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6 hours ago
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The San Diego Padres trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by three games for the NL West title, and with the MLB trade deadline approaching, they could make a move that allows them to leap over their division rival.
San Diego are near the bottom of MLB in home runs (86) and RBIs (375), so adding a power bat who can produce with runners in scoring position would be an ideal move at the deadline.
On Friday’s edition of “MLB Show,” Bleacher Report’s Steve Perrault spotlighted the one player that each World Series contender needs to pursue that can help them win a championship this year.
When it comes to the Padres, Perrault wants San Diego to stay within the division and pursue Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Josh Naylor.
MORE: Do the Padres have something to prove at the trade deadline?
“He’s a dude that hits a lot of bombs, that consistently gets on base, and that plays a position any team would benefit from — first base,” Perrault said. “You can move him around a little bit. You could DH him. You could obviously get a lot of pop out of him... A dude that has a lot of playoff experience, a dude that is not going to be worried about the big moment — a dude that’s not going to be worried about the big moment in the regular season, too.
“Because let’s be real, San Diego Padres fans, they understand. They’ve played in a lot of big regular season games. Who knows how the NL West shakes up? Who now knows how that wild card race shakes up? The Padres are highly likely to be playing some very important games come the end of September, and this is a dude that you would want in the lineup for that.”
In his first season with the Diamondbacks, Naylor has posted a .292 batting average, 11 home runs, and 58 RBI in 90 games. If the Padres can add this bat to their lineup, the chances of winning the division improve, but the question will be whether Arizona want to trade the 28-year-old within the division.
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