The Giants aren't going to enjoy facing the San Diego Padres for the next few years.
A day after the Padres reportedly agreed to acquire former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays, general manager AJ Preller is close to trading for another ace.
The Padres are on the verge of getting starter Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini from the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Zach Davis and prospects Reginald Preciado, Owen Caissie, Ismael Mena and Yeison Santana, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Monday night, citing sources.
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The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma, Dennis Lin and PJ Mooney first reported the parameters of the trade.
Darvish arguably had his best season in the majors in 2020 as he posted a 2.01 ERA and struck out 93 batters in 76 innings. The 34-year-old finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting and even received NL MVP votes.
The Padres reportedly were able to acquire two frontline starters in 24 hours without giving up either of their top two prospects, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams.
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According to MLB Pipeline, Preciado is the Padres' No. 11 prospect, Caissie is No. 13, Mena is No. 15 and Santana is No. 16. All are 20 years old or younger, with Preciado still just 17 years old.
Assuming both trades are completed, the Padres will begin the season with Snell, Darvish and Dinelson Lamet as their top three starters. And Chris Paddack, likely their No. 4 starter at the moment, has the talent to be a top of the rotation arm. In 2022, they likely will add Mike Clevinger to the mix after he returns from Tommy John surgery.
Both Snell and Darvish are under contract through the 2023 MLB season.
As if adding Snell and Darvish wasn't enough, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported that the Padres are working on other trades. And San Diego agreed to a contract with 25-year-old Korean infielder Ha-seong Kim, Lin reported earlier on Monday, citing sources.
RELATED: Padres' Snell trade won't change Giants' rebuilding plans
The Padres are gunning for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the NL West by six games, swept San Diego in the National League Division Series and then went on to win the World Series. Adding Snell and Darvish certainly could help them achieve that goal.
While the Giants surprised everyone by finishing in third place in the NL West in 2020, it's going to be very tough to compete for division title in 2021, especially with close to 40 games against the Padres and Dodgers.