The Padres announced tonight that outfielder Oswaldo Arcia has been designated for assignment. Additionally, first baseman Brett Wallace has been outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency. In corresponding moves, the Padres added the contracts of outfielder Franchy Cordero, shortstop Javier Guerra and right-handers Walker Lockett and Jose Ruiz to the 40-man roster.
San Diego was Arcia’s fourth organization in 2016 alone, as the former top prospect was designated for assignment by the Twins and bounced from Minnesota to Tampa Bay to Miami to San Diego on waivers. Once hoped to be the Twins’ right fielder of the future, Arcia hit just .203/.270/.366 this year and has batted a combined .219/.286/.369 in his past 287 plate appearances between the 2015-16 seasons. The 25-year-old unquestionably possesses pop — he’s homered 44 times in 1075 career plate appearances — but has looked consistently overmatched by left-handers, shows a lack of discipline at the plate and rates as a negative defender in the outfield.
Wallace, meanwhile, hit .189/.309/.318 in 256 plate appearances with San Diego this past season. The 30-year-old is a former top prospect himself, but the former first-rounder has never established himself as a quality regular or even a reliable bench option in the Majors. Wallace has had productive stretches — including above-average season totals in 2012 and 2015 (in small samples of work) — but he’s a cumulative .238/.316/.389 hitter. That’d cut it for a catcher or a defensively strong shortstop, but for a corner infielder the production is light.
The names added to the 40-man are headlined by Guerra, who was one of the centerpieces of last winter’s Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Guerra was joined by Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen in the trade that sent Kimbrel to Boston, and though he took a step back with a dreadful season (.202/.264/.325 in Class-A Advanced), the Padres still saw enough upside to dedicate a 40-man spot to him. Prior to the 2016 season, Guerra rated as a Top 60 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.
Finally, the Brett Wallace era is over.
I could see Wallace resigning with the Padres, he seemed to have a nice role there
Why was Michael Kelly not protected instead of Quakenbush or Norris? Kelly has upside the other two have none. Answer me Preller!
There are guys below Quack and Norris on the depth chart *cough* Amarista *cough*
The Padres’ obsession with rostering Amarista is bordering on pathological. The guy has basically no value except he can stand around at a bunch of positions.
But he’s the little ninja!! Every team needs a .240 hitter with below avg defense at 8positions on there roster!
Yeah he’s a total quad-A player who has somehow managed to stay on the roster over the years.
At this point, the only entertainment he brings is when they put him on the mound for an inning during huge blowouts.
The comical value of a 5’4″ guy on the mound is almost worth it on a team that is going to lose 90+ games, but its not worth losing a guy like Kelly that might actually be a decent back of the rotation starter..
Arcia is the next Bautista
Wallace was 1st round pick? Another Padre special
Drafted by the Cardinals
Yeah. There was some thought he could be a bat-first third baseman. He was very good in college. But he is just a slow guy with a thick midsection; he was a disaster at third and the bat just doesn’t play at first. He’s a total Quad-A player.
He was a first-round pick by the Cardinals. Traded to Oakland for Matt Holliday. Traded to Toronto for Michael Taylor. Traded to Houston for Anthony Gose. Finally released by Houston, and then the minor league deal carousel began.
Wallace didn’t hit much, but when he did I saw him MASH.