SATURDAY: Young’s incentives begin at five games started and 30 innings pitched, and they can max out at approximately 30 starts and 120 innings, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 8:58pm: Young can earn a $1MM base salary if he makes the team, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. The deal also includes as much as $6MM in potential incentives, with games started and innings pitched providing the standard.
6:50pm: The Padres are adding another former starter on a minors deal after striking agreement with Chris Young, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). The 38-year-old will join a Spring Training rotation battle that now also includes Tyson Ross.
Young, 38, opened the 2017 campaign with the Royals but was released in late June. He has rested up since, with reports indicating that he intended to ramp back up for another attempt at what would be his 14th MLB campaign.
At this point, it’s difficult to expect much out of Young, who stumbled to a 6.52 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 118 2/3 frames in the majors since the start of 2016. Interestingly, that slippage has occurred even with Young sporting a swinging-strike rate of over 11% — levels he had maintained over a full season only once in his career — by drastically increasing his slider usage. Then again, he has also been touched for 2.7 home runs per nine over the past two seasons.
Perhaps, though, Young can still find a way to be effective, particularly after a lengthy layoff. Before boosting his whiff rate, he had actually managed two consecutive seasons with excellent results. In 288 1/3 frames between 2014 and 2015, he worked to a 3.40 ERA. And he has continued to post above-average infield fly rates even as the other tinkering has left him prone to the long ball.
Dig this too!
Dig this too
Padres 2012, ha!
Chris Young and Tyson Ross??? If they pick up Adrian Gonzalez then they should PRINT THE WORLD SERIES TICKETS!!!!!
(To quote a famous or infamous MLB Trade Rumors fan)
Who Ryan?
Someone else started that prior
he’s quoting me that’s my joke
Not quoting you unless you changed your name. WestCoastRyan has a habit of posting this phrase every time the Padres pick someone up, regardless of how impactful they are…
Sorry the joke wasn’t in knock knock form to help you understand it.
Lol
Yup Ryan is just carrying the torch
yes you are, i made up that bit
Who’s there!
Well I have been an avid MLBTR follower for years and tonight is the first time I have ever seen Ronaldreagan’s name let alone ever seen you post a print the World Series tickets comment. However, I have seen Ryan post it more times than I would like to remember…
it’s my joke
No it’s not it’s mine.
that’s right, dan
And headley, shame they are too late for mikolas
Enjoy sucking yet again, I guess.
At this point who really cares??? The plan is not to content anyway, I like these deals better than Hosmer any day. Even if it will be a brutal rotation.
Three words fool: Minor League Deal
Ha! We were joking about it, but Latos and Peavy can’t be far behind now, right? Young obviously has nothing left but I always liked him because he was unique. A 6’10 guy that threw 85 and got guys out despite all the homers…good times.
Padres bringing the gang back together I suppose
Richard, Ross, Young, Headly (perhaps more to come?). The late 2000s/early 2010s Padres are making a comeback.
They couldn’t win it all back then, so now they’ve come back to help win a top draft pick.
Sending ripples in the free agency market.
I wonder what Corey Leubke is doing these days
His contract finally ended last season. He retired not too long after the season started. I think he was with the White Sox in the minors at the time.
That Padres starting pitching still trash as always
Huh? Ever heard of Darren Balsley?
nope
Might as well sign AJ Griffin
They’ve never had him before., so it’s against the rules.
So the Padres strategy is to trade their pitching prospects with upside (de los Santos) instead of seeing if they can pitch in the majors, in return for a one year rental shortstop with VERY limited offensive upside…. and then just patch our rotation with more Clayton Richard, Tyson Ross, Chris young……. wow. How about Jacob Nix, lucchesi, cal Quantrill…. or any of the other pitching prospects in the upper minors. I understand the likes of Morejon, Espinoza, Gore, Baez are still a few years from contributing at the major league level. But UNTIL THEN, why are we not giving our more advanced prospects a chance? I’d rather watch prospects be promoted and pitch (I.e. Dinelson Lamet) and see if they can perform…. than watch people I saw us give up on 5 years ago!
Totally agree! Speaking to the choir. When the kids are ready, bring them up. Lucchesi has captured my interest. Saw Logan Allen pitch and he is underrated. Great mechanics and three pitches that move the eye level. Go Friars!
Why start the service clocks on those guys in a lost season, though? The Padres aren’t trying to contend, they aren’t going to contend. With their budget constraints they have a narrow window to be good, and they can’t have their prospects price themselves out of San Diego before the team is good. Young and Ross etc. aren’t going to make the team, probably – these are minor league deals, after all.
As far as trading de los Santos for a no-bat shortstop, well, it’s a weird move, but the Pads haven’t had a shortstop in like 3 seasons, and I think they’re tired of playing mix-and-match back there, plus it’s a burden on the groundball-heavy staff to have no shortstop back there. I guess that was the thought. Galvis can’t hit at all but he’s durable, at least, and can play the position.
What’s the health of De Los Santos pitching arm?
Unless there is something very very recent, he was healthy all year and for the majority of his career, as well as put up some of his best numbers last season
Better than the amount of club control Freddy Galvis has left.
I understand the Padres aren’t contending this year, or maybe even next year. But as I said, Mackenzie Gore, Adrian Morejon, Anderson Espinoza, Michael Baez… they are all approximately 2-3 more years away from the majors, IF all goes well. With a team like the Padres with the budget restraints that u mentioned, which is very true, the purpose of the farm system is to have the constant flow of talent… so by giving the people in the upper minor leagues a chance to see if they can pitch, starting their clock for 2-3 years ahead of our next wave (Morejon, gore, etc.) is exactly the way a farm system and small market team should be run. Not by keeping people like lucchessi, Quantrill, de los Santos, etc in AA or AAA for longer than is necessary. Starting the clock at the same time doesn’t mean they will have instant success. It can take rookie pitchers a year or so to figure out major league hitters. I’d rather see Quantrill and others start that process now, so by the time the next wave comes up, we have ESTABLISHED major league pitchers to help the younger generation. I’d rather have that than a few more seasons of Clayton Richard, Chacin, Travis wood, etc. I understand the latter two mentioned are no longer with the team, however, in my opinion, if we weren’t competing, why not give our OWN prospects a chance. I like that they did that with dinelson lamet, and he looked decent for a rookie with promising stuff…. why not give other prospects that chance? Just my opinion
Well, Quantrill has thrown just 42 innings above A ball, and they weren’t good innings. Espinoza will probably barely pitch this season, coming off TJ surgery. Morejon hasn’t pitched above A ball. Gore has thrown 21 innings in rookie ball. None of these guys is close to the majors, and the worst possible thing a team could do is rush young pitchers up to the majors early – that’s how you ruin careers. The staff in 2018 is stop-gap for a reason – the next wave just isn’t anywhere near ready.
Not sure if you read my original post…. but I said gore, Baez, Espinoza, Morejon, were all several years away from contributing. However, I said more advanced prospects, including our college drafted pitchers in the upper minors (lucchessi, lauer, nix, etc.) should be given these opportunities instead of Chris young, Tyson Ross, Clayton Richard, etc. I’m not trying to rush our lower level teenage prospects, I’m trying to figure out if any of the upper level prospects can pitch in the big leagues before the younger wave gets there. thats how a farm system works. In waves. Espinoza, gore, Morejon, those prospects are still 2-3 years from contributing HOPEFULLY. But the wave before them, why are we not bringing them up to see if they can perform? Obviously I’m not saying all of them. But for the front office to patch a rotation together again without giving at least one of nix, lucchessi, lauer, or previously… de los Santos, an opportunity…. is just foolish. I think AJ preller does a FANTASTIC job of building a farm system. However, I think he has serious problems constructing a major league roster and being taken advantage of in trades (give or take a couple trades like tatis jr)
Again, Lucchesi hasn’t pitched above double-A, Nix has been brutal in Double-A, Lauer hasn’t pitched above double-A….None of those guys is even on the 40-man yet, and obviously the Padres want to delay that as long as possible. It’s a function of none of those guys being ready and the team taking its time, with the express idea that the major league team might stink for a while. It’s hard to be patient when you’re a fan of a team – I don’t like watching retreads and Luis Perdomo either, but I’d much rather watch Perdomo get bombed than some real prospect get bombed and lose his confidence or stop throwing a pitch, etc…baseball is littered with prospects who failed because they got called up too early.
Do agree about galvis, definitely durable and above average, if not great, defensive shortstop. Just don’t like the idea of giving a prospect with upside away for him
Padres needed a SS. De Los Santos was our 8th rated minor league pitcher. I think we’re ok moving an arm.
Wrong! They needed a CONTROLLABLE shortstop. Not one that can just leave after one year. They would have been better off just re-signing Erick Aybar than giving up a young arm with some upside for their 2018 shortstop.
Gee, it makes me think the Padres brass doesn’t believe their more advanced pitchers are ready yet. Maybe they know something. A nice prospect can damage his psyche (and trade value) by getting rocked in the majors when they should’ve been getting more “seasoning” in AAA.
The only Padres pitching prospect who has even reached AAA is Lamet, who was then called up to the majors. The Padres AAA rotation in 2017 was a bunch of non-prospects (Zach Lee, Matt Macgill, Dillon Overton, Tyrell Jenkins, Bryan Rodriguez). Their prospects with upside are all at AA or lower.
Exactly, I’m not sure why people are in a rush to have the team move their prospects up to the majors as soon as possible. Those guys still need time to develop. Rebuilds don’t happen in a year. You have to be patient and not jump the gun.
Service clock the reason why.
De Los Santos wasn’t in the Padres top 10 prospects and Galvis is top 5 or 6 in baseball on defense. With a young staff and on a team that was last in IF defense in 2017, what you need is great defense and Galvis provides that.
Young and Ross signed minor league deals. If they don’t make the team, they are not blocking anyone. While Young is pretty much toast if Ross’ velocity rebounds he is a nice piece of the Padres rotation for major league minimum.
Clayton Richard gave the Padres 200 innings and he is a great example for the young players of how to be a major league player. No matter where he has been, that has been a big part of his appeal. That is invaluable to a team with a young rotation. Probably the most valuable thing for that team.
All those guys you mentioned just reached AA last year. They are not ready for the majors yet. Maybe June or July if they do well in AA and AAA. Lockett was the only good pitching prospect the Padres had in AAA last season and he struggled with injuries, so he is not an option to start the year.
The Padres have 3 young guys returning from injuries in Strahm, Rea, and Erlin that the article mentioned. They are going to get a shot at their rotation. They traded for Mitchell, a good young prospect, and have said that he will get at least 100 innings in the rotation to prove his mettle.
If you are a Padres fan, you are going to get to see a large number of young pitchers.
Hey Pads Fans. It doesn’t matter if DLS was or wasn’t a top 10 Padres prospect. Galvis will NOT be contributing to the next good Padres team. DLS could have. The Padres don’t need anything for 2018 because they won’t be contending. How exactly were they worse off by just re-signing Aybar to play SS? Obviously Galvis is better but since the Padres aren’t contending it doesn’t really matter. Neither one will be playing SS for the next contending Padres team. So take the one that doesn’t cost a prospect.
Dave Winfield looks like he’s still in pretty good shape.
I wonder what Brian Giles is up to these days.
Omg Young used to be so annoying when he would induce constant pop ups when we faced him a few years ago (rips hair out) lol
I’ve heard they’ve also been in discussions with Bill Grief and Randy Jones.
Gene Richards and Broderick Perkins are mulling offers as well.
Nate Colbert
Mike Ivie
Tito Fuentes
Remember everyone, this and Ross’s contracts are just minor league deals. We might not even see either of them make the team next year. However, they’ll provide some decent depth during a season where they’re not going to contend anyway.
Trips down memory lane. Wheres peavy cashner mike adams?
Dumpster diving extraordinaires!
I’m guessing the padres aren’t signing Hosmer anymore?
I doubt these minor-league deals preclude a major-league deal. While I don’t think Hosmer is the greatest idea, he’s probably still in the picture.
How does this have anything to do with Hosmer?
Young is a nice guy but stick a fork in him.
lol
Whats jake peavy and andrew cashner up to?
I mean, most likely will be another long season so i like the idea of trips down memory lane.
I remember joking around about bringing back Jake Peavey in an article a few days ago. That would be cool if they really signed him. I can see it now…
He lands a starting job, but is toast by the all-star break. Then at the end of the season when he’s contributed to the team securing a top draft pick (hopefully first overall), he retires a Padre and has his number retired in a big ceremony before the last home game of the season!
After these two minor league deals, what’s left on the offseason agenda should be:
Sign Hosmer, or let him go. No more waiting on his decision in order to resume tinkering with the 40 man roster.
Sign a veteran backup for Hedges. (Rene Rivera, Miguel Montero (preferably because he bats left handed) or AJ Ellis.
Trade a package of one of the 2B/3B guys, let’s say Spangenberg, with one of the extra outfielders i.e. Jankowski, to KC for Duffy.
I’d be okay ending the offseason like that.
KC would never take that
7:24pm The Padres are bringing back Joey Hamilton, Wally Joiner and Quilvio Veras for the 2018 season.
Lol
Someone dig up Tony Gwynn……too soon?
Dumb and unfunny don’t have time boundaries.
On a minor league deal????? I don C Y not.
I C wut U did there.
Andrew Cashner IS still available, and Peavy DID say he was attempting a comeback, so…….
Aw Naw!