Chicago Cubs Rumors: San Diego Padres targeting Willson Contreras

The Chicago Cubs are entering the Major League Baseball trade deadline for the second consecutive season as sellers and the expectation is that their biggest trade chip, catcher Willson Contreras, will be moved before the deadline on August 2.

Contreras was one of two Cubs representatives at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game this week and while he thinks that he will wear a Cubs uniform once more at a Major League Baseball All-Star Game in the future, it seems more likely that he is in the final stretch of games with the organization that signed him as an international free agent 14 years ago.

The New York Mets have been a common team mentioned in the sweepstakes for Contreras. There is history there as the Mets and Cubs came together on a trade last season that saw the Cubs move shortstop Javier Baez and veteran starting pitcher Trevor Williams to the Mets for top outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Beyond the Mets, other teams that have been mentioned as a possibility for the Cubs’ starting catcher have been the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. A new team, however, may have entered the mix.

San Diego Padres’ beat report Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Contreras is among the targets that the Padres have at the trade deadline.

"After leaving the field Tuesday night at the All-Star Game, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove shared an embrace with Cubs catcher Willson Contreras in the Dodger Stadium dugout.Contreras, who caught Musgrove in the third inning, is a trade target of the Padres.“This might not be the last time we do this,” Musgrove told him."

The Padres and Cubs are no strangers in regard to trade conversations. Prior to the 2021 season, the two teams came together on a trade that saw starting pitcher Yu Darvish be sent by the Cubs two the Padres for a plethora of talented low-level prospects.

The San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs could work for a Willson Contreras trade.

During the 2021 season at the trade deadline, the two teams had conversations on a trade that would involve the Cubs’ taking on first baseman Eric Hosmer and his hefty contract as a way to buy a prospect from the Padres. The prospect was believed to be catcher Luis Campusano.

Campusano has struggled in the brief stints that he had with the Padres at the Major League level between 2021 and this season but given that he is a prospect that the Cubs have had their sights on in the past, it’s possible that he would be involved in a potential Contreras’ deal.

It’s even more likely that a potential Contreras trade with the Padres would see veteran catcher Jorge Alfaro as part of the package coming back to the Cubs. Alfaro wouldn’t headline the package but would be a serviceable replacement for Contreras on the Cubs to go along with Yan Gomes as they plot their long-term future at the position.