SAN DIEGO _ The Padres circled starting pitching and left-handed hitting as two of the areas they needed to address this offseason.
The cost for the first pieces: Luis Urias and Eric Lauer.
The one-time second baseman of the future and the former No. 1 draft choice were dealt to the Brewers on Wednesday for veteran right-hander Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham. Milwaukee will also receive a player to be named later or cash considerations.
The Padres also have agreed with left-hander Drew Pomeranz _ an All-Star with the Padres in 2016 _ on a return as a bullpen piece. The terms were not immediately known, but freelance writer Robert Murray said it was for $34 million over four years.
With the winter meetings around the corner, the Padres are still seeking an upgrade at second base over veterans Ian Kinsler and Greg Garcia as well as ways to improve a rotation that registered a 4.66 ERA, fourth-highest in the National League.
Maybe Davies can help.
The 26-year-old was 10-7 with a 3.55 ERA, 102 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP in 31 starts for the Brewers in 2019. He has a 3.91 ERA, 434 strikeouts and a 1.30 WHIP over parts of five seasons in the majors, throwing as many as 191 innings (3.90 ERA) as a 17-game winner in 2017.
The left-handed-hitting Grisham, the Brewers' No. 28 prospect coming into the 2019 season, hit .231/.328/.410 with six homers, 24 RBIs and a steal over 51 games in his big league debut. He started the year at Double-A Biloxi and rose to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. At those two stops he had a .300/.407/.603 batting line with 26 homers and 12 steals in 97 games to earn his first big league call-up.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Grisham played all three outfield spots in the majors and, according to a rival NL team's scouting report, boasts average tools across the board.
The Padres expressed a desire to add left-handed hitters to an outfield that includes Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot _ any or all of whom could find themselves included in trade talks, although Myers' hefty contract could be an impediment. Outfield prospect Taylor Trammell, also a left-handed hitter, could begin to compete for a big league job this spring, while the left-handed-hitting Josh Naylor remains a potent bat even if his profile is a better fit as a designated hitter in the American League. A healthy Franchy Cordero could also factor in the equation if he can stay on the field.
Pomeranz, 31, had a 4.85 ERA in 104 innings split last year between the Giants and the Brewers. At the latter stop after the trade deadline, the 31-year-old former first-round pick struck out 45 in 26 1/3 innings (2.39 ERA), mostly in relief, before throwing two shutout innings for the Brewers in the playoffs. Opposing batters hit just .161/.222/.264 against Pomeranz in the second half.
The Padres originally acquired Pomeranz in December 2015 and developed him into an All-Star starting pitcher before flipping him to the Red Sox for starting pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza, who has since been sidelined by a pair of Tommy John surgeries.
Once one of the top prospects in the organization, the 22-year-old Urias underwhelmed the last two years in the majors, posting a .221/.318/.331 batting line over just 83 games. He was a California League MVP in 2016, a minor league all-star each of the last four seasons and prized as a prospect who could get on base and perhaps one day compete for batting titles.
But a hamstring injury halted last year's debut and slowed Urias into spring training. He was 2-for-24 with 11 strikeouts in April _ due in large part to an inability to catch up to elite velocity _ and slugged only .351 despite a .341 on-base clip over a 60-game stretch in the majors to close the season. Urias recently reported to the Mexican winter league to begin making up for lost time.
A wealth of minor league prospects on the rise likely made it easier to part with the 22-year-old Urias, as well as the 24-year-old Lauer, a 2016 first-rounder with a 4.40 ERA over parts of two seasons in the majors.
Left-hander MacKenzie Gore and right-hander Luis Patino, two of the top pitching prospects in the game, should find themselves in big league camp this spring alongside Davies, who is arbitration-eligible for a second time in 2020 after making $2.6 million last year.
MLBTradeRumors.com projects Davies will make $5 million in 2020.
Other expected to be front-runners for the rotation include Chris Paddack coming off a successful first stint in the majors and Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards coming off their initial returns from Tommy John surgery. Left-hander Joey Lucchesi and right-hander Cal Quantrill are, as of now, the chief competitors for the last spot in the rotation.
Meantime, top-30 middle infield prospects in the Padres system, as rated by MLB.com, include 2019 first-rounder CJ Abrams (No. 4), Xavier Edwards (No. 5), Owen Miller (No. 10), Tucupita Marcano (No. 13), Gabriel Arias (No. 14) and Esteury Ruiz (No. 18).
With Fernando Tatis Jr. firmly entrenched as the Padres' long-term answer at shortstop, second base or center field was even speculated as an eventual home for the left-handed-hitting Abrams, ranked No. 45 in MLB.com's top-100, when he was selected sixth overall in June.
In the interim, the Padres have two veteran second basemen on their roster in 30-year-old Garcia (.248/.364/.354 in 134 games last season) and 37-year-old Kinsler (.217/.278/.368 in 87 games before a herniated disc in his neck ended his season in August), not to mention Ty France, a San Diego State product and Pacific Coast League MVP who began to see innings at second base in 2019.
France paired a .696 OPS with seven homers in his first 69 games in the majors.
And, with four months until the season opener, the roster is far from set.
