The Padres will offer Ryan Ludwick a contract through arbitration, GM Jed Hoyer told MLBTR. The Padres have limited payroll and a surplus of outfielders that includes Cameron Maybin, Kyle Blanks, Will Venable, Scott Hairston, Chris Denorfia, Aaron Cunningham and Tony Gwynn, so MLBTR had identified Ludwick as a non-tender candidate. But Hoyer says he's comfortable having outfield depth, so the Padres will offer Ludwick arbitraiton.
The 32-year-old is heading into his final season before free agency. He earned 5.45MM in 2010 and has hit 76 home runs over the course of the past three seasons, so he'll surpass the $6MM mark in 2011 and could earn close to $7MM. Hoyer says it's a fair price for an outfielder as powerful as Ludwick.
Jeff Fletcher of AOL FanHouse said on Twitter yesterday that Ludwick would be offered arbitration.
nice a nice little power bat to hit behind adrain…now they need about 2 more somewhere
I hope he can turn it around. He was pretty hard to watch last season when he joined the Padres.
I would just be happy if he hit like he did pre trade last year 281/343/484 instead of 211/301/330. We already have enough light hitting outfielders as it is.
Good thing the Braves moved fast on Uggla. There was speculation that they’d pursue Ludwick if the Padres didn’t tender him.
This move was made easier by the fact that Hoyer didn’t have to go out and pay a couple mil for a centerfielder. I am fine with this.
I hope the Padres offer arb to Yorvit, Miggy, and Garland. Worst case scenario they bring back three guys that will help the club next year and the payroll would still be in the 40’s. They need a backup catcher, innings eater, and shortstop anywayz. If they decline then the Padres pick up some draft picks. I see very little downside to offering arb.
The downside is the players accepting arb, and the Pads not having the money to pay for those players. I don’t see any reason to offer Garland or Miggy (although I would love to see Miggy comeback).
Garland is looking for three years 20 million. No chance the Pads pay that, but if he accepts arb, he will make upwards of 9-10 million for the year. Pads can’t pay that.
A sad state of affairs in America’s Finest City until Moorad gains full control, and some draft picks begin to come through.
Both Garland and Torrealba have EVERY reason to believe they’ll get multi-year deals this offseason. Neither one is going to accept arbitration, so there is zero downside to doing it.
Tejada’s an interesting question. I think he’d likely accept, and probably comes down to something around $5-6M for 2011 salary, which would be pretty close to his WAR-calculated value next year. I think there’d be enough interest in him for someone to trade a minor league roster filler (ala Soriano last year) and pick up that full salary, so the Padres wouldn’t be on the hook for waiving him and carrying the money. To me, it’s a gamble worth taking… but then again, I’m gambling with someone else’s money!
I think you nailed it perfectly and I agree on all points a 100%.
I think you nailed it perfectly and I agree on all points a 100%.