Though there have been several extensions inked of late — including Freddie Freeman, Michael Brantley, Julio Teheran and Craig Kimbrel, with Homer Bailey reportedly nearing a deal — it doesn't sound like the Padres and Chase Headley will be reaching a middle ground on a multi-year pact in the near future. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune was among the reporters that spoke with Headley regarding his contract today, and the third baseman offered the following:
"It’s not fair to the guys in this clubhouse to have anybody’s attention focused on anything but trying to win and trying to do your best for the team. I don’t want to put my foot down and say nothing’s gonna happen, but at this point it certainly seems that we’ll table these until the end of the season."
Headley, who turns 30 on May 9th, admitted that his own struggles have made it difficult to find a common ground in extension talks. The switch-hitter finished fifth in the NL MVP voting in 2012 after batting .286/.376/.498, but he "slumped" to a .250/.347/.400 batting line in 2013 (still good for a 116 OPS+). "That’s part of what makes this so tricky, is you’ve had such a big variation in the last two seasons," he said.
Clearly, Headley would prefer to be compensated based on his 2012 form, while the Padres have some reservations after last season's decline. However, Headley said that the gap in contractual discussions hasn't strained his relationship with the organization:
"Both sides understand where the other party’s coming from and, frankly, respects where the other side is coming from. … We’re hoping at some point that we can come to common ground."
Last May, Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler told the press that the team was planning on making Headley an offer that would make him the highest-paid player in franchise history. Headley was caught off-guard by the news and said he preferred not to discuss extensions midseason.
Now, it appears that he'll be presented with the opportunity to test an open market in which he will be one of the top names available. Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Colby Rasmus, J.J. Hardy, Jed Lowrie, Asdrubal Cabrera and Brett Gardner are among the top free-agent position players available. Ramirez, who is probably the top name set to hit the market, recently expressed his desire to remain with the Dodgers and is in talks about an extension of his own, however.
Like I said, Gyorko and Cabrera played the middle infield really well last season. They were the best double play combo we have had since Loretta/Greene. But Headley is the only viable third baseman in our system so once he leaves after the 2014 season, we’re gonna have to either sign a new third baseman or move Gyorko to third and bring Spangenberg up to the bigs to play 2B.
Aw, the good ‘ol days of Loretta and Greene.
He will use his .300/.820 on the road to negotiate his next contract. He will likely sign with the Yankees or Dodgers for something around 7 years and $125++ million. He does rank as the 5th best 3b in the majors, so there is no doubt that he will get the money.
No replies, just down votes. Guess they can’t refute the facts, they just don’t LIKE the facts.
Headley has been among the best 3B in the game for years, but most people simply do not realize how much Petco Park effects his, and everyone elses, game. The fact that he has hit .293/.820 on the road is ample evidence of his performance with the bat and his great defense is not in question. I believe visiting 3B hit .231/.690 at Petco Park since 2007 and Headley hit .243/.707. So he is well above average at Petco, too.
5th best? I can name 6 who had a better year last season. Cabrera, Beltre, Wright, Longoria, Machado, Johnson. That’s not counting Freese and Sandoval. Top 10 but not Top 5
Cabrera was a 3b for 3 of those seasons. Machado for part of 1. Freese and Sandoval have not been as good. Johnson?
You may also notice that I was NOT speaking about just last season, I said since 2007. If you want to do that lets just talk about 2012 which would make Headley the best player that will be at 3b in 2014.
IF you throw out 2012 he is still among the best 3b in the game. Do you know what he hits on the road? Do you know what visiting 3B hit at Petco? Enough said.
David Wright has a career .279 average from 05-12 at Petco. He didn’t play here last year according to espn splits by season/
Hanley Ramirez who does play 3B for the Dodgers has a career .274 at petco.
Headley has a what .250 ish average? Are you going to argue that if these premier 3b played at petco more often they’d be at Headley’s level or worse? I hope not since thats a pretty far reach.
The Fryers should have sold high on him last off season. He’s a decent player but if I’m SD I’m in no rush to extend.
Nobody else will want to pay him for one year, either. If he bounces back close to 2012 production this season he might make a good case for himself, but otherwise he goes on the market as a plus journeyman.
Am I wrong to say he is overrated? He is a slightly above average hitter and good fielder at an easily replaceable position. I’d QO him and offer about 4/55 but I wouldn’t give him 100 million like somebody will.
.293/.828 on the road is well above average. He has also hit 12 points higher than other 3b have at Petco, so he is above average there too. His defense is among the best in the game.
Overall he ranks in top five at his position since moving there full time in 2009. Even higher if you consider that Cabrera was a 1b for 3 of those seasons and is moving back in 2014.
Headley will get 6 to 7 years at $17 plus per season. He probably won’t get it from Padres who are always looking for players to take the SD discount.
Am I wrong to say he is overrated? He is a slightly above average hitter and good fielder at an easily replaceable position. I’d QO him and offer about 4/55 but I wouldn’t give him 100 million like somebody will.
Whether the pads keep Chase or trade him will depend on the season he is having BUT here is where it gets WEIRD…if he is having a monster year by midseason they SHOULD trade him to an AL club because they will never be able to afford him after the season (20-25 mil per) and imagine the haul they could get for an all star calibre (at that point) 3B that could push a team into the playoffs or world series. At the VERY least they could get a solid ML ready 2B and move Gyorko to third while at the same time grabbing a top prospect or two. If the Pads can get two close to ML ready prospects they can control for 5-6 years in exchange for half a season of Headley they have to do it. The Padres have solid young pitching that will keep them in contention for a few years to come.
NOW, if Headley is just having an average year (say .265-.270 with 15-17 hr) then the Padres should keep him and try to sign him to a 12-14 mil per season deal in the offseason. This is overpaying a bit but not so much the Padres can cry that they are out of the bidding entirely.
If the Padres are contending at the deadline we absolutely can not trade Headley. He is our only viable 3rd baseman and if we are making a run for the playoffs we need to keep all the pieces.
And he has been much better than the average player defensively at 2B, and IIRC, he played short before getting drafted.
Tons of players played shortstop before being drafted. And I mean tons. It isn’t uncommon for teams to stick their best player there. Does not mean they can do it at a major league level, is just to be drafted he probably by far best player on team to start with.
Right, I never said he could play SS in the Majors, but guys who have played SS at a high level can often play 2B just fine.
Depends why moved though. A shortstop with subpar range gets moved to third. A shortstop with a weak arm gets moved to 2b.