4:07pm: The Padres have announced both Richard’s deal and the signing of Jhoulys Chacin.
3:26pm: Richard’s pact also features $1MM in incentives, including a $250K assignment bonus if the Padres trade him, reports Heyman (Twitter links).
12:35pm: The Padres have agreed to re-sign lefty Clayton Richard to a one-year deal, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’ll earn $1.75MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
Richard and the Padres have already had their formal reunion, so this move represents a continuation of a revived partnership that began way back at the 2009 trade deadline. San Diego picked up Richard as a big part of the swap that sent righty Jake Peavy to the White Sox.
Long a member of the Padres rotation, Richard turned in some quality seasons but left the organization after his shoulder issues resurfaced in 2013. After a brief 2014 appearance in the minors with the Diamondbacks, he joined the Pirates in advance of the 2015 season. With Richard showing well at Triple-A, he was able to make use of an “upward mobility” clause in his contract; when the Cubs showed interest in adding him to their MLB roster, he was back in the bigs.
That 2015 campaign was a good one for the veteran, though he returned primarily in a long relief role. Over his 42 1/3 innings, Richard worked to a 3.83 ERA with 4.7 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. That led to a $2MM major-league contract in the ensuing winter. But things didn’t work out quite as well the second time around in Chicago; over his 14 frames in 25 appearances, he managed only a 6.43 ERA with as many walks as strikeouts (seven apiece).
Cut loose by the Cubs, Richard headed back to San Diego and turned things around — at least in terms of the bottom-line results. Over nine starts and a pair of relief appearances, he turned in 53 2/3 innings of 2.52 ERA ball. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that he still managed only 5.7 K/9 to go with 4.0 BB/9, though Richard also ended the year with a career-best 65.1% groundball rate over his 67 2/3 total frames.
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With opportunity aplenty in the Padres’ rotation, it seems likely that Richard will enter camp with the expectation of securing a starting job. But if that doesn’t work out, or if he falters during the season, it’s certainly possible that he could end up spending time in the pen as well. Despite the middling K/BB numbers last year, Richard did show signs of hope for the coming season. Beyond the groundball advances, Richard also sported an average fastball velocity in his typical career range (91.2 mph) and boasted a personal-best swinging-strike rate of 8.5%, due in part to the fact that he got hitters to chase and whiff even as he worked out of the zone at by far the lowest levels of his career (42.6%).
Yay! Good smart move, he played really well for us the last two months of the season.
+1
Rich Hill 2.0?
Nah, Hill used an elite pitch (his curveball) to turn himself into a legit ace. His strikeout numbers were fantastic whereas Richard’s ERA was very fluky last season based on his peripherals.
What peripherals are you talking about? I can’t seem to find any that are bad as a starter other than BB/9. Everything else is at or better than his career averages. He is what he is, a guy that will eat up innings and give you an ERA of 4.00 or a little lower. We are not expecting an ace.
I don’t think Richard will eat up innings. He’s a double-TJ survivor, and those guys tend to not be durable.
Uh, no.
Richard never had a TJ surgery. He did have TOS surgery. He averaged a tick under 6 IP in his starts last season. 30 starts and 180 IP with an ERA close to 4.00 is what we need and why he was signed.
Oops. Sorry. I was thinking of Cory Luebke. Getting my Padres lefties mixed up.
But the recovery from TOS is a pretty mixed bag. Garcia has been decent at times and terrible at others since the surgery. Marcum and Harrison and Lowry never came back from it. Carpenter didn’t. Beckett was highly diminished after it. Hochevar seems cooked. Chris Young had one good post-TOS season then had one of the worst seasons in the history of baseball last season.
Rich Hill -2.0, maybe
Rich Hill comparison is a poor one. Hill has always had this talent and it really wasn’t a shocker that he started mowing down fools when he got his control in check. That and his durability were the only questions for him.
Richard has never had great stuff. Average starter who looks better at Petco.
good resign
and they have found their opening day starter. Good move for both sides. Would like to see Trevor Cahill sign with them as well since he is marketing himself as a starter. Would be a nice buy low candidate.
Good call on Cahill. He would be a great swingman/6th starter to give the kids arms some rest. I don’t think Richard will be the opening day starter, Perdomo or Friedrich probably still get that call, but he is now the guy with the most experience on the staff so who knows what Preller will do.
I think they could roll Cahill out there as a starter until/if he doesn’t do well, and then put him in bullpen if necessary. He put up good numbers out of pen for Cubs last year. So it’d be up to his performance on whether he continues starting. Don’t think he would cost more than $3mil considering the opportunity he would be getting in SD.
True. We have alot of kids like Friedrich, Clemens, Cosart, and Vargas that are not going to be able to go more than 20 starts or so. Let Cahill start early and if he does well he is a good trade chip come the deadline and if he doesn’t move him to the pen where we know he does well.
Richard
Perdomo
Chacin
Clemens
Fredrich/Lee/Cosart/Vargas
Brutal.
I think weaver or Wilson fits
I’d prefer Peavy and/or agree with airdm above and get Cahill. Cahill could be a deadline trade and Peavy is a fan favorite with leadership capabilities.
Peavy has no stuff anymore. His FB sat 88-89 last year and he didn’t have a plus pitch. Leadership is one thing, but skills are another and his skills have eroded to the point he has no value on the field.
Agree, bring back Peavy to add depth
Bring Peavy back as a pitching advisor, not as a starter. He is done. 88-89 FB just doesn’t play.
I agree he’s trash.
His swinging strike rate ticked up a notch last year. Bartolo Colon succeeds with an 87 MPH fastball. Peavy was a slightly below league-average starter 2 years ago. Maybe he can do it again.
I like this better. Not sure what Preller & Green will do.
Perdomo – R
Richard – L
Chacin – R
Friedrich – L
Clemens/Vargas – R
That would let the Padres move Cosart to the pen where his stuff would play better and trade away Hand or Buchter or both for some help at shortstop.
Richard is a lefty
Got the first two mixed up. Sorry. That is what I get for trying to talk on the phone and post at the same time. Just say no to multitasking.
Should have said
Perdomo – R
Richard – L
Chacin – R
Friedrich – L
Clemens/Vargas – R
+1 , I like it.. Essentially a starting rotation for the price of Tyson Ross.
It depends on how Perdomo’s changup looks during the spring, if it looks good then why not throw him out there vs a lineup like the Dodgers, full of left handed hitters. If not then Richard probably gives them a better chance to win.
Move the fences out.
= the worst rotation in baseball
Have you seen the Reds rotation? Other than DeSclafini they are much worse.
Straily isn’t too bad. A slightly below-league average starter. Padres are running out Perdomo, who is probably about the same. Clemens isn’t good. Chacin might be okay, but hasn’t been good in several years. Cosart should be in the pen. Richard won’t hold up. Vargas won’t pitch more than 60 or 70 innings. Friedrich, meh. Maybe he turns into something. He was once a prospect of some note.
Haha garbage rotation.
It’s the Rebuilding Game!
Where you see how high can you get your draft pick to go!
I like the move & Richard but I can’t wait for opening day vs the Dodgers when the pa announcer says “Warming up in the bullpen for the Padres Clayton Richard” lol.
Love the short term veterans they are picking up during the rebuild. As far as everyone discussing who the opening day starter is; Andy Green won’t have an idea until towards the end of spring training. No one with big name recognition or long term consistency. It will be whoever has the best spring training
Watch it be Christian Bethancourt. I love their experimentation with him.
Welcome back Clayton.
I remember Dick Enberg would remind people multiple times throughout the game broadcast that this guy was from Lafayette, Indiana. Maybe he liked Indiana or something.
Enberg got his Masters and Doctorate Degrees at Indiana University.
Ah, well that makes perfect sense then!
1. Friedrich
2. Perdomo
3. Chaćin
4. Richard
5. Cosart/Clemens/Vargas
We’ll see if Miguel Diaz pays out.
Same with Zach Lee.