The Twins acquired Paddack and reliever Emilio Pagan from the Padres on Thursday in exchange for reliever Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
In the two seasons since his brilliant 2019 rookie campaign in which he submitted a 3.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 153:31 K:BB in 140.2 innings, Paddack's run in San Diego went sour. Dating back to the start of the 2020 season, Paddack has submitted a 4.95 ERA (4.22 FIP), with injury concerns and a shallow repertoire beyond his changeup contributing to his demise. He was on track to open the 2022 campaign outside of San Diego's rotation entirely, so the move to a new organization can only help him, even though it's not immediately clear if Paddack is one of the Twins' top five starters. At the very least, the 26-year-old Paddack gives Minnesota a young pitcher under club control for the next three seasons who has already had success in the majors.