The San Diego Padres made a big move and added one of the top starting pitchers in all of baseball in Sean Manaea.
Manaea joins the Padres after being the latest member of the Oakland A’s to be traded away as part of the team’s current fire sale.
San Diego’s rotation may now be the best in the entire league, featuring Mike Clevinger, Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove in addition to Manaea.
But Manaea was put in a bit of an awkward situation on Sunday when he made his first start in a Padres uniform, which happened to be against his old team, the A’s.
Sean Manaea is smiling and wearing a green glove because well…
he's starting against the team that traded him five hours ago pic.twitter.com/FxhT1f2cIc
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 3, 2022
A Bizarre Turn Of Events
Manaea proudly sported a green glove in his start against the A’s yesterday in honor of the trade that had taken place roughly five hours prior to his start, but that did put him in a bit of an awkward position.
How many pitchers make their first start for their new team against the team that just traded them mere hours before?
It’s quite rare.
But the left-hander didn’t look any worse for the wear in his start yesterday, going 3 2/3 innings and allowing just one run while striking out four, and he was more than happy to use a green glove against his old team.
It had to have been a little awkward for the A’s as well, seeing their former ace start against them just five hours after they had traded him.
But now, Manaea has a chance to win with the Padres, and it’s not like he’s in a completely unfamiliar spot.
Bob Melvin, who was manager of the A’s last year, is now at the helm for the Padres, so Manaea is hardly skipping a beat.
NEXT: Padres Have Named Their Ace For 2022