It’s been an eventful two years for Padres fans, and while the organization is in the midst of a rebuilding phase, San Diego locked up its most important player on Tuesday, announcing a six-year extension for first baseman Wil Myers. The new contract is the largest in Padres history and will reportedly guarantee Myers a total of $83MM. The Padres will also pick up an option for the 2023 season, giving them a potential seven years of control over Myers, who is represented by CAA Baseball.
Myers, 26, will reportedly receive a hefty $15MM signing bonus and will earn a $2MM salary in each of the next two seasons. He’ll then earn $3MM in 2019 and $20MM from 2020-22. The club option for the 2023 season is valued at $20MM and comes with a $1MM buyout.
[Related: Updated San Diego Padres Payroll Outlook]
The new contract covers Myers’ remaining three years of arbitration eligibility and locks in three would-be free agent years (while also providing an option for a fourth). Entering his first trip through the arb process, Myers was projected to earn $4.7MM by MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz. Instead, he’ll take home a much heftier stack of cash in exchange to contractual rights through his age-32 season.
The total package falls well shy of the top recent comparable: Freddie Freeman’s eight-year, $135MM deal with the Braves. Both players were in the three-plus service bracket and were projected for similar first-year arb salaries at the times of their deals. Of course, Freeman’s deal also covered two additional free-agent-eligible campaigns, so Myers figures to have an earlier chance to test the open market.
In total guarantee, this contract would fall closer to the recent agreement between the Giants and Brandon Belt. That deal promised Belt — a four-plus service-class player who signed his new deal right at the start of the 2016 season — $72.8MM over five years. If you include his 2016 arb salary in the total, it worked out to a six-year, $79MM package.
Myers, long considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball, put it all together in 2016 for the Padres, who gave up Trea Turner and Joe Ross to acquire him in a three-team blockbuster before the prior campaign. After two injury-shortened seasons, Myers compiled 676 plate appearances and batted a healthy .259/.336/.461 while providing 28 home runs and 28 stolen bases. That garnered the former Rookie of the Year his first All-Star nod. With quality glovework and outstanding overall baserunning mixed in, Myers was worth 3.8 fWAR and 3.2 rWAR on the year.
From a payroll standpoint, the Padres can more than afford to lock Myers into a long-term deal of this magnitude. The only other player on the current roster with a guaranteed contract that extends beyond the upcoming 2017 season is infielder Yangervis Solarte, who also recently inked a new contract with the Friars (two years, $7.5MM plus a pair of club options). The remainder of San Diego’s guaranteed deals are all one-year contracts, which should position the Padres to explore long-term extensions with other key young contributors as they emerge. Beyond that, the Padres will be well-positioned to take advantage of improved free-agent crops both next winter and especially following the 2018 campaign.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that a deal was close and floated a roughly $80MM figure (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweeted that there was a “basic agreement” that would guarantee Myers $83MM. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reported the annual breakdown as well as Myers’ assignment bonus in the event of a trade (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Was Myers a right fielder or left fielder in his debut year? It’s always been interesting that he was moved to 1b so quickly
I’m with you. I definitely missed something when he got moved to 1B. He seemed like a competent OFer at the time
He played Right field with the Rays, got traded to the padres during their big offseason where he was supposed to play center, but then the moved him to first because that didn’t work out
He was a terrible CF for the Padres, but he plays a competent RF. I think the move to 1B was to keep him healthy.
He can’t play the outfield well and he gets hurt whenever he tries it.
He moved to 1B because of all the OF’s at the time – Kemp, Upton, Maybrin…
Myers and Maybin never played for the Padres at the same time during the regular season…
He was not a good in right, but passable. Would think average or better in left, but as mentioned above, health concerns and positional need likely dictated the move. Also, as a Ray he stated his desire to play first more after getting time there one game.
At the time the Padres had Justin Upton and Matt Kemp.
How is that hard to understand?
If any of them should have been moved to first, it should have been Kemp. He is easily the worst defender of the three. But I guess if they were planning on trading him again (and they were), there is at least some logic to leaving him in the outfield, so as to maximize his value.
He rates well as a defensive 1B. Was Top 5 in the league in DRS and UZR. Pretty easy decision.
When he was with the R’s he played alittle of everything in the minors.
RF, he got moved because his shoulder got destroyed after a collision with Jennings and just never healed properly.
He was actually drafted as a catcher. I think in his debut he was a RF but not sure. He said last season that he enjoyed being on the dirt and playing first a lot better.
He was drafted as a catcher and played his 1st 2 years in the minors as a catcher and then moved to the OF in AA because of his bat.
I think he was moved to first too quickly.
So he’d be free agent in his like what 31, 32 age season?
He turned 26 a month ago so he’ll be a free agent after his age 31 season.
Ah thanks. I wasn’t sure if he was 25 or 26.
The article says he will be under contract through his age 31 season and become a free agent for his age 32 season. 26 + 6 = 32
Interesting. I suppose this makes Josh Naylor an instant trade candidate. Also, if 6/80 is the deal and Myers shows last season was the real deal, that makes him an incredibly valuable trade asset as well. It feels like he’s leaving 30 million+ on the table but the security of a long-term contract is probably well worth it to a guy who has struggled with injury throughout his major league career.
his injury was his wrist that he had suffered from since high school, but finally fixed prior to 2016. It’s not an issue anymore.
Injuries are always an issue….. which is why Naylor isn’t just automatically traded.
It’s tough to say that Myers is the real deal. He mashed in the 1st half .286/.351/.522 19/60 but then hit .223/.316/.381 9/34 in the 2nd half. He basically had 2 good months April/March (23 games) and June (26 games). Then it’s also a bit flukey that he mashed at Petco .569 SLG with a .341 BABIP. Next year i’d expect him to hit closer to 20 HR’s than 30. As long as he keeps swiping bags he should be a valuable asset.
Smart move by Wil….bc I’m not sold on him. He has shown nice upside when healthy, but as bigkempin mentioned…..he hasn’t done it for very long or for even a full season.
I’m suspicious as well. He raked at times over the first half, but he fell off a cliff second half. Maybe 2016 is what we get when he balances halfs in the future.
He had never played a full season prior to 2016, last season was his first full season healthy, the decline is most probably due to the fact of playing iny many more games than before, plus he lost all protection he had in the lineup after the trade deadline.
Lineup protection is a myth. If Myers was truly not seeing any good pitches after Kemp got traded all that tells us is that Myers swings at bad pitches.
Im not buying the protection case. I tracked him daily…he just flatlined..wasnt just team dependent stats.
Your brain is a myth. Instead of spouting garbage all the time, try looking at facts for a change. Myers had to change where he hit in the lineup going from mostly 2nd to mostly 3rd and 4th the final two months. He went from a steady diet of pitches in the zone to a steady diet of nothing to hit after the ASG. 64.3% of the pitches he saw were in the zone prior to the break then 61.1% of the pitches he saw from the All-Star break on were out of the zone. That is by a huge margin the highest in baseball. When he did make contact a higher percentage were hard hit in August and September than earlier, but his GB/FB rate was also higher. In Sept/Oct he hit well, it was only the All Star game through August when he truly struggled and during that time his GB rate was 20 perncetage points higher than the rest of the season, his GB/FB rate was more than double the rest of the season, and only 37.4% of the pitches he saw (277 of 740) were in the zone. He walked a full point higher in the 2nd half. With no one else in our lineup to instill any fear, why pitch to Myers? Well, no one did.
He’s actually pretty much spot on here. There has been quite a bit of work done on line up protection and it’s effects on a player, there hasn’t been much correlation to protection and increased production.
Isn’t it more likely that pitchers realized he has a tendency to swing at pitches outside the zone and drive balls in the zone, so they stopped throwing him as many pitches in the zone than it is that pitchers decided to pitch wil meyers different because matt kemp was gone?
Wil Myers started seeing more pitches outside the zone and started making contact more with pitches outside the zone. That often leads to worse results. This seems like an example of pitchers getting a book on him after having seen him more.
Amazing analysis. The irony is the negative tone, as if we all knew these stats.
Good for Myers to get this much money after being considered a busy candidate.
Look out chester! He’s gonna accuse you of being my other account! XD
I think I’ve disagreed with enough of what you’ve said (pretty much everything other than the post i responded to) that he would have issues trying to make that accusation.
I just think that in this instance it’s far more likely that pitchers made an adjustment to him and what we saw at the end of the year with his uptick was perhaps him making adjustments back.
That’s never stopped him before
Hmm… So you’re saying that after Kemp got traded, Wil Myers never got anything good to hit? If that is the case, then why didn’t he just get walked every time he came up to bat after Kemp got traded? Are you saying that Wil Myers swings at bad pitches? If that is the case then, armed with that knowledge, opposing pitchers will continue to only throw Wil Myers bad pitches for the rest of his career no matter who is batting behind him. And if they don’t, then they need to be released for not doing their job in the way that they KNOW is the most effective.
The book on Myers is that he has always expanded the strike zone….even back in the KC system.
Yeah. Pads Fans is saying here that Myers regressed after the All Star Game because “He went from a steady diet of pitches in the zone to a steady diet of nothing to hit after the ASG.” So basically, Myers is the kind of hitter who can only succeed if he is getting “A steady diet of pitches in the zone.” Sounds to me like a player who tanks once pitchers get the book on him (think Jedd Gyorko).
They pitched to him when there were guys in the lineup behind him that they feared and not when he was hitting 3rd and 4th because those guys were gone. You can try to spin it, but the reality is that they didn’t put the ball in the zone because no one was playing behind him to knock him in if he got on base. Solarte, Dickerson, Norris/Hedges, Wallace, Schimpf, Sardinas. Those are the guys that got the lion’s share of the at-bats behind Myers in the 2nd half and they combined to hit .214/.282 with a .370 SLG. In the first half, Kemp, Solarte, Upton, Ramirez, Norris, the guys that got the lion’s share of the at-bats behind him, put up .252/.313 with a .420 SLG. Huge difference.
Oh, so you’re saying Myers can only succeed if pitchers are throwing the ball in the zone and giving him good pitches to hit? Well then, armed with that knowledge, pitchers will continue to never give him good pitches to hit no matter who is batting behind him. And if they don’t, they need to be released for not doing their job in the way that they KNOW is the most effective. If you know a guy is going to swing at bad pitches, you’d have to be an idiot to give him anything good to hit.
This isn’t a lineup protection issue. Pitchers know Myers’ weaknesses and thus far, he hasn’t been able to adjust.
Yeah, if protection were real wouldn’t the batters in front of Myers have better numbers? They didn’t.
His walks went up. Maybe you should actually try to look at the stats before you start typing. There is a reason that everyone other than your alter ego/3rd account on the Padres board calls you out on everything you say. If you got thing sight even occasionally you wouldn’t get so much grief for always arguing. IF.
They did. Look at the guy hitting directly behind him. Solarte hit 3rd or 4th behind him almost every game he played in September/Oct and hit .345. Luis Sardinas hit in front of him for 6 games in Sept/Oct and he hit .292/.344 in those games. Jon Jay hit in front of him for 14 games in Sept/Oct and hit .273. Ryan Schimpf hit in front of him for 10 games in August. He hit .278 in those games while hitting .235 in the other 14 starts mostly in the 5th slot. Jankowski hit in front of him for 16 games in August and the 1st game in Sept. He hit .321 while hitting in front of Myers. .266 in other games and .306 overall.
“64.3% of the pitches he saw were in the zone prior to the break then 61.1% of the pitches he saw from the All-Star break on were out of the zone.”
So if my math is correct, he went from seeing 64.3% of pitches in the zone pre-break all the way down to 38.9% in the zone post-break. You still think that 1% increase in walk rate is a positive? I mean, it’s better than having his walk rate go down, but with that discrepancy in pitches in/out of the strike zone, his walk rate should’ve skyrocketed.
I’ve got to be missing something here.
1) These sample sizes are all tiny.
2) Sardinas slashed .287/.353/.417 in 34 games with the Padres. Clearly those 6 games hitting in front of Myers didn’t make a difference…
3) Jon Jay slashed .291/.339/.389 on the year, which is better than the .273 average he put up in his 14 games hitting in front of Myers in Sept/Oct… Not sure why you’d even use that as an example as it goes directly against the point you’re attempting to make…
4) Schimpf sucks. But he also had an 11 game stretch in the beginning of July where he slashed .324/.390/.865. Want to know where he hit and who was behind him? 1 game in the 6-spot with Norris behind him, 7 games in the 7-spot with Alexei behind him, and 3 games in the 8-spot with the pitcher behind him. Can we assume that those guys provided better protection than Myers? Again, these sample sizes are tiny, and you can’t draw realistic conclusions from them.
5) Where are you even getting your stats for Jankowski? Unless I’m on the wrong bb-ref page, he definitely didn’t hit .306 overall. He slashed .245/.332/.313 on the year… Also, he had a random 10 game stretch to start August where he slashed .432/.512/.514. Myers was behind him for 6 of those games; Amarista for 1 and Schimpf for 3. In the 6 games with Myers behind him, he slashed ..364/.440/.455. In the other 4 games, he slashed ..533/.611/.600. Was that stretch because of Myers hitting behind him too? Or can we chalk it up to a random good stretch by another bad player. Again, the sample size is too small to draw conclusions, but I’d lean towards the latter.
I won’t go as far as some others to say that lineup protection is a complete myth, but it’s pretty close for normal players (like Myers). I’d venture to bet that it’s a real thing when you have a player like prime Barry Bonds behind you OPS’ing 1.300+ over the course of a season… But Myers is definitely not that type of hitter that pitchers are terrified of throwing to. It’s MUCH more likely that they realized he’d eventually become impatient and start chasing pitches out of the zone if they threw enough of them (ala Javier Baez in the playoffs).
They are small but consistent. Across the board, everyone that hit in front of him or behind him after Kemp and Upton were traded away did better. Because they weren’t pitching to Myers. The amount of pitches thrown to him changed overnight from predominantly in the zone to predominantly outside the zone and suddenly the people hitting in front of him and behind him improved. Not a coincidence. He was being pitched around because he had no protection in the lineup.
On ALL of them it was by the month. Re-read my post. Jankowski hit .306 overall from the August 1st game through the September 1st game.
Jon Jay returned from an injury and hit 0 for in the games other than in front of Myers.
For the stats I went to game logs. You can download or copy and paste into a spreadsheet. Feel free to do the same.
If Myers can only succeed if he is getting thrown pitches in the zone then that doesn’t bode well for his future
I never said his walks didn’t go up. But if he’s seeing 25% less pitches in the strike zone they should have gone up a lot more than they did. You need to learn how to interpret stats. There is a reason why you have been chased off of almost every Padre-centric board you have ever been on.
Oh and I still only have one account on here and on the Padres boards and you still look like an idiot constantly accusing me of that.
See? Now Priggs is schooling you just like I am
He’s a strike out machine with 91 on road last year while hitting putrid .210 with 10 homers and 36 Rbis on road. He slides headfirst as 1B which is more than brain dead with chronic bad wrist. He was also “stressed” last year while playing on last place team. Other than that he’s fine. He’s not core homegrown guy to build around. That’s Hunter Renfroe
If you think Myers strikes out wait until you see Renfroe.
was going to say this haha
Why? Renfroe’s K% in AAA has been almost 3 points better than Myers at 20.5% compared to 23.2% (that’s Myers from 2012/13 when he played a substantial amount in AAA, not just rehab starts). The big difference is that Myers was able to take walks in AAA, which Renfroe definitely was not (about 10% to 4%).
It was literally his fist FULL season in the major leagues.
Not surprising he was better in the first half.
Before 2016 he had never played more than 88 games in a season.
Slow your roll, Naylor just turned 19. Last year he was in A-ball, so he’s at least two full years away from MLB, and that’s if he progresses really quickly. We’re a couple of years away from having to think about what to do with Naylor. In the meantime, let him develop and see how Myers’ next two years works out. Besides, there’s always the chance that Myers moves off 1B some time in the future.
Agreed. If Josh Naylor can develop like he’s supposed to then having him and Myers to find playing time for or a trade we like for is a good problem to have.
Except nobody thinks Naylor can play anywhere except 1B and Myers has proven he can’t play anywhere else besides 1B. I frankly don’t think Naylor turns into anything – 1B-only prospects rarely do – but if he raes in higher levels maybe he can be turned into something reasonable, like a shortstop prospect or something.
I never said Naylor could play anywhere besides first. Myers is serviceable in left or right tho so if Naylor can develop maybe they trade Dickerson and put Myers in left. Obviously he isn’t playing right as long as Hunter Renfroe is in town.
I agree with you, but if Myers stays healthy and continues to hit the next couple of years, I would find it hard to see the Padres moving him off of 1st. With this deal possibly being a very nice deal down the road, I could see Myers being dealt when Naylor is ready unfortunately.
Why is that unfortunate? If Naylor is good enough to make them want to move Myers, that would be a great thing. It’d be even better if Myers continues to play well in the meantime. Then they’d have their new first baseman for super cheap, and they’d be able to add a couple high quality prospects to the system…
It’s unfortunate because if Myers continues to progress and earn this contract, the Padres will be trading the “face of the franchise” and will be crucified by fans and the media whether the trade is a good trade for the team or not. I realize the Padres cannot worry about what fans and the media think, but it will just be another black eye on the franchise. Don’t get me wrong, I hope Naylor turns into a stud, but I also hope that the NL gets the DH by then. 🙂 that would solve all of our problems.
Keep in mind also, that there are still rumors of the DHcoming to the NL in the next couple years. Could be a perfect fit.
Wouldn’t happen until 2022 season. Has to be bargained through the CBA.
The union would take it in a heartbeat.
I’d rather they be nearing a contract extension with Trea Turner
They didnt renew your contract huh ryan? Shocking.
Cute
Too soon
damn, that’s awesome.
7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 21?
Lot more than I would have thought, but still a nice move to finally have a face of the Padres.
Got to think the first two years were projected arb numbers with a little extra for dealing with the build of talent to 2019. Would’ve liked to see another year first but the franchise needed to have a core player resigned to build around for the fan base. Lets just hope this doesn’t go like all of the other extensions and flame out before they start.. I’m a happy Pads fan with a core piece and the fact their remaining in town..
Nice, it’s good to see them making a move like this. If Myers can build upon what he did last year, this extension will end up working out very well for both sides. Also, it’s nice that he finally got his wrist issues fixed and should be fully healthy going into the season.
You mean build upon that .697 OPS after the All Star break?
Come on man give the Pads a break lol…Myers is a solid player and the contract seems reasonable enough…they need a lot more than Myers to turn things around but at least it’s something to give them some hope!
I’ll give them a break when everyone who said otherwise admits that Turner is better than Myers and that Preller totally blew it with that trade.
Thank you so much. This is EXACTLY what I think.
Myers is averaging Hosmer money for the length of the deal….Maybe he’s not elite in the end…but that money is solid. Needs to put both halves together though.
Who cares??? It’s not like he traded Rizzo for Cashner!!! Myers is a MVP-type caliber player, Turner might turn into one as well, it’s a win-win!
“Oh, but we need a shortstop more so than a 1st baseman…”
Preller has restocked the farm system with enough talent to acquire one when we truly need one, right now it’s not the time, I believe Javier Guerra will rebound and regain his value, there’s also Jose Rondon, Fernando Tatis Jr, plus a bunch of new latin american prospects that will make their way to our minor league system, If we can’t find someone to play shortstop for us within our system, we certainly have the prospects to acquire one via trade.
Id be shocked if Wil Myers was an mvp candidate…I dont think he tops out that well.
Hahahahaha. Myers is far from an MVP-caliber player. And Turner is already better than him.
Turner, in half a season in 2016, put up more WAR than Myers did in a full season.
Yeah look at it this way: this is the kind of move the Padres make that shows they are committed to their plan of future contention. Also, like it was discussed in other comments, once Josh naylor is ready, the Padres could look to trade either him or Myers. If Myers is still playing well by then, with this contract, he will fetch a good deal. If he’s playing bad, the Padres can just replace him with naylor and then decide what they want to do with him.
And in Turner’s 1st full season through the league, pitchers may figure him out and his numbers may drop. His defence at SS may also be poor, a weak arm is one of the reason the Padres traded him. Lots of players hit the ground running, Puig for example, then come back down to earth once the league gets a look at them. I am not saying Turner will not be good or that Myers is going to be better, but let’s pump the brakes on Turner’s trip to Cooperstown a bit. If one of the young guys the Padres signed this year turn out to be an All Star SS and Myers continues to trend upward, we won’t be worrying about Turner any more.
Myers is a 30-30 talent. Turner is not. Given the presence of margot and jankowski turners speed was not as much of a team need as a power presence was. What good is having guys on base if you cant drive them in?
They either kept turner and sucked at 1B long term cause Jake Bauers isnt an answer if youre looking for power production- alonso 2.0 at petco.
Or have myers and suck at SS
Here’s the 2015 free agents at 1st
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/2015/1st-base/
Here’s the 2016
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/2016/1st-base/
Had the padres kept turner theyd done 1 of 3 things. A. Overpay for a solid 1B or sign for a medicore 1B, trade for a 1B, or gone with Alex Dickerson at 1st- which Dickerson doesnt represent a 30-30 talent.
Turner had an excellent rookie campaign. But nobody knows if its sustainable long term. We will see how Turner and Myers do in the coming years and only then is it possible to determine who got the better end of the deal.
Joe Ross is already having arm issues like Tyson so Dusty is gonna destroy that poor kids arm like he did Bailey Prior and Wood.
Yes and pitchers have already figured Myers out and his numbers have already dropped.
And spare us the “Cooperstown” straw-man argument. No one is saying Turner is a future Hall of Famer. But neither is Myers.
That’s baloney. Padres didn’t train Turner because of a “weak arm,” they traded him
Because they really wanted Myers and he was their best trading chip. If Turner had a weak arm he wouldn’t have been a shortstop (or center fielder) in the first place.
When Turner was traded both Preller and Don Welke said that, “one of the main reasons they were willing to deal Turner was because he didn`t have a great arm” and both of them “felt as though a strong arm is necessary for the position”. I have no idea if Turner has a strong arm or not, but when I hear those words come out of those to mens mouths, I feel as though I can pass it along 2 years later. I’m sorry you missed those interviews or have forgotten them. Sure the Padres wanted Myers and yes Turner was a great trade chip, but to continually throw Myers under the bus after 2 seasons and continually praise Turner after 6 months is ridiculous. That deal has a long way to go before a “winner” can be named.
I agree Myers isn’t a Hall of Famer, but the way you go on about how bad this trade was for the Padres and how great Turner is, I figured you had inside info on that the plaque was already being made. I’m kidding, it will be a long time before we know who the real winner of that deal was.
Keep in mind that the Nationals didn’t give up Myers in that trade. They gave up Steve Souza and Travis Ott. Even if Myers does deliver on the hype that trade was definitely a “win” for the Nationals.
Now now, Silverman was the real culprit of blowing it. Remember he traded Ross and Turner for Souza; a strikeout machine and average at best player prone to dumb plays.
I googled the hell out of that quote and can’t find it anywhere. You either remembered it wrong or they never said it. And seriously, I’ve never heard of a player of Turner’s offensive ability being traded because of a “weak arm.” If they really felt that way they’d just move him to second.
I Googled “Don Welke Trea Turner” trade and found this in 2 minutes. “One of Preller’s mentors is sage scout Don Welke, who followed him from the Rangers to San Diego. Welke came of age in the Blue Jays organization, which taught that shortstops must have a 60 arm. Turner has many tools, but a 60 arm isn’t one of them. The Nationals need a shortstop to replace impending free agent Ian Desmond after the 2015 season and apparently believe Turner can do the job, while the Padres most likely do not see him as a shortstop.”
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/rank-em-players-traded-winter-meetings-christmas/#H0I98KTlbLHXwFZa.99
So unless I am reading that incorrectly, the Padres brass did/do not feel that Turner has the arm for SS.
I get the frustration but maybe the next 3-4 years will determine if this is the case.
Basing a trade off of ONE season is very short sided.
No quote from either, just a hearsay quote. And also, if they truly believed that they would have just moved him to second. You don’t give up on that kind of offensive potential.
If you think the Padres traded their top-10 pick a few months after drafting him because he had a “weak arm”, well, I would say that everybody involved in that move should lose his job.
Myers is not a 30-30 talent. He has never had a 30-30 season in his life. He’s a good not great hitter who won’t even be that if he can’t learn to stop swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone. Turner had a higher OPS than Myers in 2016 which means overall, Turner is more valuable offensively. Without Myers, we would still have Josh Naylor looking to compete for the starting 1B job in a few years and Jake Bauers would be around to fill in until Naylor is ready. If Naylor flames out, a good first baseman is still easier to find than a good shortstop.
Here is another comment on Turner’s arm strength from Baseball America, “One of the reasons the Padres traded Turner was his shortstop play; many clubs, not just the new Padres regime, were not sold he has the arm strength to play the position every day. Turner has heard those doubters, too, but has played well as a pro thus far, with 12 errors so far in 2015 and a .967 fielding percentage. Pro scouts I spoke to Sunday said they still have their doubts, but Turner believes two changes have helped him improve since his amateur days.”
Also, Byrnes drafted Turner, not Preller, so commenting on trading “their top 10 pick” is irrelavent. This is not the first or the last time a new regime comes in and moves out players.
You do understand what happens to elite offensive players without great throwing arms, right? They don’t get traded. They get moved to second base or left field. This absurd notion that a team like the Padres would trade away a superstar – caliber player because of his throwing arm is beyond absurd. Certainly, you know that Mike Trout has a below average arm as well, right?
Whether you think it is the right thing to do or not, the Padres, and apparently a lot of other scouts, at the time of the trade , didn’t think Turner had the arm for SS. That is all I was saying in my 1st comment about this. If Turner struggles defensively, it could affect his offence, to which he is now loosely being compared to Mike Trout. I am going to stop now, go Padres.
Nobody compares to Trout. Your argument was that the Padres traded away Turner because of his throwing arm, which is a preposterous notion. If the Padres and their scouts truly didn’t believe that Turner had the arm for short they’d have just moved him to second. Everybody knew the bat was ML-ready the day he was drafted.
Great point on Trout. Trout makes up for a lot with a knack for positioning and legs. His arm can be short…but he can read the bat well and make up time there.
Trea Turner can be a 30-30 talent. He stole more than 30 bases in a half season and hit 13 HRs in a half season
He won’t hit 30 HR’s.
Myers went 28/28 in his first full season in the majors. He was 25. To say that he is not a 30/30 talent is ludicrous. We have less than a 1 in 5 shot at Naylor making the majors as a regular. It’s just not time to even be considering whether or not the Padres will have to move Myers to another position or trade him to make room for Naylor. IF Naylor is raking when he hits AAA in 2019, then bring that up again. Same goes for Turner. At this point Turner has less than a half-season playing well in the majors. Come back when he has at least 3 seasons and let’s compare him and Myers then. To even try at this point makes zero sense.
Trout’s scouting report
m.mlb.com/news/article/107660672/when-they-were-prospects-mike-trout/
projectprospect.com/article/2010/10/12/mike-trout-scouting-report
baseballamerica.com/today/minors/awards/player-of-the-year/2011/2612308.html
baseballamerica.com/today/draft/news/2009/268323.html Forgot Angels took Grichuk in front of Trout.
m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/06/05/128573356/unreleased-scouting-reports-on-harper-and-trout
The consensus was that Trout had a 50/55 arm. Not spectacular, but above average for a MLB player.
Turner is not a superstar yet. Come back in 2019. We should know by then. He could become the next Yasiel Puig. He could become the next Chris Coghlan. He could become the next flame out or the next Jeter. There is simply no way to tell after 73 games.
If Turner can’t play SS and has to be moved to LF or 2B his value falls. RF and 1B are fairly close in value. LF and RF are where you “hide” your good bats with bad defensive skills. SS and LF are not close in value. SS and 2B are not close in value.
Myers doesn’t even have 3 seasons playing well in the Majors. More like two half seasons
You don’t pay attention do you? Or do you just conveniently disregard the facts when they don’t agree with your belief?
392 games played for Myers. Last season 157 games. His rookie season 88 games. In between 87 and 60 games in those 2 seasons playing hurt. He had a great rookie season. He was hurt in 2014. He hit .253/.336/.427/.763 with 8 HR in 60 games in 2015 playing with a hurt wrist which is certainly not bad. And he rocked it last season with 28 HR and 28 SB in 157 games.
He appeared in 88 games in 2013, so a little over half a season. 2014 and 2015 he struggled with injuries and in 2016 he was only good before the All Star Break. So two good half-seasons in the Majors. I don’t have to disregard the facts like you because they back what I’m saying up.
#getsmacked
“Not a 30-30 talent” but hit 28 homeruns and had 28 stolen bases. He’s got the potential to be a 30-30 guy as he nearly did it last year.
At worst hes a 20-20 talent on an annual basis, 25-25 is a decent outlook, 30-30 if he maximizes his talent.
Turner will never be a 20-20 25-25 player, ever.
Turners numbers will come down as his iso was 60 pts higher than anything he posted in the minors.
Padres needed a power presence and they got right handed power which has been at a premium in this league for many years.
You seriously think its easy to find a right handed power bat at 1st? Less than 1/3 the league has a power bat at 1B. Yeah, real easy to find a right handed power bat to play first, which is why less than 10 teams have it.
He has stated that he likes playing 1B but with Josh Naylor coming up the ranks it wouldn’t be a stretch to see him as a LF down the road…unless of course Naylor doesn’t make it or gets traded
so like 17.5ish per free agent year? Assuming 5/9/13 ish for his arb figures (which may be a little high)
This is great! The Padres will need a franchise face once they move to L.A.
It’s nice to see the Padres lock up Myers, but the homer in me was hoping for a smaller total in the after math of the Herrera and Inciarte extensions. They are very different players than Myers, but I was hoping for a bit of a deal, which this still could end up being, if he can continue to grow upon last years “breakout” season. Never the less, Myers is the only contractual commitment beyond next season, so the Padres will have a lot of financial flexibility going forward. As a Padre fan, I hope the wrist problems were cleaned up for good last off season.
Pads need Myers to be in LF or RF. It limits his value if they are only calling him a 1b now
It would have to be in LF. Hunter Renfroe isn’t going anywhere.
Why does it limit his value? His defensive metrics at first are solid and two of the Padres top prospects, Renfroe and Margot need spots in the OF. Not to mention the other intriguing players they have out there like Janikowski and Dickerson. I think his value is limited in the OF because his D is subpar and he would be blocking those prospects.
I am not sold on him either. Love his hustle and enthusiasm for the game, but he gets injured too often and goes through way too many dry spells. Usually hits these dry spell when he gets into pull mode. I think this is a fair contract. I would not have given him any more due to what I mentioned above.
I think the Padres will try to trade him before the end of this contract.
As a Padre fan, I unfortunately agree with you. At the same time, if Naylor progresses the way the Padres hope he will, the sting will be lessened.
I could definitely see this happening in the future, especially if naylor ends up living up to his potential.
They’re going to regret this contract! 6/$80M for a good hitter (not great hitter) and unfortunately a band-aid boy.
How many 30/30 players in baseball who play Gold Glove caliber defense at 1B?
He basically is getting 6 years of what Eric Hosmer got in arbitration today. His skills arent THAT off of Hosmer. Im guessing the Royals and their fans would have loved this deal with him….they’d have him past this season and not have to watch Hosmer walk away to the Angels or wherever.
Hosmer was a negative fwar player last year. And you can’t really compare what he’s averaging because 3 of those years were gonna be arb years. He’s getting something like 16-18 for 3 free agent years, which isn’t bad, but with injury issues and cratering in the 2nd half it seems like an odd extension that could blow up on them. if he’s good all year next year it will look great, obviously, but it seems like a weird time to give him this extension that isn’t really all that cheap.
Ill agree on the timing. I think hes worth 13. Hosmer was actually 12 I guess. Im going more off how I project Hosmer in the past and his future. Also have to consider the absurd inflation rate.
You know who Myers reminds me of potentially? In a career trajectory sense…not in player type….Nick Markakis. A guy who ends up being decent…not great…but gets dogged by a contract and the perceived potential. I dont care what anyone says about Myers that second half was lousy…like forgot how to play lowsy. Im not sure he doesnt have some of that in him….He’d look like a heck of a player on a baseball card looking at the counting stats….but he’d go dormant for a month. Adam LaRoche was notorius for that….lowsy first half….then he’d explode second half and get those 25-30hr. Maybe hes LaRoche with speed.
There are a lot of players that have terrible stretches, but having the good stretches make the overall numbers look nice is the 162 slog. That being said, Myers seems risky given his past injuries.
It drags their value down in my eyes…pennant stretch and a guy goes into a .200 nosedive….he’s not helping the team. I guess the earlier stretch would be beneficial though. Just frustrating.
Markakis was never a guy that had a 28 hr/28 sb season. He never had the potential for 30/30 on a consistent basis. He was a high average, middlin’ power guy with middlin’ speed on the basepaths. Bad comparison.
What injury issues? Once he had the wrist surgically repaired in 2015 there have been none. He played 157 games last season. Myers is getting $7 million total for his arbitration years. The signing bonus is spread out over the length of the deal.
The Rangers rotation is so thin. I love it.
Cart before the horse if its not a super team friendly deal. Is he a 30+ HR guy or a <20 HR guy, two completely different splits last year after the AS break.
I thought similarly. Seems to me the Padres could be getting ready to pay a mystery box. The suggested 6/$80 mil is to much for someone who bats .240-.250 with less than 20 HR but a great deal if he is the guy who will bat around .260 with a .340 OBP and 30 HR. Seems like this one could go either way.
Seeing the Padres sign Wil Myers to an extension reminds me that I wish the Pirates had signed Trea Turner.
Who knew, but turns out the Pirates drafted Turner in the 20th round one year and didn’t sign him.
Every team can play this game, no doubt, but that would have been a nice one to have back.
Haha as a Dodgers fan that’d be Goldy for us back in the day.
bad deal or good deal?. Myers IS/WAS the biggest trade chip. The Padres are years away from putting together a good team. Without his wheels ( 20+ SB, ) Myers is just another .260, 20 HR bat.. Nothing sexy. His young career is full of injuries. if he continues to be a 20/20 player or hits his upside of 30/20 at only 25 then its good. Myers can be the franchise face that the Padres need. Good for Myers, great city and awesome ball park. Here’s to good health and rocking the brown for years to come.
Rocking the blue actually.
Full of injuries? The only one I can find is a wrist injury that plagued him in 2014 and 2015. Last season he played in 157 games, so obviously no injuries. In 2013 he played in 152 games including the minors.
He went 28HR/28 SB in his age 25 season last year and certainly hasn’t peaked. He has said that his goal is 40/40 in 2017. 30/30 for the next 4-5 seasons is what most expect from him.
hahaha. i got a downtick for a legit post. they will still wear brown. are you not a fan of the brown?
Does anyone really like the Brown? People on the boards are the only ones that ever talk about it. No one brought it up at the season ticket holders meeting and no one BUYS them. The Blue with Orange sells best among the throwback jerseys. Rather see the Padres bring back those alternative jerseys from 1998.
Best take I have read on this so far.
“The structure of the deal shows that the Padres value payroll flexibility. Why? This may mean the Padres are looking to be contenders sooner than the assumed 2019-2020 window to compete and are open to spending now. With a historically large group of quality free agents available for the 2018 season, will we see the Padres as major player in that market?”
Didn’t they try that already
If the Padres had any others hitters. he’d be starting in RF. pretty good deal for Padres if he can get to 30/30 with around 100 RBIs
Where does Renfroe play if Myers starts in RF?
6 year contracts are stupid. Padres will never learn!
They are only dumb for pitchers. Pitchers shouldn’t get more than 4 year contracts. They can add a lot of incentives and bonuses and options. But after 4 years they are usually done. Look at cc sabathia 7 year deal with the jankees after 4 years he was horrible and will never return to form
Hopefully he won’t go the way of Jed Gyorko.
Gyorko hit over 30 homers last year and Padre stupidly traded him
Notice the jump in salary from 2019 to 2020. Once his salary hits 20 million they will try and trade him.
Notice the jump in salary from 2019 to 2020, they will try and trade him before he gets too expensive
Good for him but at the same time you gotta feel sorry for him. He’ll never win in San Diego. He’ll never get the protection he needs. And petco isn’t exactly a hitters park.
Im sorry but I just don’t feel bad for a guy who just signed a contract owing him 83 million dollars
Myers doesn’t need protection, he needs to get thrown pitches in the strike zone. Sounds to me like the type of player who tanks once pitchers get the book on him.
I think a core of Renfroe, Margot, Solarte, Hedges, and Schimpf make up a nice core unit around him. He is now the face and leader of the franchise and I am perfectly fine with that.
Solarte is not core guy and Schimpf is a reach
Hedges so far can’t hit .200 nice try
He gets stressed come on it’s stressful playing on last place team
He hits way better at home. Myers hit .210 on road
Notice the jump in salary from 2019-2020, he will be traded before his salary jumps from 3 million to 20million!
If he has value
Myers has had 1 decent year calm down
Bad year from Myers and Preller is out the door