The Padres have placed righty Tyson Ross on the 15-day DL (retroactive to April 5) with right shoulder inflammation, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets. Via the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin (on Twitter), Ross noticed his shoulder felt unusual during his first bullpen session after starting on Opening Day. Ross is optimistic he’ll return after missing the minimum amount of time. Clearly, the loss of Ross (who produced a 3.26 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 as one of the few bright spots in a rough Padres season in 2015) would be a blow to the Padres, particularly given that Ross is eligible for free agency after 2017 and could be traded at some point. Right now, however, there’s no indication the injury is serious. Manager Andy Green characterized the move as precautionary (tweet).
Here’s more from San Diego:
- The Padres may have missed their window to cash in on most of their trade assets, Keith Law tells Buster Olney on the Baseball Tonight podcast (33:30 minute mark). While Law praised top prospect Manuel Margot for his solid tools and excellent baseball IQ, the rest of the farm system is rather bleak. Law believes Ross may be the only player on the major league roster who could fetch a franchise changing prospect. Derek Norris could return some value, but his shaky defense hurts his trade value. Similarly, other trade candidates aren’t likely to bring much in return. Of course, the podcast was recorded prior to Ross being placed on the disabled list. Law highlighted the long injury histories of Ross and Andrew Cashner which could come back to bite the Padres at any time.
- Executive Ron Fowler has a difficult job on his hands convincing local fans that the front office has a plan, writes Bill Shaiken of the LA Times. After a disappointing 2015, the club seemingly went backwards over the winter with Justin Upton gone and Craig Kimbrel traded to Boston. The team appears to be feigning contention while planning a rebuild. This just one year after they spent a bushel of prospects and dollars in an attempt to compete in the NL West. Fowler admits the club was caught a little flat footed when the Dodgers started spending money like the Yankees on steroids. Their big spending rivals have the Friars looking for other ways to sneak into contention.
Biggest issue with Padres is Fowler and Dee not Preller, though he undoubtedly made some mistakes last summer I still believe in his long term vision and some of the mistakes were pushed on by ownership.
Padres should be able to get some solid prospects for Norris, and a lot for Ross. I’m fine with just getting a draft pick for Cashner.
Fully agree. Mike Dee has no idea of how to run a baseball team. He may have strengths in marketing, but should be nowhere near baseball operations. He has zero significant experience; playing, scouting, managing, or otherwise. Honestly, it’s astounding he’s been given the reins. The quicker Fowler and Seidler realize his ineptitude, the better.
I have no Idea what the involvement of Dee, Fowler and Preller! was in preparation for 2015. Maybe the ownership / management dictated the direction, maybe Preller! talked them into it, who knows? In time the story should come out. But what is known is that the trades that were made were terrible. Experienced, savvy front office people such as John Hart, Mike Rizzo, Dave Dombrowski and Andrew Friedman have lined up to do business with a neophyte – which should have been a tipoff.
As far as the story notes from Mr. Fowler, the issue is hardly the money the Dodgers have been spending under their new ownership – which they have done since the day they took control of their franchise – the issue is that the Padre franchise was far behind the other 3 NLW franchises. Now they are light years behind. What they did was textbook on how not to handle the baseball operations of an MLB franchise. It will take a lot of work and very good decision-making to even get on their feet in 5 years – which has a very slim chance of happening.
The only trade that hurts it’s the Wil Myers one. The guy we traded for Norris was sent down by the A’s. We got even better prospects that we traded away for Kimbrel. I feel we won the Kemp trade, he hit our first cycle and grandal is injury prone. The Justin Upton prospects we traded away might be a tad overrated now because the national media hates us and they want to see us fail.
I think they both won. Although the Dodgers definitely won in what they were trying to do unload a contract and gain catching depth. The Padres are still on the hook for 72 mill so it should be interesting to see how the next 4 years hold up for him
Ahem, excuse me? How did they both win the Kemp trade? This was a guy the Dodgers were desperate to get rid of! He has negative trade value because of his contract and the fact that he’s basically a DH at this point in his career. The Dodgers would have won that trade even if they hadn’t gotten ANYTHING in return for the sole reason that they got Kemp off their payroll, but they got a catcher who made the ASG for them and a decent pitching prospect in Zach Eflin (who they then traded to the Phillies, but that’s a story for another day).
Getting our first cycle was nice, but in reality it was just a moral victory.
Umm, defensively, Norris was one of the better defensive catchers in baseball last season…so, I dont know where that dig came from. And Ross isnt the one with the long injury history. That would be Cashner.
So, lets get the facts straight . I know there is no Padre love anywhere, to speak of. But you can at least get your research on point. Making an effort is free, after all..
Derek Norris is atrocious at pitch framing.
He’s not a great receiver either. He did throw out a good percentage of base stealers but that alone doesn’t qualify someone as one of the better catchers in the league which he clearly isn’t.
He was actually very good as a framer last year, his blocking though struggled which is much less important than framing. As a framer he’s been very up and down.
I’m a Padres fan, but even I can’t call Norris anything other than a below-average catcher. Bad framer, can’t throw so everybody – I mean everybody – runs on him. Maybe he’s good at calling a game but I don’t know. Is just a very average hitter, too.
And Ross had a long injury history in the minors, remember. And pitchers who throw as many sliders as he does just scare me. Oh, and now he’s on the DL
The Padres get a lot of national attention for a team and organisation that under Preller! has become what might well be the worst in MLB.
They did before last season because of big trades but in general they don’t. A site like this touches on all the teams and I haven’t seen an inordinate amount of coverage on the Padres.
I’m just curious, but why do you always put an exclamation point after Preller’s name?
The should have traded Ross in the offseason. Now they will probably get less for him because of his “injury problems”.
Ross isn’t very good. I don’t care how hard he throws. I’ve watched him numerous times and have been unimpressed. He won’t bring back much in a trade.
Yes, I’m sure you are correct. The “numerous times” you’ve watched him are probably much more telling than the stats he’s put up the last 3 years.
Keep fooling yourself. Ross would get lit up if he was in the American League. His starts are painful to watch. Guy is 3-2 on every other hitter. San Diego is where he belongs. A nondescript pitcher with a nondescript franchise. A.J. Preller lol
You don’t know that
Overall stats lie. Especially in regards to pitchers playing their home games in San Diego.
Thats weird, considering he had a 2.83 ERA on the road last year, and a 2.73 ERA on the road the year before.
Ross is a legit #2, and you have nothing to backup that hes worse than that.
Yes, one or two selected stats always explains things here.
I watch at least part of 700-plus MLB games a year on MLB.TV. For years I’ve been reading your stats here. I’m sorry, but the way you explain how players are doing simply does not mesh with what I see with my own 2 eyes – and I played ball growing up, and have been watching MLB for 60 years now.
I wish you the best of luck in your fantasy baseball league.
I am currently watching Ian Kennedy pitch against the Twins for the Royals. Kennedy was highly regarded since the Yankees brought him up. He did so-so in Arizona, got traded to San Diego and had a good year, then a not so good year. Played out his option and the Royals got him. I thought he was overrated and wouldn’t do well with the Royals. But tonight he’s following in the footsteps or Vargas, Shields, Guthrie, Volquez, and Chris Young in having a veteran pitcher come play in front of a solid MLB defense with a lockdown bullpen supporting him, and it takes all the pressure off a starting pitcher.
Very few MLB teams have good defenses any more, they do not understand what Mike Scoscia said last year – “there is more to playing defense then catching a ground ball”. The players want to dive all over the field and get on cable TV webgems. Like it or not, as in all team sports, things that happen on the field, ice, and court are interrelated, and the stats are still trying to catch up….but they never will. Fortunately for MLB there have been at least 3 generations raised on playing baseball on a computer as opposed to playing the game on the field each summer from sunup to sundown. Consequently, stats mixed with cable TV highlights are all the majority of MLB fans need to follow the sport – and the sport is more popular then ever. The majority of MLB fans have not understood why the Royals and Giants have gotten to so many World Series the last 5 years, but they explain it by noting that – “they got hot” and “they got lucky”…..as do many media members that cover the sport.
Do you realize what year it is? You can look numerous places for home/road splits, and they show Tyson Ross does well away from Petco. He’s a strong 2 on a contender and a top 20 starter.
Where is westcoastryan at? Derek Norris’s defense is brought up again.. Aye yi, yi.
Talk to Pads Fans, he’s the one who thinks Norris is the biggest threat to society XD
Because pitch framing is far and away the most important stat when judging a Catchers value…..certainly more than his offense or ability to throw out runners or handle a staff!
****sigh***
Well he was a below average hitter (.709 OPS, 99 OPS+), he didn’t have great CS%, the Padres staff as a whole struggled and he is awful at pitch framing… so…
If you make statements like this presented as fact wouldn’t you at least look it up? Derek Norris was +12.1 in framing runs last year, link to baseballprospectus.com
Also don’t you realize a 99 OPS+ isn’t a below average hitter for a catcher? And presented with an ideal platoon guy or used more minimally against righties he could be much better.
Anything above a 30% CS rate means baserunners are better off not trying. Norris was at 34%. That means, statistically speaking, opposing teams would have scored more runs against us if no one ever tried to steal against Derek Norris.
Did you actually do any research on this or did you just post some wild accusations and hope you were right?
Ross throws an “easy” 94 with one of,if not “the”, best slider in the game.
It’s no wonder every team in need of a Starter was calling Preller last trade deadline.
But then again I only watch 162 of their games so definitely don’t know as much about him as Southpaw.
Yep, just because you watch every Padres game, that means Ross is Tom Seaver. He has ” stuff” but lacks consistent command. I’d rather have 88 mph throwing Keuchel over Ross. Kuechel knows how to pitch.
I’d hope everyone would want Keuchel over Ross, but that isn’t a knock on Ross.
Exactly.
Don’t say MLB fans are ‘all against” the Padres. I’m a Baseball fan, I can’t get behind the erratic Padres front office vision.
A couple years ago, the Padres went out and made one big off-season splash after another only to fire one of the better Managers in MLB then dismantle the team soon after they assembled it.
We watched the Tigers do that in the 1990s every year.
So if Black is such a good manager how come no other team hired him after we let him go?
Worst possible scenario for the Padres (with Ross). With the price premium on young top of rotation starters, a healthy Ross would have given a great return. With the ‘fear’ of shoulder injuries (i.e. TJ has a far better recovery rate than shoulder ‘injuries’). Good luck with Ross’ recovery and hope it’s a minor thing
The only reason i dont see him getting traded if the padres are above .500 and not too far back in the division.
Ross.Norris.Upton Jr all need to be traded. Might aswell keep overpaid veterans like Shields and Kemp to help out the young dudes
Oh, and who do you suppose would want Upton Jr?
It’s clear what Preller’s biggest mistake in offseason was.
Kemp and his contract for Grandal, Grandal when healthy is one of best catchers in baseball, he is a terrific framer, has great power, and walks. Of course maybe now he is injury prone, he tried to play through a wrist injury and it hurt his hitting stats last year. Kemp is the big divide between analytics and lots of the old school guys, but I think it’s clear that Kemp at the least is a very bad defender, is injury prone, and is overpaid. Even if his defensive value isn’t properly assessed by zWAR or fWAR.
Onto the other moves.
In hindsight the Kimbrel and upton move for Wisler, paroubeck, 41st pick, maybin, and Quentin might have been poor process with a good result (though we don’t quite know the end result yet).
Upton still has a bad contract no doubt, but he’s not the same player he was in Atlanta and has shown some signs of competence (in fact quite a few) since the all star game last year, it will be interesting to see what he does with regular PA’s this year. And the Padres were able to flip Kimbrel for a very good prospect package including Manuel Margot, Javier Guerra, and Logan Allen.
Derek Norris for Jesse Hahn looks like a Padres win, I wonder if with the injuries and him not making the rotation A’s look to him in rotation, he could be lights out there if he stays healthy.
The Myers trade was good process at the time, but the results may turn out bad, Turner’s prospect status has gone up since the trade and he has improved quite a bit, Joe Ross had a good year in A+ before the trade but not special and he started throwing a lot more strikes after the trade which changed him as a prospect. I still think Myers will turn out to be good but he should be in a corner outfield where he more value
Justin Upton trade made sense but they should have flipped at the deadline, I don’t buy for a second they believed the team could compete at the deadline, reports are Padres thought Fulmer was a reliever and they aren’t alone on that, but there were surely other offers that would have made sense more than getting the 25th pick in return for him (not that that doesn’t have value)
Padres turned out to look very smart holding onto Kennedy, as Kennedy got a QO and somehow got paid big, because of that padres got a mid 20s pick for him which is a lot more value than they could have realistically got in a trade.
People panicked when they didn’t deal Benoit but it was predictable they would pick up his option and trade him in the offseason.
Preller would have gotten more for Benoit at the deadline than they did in the offseason.
The Myers trade was BAD BAD BAD.
Giving Kennedy a QO was definitely questionable at the time. But that whole situation could not have possibly worked out any better than it did. Not for the Padres or for Kennedy himself.
Don’t agree at all, Benoit was showing signs of a broken down reliever in the first half of last year.
And the Myers trade was smart at the time, how he’s been used not so much.
No he wasn’t. Benoit was basically the same pitcher the entire season. His trade value between the deadline and offseason diminished naturally because in the offseason he had one year of control as opposed to a year plus two months and the deadline is when teams in the hunt overpay for good relievers like Benoit. The only way he could increase his trade value between the deadline and offseason is if he really overperformed down the stretch compared to what he had done in the past, he did not do that.
The Myers trade was a huge overpay.
Wescoast Ryan making stuff up to fit his narrative…Preller could’ve gotten more for Beniot at the deadline? Show me where you saw that please because Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal both reported the opposite of that. grow up and quit making things up to fit with your beliefs!
Of course he could have gotten more for him at the deadline. One year plus two months of Benoit will always be worth more than just one year of Benoit, especially considering those first two months would have likely come in the middle of a playoff race for the acquiring team. So why don’t YOU stop making stuff up you idiot!
As long as Tyson is healthy and productive, he will still be a hot trade chip at the deadline. That being said, the offers we get at the deadline will not be as good as the offers we got in the offseason, especially with him just getting injured.
Derek Norris’ defense isn’t shaky in any way. Like with Ross, he will be a hot trade chip at the deadline as long as he stays healthy and productive.
Andrew Cashner had ZERO trade value during the offseason. Keeping him and hoping he bounces back was definitely the best option. Sure, the acquiring team won’t have the right to extend him a QO, but who honestly wants to give Cashner a QO in the first place?
When you look 3 years down the road, it’s hard to think of a team with a bleaker future than the Padres. They have a weak farm system, limited pockets, and few trade chips. They are going to have to get lucky in order to do anything worthwhile in the foreseeable future.
That’s the bottom line, but people here want to use different stats to argue about a trade or two.
What a waste of air talking about the Padres, this a pathetic franchise. And it all started calling the team “The Fathers”? Get a descent name and stop worrying about the Dodgers!