The Rundown: Padres Discussing Trade for Cole Hamels, Unnamed Team Has Won Bid for Korean Infielder Jung-Ho Kang

The Padres may not be done just yet.

Obviously San Diego will need to figure out their logjam in the outfield. But is it possible they’d make another blockbuster deal to add a top starting pitcher?

Well, it sounds like that’s could be the case. Yesterday, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reported that the Padres have had discussions with the Phillies about a possible trade for LHP Cole Hamels, and that newly acquired outfielder Wil Myers could head the return.

That would be pretty interesting. We’ve already seen that type of swap earlier in the offseason, when the Dodgers pulled off a trade for pitcher Andrew Heaney and then turned around and traded Heaney to the Angels for infielder Howie Kendrick.

However, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Padres intend to keep Myers to play alongside fellow new outfielders Matt Kemp and Justin Upton.

I really like Hamels, and would like to see him in a Cubs uniform, but I’m kind of rooting for the Padres to pull this off. Their offseason has been a blast to follow so far.

I also kind of doubt the Cubs would be looking to add Hamels now (despite previous interest) after the Jon Lester signing.

Other notes

* An unnamed team has won the bid on Korean infielder Jung-Ho Kang for $5 million. Could it be the Cubs? I wouldn’t count on it, but you never know. Many teams have been ruled out, but the Cubs aren’t one of them. Kang hit .356 with 40 home runs in Korea last year. I wouldn’t think the Cubs would be the winning bidder due to their glut of infield talent, but at the same time I could see them wanting to simply add talent regardless of the position. The team with the winning bid will have 30 days to negotiate a deal.

* Marc Topkin speculates that the Rays will start the season with infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist, but that “there may be a scenario in which he gets moved before that if the Rays are overwhelmed by an offer.” I maintain that I’d love to see Zobrist reunited with manager Joe Maddon in Chicago.

* Arismendy Alcantara hasn’t played in a Winter League game since going 3-for-4 with a home run on Dec. 16. I haven’t heard any reason for his absence, but hopefully it has been planned and not related to any sort of injury.