The Mariners announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Joaquin Benoit from the Padres in exchange for minor league right-hander Enyel De Los Santos and infielder Nelson Ward.
The 38-year-old Benoit, presumably, will serve as a ninth-inning option for rookie manager Scott Servais in Seattle. The Padres recently exercised a $7.5MM option on Benoit for the 2016 season, after which he’ll be a free agent.
Benoit is coming off yet another excellent season spent as a late-inning weapon, having logged a 2.34 ERA with 8.7 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 and a career-best 46.3 percent ground-ball rate. Despite his advanced age, Benoit averaged better than 94 mph on his fastball for the third consecutive season while notching a 16.5 percent swinging-strike rate that was 6.6 percent better than the league average. Dating back to 2010, Benoit has a clean bill of health and has averaged 63 innings/65 appearances per season, working in mostly a setup capacity but also serving as the Tigers’ primary closer in 2013.
Peripheral ERA indicators such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA are less optimistic than Benoit about his gaudy ERA totals over the years, and 2015 was no exception. However, Benoit has proven over the last several seasons to be able to sustain a BABIP that is well south of the league average and a strand rate that is significantly higher than that of an average pitcher.
The Padres will add a pair of minor leaguers to their system and save the $7.5MM they probably didn’t want to spend on Benoit in the first place given the escalating salaries around the rest of the payroll and the more affordable in-house options they had for the setup role (MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets that Kevin Quackenbush, Jon Edwards and Brandon Maurer will be leaned on, and the team could look for external setup options as well, particularly if Maurer is converted back to the rotation). However, GM A.J. Preller correctly assessed that the Padres could receive some future value by exercising the option and trading Benoit. While neither De Los Santos nor Ward are premium prospects, the duo does give the Padres additional upside and depth in its farm system.
De Los Santos, 19, was one of the better prospects in a weak Mariners farm system, tweets Baseball America’s Ben Badler, and BA recently rated him as the 15th-best prospect in the short-season Class-A Northwest League. De Los Santos logged a 4.06 ERA with an encouraging 10.0 K/9 mark against 3.1 BB/9 in 37 2/3 innings (eight starts) this past season. De Los Santos features a 93 to 95 mph fastball that touches 97 mph, per BA. He also has an average curveball and a changeup that occasionally looks like a plus pitch but needs further refinement in addition to good control. At 6’3″, he’s tall enough to add some weight to the 170 pounds at which he is currently listed.
Ward, 23, was Seattle’s 12th-round pick out of the University of Georgia in the 2014 draft. He split the 2015 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, batting a solid .278/.365/.436 with nine homers and 13 steals across the two levels. He spent most of his time at second base and at third base, though he did log five games at shortstop this season and 31 games there in 2014.
The Benoit trade marks Dipoto’s second significant trade of the young offseason, as he’s already picked up right-handed starter Nate Karns, lefty reliever C.J. Riefenhauser and outfield prospect Boog Powell in a six-player deal with the Rays. The Mariners have also re-signed Franklin Gutierrez and are said to be in discussions with free-agent catcher Chris Iannetta regarding a contract.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported seconds before the announcement that Benoit was headed to Seattle (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wow, seems like a low return to SD – are either of those guys in Seattle’s top 25 prospects? Benoit is very, very good. Great steal by Seattle.
Couldnt agree more
De Los Santos looks to be a decent prospect, and Benoit is an aging BP arm that can turn into Valverde pretty quickly.
Each team also has their own valuation of a prospect, publications are often based on a singular viewing and a conversation with a scout or two.
Benoit is 38, is making $7.5m and the Padres have plenty of more affordable in-house options to replace him with. Benoit is very good but there’s reason to believe the Padres sold high on him (age, low BABIP).
Who can replace him? Our pen stunk last year and that was WITH Benoit. We have no one to replace him, now or in the near future. Maurer is moving to the starting rotation. Kelly is gone. Quackenbush can’t do it. Unless you think that Vincent or Garces or Mateo or Mazzoni are going to step up and go from mediocre or simply bad to one of the best in the league overnight. The Padres got exactly zero in return for him since neither of those guys are expected to ever make the majors. So keeping those facts in mind, how did they sell high on him? Explain that to me.
They almost paid him $1.5M to walk away. Any return before cutting the first check already saved them that money. Relievers are out there, and there are plenty of good ones who will cost far less than $8M.
Exactly, Padres almost cut him and ate 1.5 mill but instead get 2 prospects and save the 1.5 mill
Yeah I agree, I like this move by Preller.
Benoit might be old but his stats are legit. good pick up for Seattle.
Great grab for Seattle
This may set up another trade.
The Mariners are connected to JBJ in trade talks. They’re probably going hard after him.
I don’t think trading for a bullpen arm is setting up another trade. Another one might happen, but they are not related at all.
They are related in a sense that one trade could lead to another. The mariners want jbj bad
Willhelmson and other prospects for jbj and 1 other prospect
Unless they’re gutting the farm then there is no way that would get done. Willhelmson isn’t exactly overflowing with trade value. Plus Boston wants starting pitching so Paxton might be a more reasonable starting point.
JBJ isn’t exactly overflowing with trade value either. No way he is worth Paxton.
Genius move by Preller.
I do not understand the “Thumbs Down” votes. This was a good move by AJP. He correctly identified that the club should pick up the option on Joaquin, even thou the Padre’s were not willing to pay him the 7.5MM. And then traded that affordable contract for something of note (2 borderline prospects that he would not of had otherwise).
Is this the start of a sell-out in San Diego? Otherwise I don’t really get this move from their perspective.
It really makes little sense on a supposedly contending team. Benoit is exactly the guy you want in the 8th.
Who said the Padres are contenders? They need to field a respectable team since they’re hosting the ASG, but eyes are really on 2017 for contending. Besides, 2016 is an even year so the Giants already won the WS, right?
Probably just clearing out some salary so they can address holes at SS, 1B, and OF. I’d be surprised if they went full rebuild
Save $7.5m and get a couple of halfway decent prospects
I would agree if they were halfway decent. Neither are in the top 30 in the Mariners system. On a scouting scale to 80, De Los Santos rated a 40 and he is the better of the two. To give you some perspective, less than 1 in 100 that rate a 40 while in A ball ever make the majors in any capacity. They are not halfway decent prospects to play MLB ball, they are filler for a weak system. Basically Preller gave away Benoit for nothing. No help for a team that was supposed to be retooling to contend in 2016.
*retooling to contend in 2017.
They almost paid Benoit to walk away. Now they sold him for a couple of dice rolls before cutting the first check. This also cleared up $8M from the payroll to go toward pressing needs and long-term fits.
I agree, I’d rather see the Padres save the money from Benoit for other more important areas and take a couple of lotto ticket players to boot.
As recently as the beginning of the GM meetings, Preller said retooling to contend in 2016. They still need to clear another $12 million just to get to give them a chance to keep the arbitration eligible players like Ross, Cashner and Norris. What I am saying is AFTER moving Benoit the Padres still have no payroll flexibility to go after pressing needs. They need to make more trades.
Just because you make a trade of a veteran doesn’t mean you are in rebuild mode. The Padres are dealing from a strength in order to spend that money in a weak area like the infield and they picked up a couple of lottery tickets at the same time.
Emm the return seems a little light even given Benoit’s age. What’s the implication for Kimbrel? I assume it’s more likely he stays in SD now.
I wonder if this means that Kimbrel is more likely to stay in SD than get traded. I’m pretty sure Preller thinks the team can compete this year unless the owners mandated a payroll cut after last season. I guess we’ll see, but good get by the Mariners!
No. The Padres still have no need to overpay for an elite closer. Trading Benoit was probably a good idea in the first place given his age, salary and peripherals.
I’m not sure why this trade was necessary other than trying to replenish our farm system. De Los Santos seems to be a good pick. Nelson seems like a lot more of the same. I really want to give Preller then benefit of the doubt but I’m not understanding this one. Benoit had great numbers but is going into his age 39 season. Maybe that had something to do with it.
San Diego has a high payroll and Benoit was their most easily movable piece that both had a fairly substantial salary but also wasn’t going to command a huge return regardless of anything. So moving him quickly gives them the flexibility to do other things like add players or be in a better position if they become sellers of more substantial pieces as potential trade partners won’t low ball them while saying well we’re helping you chop down this record payroll by taking Kimbrel or Ross or whoever so that’s why we’re not offering as much as you expected.
We got nothing in return.
We got two players, no matter how “bad” or irrelevant they might be. They could’ve easily just let go of Benoit without getting anything in return. I think this is part of the reason why the Mariners didn’t offer anything of value in the first place.
Then we should of kept him. Our bullpen isint exactly great. Or we should of packaged him with other players to get a shortstop in return.
While he has been really good, I don’t think paying 7.5 MM for a 39 year old reliever is a good idea.
Age doesn’t matter when he is still better than all the 25 year olds in our bullpen.
He is better but for how long?
We would had him only one more year so after that it doesn’t matter. Bottom line is we got trash in return when Preller could of gotten creative. Sigh…
What did you assume you could flip him for a top five prospect or premier player? Benoit is 39 years old, pretty expensive and walks at the end of the year (which is only relevant if he has a dominant year). The best case scenario would’ve been packaging him with Ross or a team high on Myers, where Benoit would’ve probably been included in exchange for another expensive contract.
He only had to be better THIS coming year. After that his contract is up.
The Mariners need bullpen, starting pitching and outfielders who can get on base and play defense. They don’t have the prospects or big name SS to get a starting pitcher. The Padres have no outfielders who meet the criteria that the Mariners want (don’t even try to say Kemp or Upton because those are terrible contracts that are unmoveable). The Padres got something in return for Benoit and maybe in a few years those prospects might turn out to be good.
Padres should have packaged Benoit and another player like Jankowski to get Ketel Marte and a couple schmucks like the two we got.
I’m pretty sure the Mariners weren’t going to trade away their SS after already trading another SS.
Agreed. Because obviously the solution to the Padres SS situation is for the Mariners to trade their starting SS for a reliever who walks at the end of the year. Makes sense in a video game but not in real life.
This is a good move by Preller. To anyone saying the return is light. remember that these are two prospects that the Padres are literally getting for free. The Padres save 7.5MM and also get a young pitcher, if he develops into even a 5th starter, this trade is a win.
The Padres have no one in SD or in the farm to take Benoit’s place in the pen. IF, and it’s a HUGE if, either of these guys develops into a major league player it will be in 3-4 years. On a scale to 80, neither of these guys tops a 40. They are not major league material. Certainly not as starters. This trade proves that what Preller, Dee and the rest of the FO and ownership have been saying “we are in win now mode”, “We are retooling to contend in 2016”, is a lie.
Once again I’m getting downvoted for the truth. Are other Padres fans like Redrooster and his new account WestCoastRyan that b***hurt by the facts?
No you’re getting downvoted because everyone here hates you. And I dunno why you’re so obsessed with me but it’s kinda creeping me out.
Move is strictly to restock farm and give payroll flexibility to add a shortstop. Good move by Preller.
Great move by the mariners. Now they need to go after Cespedes!
Not sure he’ll end up being worth the money. Especially in Seattle. He’ll probably regress to his .300 OBP and his Power numbers would drop around 20 again.
If they can get him at a reasonable price i would get him but i wouldnt overpay for him
It still makes sense to get Cespedes because a lesser OF would probably regress to .250 or so.
Really I see this as a good deal for both sides. Understandable for the Padres to shed the salary and gain some prospects because, who knows really how they’ll turn out (added bonus to salary relief), while M’s get someone who’ll come in and instantly be their most consistent and established reliever.
This sums it up pretty well. Well written.
Surprised other teams weren’t all over SD to get him if that’s all it took.
Thanks a lot for not selling in the season and still not getting much, Preller.
– fans of every contender but Royals
Benoit may be old. but he is a valuable bullpen arm. The Mariners gave up 2 low level lottos for him. Overtime, these 2 (esp. De Los Santos) could turn out to be great. but for now. I have to take DiPoto’s side.
Preller got taken by a veteran GM again. Neither of those guys are in the top 30 Mariners prospects and on a scouting scale of 80, neither rates over a 40. They are not MLB material. It does save the Padres $8 million, but they have no payroll flexibility so they cant even spend that on another player.
Someone doesnt like the truth. Is that you Preller?
Nope. Just three people who think you’re an idiot.
Hey you opened another account. Way to go. You never seem to be lacking in insults even if you are lacking in facts and common sense.
This is my only account and I’ve had it for a while. And funny that you of all people should accuse me of lacking in facts and common sense.
Padres have no financial flexibility and probably would not had exercised the $7.5 million option if he didn’t have a $1 million buyout. They took a gamble that another team would want to pay that amount for an aging reliever.
Can’t really expect much in return when the salary he’s making is pretty close to market value.
Just remembering years ago her people were upset when pads traded Sheffield for some unknown …Trevor Hoffman
Trevor Hoffman had 28 games in the majors when the Padres got him as part of trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Marlins. The Padres got two guys for Benoit that are not even good prospects. Neither broke the top 35 in the Mariners system or top 500 in baseball. Not exactly comparing apples to apples here are you?
They shed nearly 8 mil from the payroll they can use to add a ss or a left hander… Really smart move
I think a lot of people here are overreacting. This is Preller’s first real move of this offseason, and he’s bound to make more. Given the payroll and number of big contracts that the team is having to deal with, it’s good to see him doing what he can to possibly make further moves later on.