The Padres have designated infielder Dusty Coleman and right-handed reliever Jose Valdez for assignment, according to an official announcement from the organization. The contracts of catcher Rocky Gale and infielder Christian Villanueva have been selected in a related move. The Padres have also recalled RHP Tim Melville, along with outfielders Travis Jankowski, Hunter Renfroe.
Valdez has thrown a combined 50 1/3 innings for the Tigers, Angels and Padres over the past three seasons, pitching to a 5.72 ERA. While that number may seem high, his 6.66 career FIP shows that he’s actually pitched even worse than that number indicates. He throws hard, averaging 96 MPH on his fastball and 86 MPH on his slider, but he gets hit hard as well; opponents have managed hard-hit balls against him in over 40% of their at-bats. That, combined with his 36% career ground ball rate and the fact that opposing hitters are able to pull the ball against him 41% of the time, has likely been the cause of a 4.00 HR/9 that’s done Valdez in. The 27 year-old right hander was originally signed as an international free agent by the Tigers in 2009.
Coleman, 30, was selected by the Athletics in the 28th round of the 2008 draft (844 overall). Though he garnered five official plate appearances with the Royals back in 2015, this season was his first extended stay in the majors. In 71 trips to the plate with the Padres, Coleman showed some power (4 HR, .227 ISO), but a crippling 46.5% strikeout rate held him back, leading him to a paltry .227 average and .268 OBP.
Gale is a light-hitting catcher who has only seen 17 innings behind the plate at the major-league level. He has spent his entire career in the Padres organization after being selected in the 24th round of the 2010 draft (724 overall). The 29 year-old hit .278/.325/.365 at Triple-A El Paso this season.
Villanueva was part of the 2012 trade between the Cubs and Rangers; he was sent from Texas along with Kyle Hendricks in exchange for Ryan Dempster. He missed the entire 2016 season after suffering a right fibular fracture during spring training, and was subsequently non-tendered that offseason. Since signing a minor-league deal with the Padres in the offseason, he has impressed with a .269/.369/.528 batting line at Triple-A. The 26 year-old third baseman will be getting his first taste of major-league action; he has spent eight years in the minor leagues after being signed as an international free agent by the Rangers in 2009.
Renfroe, a former top prospect, made his major-league debut last season. He burst onto the scene by clubbing four homers and two doubles in just 11 games, but struggled mightily with plate discipline this season (125 K’s against just 26 walks) before being demoted to Triple-A. After hitting over .500 over 61 PA in El Paso with almost as many walks as strikeouts, the Padres will hope he can sustain those skills with the MLB club.
Jankowski played 131 games with the Padres last season, but suffered a foot injury in April that has caused him to miss most of 2017. He’s known far more for his speed and defense in center field than he is for his bat. Both UZR and DRS have rated him well above average for in 148 career games in the majors, but he’s slugged just .305 across that time. Jankowski has been out since April with a foot injury.
Melville was claimed off waivers from the Twins back on August 26th. He’s spent time in the minors with five different organizations and has made three major league starts in his career, none of which lasted more than four innings. He does, however carry some pedigree. Though he fell to the fourth round in the 2008 draft, the Royals spent $1.25MM to sign him; well above slot. Melville has a big frame, standing at 6’5″ and weighing 210 pounds, so perhaps he can still reach the potential that Baseball Prospectus saw in him when he ranked #93 on their top prospects list back in 2012.
Jose Valdez is basically a ramped up pitching machine, he just throws 98 right down to the middle and that’s it.
Considering he was a catcher not too long ago… that’s not bad
Imagine if he learned to pitch on the corners
Good to see Villanueva get a shot in MLB.
Another former Cubs prospect.
Hunter Renfroe’s, Travis Jankowski and Tom Melville also recalled. Renfroe was down long enough to delay his free agency, but not his arbitration as I believe he will now qualify as a Super Two after the 2019 season.
If Jose Rondon isn’t given a September callup, the writing is probably on the wall for him in San Diego.
I believe Hunter Renfroe has more important things to worry about than free agency in 5 years. Staying in MLB for that long for example. 0.1 WAR won’t cut it.
Do you really believe that any GM looks at as flawed a stat as WAR when making their decisions? If so you have a lot to learn about baseball.
New generation
War war war blah blah blah
Lay down what he has done then include this war bs
Gm’s use WAR lol. They might not use fwar or bwar, but they all have their own version of WAR.
He can’t field that well, he K’s a ton, his OBP. are around .278? can’t quite remember but it’s something pitiful like that. So yeah, not only WAR determines that he’s not quite up to standards. I believe mr. renfroe has a lot of work to do with his discipline and defense if he wants to be relevant that long.
Long as Renfoe is capable of belting 30-40 homers a season he will find work in 5 seasons easily. Won’t make much, but he will easily find work in the AL as a DH.
yeah. just like Chris Carter, right?
Hopefully the extra time in triple A has helped Renfroe get his act together, but we’ll see. I really don’t want to see him end up being Chris Carter 2.0
As for WAR, it’s a good stat that has its uses, but of course it’s always important to compile it with other stats to get a complete picture of a player. Using just WAR by itself is silly.
Probably more like Mark Reynolds.
I think that is Renfroe future DH.
Rondon is broken dude
Since when?
I’m not sure. I looked it up yesterday and they had him on the 7 day dl
Weird that you would see he was on dl when he played the whole championship game yesterday
Not sure that what it showed me
Downvoted for speaking the truth. Padreforlife is that you?
I don’t even know what that is or how to do it.
Valdez is 27.
Wires were crossed. Edits forthcoming.
I think you got the wrong Jose Valdez
Villanueva has always been solid in AAA- cant believe he’s gotten so few opportunities.
A lot of it probably has to do with the fact that he’s been blocked by other players on his previous teams. It’ll be nice to see what the Padres have in him now that he’s getting a chance.
The year-long injury recovery right at the time he was ready to get his first opportunity is a pretty easy explanation…
It is telling that the club added him, not Ryan Schimpf.