morosi hints at the fact that Renfroe, 27, and Reyes, 25, are both under team control for a few more seasons and could be exactly the type of player the Detroit Tigers are looking to add and plug into the big league lineup right away. Either of them would also serve as a valuable pickup to fill a spot in the outfield if the Tigers decide to trade Nick Castellanos at the trade deadline.

Actually, Morosi mentions the possibility of a package deal in which both Boyd and Castellanos could be sent to San Diego. If this were to be the case, Avila would most certainly have his pick of either Reyes or Renfroe as well as one or more of the Padres’ valuable prospects.

Bleacher Report ranks San Diego’s farm system as the current number one in all of baseball. Many of their top prospects, however, are pitchers, which isn’t quite what the Detroit Tigers need right now. Someone like young middle infield prospect Xavier Edwards, currently ranked 89th among the top 100 prospects in baseball, could be a solid target for the Tigers to try and add into a deal.

Whether it’s a young outfield bat with big-league experience, top-notch prospects, or both, the San Diego Padres could serve as an ideal trade partner for the Tigers. Avila’s days are numbered when it comes to finding the right deals, and San Diego, and maybe turning his eyes to the Pacific coast might be the best move.