#padres

#padres

The deal values the Padres franchise at close to $3.9 billion, which would shatter the previous record for a big league franchise in a sale.

The Padres have won 33.3% of the games this season when they were the moneyline favorite, indicating a challenging start for the team in betting scenarios.

The 29-year-old Okamoto is coming off a season where he appeared in just 69 Central League games for NPB's Yomiuri Giants. The infielder hit .327/.416/.598 in 293 trips to the plate for Yomiuri last year. That was good for an otherworldly 210 wRC+, as he slugged 15 homers with 21 doubles while posting identical 11.3% strikeout and walk rates. That scorching hot half-season isn't reflective of Okamoto's overall body of work, but his numbers are still impressive even over a larger sample.

"There's a lot of teams (from which) we have taken incoming calls," president of baseball operations AJ Preller told reporters, as relayed by Acee. "...It's nice when people are calling you, and they have interest in your players. At least then, you have some options. But I think the focus has been on the starting pitching and how do we fill that without taking away from the bullpen or from the lineup."

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don't use Spotify or Apple for podcasts. This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss... Plus, we answer your questions, including...

The 46-year-old Esposito is the first candidate known to have an interview in the books with the Padres, though the team may have already sat down with other internal candidates like pitching coach Ruben Niebla or special assistant Mark Loretta. As far as external candidates, Albert Pujols is set to interview with San Diego on Wednesday, as the future Hall-of-Famer continues to explore his first foray into managing at the MLB level.

Shildt expanded on his decision in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune's Kevin Acee yesterday, and said that his mental stress with the job was compounded when he received some death threats late in the season. Acee also explored some of the internal criticisms leveled at Shildt by some Padres staffers, including the view that Shildt had a short temper and was too quickly heated over any questions about his decision-making or thought process. With Shildt giving the Padres players a wide berth to police their own clubhouse, Shildt was accused by some of micro-managing and being too harsh with his coaches and other team staff members.

Adam was carted off the Petco Park mound during this evening's loss to the Orioles (video via Talkin' Baseball). Gunnar Henderson hit a chopper up the middle. The ball was a little behind the right-handed Adam, who naturally pulls toward first base on the follow-through in his delivery. Adam appeared to try to plant and change direction to field the ball when his left leg gave out.

The Dodgers have long been the ruling power in the National League West, champions of the division 11 times in the last 12 years.