The Padres have interest in starting pitchers Doug Fister, Jake Peavy and Jered Weaver, with Weaver the least likely of the three, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. The team’s interest in Peavy and Weaver had already been reported, but their reported interest in Fister is new.
Fister fits with the other two pitchers into the broad category of aging righty starters who have recently been down on their luck. He posted a 4.64 ERA, 5.7 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 180 1/3 innings after signing a one-year deal with Houston for 2016. He made 32 starts, and there’s much to be said for that kind of durability, perhaps particularly for a Padres team that lacks established starting pitching behind Jhoulys Chacin. The 32-year-old Fister looks like a candidate for another short-term deal, however — his velocity rebounded somewhat last season but remains low for a righty, with an average fastball of 88.4 MPH, and his peripheral numbers offer few indications that the Fister who posted a 3.11 ERA in 750 2/3 innings from 2011 through 2014 is likely to return.
There haven’t been many whispers about Fister this offseason. He has briefly been connected to the Marlins, Pirates, and Mariners, although all those teams have since made starting pitcher acquisitions.
davidcoonce74
I’d probably prefer Fister over Peavy. More recent success and more durable. But he’s a ground ball pitcher moving into a situation with well-below average defenders at second and third and no real shortstop. Peavy would be a fun retirement tour pickup but no real evidence he can still pitch.
Weaver is cooked. He’s like, Thanksgiving Turkey you left in the oven for three hours too long cooked. No thanks.
padreforlife
No one cares about Peavy retirement tour
san888
Peavy does
padreforlife
Good for him
YourDaddy
I agree that Weaver is done. Stick a fork in him. Fister’s ground ball tendencies would not hurt him much in SD. Solarte was much improved on defense in 2016 to about league average and we don’t know who is going to be playing 2B yet. Spangenberg and Asuaje are above average. Sardinas is a huge improvement over Ramirez, Noonan and Rondon at shortstop and we may get an even better glove in trade when Preller makes the move. Myers plays Gold Glove caliber defense at 1B.
davidcoonce74
I’m assuming they’ll play Schimpf. Spangenberg missed basically a whole season and he’s never really been any good. His defense isn’t particularly good either.
mike156
Imagine how encouraging to a Padres fan this must be:
“Fister fits with the other two pitchers into the broad category of aging righty starters who have recently been down on their luck.”
DeadliestCatch
Padres fans knew this season was going to suck so it’s not that big of a disappointment to hear that.
Hell sign all 3 of them peavy weaver fister richard chachin. They got chachin and richard for less than 4 mill each and if they can get all 3 in 6 mill range why not. If they post solid numbers like rodney and pomeranz ship them off to a team looking for back end help and pick up a decent C ish or intriguing high k no command a ball prospect.
chesteraarthur
It’s refreshing to see someone with a logical expected return for a backend reclamation project pitcher.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
I agree, this is exactly what the upcoming season is going to be about for the Padres. I wouldn’t mind if they signed peavy or Fister, though weaver I’d r a little more hesitant over.
Regardless, these are the types of moves that need to be made in a rebuilding year. Like others have said, if things work out well enough, Preller could trade them mid-season for low level prospects to keep building the farm.
bbatardo
Yeah us Padres fans already know what 2017 is about. Best case scenario is some of the young players such as Margot, Renfroe, Hedges, etc have good years and show hope for the future.
Also if they can sign a few veterans they can revive and flip for prospects would work. Fister could fit that mold.
teddyt93
Totally agree. Add Colby Lewis to the list. We need some pitchers to supply innings to break in the younger pitchers and if they surprise you may get a low level prospect. No one thought Pomeranz or Rodney would get you a good prospect. Go Padres!
davidcoonce74
There aren’t really any young pitchers the Padres are trying to break in this season, unless you count Perdomo, who should probably start the season in AA.
btamm
The Padres needs new ownership and then a whole new front office.
petersdylan36
Why?
amendoza1539
That’s like saying the Padres need a new venue, more revenue, nine All Star Players, one at each base, new themed giveaways, new seating in the stadium, a new mascot, new uniforms…
Their front office is FINALLY moving in the right direction. Sure, there are many things that that will need to pan out for this franchise to win a title, but as a LONG time fan, it is refreshing to see them building for the future.
Note: if this front office and management get rid of Margot, Hedges, Renfroe, Espinoza before they have proven themselves, then I will agree with you!
zippytms
Well, they do need new uniforms.
countregular 2
No. They need OLD uniforms. Like, 1969 old.
YourDaddy
Need to go back past even that. Back to the PCL unis. I loved the 1950 jerseys and what they wore from 1954 – 1968 were classic unis too. caglaze.cts.com/PCL.html
padreforlife
Let’s see if GM’s are willing to make real trade with schitzer Preller before we throw bouquets at him
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
They already are willing to make trades with him. He already traded Norris this offseason and if Preller offers them a trade they feel is fair, they will take it. If anything they will be more willing to trade with him than anyone else because they know MLB is keeping tabs on him so he will make sure to provide thorough medical info (which other GM’s aren’t necessarily doing).
padreforlife
Norris was not a real trade. I am talking about a bonafide prospects for frontline trade like Sale. MLB babysitting every trade does not bode well if that’s the case.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Lol what frontline players do the Padres have to trade for bonafide prospects?
padreforlife
1 day hopefully they will then we will see if he can make a real trade
padreforlife
Norris was real trade! Lol
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
He can. Everyone the Padres have either no one is interested in or is eons from free agency so Preller probably sees them as part of the next good Padres team. That is why Preller had a quiet offseason, not because of some collective effort to blackball him from trade discussions.
padreforlife
Ok Buster Olney
Injediwetrust
Well said.amendoza. I’m with ya.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
I don’t understand by people keep saying this. Why do the Padres need new ownership and a new front office? The ones we have in place now actually have a good plan that they are following.
This isn’t like previous regimes where they trade away Anthony Rizzo and draft guys like Donovan Tate with the third overall pick.
Chefno2
because a significant portion of supposed mlb fans know nothing outside of their own favorite team, or even within their own organization outside of the major league level.
They see things like Preller being suspended, or previous regime mistakes, or last place finishes, and think they know everything about an organization.
They aren’t actual baseball fans, just fans of large market teams and think it is acceptable to spit on small market teams who happen to be in a transition.
They don’t see the actual plan that a new front office has because they just don’t care. Fake fans.
jonnyblah
Thank god for those “fake fans” that keep pumping money into baseball. If they’re paying (even if it’s just a shirsey or watching a game), let them spit on whatever team they want. In the end, it’s just a game and casual fans are the majority of fans. If one were so offended, maybe they should come down off of their high horse.
padreforlife
It’s not exactly a regime to feel confident about
Chefno2
your name says padreforlife, but your comments and negativity suggest otherwise. Padres finally have a plan after many years and if you can’t see that then that’s on you.
Also the Trea Turner comment is what everyone who has no other intellectual and substantial opinion says. Did Padres give up a lot for Myers, sure, but at that point Turner was only a speed shortstop. Myers put together a 28/28 season at 1B in his first year being fully healthy since high school. His wrist issue had been with him for all those years without being fixed. It finally was and we saw what he can do.
Done addressing cretins like you who can’t form their own opinion.
chesteraarthur
Wasn’t turner a top 50ish prospect even at the time the deal was agreed to (legitimately asking)? A guy who can play shortstop with that kind of speed has a pretty clear path to being a major leaguer.
padreforlife
Myers and his 90 K’s and .210 average on road is so overrated. Trea Turner is better all around player with much better upside and under team control
davidcoonce74
Turner had just been drafted but was very highly ranked, yes. And lets not let the Padres pat themselves on the back too much about Myers. He had a nice season but remember, he was acquired to play center field, and ended up at first because he couldn’t play in the outfield at all. And Joe Ross was also part of that trade. First basemen are easier to find than shortstops. Hell, the Padres haven’t had a legitimate shortstop in, what, ten years?
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
The Turner trade will look as bad for Preller as the Rizzo trade does for Byrnes. Heck, the only reason it doesn’t now is because Myers had a nice little season in San Diego.
padreforlife
He’s also bit brain dead sliding headfirst as 1B with chronic bad wrist box of rocks in his head. Myers was “stressed” last year on last place team
padreforlife
Trea Turner
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Yes yes we all go back to the Turner trade, but to be fair, it wot look as bad if Myers can build upon what he did last year, especially now that he finally got his worst issues fixed.
padreforlife
Ok and if he’s extended which is big if.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Build upon that .210 road batting average XD
padreforlife
Also 10 homers and 36 Rbis on road he’s better than Alonzo but still behind most 1B in division
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Yeah, it’s the regime where they trade away Trea Turner.
YourDaddy
Getting rid of Dee and his “get big name guys for our All-Star game” plan has helped tremendously. Now Preller can focus on the rebuild we needed to do from the beginning. The $75 million they invested in international free agents since July 2nd will give us a huge influx of talent in 2021. The guys he got in the trades of Kimbrel, Pomeranz, Cashner, M. Upton, Benoit, and Rodney and the 1st round draft picks for J Upton and Kennedy have made the system better and deeper than it was prior to 2015. One thing that I find incredibly interesting is that after Preller got suspended, the Padres fired Dee, Preller’s boss, and gave Preller all Dee’s baseball operations responsibilities.
padreforlife
Let’s see if GM’s other than his friend Daniels trust him enough to make any significant trades. They fired Dee probably to save $ since they didn’t replace.
YourDaddy
Not a chance that they fired Dee just to save money. Dee was an outstanding marketing mind and the Chairman and 2 of the partners that spoke about it after the firing said that the team made more money with him as President. The problem was that Dee didn’t care much about winning, just about making money and he was behind some terrible baseball moves. Dee was probably also responsible for the medical information gaffe that cost Preller a suspension since he was in charge of baseball operations at the time. The fact that the Padres gave all the baseball operations responsibilities Dee used to have to Preller despite the suspension says volumes.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
The Nationals trusted him enough to trade for Norris and other teams will trust him because they know MLB is keeping tabs on him.
padreforlife
Ok what team does business without a President especially with just suspended GM who has history of being fined for breaking rules? = Padres
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
In the words of Elsa from Frozen, “Let it go, let it go”
padreforlife
Norris is under .200 hitter grade school
GM can maneuver that trade
padreforlife
Didn’t see movie or care
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
The point still remains that other GM’s WILL trade with Preller if he has a player they like
padreforlife
Time will tell and we don’t know again when he starts making real trades. Fringe catchers who hit under .200 for low level whatever is not real trade. It’s close fraternity and Preller submitting false med records does not bode well.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Lol what real trades does Preller have to make? Who do the Padres have that other teams are actually interested in at this point? PLEASE tell me!
And doesn’t bode well for what? Other teams know he’s not going to do it again so if they want one of our players and get an offer they feel is fair they absolutely WILL trade with Preller. Their job is to make their team better and when you don’t do your job you get fired.
padreforlife
When and if GM’s choose to trade with Preller we will know. It’s a close fraternity and it’s possible they won’t feel comfortable dealing with Preller. Their job yes is to make team better but how do we know Preller won’t try and pull another fast one. Then GM who’s job it is to make good trades has to answer why he made trade with Preller
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
They know he won’t try and pull another fast one because MLB is watching him and if he does anything like that he will never have a job in MLB again.
He made a trade with Preller because that was where the best value was. Easy
padreforlife
Who knows that he’s Ivy League guy who’s already been caught and disciplined twice and he’s hasn’t been in biz very long. He could be some whacked out dude that can’t do it right
padreforlife
Trusted .186 hitter ok
padreforlife
How do we know other teams know?
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Of course they know! They’re not stupid. It’s no big secret what happened and it’s painfully obvious that if anyone does something like that twice they will never work in baseball again. Sorry bud but you don’t have a leg to stand on. Preller can trade with whoever he wants just like all 29 other GM’s.
And I’m still waiting for you to tell me which frontline players Preller supposedly has to trade for blue chip prospects.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Who is reasonably cheap, has hit well in the past, offers solid defense at a premium position and could easily bounce back in 2017
saavedra
Because this is the front office that did trade Yasmani Grandal for Matt Kemp and that huge commitment, Trea Turner, Brad Boxberger, Joe Ross, Rene Rivera and more for Wil Myers, that signed James Shields, that failed to sell at the 2015 trade deadline or deal Tyson Ross when we had value, you just can’t ignore that either.
They’ve made some good trades since, granted, that’s why I’m willing to give AJ one more shot, but still, no denying that he set us back some years with those decisions.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Preller didn’t trade Boxberger! Byrnes traded him in the Alex Torres/Logan Forsythe trade, not the Myers trade!
YourDaddy
The guy that spearheaded those trades and signings is gone. The owners fired the former president Mike Dee and gave all his baseball operations responsibilities to Preller. Dee was behind bringing in big name players like Kemp, Shields, and Upton, trading for Myers, and not trading Ross to make the team more marketable in a season when we had the All-Star game here. It worked in the short-term as the team had a 30% increase in season ticket sales and a 300k bump in overall attendance in 2015, but it put our rebuild back a year. Preller has done an exceptional job since his plan to rebuild was allowed to move forward. He will still have to make sure that plan creates a winning club by 2019 if he wants to keep his job beyond his current contract.
padreforlife
I agree Preller should be given time but if they lose say 100 games does he and Green get another year.
YourDaddy
The Cubs lost 101 and 96 games in successive seasons. Was Theo given another year? The Astros lost 100 games 3 years in a row. Was Luhnow given another year? Rebuilding takes time and Dee cost us a year with his insistence on bringing in big name players for the All-Star Game season. We should be looking at 2019 as the year that makes or breaks Preller and Green.
davidcoonce74
It wasn’t so much the Kemp, JUp , MUp and Shields deals that stunk, it’s that the Padres flushed like 50 million dollars down the toilet to make those guys go away. They did get a comp pick when JUp signed elsewhere, but they had a trade offer in hand at the deadline in 2015 of Machael Fullmer for J Upton and Preller turned it down. Those are the moves that hurt.
padreforlife
Theo in case you didn’t know broke Red Sox curse and won 2 WS. Luhnow is respected GM from great organization in Cardinals. Preller is making no $ and suspended and fined twice for breaking rules. I agree they both should have 2 more years but those 2 are not comparisons
padreforlife
They also have no choice really in hole for $78 mil dead contracts to players on other teams and zero buzz for season tickets. It’s not like they can or will pay big time President or GM to replace
padreforlife
Unless some of players they got back come through it could be all time off season transactions in MLB history
oceansnake84
Fister would be a far superior sign to a guy like Peavy and it’s not even close to Weaver, a guy who was possibly worst pitcher in baseball last season (it’s hard to be worse than Lincecum). I’m a little more optimistic for the Padres than than the writer of this article. I’m not saying that they’re going to differ too much from the Vegas total projected in late March but they’re going to hit and although the starting pitching unit is one of the worse in baseball it’s difficult to be worse than the Shields and Cashner combo last year.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
James Shields had a 3.06 ERA going into his last start with the Padres. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if our starting pitchers are better than that in 2017.
padreforlife
James Shields Lol
padreforlife
Padres have to sign rejects and hope to flip them at deadline
amendoza1539
Troll get out of here
chesteraarthur
you should perhaps learn what a troll is. That is exactly what the padres should be doing this year.
arcadia Ldogg
Hey Padres, I hear John Smoltz, Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver are available too.
padreforlife
Ha
YourDaddy
Clayton Richard was better last year and over his career than Chacin has been. He also has a couple of 200+ inning seasons, while Chacin does not. Fister also knows what it takes to go 200 ip and would be a good fit. Then we would have Fister – righty, Richard – lefty, Perdomo – righty, Friedrich – lefty, Chacin – righty.
davidcoonce74
Richard was actually pretty terrible last year. He allowed 82 baserunners in 53 innings with SD while striking out just 34 batters. Guys who give up well over 1.5 baserunners per inning don’t tend to have great outcomes in a starting rotation. I would guess he’s a reliever by June.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Fister is probably the best (or least bad) out of Fister, Peavy and Weaver at this point. But I like many other Padres fans would like to see Peavy pitch in a Padres uniform one last time. That’s a guy casual Padres fans would actually come out to see pitch, even if he isn’t nearly as good as he was back in the day.
padreforlife
Casual fans would go see Peavy? Isn’t that opposite if it was true? It’s not no one cares about Peavy
CNichols
He’s the last Padre to win a Cy Young and was pitching in SD when the Padres last went to the playoffs like 10 years ago so he’s got some name recognition. I think even as a borderline 5th starter he’d generate some interest from casual fans who want to remember when the Padres were relevant
padreforlife
Disagree no one is going to Petco hoping Peavy pitches well on 100 loss team so he can be flipped. Peavy would be good for what 5 innings a start anyway and he’s toast
CNichols
You wouldn’t sign peavy to flip him, he’ll never fetch anything. You’d sign him because he’s a vet and your team currently has 1 player over 30. I disagree completely with your assertion no one in SD cares about peavy, I know plenty of people who recognize the name from his success here in the past and would rather see him struggle through 5 than see Zach cosart or Paul Clemons go out there and get shelled
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
^ He’s right you know?
padreforlife
So plenty of fans will buy tickets to see washed up Peavy get pasted for 5 innings and reminisce about his Cy Young how many years ago? Ok it’s not happening right now anyway
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
I sure would. Team isn’t going to contend anyway. Perhaps getting to pitch to Hedges, work with Balsley and pitch in Petco will help him out.
padreforlife
Just like talk of extending Myers nothing is happening so who cares for now
daddy padres
Surprised fister is still on the market. That 2-seamer is nasty
The Oregonian
Wonder why the Padres aren’t in on Latos as well? He’s younger with more upside than those guys, and doesn’t have much of a market with his recent poor performance.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
There’s a reason they got rid of him the first time around, and it wasn’t just because of his on-field performance.
amendoza1539
Only met Latos once, wasn’t impressed, gave off a real A-hole vibe. Heard that’s pretty much the kind of guy he is… again, not speaking from my personal experience, just what has been said that I have read more than once.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
They got rid of him because John Byrnes is an idiot who traded away Anthony Rizzo shortly afterwards. And I know you don’t remember this but Latos was fantastic for the Reds the three years after they traded for him and then after that he only had one more year on his contract and the Reds knew they weren’t going to contend so they traded him for Anthony DeSclafani who has been really good for them.
amendoza1539
I wasn’t alluding to the notion that his talent level wasn’t very high rather reinforcing the notion that sixflagsmagicPadres said about there being “other reasons they got rid of him.”
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
I know what you were alluding to and I’m saying that the first Latos trade was still a bad move and that the guy who traded away Anthony Rizzo doesn’t have much credibility.
amendoza1539
Good point!
padreforlife
Fantastic? Yeah giving up that granny in post season was off the charts
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
I can cherry pick individual outings too. Reds don’t trade for Latos they don’t get to the postseason in 2012.
padreforlife
He pitched in 2012 post season try looking up
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Yes and without Latos the 2012 Reds likely don’t get as far as they did
padreforlife
Latos, Peavy let’s move on
padreforlife
Jeez Latos is on Rangers
The Oregonian
No, Cashner is on the Rangers.
strostro
rave reviews?
padreforlife
Yea you’re right
Ironically Optimistic Padres Fan
LETS GET PEAVY BACK YOU WILL INSTANTLY SELL MORE TICKETS AND GET FANS INTEREST BACK THAT WILL BE THE DECIDING FACTOR. WORD.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Oh and can everyone PLEASE stop blaming people other than Josh Byrnes for Anthony Rizzo getting traded to the Cubs? Hoyer did not trade Rizzo to the Cubs as GM of the Padres and then jump ship to the Cubs. He traded for Rizzo as GM of the Cubs. And he wouldn’t have been able to do that if Byrnes had just said “No” when Hoyer came asking about Rizzo.
padreforlife
Hoyer couldn’t wait to bail and take his love child but he will never get credit as long as he is Theo’s underling
padreforlife
Wonderful
padreforlife
All this “interest” is all nonsense. Extending Myers, Peavy all the while hipster is in basement concocting another scam trade prob
Gwynning's Anal Lover
I hope Fister signs with the Giants so I could see a Fister Posey tandem.