MLB Rumors: Padres Have 3 Brewers Pitchers On Their Radar

The San Diego Padres are always thinking ahead, and seem to have three Milwaukee Brewers starters on their radar as targets, according to beat writer Dennis Lin of The Athletic. 

An eventual deal involving Corbin Burnes or Brandon Woodruff seems more likely; both starters are entering their penultimate year before free agency, and the Brewers might look to shed payroll if they fail to stay in contention. The Padres, who could dangle Jackson Merrill in talks for top-shelf pitching, also have had a prior interest in Milwaukee’s Adrian Houser, a cheaper back-end starter.

The Padres, while having Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove under contract for several more years with new extensions, will have to replace Blake Snell, who becomes a free agent, at season's send. Both Burnes and Woodruff, two of the top starters in baseball, won't become free agents until 2025, but it wouldn't be unlike the Brewers to get out in front of it and deal them before they have to pay them. 

Lin suggests that the Friars could dangle their No. 1 prospect Jackson Merrill, a 19-year-old shortstop slated for A-Ball this season, in a bid to land either the former Cy Young winner Burnes, or Woodruff. 

The Padres will start the season without co-ace Joe Musgrove in the rotation, who dropped a dumbbell and fractured his toe earlier in camp. Reports today, however, suggest that he's begun to make progress.

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