On its face, the question of whether the Padres should trade for Rolls-Royce rental Mookie Betts seems simple.
You don’t do it, right? Why sink $27 million into one season if clubhouse question marks still outnumber guarantees? Even a superstar the likes of Betts cannot fix all that likely needs attention in one lap.
You say no because you still seem too far from contending, timelines and optimistic clubhouse T-shirts be damned. You walk away because there’s a better chance the San Diego Chicken hits cleanup next season than scouring enough couch cushions to coax a signature out of Betts in free agency.