The Padres have re-signed corner infielder Brett Wallace to what would appear to be a minor league deal, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. Wallace is a client of MVP Sports Group. The Padres also made a number of other signings, including righty Craig Stammen and corner infielder Christian Villanueva.
The 30-year-old Wallace collected 256 plate appearances with the Padres in 2016, batting a meager, .189/.309/.318. That showing plus Wallace’s below-average defense made him worth -0.8 fWAR last season. The Padres, perhaps unsurprisingly, outrighted Wallace last month rather than taking him through the arbitration process.
The 32-year-old Stammen spent parts of seven seasons on the Nationals’ staff (with a career 3.91 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9, with even better career numbers as a reliever) before struggling with injury issues in 2015. He signed a minor league deal with the Indians prior to the 2016 campaign but did not debut until late June and ended the season with Triple-A Columbus, finishing his season with a 3.62 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 across three minor league levels.
Villanueva, 25, was once a top prospect in the Cubs system, but they non-tendered him after he missed the entire 2016 campaign after breaking his leg in Spring Training. He batted .257/.314/.438 with 20 home runs in 536 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015.
Going to be a slow Hot Stove day…
Brett Wallace is a terrible sign by the Padres. Mister hit into the shift.
Why? Minor league pinch-hit depth.
Yeah I kind of agree. He’s not a major league player. Surprised he hasn’t been relegated to Japan by now honestly
Why are you whining about a minor league signing?
I like the Stammen signing. He’s been a useful reliever in the past. Wallace is sort of the poster child for people like me, who believe in WAR and advanced metrics. He was a top draft pick because he could hit in college, but with no defensive or baserunning value, which the anti-WAR people ignore. He was drafted 13th overall by the Cardinals, which most of the sabermetrically aligned analysts called a major overdraft. They were right. He draws walks and that’s about it.
Very good point, and this is why hopefully we’ll never have to see Wallace at the major league level anymore. He’ll stay at AAA unless injuries or some other circumstance force them to call him up.
It would seem that with Spangenberg, Schimpf and Solarte all on the roster there will be enough options at third base to avoid using Wallace at all.
Villanueva will surprise everyone and win Rookie of the year in 2017 and Tyson Ross becomes a Cub pitcher this could’ve been a good trade but it’s wasn’t this was God big break for both men.
Don’t think he has ROY potential, but he still could be a useful major leaguer. I think with playing time could hit around .260 with 12 HR. Never got a chance with the Cubs because of Bryant and Rizzo and was potential trade bait last year before he broke his leg.
Agree Villanueva has a play on a major league roster. Solid foundation and no where near his top end
at least it wasn’t Carlos Villanueva
Either Villanueva or McElroy will be the starting 1B or 3B in El Paso. The other will start at the other position.
We resigned Ole Wallace. Good to hear it. Now he can back up whoever is the DH in El Paso. I really hope we never have to see him in San Diego again.
Stammen is good depth for the pen even if he does start the season in El Paso.
Great sign! Wallace is an all-star in the making.
whoops too much egg-nog
@dtcarroll1992 comment created in 2009?
I could see it. He has good power- just 25. If hes given a chance we”ll see
Um what? 25?
I think he was referring to Villanueva, not Wallace. Villanueva was not too bad in 2015, although a little old for his level. He destroyed the Mexican Winter league that year….he was once a top-100 prospect. A bad team like the Padres could do worse than stockpiling busted prospects like Sardinas , Villanueva, Cordoba, etc.
Cordoba a busted prospect? He just turned 21 this month
Cordoba a busted prospect? He just turned 21 this month & batted .361 with a .922 OPS last year in his 3rd season of organized minor league ball. How is he a “busted prospect”
I think is referring to Cordoba being a Rule V draft pick.
He’s been in organized baseball 5 years now (the first year he never left instructs) and hasn’t gotten out of rookie ball. Generally, a prospect doesn’t spend four seasons in rookie ball. And then there’s the fact that the Cards didn’t protect him in the rule 5 draft, His 220 ABs last season (it was his 4th season of organized baseball, btw) look nice, but I can’t imagine he sticks in the majors.