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Padres To Re-Sign Craig Stammen To Minor League Deal

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The Padres are in agreement with veteran reliever Craig Stammen on a minor league contract, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Stammen would lock in a $1.5MM base salary if he cracks the MLB roster, and the deal contains another $2MM in potential incentives.

It’ll be a seventh straight season in the organization for Stammen, who turns 39 before Opening Day. After spending his first seven years as a member of the Nationals, he spent the 2016 campaign in the minors with Cleveland. After that season, Stammen landed with the Padres on a minor league contract. That proved the start of a fruitful relationship, as he’s effectively soaked up a number of innings out of the bullpen over the last six years.

The righty pitched 80 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball for the Friars during his first season. That earned him a two-year deal the following offseason. Stammen posted similar numbers over the course of that contract, throwing 161 combined frames with a 3.02 ERA for a total cost of $4.5MM. San Diego retained him on another two-year pact thereafter, this time with a $9MM guarantee and a $4MM club option covering the 2022 campaign.

Stammen struggled during the abbreviated 2020 season but rebounded with a 3.06 ERA over 88 1/3 innings the next year. San Diego exercised their option and brought the Dayton product back. Stammen ran into some uncharacteristic struggles last year, particularly thanks to the home run ball. He surrendered nearly two homers per nine innings and posted a 4.43 ERA over 40 2/3 frames. He missed a couple months in the second half thanks to inflammation in his throwing shoulder before returning to health in early September.

A ground-ball specialist, Stammen thrives on command and movement rather than overpowering velocity. He leans heavily on a low-90s sinker and upper-80s cutter to keep the ball on the ground. He induced worm-burners a bit more than half the time last year while only walking 5.6% of opponents. His 19.8% strikeout rate was a few points below league average, down more than three percentage points relative to his 2021 mark.

The non-roster pact means Stammen will have to earn his way back for a 14th big league campaign. He’ll get a chance to do so in Spring Training and presumably has a good shot at cracking the roster given his familiarity to the front office and coaching staff.

Padres Showing Interest In Nelson Cruz

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The Padres are among the teams with interest in Nelson Cruz, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). The designated hitter is one of the more accomplished bats still available in free agency, though he’s coming off a career-worst 2022 campaign.

Cruz told reporters in the Dominican Republic last week that his camp had already received offers from clubs for what’ll be his age-42 season. The seven-time All-Star unsurprisingly didn’t reveal which clubs had put forth those offers, and it’s not clear whether San Diego is one of those teams. Cruz also didn’t specify whether he’s received major league offers or just non-roster invitations to big league camp.

It was a rough season for Cruz, who spent a year in Washington after inking a $15MM free agent deal. For the first time since 2007, he hit at a below-average level. Through 507 trips to the plate, the right-hander posted a .234/.314/.337 line with only 10 home runs. It was his lowest homer total in 14 years, thanks largely to a career-worst 52.4% grounder percentage. Cruz continued to hit the ball hard, averaging just under 91 MPH in exit velocity while posting a 45.7% hard contact rate that was around 10 points above the league average. Much of that contact was driven into the dirt, though, a suboptimal outcome for a lumbering slugger.

Cruz had shown some worrisome signs late in the 2021 season as well. Owner of a .294/.370/.537 line through the first few months in Minnesota, he stumbled to a .226/.283/.442 mark upon landing with the Rays in a deadline deal that sent Joe Ryan to the Twin Cities. Cruz had previously seemed ageless as he continued to mash into his 40’s, but he has just a .232/.304/.371 slash through 745 trips to the plate since that trade.

Health could’ve played a part in that dip in production. At year’s end, Cruz revealed he’d been playing through some inflammation in his left eye. The issue, which he said had been impacting his vision, required surgical repair in late October. That’s not expected to affect his readiness for Spring Training, though it offers a possible explanation for Cruz’s struggles of late. Of course, the fact that he’ll turn 43 in July raises questions about whether he’ll be able to bounce back.

That also figures to depress his asking price, as Cruz is surely looking at a paycut from last season. If he secures a big league deal, it’ll be a one-year pact that likely contains a fairly low base salary. That could him make him more palatable to a San Diego club that might be nearing its spending limit. The Friars are certain to pay the luxury tax for a third consecutive season and they’re roughly $6MM shy of the $273MM threshold that’d result in their top 2024 draft pick being pushed back ten spots, as estimated by Roster Resource.

Cruz is well-known to San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. The Friars baseball operations leader was a member of the Rangers scouting staff before landing in San Diego, a run that overlapped with Cruz breaking through as a regular in Arlington. They reportedly showed interest in Cruz last offseason before he signed with the Nats.

The 18-year MLB veteran had ample experience in the corner outfield early in his career. He’s been almost exclusively a DH for a half-decade, not logging a single inning of outfield action since 2018. Any team that brings him in would presumably do so with an eye towards giving him ample run at designated hitter, in addition to some pinch-hitting work. The Friars signed Matt Carpenter to a two-year guarantee earlier in the offseason and figure to deploy him at DH fairly frequently as things stand. Carpenter is capable of factoring in at the non-shortstop infield positions and can add some insurance to the corner outfield as well, which would open up DH time for Cruz if a deal were to come together.

How Much More Do The Padres Have To Spend?

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After exceeding the luxury tax limit in each of the last two seasons, the Padres aren’t slowing down their spending.  Signing Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280MM deal was the splashiest move of a busy offseason, but San Diego also made significant investments to re-sign Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez, as well as bring in other new talents in Seth Lugo and Matt Carpenter.  The Padres also checked in on any number of other players, including Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Christian Vazquez, Jose Abreu, Kodai Senga, Chris Bassitt, and Nathan Eovaldi.

The result is a projected $249.4MM payroll for 2023 is the highest in club history, as well as estimated tax number of roughly $266.6MM.  However, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, “people familiar with the team’s thinking say the Padres are up against a self-prescribed spending limit.”  This limit isn’t necessarily absolute, since as Lin notes, the internal spending limit is ultimately up to owner Peter Seidler, who might decide to again green-light a big expenditure if it means getting the Padres a step closer to a World Series title.

Still, it would seem like payroll space might be at something of a premium, given San Diego’s most recent moves.  Adam Engel was signed to a one-year guaranteed deal, and while terms aren’t yet known, it’s safe to assume Engel isn’t getting more than the $2.3MM he was projected to earn in arbitration.  Brent Honeywell was signed to a split contract, while Wilmer Font and Eric Hanhold were inked to minor league deals.  Naturally, all teams (no matter the payroll) look for lower-cost depth as the offseason goes on, but the Padres still have some notable needs that would require a bigger fix.

President of baseball operations AJ Preller is no stranger to creative trades, so the Padres could look to address those needs while freeing up some salary at the same time.  For instance, the Padres have at least some openness to moving infielder Ha-Seong Kim, who has a $7MM luxury tax number (based on average annual value) and who is owed $25MM over next two seasons.  Trent Grisham has also been floated as a possible trade candidate, though Grisham is among the less-expensive members of San Diego’s roster.  Dating back to last season, there has long been speculation that Blake Snell (owed $16MM in 2023) could be dealt, even if such a move wouldn’t help fix the depth issues in the Padres’ rotation.

Between trades and promotions, the Padres’ farm system has lost a lot of its depth; Baseball America rated the Padres only 23rd of 30 teams in its midseason organizational talent rankings.  As such, this could complicate the concept of San Diego attaching a prospect or two to an undesirable contract in trade talks.  For instance, Drew Pomeranz missed all of 2022 recovering from flexor tendon surgery, and the reliever is owed $10MM in 2023.  A rebuilding team could be enticed to take Pomeranz’s deal off the Padres’ books if some minor league talent was added as a sweetener, except San Diego might not have the prospects to spare.

Padres Sign Adam Engel To Major League Deal

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The Padres announced they’ve signed outfielder Adam Engel to a one-year, major league contract. The additions of Engel and righty Brent Honeywell bring San Diego’s 40-man roster to full capacity. Engel is a client of Icon Sports Management.

Engel hit the open market at the end of the 2022 season. The White Sox non-tendered him rather than bring him back via arbitration on a contract projected around $2.3MM. That ended a near decade-long run in the Chicago organization, which had selected Engel in the 18th round of the 2013 draft.

The University of Louisville product more than made good on that modest draft status. He’d play parts of six big league campaigns for the ChiSox, mostly in a reserve capacity. Engel played in the majors each season from 2017-22, with his speed and defensive acumen getting him consistent opportunities even as his production at the plate was inconsistent.

In just over 1500 MLB plate appearances, Engel is a .225/.280/.350 career hitter. He posted well below-average offensive numbers for his first three campaigns but put up quality marks in limited action between 2020-21. The shortened schedule in the former season and a pair of injured list stints in the latter kept him to 233 plate appearances over that two-year stretch. Engel hit .270/.335/.488 in that limited look, connecting on 10 home runs and 14 doubles.

That led to some optimism he might have taken a step forward with the bat. Engel didn’t sustain those gains in 2022, however. He hit .224/.269/.310 through 260 trips to the plate last season. Engel managed just two homers with a modest 4.2% walk percentage and an elevated 29.2% strikeout rate. On the heels of that rough showing, the White Sox moved on despite a generally shallow outfield.

The Padres will nevertheless bring him aboard as a defensive option off the bench. The 31-year-old has played nearly 3700 outfield innings as a big leaguer, with the vast majority of that work coming in center field. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average consistently peg him as a plus with the glove. DRS has credited Engel as 21 runs above average for his career, including three runs above par through 649 2/3 innings last season. Statcast has been even more bullish, rating him at +47 runs overall and +3 runs last year.

He’s also a quality baserunner, as the excellent speed that has made such a gifted outfielder plays on the bases. He’s stolen 47 bases in 64 career attempts, including a solid 12-16 success rate last year. His right-handed bat offers manager Bob Melvin a chance to shield incumbent center fielder Trent Grisham from tough southpaws on occasion, although neither Engel nor Grisham have shown marked platoon splits over the course of their careers.

Engel has over five years of major league service, meaning he’ll head back to free agency next offseason. That body of work also gives him the right to refuse any outright or optional assignments to the minor leagues. That suggests he has a strong chance of breaking camp with the Friars in a fourth/fifth outfield capacity.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Padres Sign Brent Honeywell To Major League Deal

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The Padres and right-hander Brent Honeywell are in agreement on a major league deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s a split deal that will pay him $725K in the majors and $200K in the minors. The Padres subsequently announced the signing.

Honeywell, 28 in March, was selected by the Rays with the 72nd overall pick in the 2014 draft. His strong performance in the lower levels of the minor leagues allowed him to quickly shoot up prospect rankings. Baseball America had him on their top 100 list in five straight years starting in 2016.

Unfortunately, the reason that Honeywell stayed on there so long is that a laundry list of injuries prevented him from exhausting his prospect status. He required Tommy John surgery early in 2018, which wiped out that season. In June of 2019, he fractured a bone in his right elbow while working his way back to the mound, knocking him out of action for a second straight year. In May of 2020, while the pandemic had put the season on pause, he underwent a decompression procedure on his right ulnar nerve. That eventually made it three consecutive campaigns without Honeywell taking the mound in an official game of any kind.

In 2021, he finally was healthy enough to get back into action, making his MLB debut for the Rays. They only let him throw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, however, leaving him in Triple-A most of the year. He threw 81 2/3 frames there with a 3.97 ERA, 20% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate. Those were decent numbers, but considering he missed three whole seasons prior to that, it would be hard to characterize it as anything but a very encouraging return.

The Rays traded Honeywell to the A’s in November, with Oakland surely hoping that better days were ahead with the injuries in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with an olecranon stress reaction in his throwing elbow in March. He was shut down at that time and then was placed on the 60-day injured list when the season began. He started a rehab assignment in August but the club outrighted him off their 40-man roster in September. He continued pitching in the farm system of the A’s, finishing the year with a 7.08 ERA over 20 1/3 innings.

He reached free agency at the end of the year and has been pitching for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. He’s made seven appearances so far, including six starts, posting a 0.96 ERA over 28 innings. That’s evidently been enough to convince the Padres that Honeywell is worth a roster spot, as they have added Honeywell to the 40-man. Financially, there’s little risk, since Honeywell’s salary will be just barely above the $720K league minimum. The fact that it’s a split deal suggests that the Padres aren’t fully committed to Honeywell holding onto that spot, which is a fairly logical position given his lengthy injury history. However, he’s out of options, meaning that they would have to pass him through waivers before sending him to the minor leagues.

It’s unclear if the Padres intend to deploy Honeywell as a starter or a reliever, but they’ve shown a broadly flexible approach in that department when it comes to building out their pitching staff. The rotation is headlined by three locks in Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, but who slots in behind them is less certain. Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo are candidates for a couple of spots, but both of them also have experience as relievers. Martinez started 2022 in the rotation but was eventually moved to the bullpen and had better results there. Lugo has just 38 career starts at the big league level but has an extensive repertoire of pitches that could allow him to move to a starting role.

Honeywell is currently acting as a starter in winter ball but hasn’t logged 100 innings in a season since 2017, before his lengthy absence. Counting on him for anything resembling a full starter’s workload would certainly be risky, but he’s just one of a handful of options for the Friars. In addition to Martinez and Lugo, they also have prospects Adrian Morejon, Jay Groome, Ryan Weathers and others on the 40-man roster. For a minimal financial investment, the Padres have thrown Honeywell into the mix and will see if he they can be the ones to benefit from his long-awaited breakout. If that comes to fruition, Honeywell has less than a year of service time and can be retained by the club for the foreseeable future.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Cleared To Begin Baseball Activities

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Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. has been cleared to restart baseball activities this weekend, reports Dennis Lin of the Athletic. The organization anticipates he’ll be ready for Spring Training.

Tatis underwent a trio of surgeries in 2022. His season began with a procedure to repair a fracture in his left wrist that was identified when he reported to Spring Training. Tatis missed the first half of the year rehabbing. As he was on a minor league assignment to build back into game shape, MLB announced he’d been handed an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use. Tatis had tested positive for the banned substance Clostebol.

That ended his 2022 season before it began. Tatis responded by going under the knife twice more, using his forced time out of action to correct other health concerns. First came surgery on the left shoulder that had given him trouble throughout the 2021 season, twice forcing him to the injured list. In mid-October, he had a follow-up procedure on his left wrist.

It’d have been hard to draw up a worse year for the 24-year-old, who hit .292/.369/.596 over his first three big league campaigns. He earned an All-Star nod and a pair of Silver Slugger awards. The Padres firmly committed to him as the face of the franchise over the 2020-21 offseason, signing him to a $340MM extension that still stands as the fifth-largest deal in MLB history.

Whether Tatis can rediscover the form he showed through his first three seasons is one of the top questions facing a San Diego team with World Series aspirations. That he’s expected to be at full strength for the open of exhibition play is a promising start, although there will certainly be questions about his performance level coming off a year-long layoff and three surgeries.

Even though healthy, Tatis won’t be on the Opening Day roster. There are still 21 games remaining on his PED suspension, keeping him out of action until April 20 (assuming no postponements). Tatis is eligible to participate in Spring Training games during his ban, so he should have a few weeks to hit against upper level pitching in Cactus League play. That’ll be followed by another near-month absence to finish out his suspension.

Once eligible to play, there’s no question Tatis will be a regular in the lineup for skipper Bob Melvin. Precisely where he’ll line up is now up in the air. The presence of Ha-Seong Kim and signing of Xander Bogaerts give San Diego other options up the middle. Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth are penciled into the corner infield. Injuries can change the calculus, but Tatis is on track to spend the majority of his time in the outfield.

Trent Grisham is likely to be back in center field, although the club is at least open to trade possibilities there. Juan Soto has one corner outfield spot secured. After playing exclusively right field in 2022, Soto informed Padres officials he’s willing to man either corner outfield spot next season, Lin reports. Playing Tatis in the other corner opposite Soto would seem to be the plan on most days, though Tatis could bounce all around the diamond as other players take days off.

Melvin and the coaching staff will be tasked with sorting out the defensive possibilities. The more immediate concern is for Tatis to try and rediscover his early-career form at the plate. That’s a critical goal for the organization, as he’s under contract for another 12 seasons at a total of $324MM (minus the approximate $800K he’ll forfeit while serving the remainder of his suspension).

Nate Colbert Passes Away

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Former major leaguer Nate Colbert has passed away, the Padres announced. He was 76 years old.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Padres Hall of Famer Nate Colbert,” team chairman Peter Seidler said as part of the club’s statement. “Our hearts go out to his wife, Kasey, and the entire Colbert family at this very difficult time.”

Seidler’s statement goes on to note that Colbert still holds the Friars’ franchise record for home runs, with 163 longballs in a San Diego uniform. That’s perhaps his most famous achievement, though the St. Louis native was a three-time All-Star who spent a decade in the big leagues. Originally signed by his hometown Cardinals in 1964, Colbert made it to the majors with the Astros just two years later. He appeared in 39 games with Houston between 1966-68 and got his first extended action after landing with the Padres during their first year of existence.

Selected by San Diego during the expansion draft that predated their 1969 debut, the right-handed hitting Colbert quickly cemented himself as one of the game’s better sluggers. He hit 24 home runs during his first full season, then connected on 38 longballs during his second campaign. That figure tied for eighth in the majors in 1970 and set the stage for three consecutive All-Star showings from 1971-73.

That three-year stretch saw Colbert hit 27, 38 and 22 longballs, respectively. Only Johnny Bench had more homers in 1972. Over his first five seasons with the Friars, the 6’2″ first baseman hit .260/.333/.483 in just over 3000 plate appearances. Colbert finished ninth in cumulative homers and 19th among qualified hitters in slugging. His overall offensive production was 28 percentage points above that of the league average hitter during that time, as measured by wRC+.

Colbert’s numbers fell off after his 28th birthday. He had his first below-average season in 1974 and the Padres traded him to the Tigers as part of a three-team deal with St. Louis the ensuing offseason. Colbert subsequently made brief stops with the Expos and A’s but struggled. He retired after the 1976 season, his age-30 campaign.

While he didn’t have as long a playing career as it once seemed he would, Colbert had a strong half-decade peak as one of the sport’s better power hitters. He collected a trio of All-Star appearances and placed eighth in NL MVP balloting in 1972. Over parts of 10 seasons, he hit .243/.322/.451 with 173 homers, 520 runs batted in and 481 runs scored. The Padres selected him for their organizational Hall of Fame as part of their inaugural class in 1999.

After his playing career, Colbert spent some time as a minor league hitting instructor. He later became an ordained minister; as part of his statement, Seidler noted that Colbert had “(dedicated) his time to disadvantaged youth through his ministry.” MLBTR sends our condolences to Colbert’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.

Padres, Wilmer Font Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Padres are in agreement on a minor league contract with free-agent righty Wilmer Font, MLBTR has learned. He’ll be in Major League Spring Training and compete for a roster spot. Font is repped by the OL Baseball Group.

Font, 32, has spent the past two seasons pitching with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization and has thrown quite well overseas. After spending parts of five big league seasons oscillating between Triple-A and the Majors in a swingman role, he cemented himself as one of the top starting pitchers for a Landers club that won the Korean Series in 2022.

Over the past two seasons, Font owns a 3.03 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate against a terrific 5.9% walk rate. Font, who averaged 95.1 mph on his heater during his last big league campaign in 2020, also induced grounders at a healthy 53% clip during his time in the KBO.

Given Font’s strong showing as a starting pitcher in South Korea, he’ll give the Friars some depth at the back of their rotation, where they’re facing some uncertainty. The hope is that Nick Martinez, who served as a swingman in 2022 and spent more time in the ’pen than in the rotation, can hold down the fourth spot on the starting staff for the bulk of the season. Longtime Mets righty Seth Lugo, who was a starter earlier in his career but has worked as a bullpen arm in recent seasons, was signed with the idea that he’ll return to a starting role on in San Diego.

Martinez pitched just 106 1/3 innings in 2022, though, and Lugo logged only 65 innings as a full-time reliever, so it’s sensible to bring some depth with the potential to cover innings. Font racked up 184 innings over 28 starts in the KBO in 2022 — an average of nearly 6 2/3 innings per outing — so he’s more than capable of eating up innings in Triple-A and jumping into a big league rotation if he handles himself well in the minors. He could also break camp in a long relief role if he shows well in Spring Training, and it’s worth noting that the Padres used a six-man rotation early in the 2022 season, which opens that door if Font forces his way into the equation.

Font will join lefties Adrian Morejon, Ryan Weathers and Jay Groome, plus righties Pedro Avila, Reiss Knehr, Julio Teheran and Aaron Brooks in comprising a wealth of rotation depth for San Diego. Each of Morejon, Weathers, Groome, Avila and Knehr is already on the 40-man roster, which could give them a leg up over Font when it comes to finding their way to the big leagues, but Font’s 2021-22 run in the KBO was genuinely impressive and should position him for a big league look at some point, so long as he’s able to pitch reasonably well early in his Padres tenure.

Padres, Eric Hanhold Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Padres signed righty Eric Hanhold to a minor league contract last month, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He’ll be assigned to Triple-A El Paso.

Hanhold didn’t pitch in MLB last year. Claimed off waivers by the Pirates from the Orioles last offseason, he was passed through waivers by Pittsburgh in Spring Training. Hanhold accepted an assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis and wound up spending the whole season there. Working solely in relief, he posted a solid 3.40 ERA across 53 innings. His 21.2% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk percentage were each a bit worse than average, but he racked up ground balls at an excellent 62.7% clip.

The University of Florida product did reach the highest level the prior season. Hanhold came out of the bullpen 10 times with Baltimore in 2021, allowing nine runs in 10 1/3 innings. He’d also garnered a cup of coffee three years before with the Mets. Between the two clubs, the 29-year-old has tallied 12 2/3 major league frames. He’s allowed 11 runs (10 earned) with eight strikeouts and four walks over that stretch.

Despite last year’s fairly impressive minor league showing, Hanhold never got an MLB look in Pittsburgh. At season’s end, he qualified for minor league free agency. He figures to open next season with the Chihuahuas as a bullpen depth option. Through parts of four Triple-A campaigns, Hanhold owns a 4.60 ERA with a 20.1% strikeout percentage.

Padres Open To Trade Offers On Trent Grisham, Ha-Seong Kim

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The Padres have had another significant offseason, adding Xander Bogaerts on an 11-year megadeal and bringing in Matt Carpenter via two-year guarantee. Those players lengthen a lineup that already had plenty of talent, with Bogaerts in particular building on an existing area of strength.

San Diego certainly didn’t need another infielder. Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth would’ve made for an effective pairing up the middle, while Manny Machado has third base secured. Fernando Tatis Jr. will be back from his performance-enhancing drug suspension by the end of April and was already expected to see plenty of outfield work in deference to Kim and Cronenworth. As things stand, the Bogaerts signing pushes Kim to second base and Cronenworth over to first while keeping Tatis in the outfield on most days.

That overflow of up-the-middle talent is an enviable “problem” to have, as it affords them the ability to turn to the trade market. To that end, Dennis Lin of the Athletic reports the Padres are open to discussions on both Kim and center fielder Trent Grisham. Lin adds the organization isn’t interested in parting with Cronenworth and suggests a deal involving Grisham might be more likely than one than sends Kim elsewhere.

Grisham has spent the last three years in San Diego. Acquired from the Brewers in the deal that sent Luis Urías and Eric Lauer to Milwaukee over the 2019-20 offseason, he immediately stepped in as the Friars primary center fielder. Grisham had a great first season, collecting 10 home runs and stolen bases apiece with a .251/.352/.456 line while playing in 59 of the 60 games during the shortened 2020 campaign. He looked like a budding star, but his offense has regressed in the past couple seasons.

The lefty hitter put up a .242/.327/.413 slash in 2021, with that production checking in right around league average. He took another step back this past season, posting a .184/.284/.341 mark through 524 trips to the plate. Grisham connected on 17 longballs and walked at a robust 10.9% clip but had the worst batting average of any hitter with at least 500 plate appearances. While there’s some amount of misfortune in the meager .231 average on balls in play he mustered, there were also plenty of worrisome underlying indicators.

Grisham struck out in 28.6% of his plate appearances, the worst clip of his career. Only Randal Grichuk had a lower line drive rate than Grisham’s 13.5% mark (minimum 500 PA’s) and his hard contact percentage was middle-of-the-pack. A left-handed pull hitter, Grisham could stand to benefit somewhat from the forthcoming shift limitations, but it’s not likely to be all that significant a boost unless he trims his strikeouts and/or improves his contact profile.

To his credit, the 26-year-old remained a valuable part of the San Diego lineup even during a disappointing offensive year. Grisham played more than 1100 innings in center field and earned a second career Gold Glove for his work. Defensive Runs Saved credited him as eight runs better than average, while Statcast pegged him as 12 runs above par. Grisham’s glove has been a plus throughout his career, as he combines excellent speed with quality reads and solid arm strength.

Despite the career-worst offensive season, Grisham would have a decent amount of value on the trade market. His defense raises his floor and he’s shown prior glimpses of quality work at the plate. With three seasons of remaining arbitration control and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a modest $2.6MM salary next year, he’d have plenty of appeal in a market starved for quality center field options. There are no remaining free agent center fielders who’d likely play every day on a contender. The trade market is similarly without many obvious candidates. The Royals would listen to offers on Michael A. Taylor and the Twins are known to be open to dealing Max Kepler. Bryan Reynolds requested a trade from Pittsburgh, but the Pirates have maintained they won’t budge off a lofty asking price.

Teams like the Red Sox, Rockies, Rangers, Reds and Marlins are among the clubs that have sought center field help. That’s also true of the Dodgers, though it’s hard to imagine San Diego trading anyone to their chief competitors in the NL West. Lin relays that San Diego has interest in Marlins starter Pablo López and speculates the Friars could look to market Grisham to Miami in a deal for rotation help, though there’s no indication the sides have actually had those discussions to this point.

Kim should have even stronger trade appeal, as he’s coming off a better offensive season. After struggling in his first MLB campaign, the former KBO star hit .251/.325/.383 across 582 plate appearances in year two. Kim picked up 11 homers and 29 doubles while striking out in only 17.2% of his plate appearances. He also stole 12 bases in 14 attempts.

Like Grisham, Kim provides sizable value on the defensive side. Pressed into primary shortstop duty by Tatis’ injuries and suspension, the 27-year-old looked like a Gold Glove-caliber middle infielder. DRS credited him as 10 runs above average in a little less than 1100 shortstop innings, while Statcast estimated him as five runs better than average. Kim had also rated as a plus defender at second and third base during the 2021 campaign.

Upon making the jump from South Korea during the 2020-21 offseason, Kim landed a four-year, $25MM guarantee. He’s due a modest $17MM over the next two seasons (including a buyout on a 2025 mutual option) and is slated to head back to free agency following the ’24 campaign. That’s excellent value for a player coming a season as strong as Kim’s and in his prime years.

As with center field, the middle infield market has dried up considerably at this stage of the offseason. Assuming Carlos Correa finalizes a deal with the Mets, the top remaining free agents are Elvis Andrus and players like Hanser Alberto and José Iglesias. Obvious trade possibilities are again sparse. Players like Amed Rosario, Jorge Mateo or Nick Madrigal could be dealt but aren’t necessarily likely to move. Boston, Atlanta, Minnesota, the Angels and the White Sox are among the teams that could seek out upgrades at one of the middle infield spots.

There’s no urgency for San Diego to deal either Grisham or Kim, of course. Both players are affordable and currently penciled into everyday roles. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller acknowledged as much last week, telling Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic the team’s “intention” was to retain their current position player group thanks to “the flexibility and the versatility it gives our team.” Lin’s report suggests they’re not completely committed to that course of action, though, at least if offered a chance to upgrade elsewhere on the roster.

The back of the rotation is something of a question mark, with Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo slated for the fourth and fifth spots behind Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell and Yu Darvish. Only Musgrove is guaranteed to be around beyond next season; Snell and Darvish will be free agents at the end of the year, and Martinez and Lugo could opt out of their multi-year deals (although only if the team first declines a two-year option in Martinez’s case). The club could also consider ways to upgrade at catcher or add another bat to the corner outfield/first base mix.

The organization’s farm system has thinned considerably in recent seasons as they’ve packaged a lot of their depth for impact trade acquisitions, perhaps leading them to be more amenable to deal from the MLB roster in the right circumstance. Young catcher Luis Campusano would seem to be a candidate for such a move on paper considering his strong prospect pedigree, but Lin relays that trade interest in the 24-year-old isn’t especially strong at this point.

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