The Padres signed Yorvit Torrealba to a one-year $1.25MM deal that includes a mutual option for 2011. The catcher, who passed his physical today, will earn $750K this year. There's a $500K buyout on a $3.5MM mutual option for the following season.
Torrealba, 31, hit .291/.351/.380 in 242 plate appearances for the Rockies last year, catching 545.3 innings. Torrealba split time last year with a solid young catcher in Chris Iannetta, and he'll do so again this year with Nick Hundley.
We learned on Monday from Olney that despite an offer in hand from San Diego, Torrealba hoped to engage the Mets. However, the Mets may be done spending.
ESPN.com's Buster Olney reported that the sides were nearing a deal and followed up with the terms of the contract, all on Twitter. Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweeted that Torrealba passed his physical.
Nice to see the Padres dropping a little coin, but this is a somewhat curious signing. Torrealba was likely promised the starting catcher job ahead of the 25 year-old Hundley, but perhaps if Hundley is impressing as a backup or in Triple-A, Yorvit will find himself on the block come July.
Hundley is the Padres catcher of the future, and will be their starter, no question. Torrealba was a backup last year and will be a backup this year for the Padres. Very similar to what they did with Blanco last year. ZERO chance Hundley starts in Triple-A, 100% chance he will be the strating day catcher (barring an injury) with Yorvie catching every fourth or fifth day.
likely promised to be the starter…..not according to anyone in San Diego. Yorvit is going to be on the block in July, earlier probably, but it sounds like he is planning on about 60 starts….thus the interest in the Mets
Yeah, I can’t see why they would want him other than for trading him when someone needs a catcher at the deadline. I watch all of the Dodger games, and saw Hundley enough. He’s not a bad player, probably much better than Torrealba.
FAIL! Nice one Yorvit, instead of taking a couple hundred grand less to be with a WORLD SERIES contender, you played your cards totally wrong and will have your butt handed to you a dozen times a year by the Rockies.
Loved ya when you were clutch for the Rox, but this move was most un-clutch.
When did the Rockies become a World Series contender?
I think it was around the time they qualified for the postseason in 2 of the last 3 seasons, but it may have been the franchise record wins in 2009 or the fact that the 2010 team is even more talented and deeper? Or it could have been the 74-42 record they put up under Jim Tracy last year? It’s tough to put your finger on it…
Luckily you don’t have to worry about it too much in San Diego. Enjoy the beach, because your team is going to be God awful…again.
By all means San Diego isn’t my team, but I still have a hard time calling the Rockies a World Series contender. If that is the case then 14 other teams probably are considered “contenders” as well.
The nature of the MLB playoff structure, where you play 162 times over 6 months to be one of 8 teams that qualify for a first round best of 5 where almost anything can happen (see e.g. Rockies, 2007), dictates that any of those 8 teams are effectively “World Series contenders”, doesn’t it?
And if you look at the NL West, I think you’d have a hard time discounting the Rockies in the hunt for the NL West title, let alone a wild card spot that they’ve captured twice in the last three seasons.
Still managed to beat “world series” contenders the Rockies 8 times last year.
Yeah, they also lost 10 games to Colorado last year. And 8-10 is a .444 clip which puts you on pace for a 72-90 record.
So I probably wouldn’t lead with that in the team’s 2010 Media Guide…
You are probably all bitter padre or giant fans trying to talk bad about the rockies but the past 2 of 3 years don’t lie…the padres are still mad about game 163 in ’07 and the giants fans are mad about last year choking down the stretch with “the best rotation in the west.” And when A-Gon is traded by the deadline our bench players could hit clean up in that week lineup. But roxfan10 no need to worry about any of these guys cause in august and september last year all us Rockies fans got an earful of how there is no way we take the wild card…and look what happened….and like you said we are deeper and more talented this year….
Perhaps you should have a look at something called “Park Effects” before making idiotic statements like that….whatever. The Padres haven’t been great offensively, more like average though….not terrible as you suggest.
your right they are not awful, i shouldnt have said what i did because they arent terrible, just tired of everyone ripping the Rockies because they have shown they can contend. But if they were to lose A-Gon, the line-up would not be pretty, and im sure most Padre fans would agree, i would prefer to see him stay they there, im tired of seeing big money teams taking young, all-star talented players for the teams that have to get rid of him just because they can’t afford them, i have seen it first hand here in CO…but its part of the game so can’t do anything about it…but you are right they are not terrible, which is quite surprising because the names they had to put on the field due to injuries weren’t the most talented but there was something there which gives them something to look forward too.
“Enjoy the beach”
Thanks, don’t mind if I do.
The Rockies didn’t even beat the Padres a dozen times last season.
The Mets are done spending?
Did they ever start?
(Only Jason Bay? REALLY?)
not much out there worth spending money on….so why waste it?
When there was players worth spending money on, they only spent on Bay. There is no excuse for Omar or the fans to say that the Mets couldn’t sign someone worth signing.
After Bay and outside of Sheets, there wasn’t anything i wanted the mets to waste money on. I’m content.
How is having Beltran on the DL for the start of the season, Wright can barely hit a home run at Citi Field, which he proved last season, Reyes coming off of surgery, GMJ = the worst OF in baseball, Bay, and his some what sucky defense, one at least decent starter, and maybe two good relievers, and also, no starting catcher making you content? I forgot Castillo and his bad defense. If you are content with that, then so be it, so hello to fourth or fifth place this year.
1)beltran will be back, pagan has shown he can hit. 2)wright had no protection in the lineup, he didnt all of a sudden forget how to hit HRs. 3) only good reports are heard about reyes, not worried 4)gmj will be the 4th OFer with beltran out and possibly gone by the time he is back 5)bay will be an adequate fielder 6)mets added some potentially good arms to the pen in rygota and escobar 7) no catcher out there was worth spending money on, we got a really good defensive one in blanco(which is most important from catcher) while Thole continues to develop his defensive skills 8) there was no way to improve on castillo, we werent going to make him a backup
got anything else?
The Mets should have gotten Byrnes over GMJ. He’s younger a better hitter and has upside. Byrnes would have only cost 400K compared to GMJ 2 million and Brian Stiokes a solid reliever for you guys.
Really? Byrnes? a guy who hit .226 and .209 in his last 2 seasons? Stokes was expendable, his ERA was decent, but not his whip.
Byrnes has a better chance of bouncing back. You could have gotten Gomes for under 2 million if you don’t like Byrnes.
Who is going to be in the rotation after Johan ?
Whos gonna play centerfield then while Beltran is out ?
It’s nice to be the hot chick’s ugly friend…
On a serious note…this creates a bit of a logjam in AAA Portland. Ryan now moves down but Canham is coming up from AA. I like the potential of both guys….although Ryan’s done more at the AAA level.
There is nothing curious about this signing. Yorvit will be the Padres backup and will help tutor Hundley and, eventually, Ryan. Getting a veteran with his background handling young pitchers was crucial. They had Blanco back there last year, and Yorvit is an offensive upgrade over Blanco without losing much defensively. Good move – I could not have stomached watching Blanco “hit” for the Padres anymore.
As for the “log jam”, nothing wrong with creating a little competition among your prospects. Hopefully Ryan and Canham push each other a little and they both play well.
Blanco did have an OPS+ of 96 last year. Which is great for a backup catcher. Torrealba hasn’t done that since 2002.
The Padres are indeed giving up A LOT defensively. You might not enjoy watching Yorvit try and throw out runners…
well, san diego is a great place to put up monster numbers as a hitter.
wait, no…
how does this make sense for torrealba? you’re going to play hardball with your former team that gets you regular at-bats at coors field only to sign a time-share deal to play in the expanses of petco? really?
It makes sense only if you don’t have a single other offer. He and his agent must have really messed things up with the Mets. You’d think they would have signed him at this price…it would make sense for him as well because of a lack of competition for starts in NY.
I really like this pick up as a pads fan. He gives up soild depth, and is a decent offensive player that has come through in the clutch. If Blanks, Headley and Cabrera can build upon what they did last year, I can see the Pads winning 80-85 games next year. The rotation (if Young can stay healthy) can potentially be very soild, and we have a great back end of the bullpen. The Pads may not be a contender, but they will not be a doormat either.
….is a decent offensive player…
oh my you’re in for a long season
Gotta love how this post is about Torrealba, yet it turns into a Mets discussion..ah
Torrealba is the latest of FAs to learn the lesson. You demand too much, and you will be ignored and end up taking less to play in a less favorable position with a lesser team. Nothing against SD i think this is great signing and Torrealba is a clutch player, but he could have returned to CO and be part of a serious NL contender. Instead, Olivo gets the job there and Yorvit will only play in Coors in a visting role. See Johnny Damon….
His line of 291/.351/.380 in 242 plate appearances isn’t bad at all for a Catcher. He’s going to be a solid backup for Hundley, and could be a useful trading chip at the deadline assuming the Padres aren’t in contention. Mike Piazza he is not, but the Pads could have done a lot worse.
Can someone tell me what the heck the point of a mutual option is? I don’t get them at ALL and yet they seem to be becoming more common.
Does it mean that you need BOTH parties to exercise it for it to kick in? (Meaning that EITHER person can say no and nullify it?)
If that’s the case… it’s just nutty to me.
Nutty yes, the Padres are probably using it because they can’t afford to pay him that extra 500k this year, he wanted the money guaranteed and they must think they can deal him before having to pay the buyout.
Torrealba got greedy. Shoulda taken the Rocks offer of 5-6 million over 2 years. He ends up with a million and an option that will likely not get picked up.
Great Player…Wothless Team
he would fit great with the Mets or Marlins