Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler made an appearance on Mighty 1090 AM radio yesterday and spoke with host Dan Sileo about a number of topics, including Jered Weaver’s struggles, last year’s investigation into the team’s medical processes, the trade for outfielder Matt Szczur, and the strong performances of Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte (audio link to the interview). You’ll want to give it a full listen, but here are some of the highlights.
Most notably, Fowler was unusually candid about his disappointment in Weaver’s struggles and suggested that the veteran right-hander wouldn’t be given much longer to turn things around.
“We’ve had several performances from Jered that have been not very good, and Jered owns them,” said Fowler. “… I think it’s a short leash, and we’ve got to make some decisions. … We’re hoping there’s something left, but the last several performances don’t give us much cause to be positive.”
Fowler offered praise for Weaver’s accountability on multiple occasions, and the right-hander indeed has been frank with the media about his poor performance. But that doesn’t seem likely to change the analysis from the team’s perspective, with Fowler saying he expects “decisions ill get made in the not-too-distant future.”
As for the thought process that went into signing the light-tossing veteran, Fowler forthrightly acknowledged it was a roll of the dice that has not really panned out.
“We did take a chance on him,” he said. “We were hoping we’d get some more, that there was more left in the tank, and at this point in time, it doesn’t appear that we were right. We’re not going to let it continue for a long period of time. We like the way he’s owning it at least and not trying to walk from it.”
Those surprisingly frank words likely won’t offer much comfort to Weaver, who has indeed been hit hard thus far. Through seven outings, he carries a 6.81 ERA and has been touched for 14 long balls.
San Diego is obviously looking to find value where it can, and that has continued into the season. The team’s recent acquisition of Szczur out of DFA limbo, though, was also driven by need.
“He’s an outfielder that we think is very strong from a defense standpoint,” said Fowler. “He hasn’t performed offensively as well as the Cubs would’ve liked, but he’s a high character guy. … Right now we’re down two guys in the outfield, and we need to probably give [Hunter] Renfroe some time off. [Manuel] Margot is playing literally every game. We just need someone out there.”
That said, it seems that Szczur has been on the club’s radar for some time. Fowler says that the Pads tried to pry him loose from the Cubs in the spring but were rebuffed.
Also of note were Fowler’s comments on the fallout of the suspension of GM A.J. Preller for mismanaging the sharing of medical information at last year’s trade deadline. He acknowledged that there is some ongoing impact, though he suggested it likely won’t prove a significant barrier.
“I’m not saying there’s nothing lingering,” Fowler explained. “I think there’s some teams out there that might still have some issues. But it comes down to, if we have players they want, I think they’re going to deal with us.” He also made clear (as the organization has stated many times before) that the problems with the team’s medical information systems have been corrected. “We own it, but I don’t think there’s any lingering problems in how we’re managing those areas.”
Yangervis Solarte and his 92 OPS plus is a “strong performance.” ? Huh. Okay. Myers is hitting fairly well but that 5/38 scares me. And while Weaver probably won’t make it through the season, the morbid part of me wants to see him stick it out and set the record for most homers allowed in a season. He’s almost a third of the way there and it’s May 10th.
It’s hard not seeing Weaver in Angels Red but he has had a great carrer , its time for him to hang it up.
It’s interesting how much his career arc is mirroring that of his brother, who was also washed up in his early 30s.
He would be a perfect pitching coach for the angels.
The Quest for the First Pick lives on…
LOL Padres.
Jered Weaver has been circling the drain for a couple of years now, and all of sudden the Padres expected him to be replacement-level?
This is some funny stuff, and is just one more reason why Preller and Co. won’t be around to see all that young talent in Class A/Class A – Advanced pan out.
I don’t know a guy moving from the AL to the NL is always worth a chance
Dude is having trouble hitting the mid-80’s with his FB. That won’t play in either league.
Ya I guess that’s a bad example because he’s clearly declining
The Matt Szczur comments are very curious to me. I mean, they make sense enough on their own, but then when you look at the actual situation the Padres are in it falls apart.
First though, Szczur has never hit all that well anywhere in his career outside a short 18 game stretch in Boise way back in 2010, so saying he hasn’t hit as well as hoped is a tad laughable. And I get the Defense stuff, ut you are talking about a temporary fill-in on a horrific team here, not a long-term player on a competing club.
Then you look at the internal options the Padres had available to them at El Paso and you see names like Nick Buss (currently hitting .397/.448/.586/1.034), Rafael Ortega (currently hitting .319/.381/.489/.870) and even the recently-sold-to-Korea Jamie Romak (who was hitting .347/.392/.800/1.192) plus even super-utility guy Jose Pirela (hitting .306/.372/.435/.808) and prospect Franchy Cordero who is still young and needs more learning, but he too seems a better option than Szcuzr (Franchy is hitting .246/.305/.483/.788 in AAA, which isn’t great but it’s still nearly 100 OPS points higher than the .273/.331/.363/693 Matt has hit over his AAA career)
With 5 internal options available to the club that are hitting well to fantastic, 3 of which naturally play CF… well as I said, it’s just odd
I’m just guessing here, but maybe they are saving time clocks with them all.
Understandable guess, but Cordero is the only prospect in the bunch. The other 4 were all minor league FA signings that have been around for a while (Ortega is the youngest of those 4 at 26yo; or in other words, they are all around the same age as Szczur)
Probably safe to say the Padres are shooting for the #1 pick this year.. I suppose they don’t want to intentionally tank, but a lot of their moves show they are fine losing a few more than winning a few more.
As a result they might wait until later in the year to go full youth.
First, Triple A El Paso is basically the minors-version of Coors Field, and it’s not just El Paso, but almost every stadium in the PCL. Those numbers put up there, in large part, are meaningless. Doubly so when you’re looking at the production for late-20s/early-30s veterans vs 21 year old competition – of course they’re crushing it in Triple A, they graduated from that level 5 years ago. Second, Szczur was out of options but already on the 40 man – none of those players in El Paso are, so it would’ve either required burning an option or adding a veteran that you then would have to DFA to move back to El Paso. Third, most of those players you mentioned don’t play much CF. I don’t know where you get that a 1B, a middle infielder, 2 journeyman OF that haven’t played much CF of late and a fringy prospect that converted to OF from SS “naturally play CF” but that is flat out wrong. Finally, Szczur has done something none of those other guys has: be productive in the majors – better to bet on someone that has done it before than on someone that hasn’t
First, El Paso is not even close to the Coors of AAA (those 5 guys are all in the mere 7 El Paso hitters to have an OPS over .720 or SLG over league average, btw) …similarly, your “late-20s/early-30s veterans vs 21 year old competition” theory apparently works just like your stadium theory, as it sure hasn’t done anything for Collin Cowgill, Dusty Coleman, Rocky Gale or Tony Cruz either
Second, you are worried about burning options on MiLB FA signings? Huh? Regardless, the guys mentioned were almost all MiLB FAs they had specifically signed for such depth needs anyway. It’s the only reason they are there! Giving up another player in trade for yet another out-of-options depth piece that is no better than the ones already on staff…
Third, yes they are not all playing CF at the same time for El Paso right now (great observation there) but 2 are career CFers while one has been covered to a full-time CFer – and all the Padres need is an occasional game or two because “Margot is playing literally every game”
Forth, Szcuzr has not been “productive in the majors”, that’s beyond laughable. The only thing Matt has on them is MLB playing time (he is a worse to dramatically worse MiLB hitter than them though, so…)
So yeah, whatever man
El Paso numbers are always inflated. In general, PCL is a hitters league.. Lots of parks in deserts (like El Paso, Albuquerque,or Las Vegas) or high altitude cities (like Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City).
Look at number 10 on this list:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/baseballist-extreme-ballparks-minors/#dj6ffEWXcOexXt8D.97
Note this sentence: “Among big league ballparks, only Coors Field comes close to featuring as many hits on balls in play.”
Yes, the PCL is a hitters league – and that is where most of the players in question, including Szczur, have spent most of their time (Matt spent all of his AAA time in the PCL)
But as far as the nonsense claim El Paso is somehow like Coors, well that is absolute pure gibberish, and actual reality shows this:
Pacific Coast League – 2015
Team R HR H
El Paso 1.003 / 0.937 / 1.036
Pacific Coast League – 2014-15
El Paso / 1.041 /0.946 / 1.053
https://www.milb.com/international/news/toolshed-final-triple-a-park-factors-review/c-155266172/t-209979210
…yes, El Paso is semi-neutral and pretty middle of the pact for the PCL
Anoff is just making some crud up with that claim, not unlike all the others he made in his post
From what I can tell, those numbers measure how the park plays relative to other parks *in the league*. So slightly higher than neutral ballpark in the PCL does not mean that it plays neutral, all things considered, if the PCL is, as a whole, a hitters’ league. But perhaps I’m wrong; the article is thin on details.
Here’s some more data from Baseball America that compares ballparks from different leagues against each other. Check out the the BABIP percentile for El Paso: 94%,
Salt Lake is 99%, Reno 98%, Las Vegas 95, ABQ 96%, Colorado Springs 98%.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/minor-league-ballpark-effects-2014/#2v7xYAzIE3uydXEq.97
I follow the Padres closely. There is *always* some El Paso player that has ridiculous numbers, like he’s playing on the moon or something. I’ve learned to take those numbers with a grain of salt. For example, Ryan Shimpf’s average in El Paso last year was .355; in San Diego he’s hit .167 this year and .217 last year.
Digging this Pads debate.
Those are all – except Cordero – minor league veterans playing in the minor league equivalent of Coors field. Don’t scout the stat line. None of those guys are prospects.
It is nothing like Coors and Szczur is the same type of minor league vet (I also specifically said only one is a prospect, btw – the rest were all signed just for the issue the Padres currently have and are needlessly and oddly trading for the similarly skilled Szczur to fill)
El Paso has ridiculous ballpark effects. Szczr has one advantage over all those other guys, in that he’s played in the majors already. That’s a huge difference.
That is just flat out comically nonsense completely made up out of thin air by anoff
Again, reality is:
Pacific Coast League – 2015
Team R HR H
El Paso 1.003 / 0.937 / 1.036
Pacific Coast League – 2014-15
El Paso / 1.041 /0.946 / 1.053
https://www.milb.com/international/news/toolshed-final-triple-a-park-factors-review/c-155266172/t-209979210
It’s middle of the pact for PCL parks
The idea that El Paso is like Coors is not made up out of thin air by anoff. It’s how El Paso is talked about by the reporters that cover the Padres. Ted Leitner, the radio play by play announcer for the Padres, compares El Paso to Coors all the time.
Perhaps everyone in the Padres orbit is wrong about El Paso, but it definitely has a reputation for being Coors like.
PCL stats are not a good indication of what a hitter can do, especially El Paso. Makes Coors Field look like a pitcher’s park. Buss is pretty old and a career minor leaguer. Not really an option. Pirela, Ortega and Romak were throwaways. Never really more than guys to give a team depth. That is why no one else wanted them. Not even my Orioles who they could have filled needs for if they were any good.
The Padres had 2 rookies and Jankowski as their starters to start the season. Makes sense for any team in that situation to want to pick up a veteran OF that can give all 3 of those guys a day off and some leadership in the clubhouse.
And one more time because one more person decided to believe absolute pure nonsense being spouted by anoff:
Pacific Coast League – 2015
Team R HR H
El Paso 1.003 / 0.937 / 1.036
Pacific Coast League – 2014-15
El Paso / 1.041 /0.946 / 1.053
An imbecilic, clueless and profoundly pathetic organization from top to bottom.
True, but this is a baseball site, so leave the current White House out of this.
Jared Cosart has one more rehab start at El Paso scheduled so that can be the corresponding move when Weaver gets bombed again in 4 days and is DFA’d or released. That was a quick way to waste 3 million bucks, 0-4 with a 6 ERA and the team has lost all 7 of the games he has started.
It’s all for the benefit of getting that first pick next year. When looking at it from that perspective, Weaver has made a great contribution.
Both Jeff and Jared Weaver were pretty good pitchers. Their respective organizations built up their fragile psychics and the Weavers expected to be treated as immortal superheroes. It seems that when Carlos Guillen hit a HR and uncharacteristically intentionally watched it fly outa the park, it marked the point when Jared’s career took an immediate downward spiral.
“Their respective organizations built up their fragile psychics…”
If the Angels and Pads were consulting “fragile psychics”, they should have found some more stable ones. There must be lots of psychics to hire in SoCal.
Of course Fowler is going to make it seem like taking a chance on a guy like weaver was a good idea at the time. We all know the real reason behind this year though: Preller wants that first overall pick.
El Paso is like Coors Field
Shhh… don’t awake darkstar61
I hope Weaver pitches one final game at Petco then call it a career the next day.