Earlier today, we noted that the Padres are in active discussions with free agent shortstop Ian Desmond, as reported by Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. From a purely baseball perspective, Desmond would make a world of sense for San Diego given the offensive pop he can provide at his position. However, one has to imagine that the Padres are wary of the price tag Desmond carries. The Padres also might not be crazy about forking over that kind of cash if they don’t believe that they can contend in 2016.
Here’s a look at a couple more items from Morosi’s Sunday article:
- The Nationals are still working to trade Drew Storen, Morosi writes. MLBTR projects Storen to earn $8.8MM in his final year of arbitration, a number that is probably more than they’d like to pay a set-up man and higher than suitors would be comfortable with paying. Still, the Nats now have Shawn Kelley, Trevor Gott, Yusmeiro Petit, and left-hander Oliver Perez in the bullpen and there’s not a clear need for him there. Storen, theoretically, would serve as Jonathan Papelbon’s set-up man, but that’s a role that he struggled with after the 2015 trade deadline.
- Look for the Brewers to move Khris Davis at the July trade deadline or even before that point, Morosi writes. The Brewers could, theoretically, move him now, but there are many quality free agent outfielders still on the board for teams with a need. Davis, 28, slashed .247/.323/.505 with 27 homers across 440 plate appearances last season. The left fielder won’t be arbitration eligible until after the 2016 season. First-year GM David Stearns appears set on a rebuild and moving the valuable Davis would be a good place to start.
Brewers should just move Davis to 1B.
As it looks, their depth chart has Lucroy as their #1 1B and C.
Davis is still incredibly “cheap to keep”. Why move him? He’s been a solid bat in a mediocre lineup. Davis, Santana, Braun is the OF……Leave that alone. Why did they trade Rogers? They have Matt Clark, a 29 yr old rookie??? 6’5″, 230 lbs……he’s a big enough Dude! Career Stats: 27 Big League AB’s….5 hits……with 3 HR’s. ……What’s with that?
Brewers must need a new Front Office…….
We already got a new front office. We want to move Davis as he has a rag-arm in LF and we have an influx of OF prospects coming into the system.
Left field arms are almost completely irrelevant. We’ve seen very productive left fielders throughout history who could barely return the ball to the infield. That is NOT a reason to dump a very good bat.
They are irrelevant until you see runners at 1B go to 3B on a single in front of one to see how much they do not respect Davis’s arm. If they can get something for him, they should trade him asap.
He is not a “solid” bat when you see him play. Most of his good offense happens in garbage time… I would not need more than 1 hand to count how many of his hits tied or took the lead in a game when it counted. Hopefully his “power” tricks another team to give up something decent for him.
The Brewers have tried working Davis at first base. He’s brutal there. Like worse than Prince Fielder brutal. He’s always been a better fit for an AL team.
Agreed. We have a plethora of outfield prospects coming up, all of whom probably project to be “better” than Davis. The Brewers aren’t trying to win this year so even if we stick with a stop-gap player in left in 2016, we will be just fine. I also don’t think it would be too far-fetched to see Santana’s name come up in rumors after 2016 if he has a decent year.
I see a 1 year deal or a backloaded deal. Padres don’t want to nor should want to pay Desmond a lot when chances are they won’t contend next year with the dbacks, Dodgers and Giants all going for playoff spots. Could someone like alexei Ramirez work for them on a 1-2 year deal?
“influx of OF prospects”………Let’s see what’s listed …….
Free-swinging Brett Phillips – 120 K’s in the minors last year……maybe 2017 debut
Light-hitting Trent Clark – only 19…..needs a few years to work through the system…2020?
Clint Coulter – 22 yr old who is still in High-A. ….and only hit .246…..and is “learning to play OF
Monte Harrison – hit .148 in 2015 – power/speed combo “with contact issues”…considered “high risk”
Michael Reed – projects to be a 4th OF at worst, but a solid player
Tyrone Taylor – almost as good as Reed…..hit .260 in Double A
Kyle Wren – might be the best one on the list…..
Keep Davis for another year or two….His bat is way more valuable than his “rag-arm” detracts…….It’s not like you guys are going to be in contention anytime soon anyway…..
If you close doors when your trying to rebuild, your hurting the future value of your team. If someone comes in and makes a reasonable to good offer for Davis, why wouldn’t you trade him?
I agree that his bat is what makes him valuable, but there is no reason to hang on to anyone unless you see them as part of the long term plan for contention. If the right offer turns up, you trade him.
Because he’s under control through 2019 and that will already be 3 years into careers of studs like Arcia, Hader and Lopez. They have quality players knocking on the door, They need to be surrounded with some proven talent.
There is your bias, Davis is in no way a proven talent if you see him play daily. He is a stat sheet guy.
I wouldn’t call Phillips or Clark “light-hitting”. Both have solid shots to be top 50 prospects by midseason. Phillips has jot everywhere he has gone, which is why he was the centerpiece of the Carlos Gomez deal.
I didn’t say that Phillips was “light hitting”….he’s the “free swinger” in the crowd. 120 K’s is a lot at that level. None look like they are ready to play in the Bigs this year. I understand the idea that you trade Davis if your blown away, but he’s certainly cheap enough to keep until the other guys are ready.
Davis 122 K’s each of the last two seasons, free swinger himself. 1/3 of his HR’s were meaningless solo shots in later innings off subpar relievers who were in because the game was already decided. Cheap maybe this year, but 3 years of arbitration eligibility in a row after that makes him expendable now. Good luck to him and pray he brings in a good prospect/s.
They are trading Davis so they can give Domingo Santana regular playing time. He is a better defender and has more potential upside then Davis. Santana really isn’t a Center Fielder so a trade makes sense. In two years the OF will consist of Santana, Phillips, and Braun.
Phillips is generally regarded as a very good prospect. But yeah, beyond him I don’t really see a whole lot of talent.
They have 3 corner OF on the major league roster that need everyday at bats in Santana, Braun, and Davis. Santana has another option year, but he has nothing left to prove at AAA. Santana is not an everyday CF. They acquired CF Keon Broxton from Pittsburgh and claimed CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis from the Mets to fill the the position until Phillips, Taylor, or Reed are ready. It stands to reason that one of Davis/Braun is going to be moved to free up time for Santana. Stearns obviously isn’t going to give him away, but he should net some good prospects given his 4 years of control and power. That will help the team rebuild faster around the Arcia/Phillips/Lopez/Hader core that will be breaking in the next couple of seasons.
Santana has plenty to prove. He’s been a strikeout machine in winter ball. They need to keep Davis who’s a proven power bat and under control through 2019.
I said anything left to prove in AAA. He owns a career .312/.403/.518/.921 line in AAA. He needs an opportunity to show what he can do at the big league level. The issue is that the Brewers have 3 corner OF that deserve everyday AB at the big league level. Davis can’t play 1B, the team won’t move Braun to 1B, and Santana is the best defender of the 3.
Look Davis is a premier power bat who’s only scratched the surface. His HR/AB ratio is right there with the big HR hitters. He’s under Brewer control for 4 more seasons meaning his career in Milwaukee will overlap their current top four prospects (if they keep him) Arcia, Phillips, Hader and Lopez,, none of whom plays LF. Yes, they have some young promising OF but none are sure fire regular major league players much less premier bats. Santana has more holes in his swing than swiss cheese. Reed could develop but many see him as a 4th OF. Phillips is the CF of the future and has some pop but he doesn’t project as a 30+ HR guy. Davis’ heir apparent is more likely to be Trent Clark who’s ETA coincides with Davis’ control ending..
Santana’s swing looks a lot like Lorenzo Cain’s, where Davis’s swing looks like a worse version of Rickie Weeks.
Here are the top ten brewer prospects if anyone is interested.
bleacherreport.com/articles/2564903-re-ranking-all…
Apparently the Nationals have a set-up guy/previous closer that they are having trouble moving because of his potential arbitration award and 2015 performance. Plus they have a closer Papelbon that they really don’t want and neither does anyone else. Not a very enviable position for the Nationals.
Not moving Storen isn’t a terrible fate, though. Although he ended the season badly, it’s not like he’s never functioned very well in the setup role before. Even after the Nats acquired Papelbon last year Storen proceeded to have his best stretch of the season over the next several games – it was only after that stretch that he got rocked.
I don’t see any reason why Storen can’t change his scenery and close for some random non-contender and get flipped at the deadline. Not that Oakland would be it, but that’s the type of team that isn’t afraid to do this sort of thing and bet on a good upcoming trade deadline commodity during the offseason.
Gotta disagree that Desmond makes “a world of sense” for the Padres. Yes, he does provide above-average power at the SS/MINF position, but that’s because he swings out of his shoes on every pitch in any count, unsurprisingly putting him among the Top 5 (or near it) in the NL in K’s for the past three years. With that swing and miss rate, he is the last thing the Padres need, especially given their inability to make constant contact in a park that already suppresses offense.
The baseball community is slowly catching on – in this era where home runs are down – making contact and putting the ball in play is paramount and strikeouts are all the more harmful. I am not shocked whatsoever no one has seriously considered Desmond.
How about storen to the Giants they could use a good late inning reliever. And he’s a local guy he went to Stanford.
The Brewers aren’t going to compete until 2018 at the earliest, more like 2019-20. They’d be better off dealing Davis for prospects that better fit their timetable. 2016 means nothing to the Brewers.
Can only hope the return for Krush if they do trade him is better than the one they got for Lind
Storen seems like the typical change of scenery guy but man does the money owed to the man deflate his value. Maybe a team like the Dodgers could swoop in here and offer the likes of Van Slyke / Ethier and some cash to obtain him.
Brewers need to let the market pan out a little more, evaluate what they have, and then make a move. They should be trying to make a deal with the White Sox, bring LaRoche into the NL again.