The Padres are unlikely to welcome back either catcher Christian Bethancourt or righty Tyson Ross in the final weeks of the 2016 season, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Bethancourt is sidelined with an intercostal strain that has not improved enough to allow him to return. The expectation, though, is that he’ll participate in winter ball once healthy. The 25-year-old receiver, who’ll end the year with a .228/.265/.368 slash over 204 plate appearances, is part of an uncertain mix of future options behind the dish for San Diego.
Prospect Austin Hedges seems like the future number one, but the Triple-A standout appears to be finishing out his standout year at the highest level of the minors. (It’s worth noting that Hedges already has 154 days of major league service, so an earlier call-up would have meant bumping him past one full season and moved up his free agency.) Meanwhile, veteran Derek Norris has scuffled through a disastrous season with the bat and still looks to be a trade candidate.
As for Ross, who has been throwing in an attempt to work back from a shoulder injury, it seems increasingly unlikely that he’ll make it to his second MLB start on the year. “Before September rolled around, we all felt very strongly that Tyson was going to pitch again for us this year,” said manager Andy Green. “Then it looked like a probability. Now it looks like just a possibility at this point in time.”
Certainly, there’s little reason for San Diego to push Ross too hard. At present, the veteran righty “has not been able to rebound” sufficiently from his sessions, per Green. It has been a lost season for Ross, 29, who is nevertheless likely to earn something close to his $9.625MM salary in his final arb-eligible campaign. The Pads could still look to work out a trade for him if he shows up healthy in the spring, but otherwise will presumably enter the year as a prime mid-season trade candidate — if his shoulder holds up.
Not good news on Ross. He’s been “a week away” from throwing for like four months now. Shoulders are scary. I hope Preller didn’t miss his opportunity to actually get something for Ross.
I think he has missed it, big time. Already had huge control issues in 2015, and now can’t even get back on the mound.
Value lost, unfortunately.
I agree. The significant value hey had with Ross last offseason has been lost for a while now. It serves as yet another example of the Padres holding onto a player too long and kissing goodbye his value in the process.
The Padres arent really known for holding onto to players too long theyre known for trading them too soon
I was trying to reference the chase headly saga from a few years ago. He had a career outlier year in 2012, many teams began asking about him in the offseason, and yet the Padres refused to trade him because they didn’t want to upset fans by making it seem like they give players away as soon as they start getting “good”. However, headly eventually fell back down to earth and lost a ton of value by the time they actually did trade him.
Still a Class AAA team. Not that it’s a surprise. Get ’em seasoned for the majors, and trade ’em away for new “prospects.”
Most teams who are at the bottom of a rebuild are AAA teams, look at the 2003 tigers, they ended up going to the WS in 2006, give em some time
Exactly. All teams go through their highs and lows over the years. The rebuild will take time, but maybe it’ll end up being worth it.
Norris as a trade candidate? For a player to be a trade candidate, doesn’t somebody need to want him?
Would teams maybe want Norris as a backup or for depth purposes? His value has certainly plummeted this season, but there’s got to be someone out there that might be interested.
where is the pads fan who told me i was “crazy for being happy the cubs didn’t trade for him” in the offseason. Then after noting his injury history he posted some garbage about slider not hurting your arm and totally ignored the report i posted that showed arm and elbow trouble goiing back to high school
Twins is a great place to rebuild plus they have a good group of youth
Would love Ross,Tyson
Ross wouldn’t really make sense for the twins. He’s a free agent after next year. The pads aren’t going to sell low nor should they. We’ve seen what good pitching can obtain if even just a rental. They’ve already passed their window to obtain significance. Their probably going to hold onto him until the trade deadline. Now all they can hope is he comes back to form. If he does then they ship him to a contending team.