It’s rare that you see two division rivals making moves with each other.
It just doesn’t happen.
The most notable trade between rivals was the Lou Brock trade between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
Today, the San Diego Padres made a trade with their bitter National League West division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder Matt Betty is heading to San Diego in exchange for minor league pitcher River Ryan.
Beaty was designated for assignment by the Dodgers earlier this spring, but now has a chance to find himself a role in San Diego.
The Padres landed Matt Beaty in a deal with the Dodgers this morning. A lefty bat capable of playing outfield and pinch-hitting. Beaty was DFA’d by the Dodgers last week. Minor League RHP River Ryan goes to LA to complete the deal.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) March 28, 2022
Good For Depth
This is a good depth move if you’re the Padres.
Beaty can DH, play first base, and the outfield and he does have some pop in his bat, so this could somewhat help the Padres make up for the loss of Fernando Tatis Jr.
Beaty obviously won’t replicate Tatis’ numbers but bringing him in along with Luke Voit is a good place to start.
But it’s incredibly rare that you’ll see two division rivals make a trade with one another.
Again, it just doesn’t happen that much, so it is weird to see, especially when both teams appear to have contending rosters entering the 2022 season.
We’ll see how this pans out for the Padres, as well as how the fan who had Beaty’s signature tattooed on his arm will react to this move.
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