Padres’ perfect trade offer for Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen

The San Diego Padres have been linked to big trade ideas. So would they be in the mix with other teams chasing Zac Gallen? Here is the Padres’ perfect trade offer for the Diamondbacks’ Gallen?

The Padres are in second place in the NL West. However, they remain nine games behind the team with the best record in baseball. The Padres likely won’t be catching the Dodgers in the regular season. But can they do it in the postseason?

Adding another starting pitcher is a must if the Padres are going to be a serious playoff team. But is Gallen that guy?

Would SP Zac Gallen move the needle for the Padres?

If you look at Gallen’s track record, there’s reason for enthusiasm. He has been a big-time winner in his major-league career. And in his lone playoff season, he won a pair of games and helped the Padres reach the World Series.

Also, he’s only three years removed from striking out 220 batters in 210 innings.

Still, Gallen slipped to 13-15 last season, and his ERA ballooned to a career-worst 4.83. Furthermore, he has been even worse this season. He is 3-6 with an unsightly 6.10 ERA. How bad is that ERA? It ranks No. 67 in baseball. That’s the worst among qualifying starting pitchers. And it’s over half a run higher than the second-worst (Jeffrey Springs of the Athletics has a 5.55 ERA), according to ESPN.

Also, Gallen’s 1.63 WHIP is the worst in baseball. The next worst is Kyle Bradish at 1.45. That’s a huge gap this far into the season.

Another scary thing about Gallen is his lack of strikeouts. In 79 innings, he has totaled only 52 Ks.

So why are teams interested in Gallen? Desperation? Jim Bowden hasn’t been bothered by the cold, hard numbers, according to The Athletic.

“He’s had an up-and-down year for Arizona,” Bowden wrote. “However, a change of scenery might be just what the doctor ordered to try and turn his career back in the direction it was just three years ago, when he started the All-Star Game for the National League.”

OK. Let the buyer beware.

What would the Padres’ perfect trade offer be?

The Padres need to be hard negotiators. They must point out all of the decline they’ve seen in Gallen. They should make a big deal about Gallen’s age. Is he falling off the pitching cliff at soon-to-be age 31?

Giving up farm assets is never easy. And the Padres need to be particularly careful in this trade. There’s a chance they won’t get a frontline starter in this deal. Gallen may be a No. 3 or No. 4 guy at this point in his career. The Padres should adjust their trade offer accordingly.

If they give up a top-30 prospect, it needs to come from the very bottom of that list. And the right match might be 23-year-old Carson Montgomery. He is still in the proving mode after coming back from Tommy John surgery, according to MLB.com.

“The 6-foot-1 right-hander showcases both a four-seamer and sinker,” MLB.com. “He can sit 92-95 mph with the heat, though he’s been below that at times in the cold Midwest League this spring. The sinker has decent tail running in on righties, while the four-seam will flash promising ride.

“Montgomery had control problems dating back to his first year in Tallahassee, but has actually tightened up his command coming out of his TJ recovery and rehab, enough to keep getting starting looks.”

There’s enough there to entice the Diamondbacks. They’re sitting at .500, but their roster isn’t good enough to get to the playoffs. Or do anything if they were to sneak in there. They need to recoup what they can.

The sticking point of a perfect offer is what the Padres offer along with Montgomery. The Diamondbacks will look at Montgomery as a small piece. They’re going to want a better candidate to become a starter.

Perhaps Miguel Mendez could solve the issue. He’s a 6-foot-2, 165-pound right-hander who is enjoying a reasonably good season in AA ball. In 11 starts, Mendez has a record of 2-2 with an ERA of 4.93. He has totaled 38 strikeouts in 34.2 innings.

Padres GM AJ Preller said late last year that Mendez has a chance to be good, according to MLB.com.

“He’s somebody that if he’s able to take another step from a development standpoint this year, like he did last year, he’ll be somebody at some point that could put himself in position for Petco.

“(Mendez has) always been a guy with arm talent, and you start to see him be more consistent last year, putting that arm talent on the field in terms of consistent performances. He’s developed three pitches. It’s a fastball, slider, changeup. Each one of them, you can grade out as above average.”

So the Padres could offer Montgomery along with Mendez, making their perfect offer to the Diamondbacks.