4:51pm: $7.25MM is the precise sum, Jon Heyman of FanRag hears.
1:54pm: The Padres will pick up approximately $7.5MM of Hughes’ contract, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.
1:05pm: The Padres have acquired right-hander Phil Hughes, cash and the 74th pick in June’s draft from the Twins for young catcher Janigson Villalobos, per announcements from both teams.
The Twins designated Hughes for assignment earlier this week, even though they still owed him the rest of his $13.2MM salary this year and another $13.2MM in 2019. Now, Minnesota will eat the remainder of Hughes’ salary this year, but San Diego will pay nearly half the tab next season, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com suggests.
In a best-case scenario for the rebuilding Padres, the 31-year-old Hughes would reemerge as a viable starter or reliever with the club. However, there doesn’t seem to be much hope on either front, given that Hughes has recently undergone two different surgeries to address thoracic outlet syndrome – which is often a death knell for pitchers. Those procedures ended each of Hughes’ previous two seasons prematurely, and have played a role in the bloated 5.99 ERA he has logged across 124 2/3 innings (33 appearances, 22 starts) since 2016.
While Hughes is certainly the eye-catching name in this trade, acquiring the pick in Competitive Balance Round B is the greater boon for San Diego. The Padres now have four of the draft’s top 85 choices, including Nos. 7 and 38, with which to add to an already deep farm system. The Friars’ newest selection carries a slot value of $812,200, and adding it will help make up for the pick they lost when they signed free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer in the offseason.
Villalobos, a Venezuela native, immigrated to the United States when he signed a deal with the Padres in March 2016. He went on to post a .253/.408/.322 line in 233 plate appearances at the Rookie level from 2016-17, though the 21-year-old hasn’t played anywhere this season. He’ll suit up for the Rookie level Gulf Coast Twins when their season begins.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Padres buy a draft pick?
Basically, kinda like how they bought Bryan Mitchell by taking on Headley’s contract.
Not really
They’re sending cash
Even with the cash from the Twins, Padres are still paying $7.25million of Hughes’ (and a throw-in minor leaguer) , so they are buying a draft pick. That’s a hell of a lot of money for the 74th pick.
7.25 mil for 2 years of control with a World Series champ and a veteran presence? Done
yep thats exactly what the padres need right now… someone with world series experience …
They could be buying pool room for a tough sign…Rocker? Hankins?
Mitchell was never a prospect (he was never even in the Yankees top 30, as far as I know), and his major league WAR is -1.1.
If that’s worth $12M, then the Yankees should have no problem packaging Ellsbury’s $60 with five guys with better scouting grades and major league results than that, and shipping them all off to SF.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, four A players like Mitchell aren’t worth much. The bulk of that money was for Headley, who hit .273/.352/.758, in 2017. Had he repeated that performance, he’d actually be the Padres third best hitter this year.
Mitchell was a throw in, worth a fraction of that price.
You’re whaaaaay over-estimating the value of a 74th draft pick. Even if draft picks lost value proportionately (they don’t, they lose value on a convex curve), the 74th pick would be worth around 1.5% of the first pick.
On a convex curve (which makes far more sense), it’s less than 1% of the value of the first pick. So if you put the value of the first pick at $50M (generous), then this pick is worth under half a mill.
The Padres paid for Phil Hughes. They’re not trying to “build” anything, they just got a decent player hoping he’s gonna help keep them where they’re at.
Not against this
Maybe, maybe just needed a new area
And like I said, NL West or al West I thought would be a good place for him
…he’s Matt Harvey part 2.
Good move for the Padres, basically buying the 74th pick in a rebuilding effort. It’s a minor addition, but shows their commitment to winning in the future.
Hopefully the Padres use Phil Hughes as a reliever and build up some trade value. I don’t see him succeed as a starter, specially with the high risk of him getting injured. The Padres have the budget to afford him in 2019, it’s not like the money that they don’t use will pile up for the year after, so it’s good that they’re at least investing both for the future (with the draft pick) and a potential trade candidate (Phil Hughes). They aren’t going to compete until as early as 2019 (I honestly just see them hitting the .500 mark that year), so it’s not like those $7 million could go for another player that would help them make it to the playoffs, specially with the Dodgers and Dimandbacks in their division. Besides, they did get a 78th overall draft pick and a pitcher for what? $7 million? I think this was a good trade by Preller
There is no way Hughes was rebuilds value as a reliever and becomes an asset in a trade. That’s her getting the draft pick is good for the Padres
Padres are having success with Tyson Ross who also was a victim of thoracic outlet syndrome.
Maybe preller feels the staff and doctors can fix Hughes as well. Worth a shot.
Good move for San Diego. They grab an extra draft selection and there is a chance Phil Hughes could rebound into being at least something. It is a low risk high reward move.
Why did the Twins do this? Totally don’t understand why getting out from that salary was worth the 74h pick in the draft.
I really hate this trade from the twins perspective. Giving up that pick for a few million in salary relief is short sided
I think it makes some sense actually. They entered the year expecting to compete, they’re only 2.5 back in the division. I don’t see them as a contender, really, but it’s not impossible, so maybe they can use this money to acquire a back-end starter at the deadline. It’s not like the 74th pick is particularly valuable anyhow
Like it for the Padres too though. They weren’t spending that money on the MLB team, so might as well buy the lottery ticket
Highly unlikely the twins trade for starting pitching. They actually have a lot of depth there this year. Maybe they trade for a reliever or a right handed bat.
I get that, but if the going rate is $7 million for the 74th pick, at least we have some algebra for what picks are worth.
That algebra is buried under whatever the value of the two players involved are too. Literally impossible to try and come up with any kind of math here, sorry.
7 million for the 74th pick? Nice. Maybe a change of scenery and working with balsley will be good for phil.
Can’t hurt to have Balsley and Ross, who just underwent the same procedure. Maybe can bounce some ideas off him on how he’s gotten his pitching motion back
Just replace the pick they lost for hosmer which I think would have been the 34th?
They lost the 49th pick for Hosmer.
Close enough
Wish that teams could trade any draft picks, not just the competitive balance ones. Would make the draft more entertaining, and GMs could use a lot more strategy in the draft. For example the Cubs have I think the 24th pick and two picks after the 2nd round from FA leaving, they should be able to trade those picks for maybe the 15th pick or something like that.
Or for a player like machado.
Imagine offering the 24th livk and those picks along with players for machado to push for a ws.
Orioles need prospects. What better way than to trade their best players for draft picks and prospects.
I like this.
Padres 2019! Ha!
Thanks for the hard-hitting analysis Johnny Superscout!
Not Loving this deal as a Twins fan. Only 7 million in salary relief in exchange for a draft pick. Maybe if we use that money and reinvest it but since were already a record payroll I bet the Polads keep it
Yea, don’t really get this from Twins perspective
“You don’t get this” from the perspective of a notoriously cheap owner?
Not only did the Padres get that draft pick, but they didn’t give up anyone in their top 50 prospects.
If they gave up a top 50 prospect for Phil Hughes that would be extremely bad GMing.
I’m more weirded out as to why the Twins would give up that draft pick when they could have just eaten the money and kept it. They aren’t a poor small market team or anything.
But they love acting like they are!
I wasn’t talking about for Phil Hughes…I was talking about giving up a good prospect for the pick.
Because they have other, better picks. And the limiting factor in scouting isn’t how many low picks you have, it’s the cap on bonuses.
There’s no point in picking someone if you can’t convince them to sign instead of going to college..
So, another interesting question…who gets the boot off the 40 man for the Pads? Reyes took Headley’s spot. Or does someone like Hedges go on the 60 day? Maybe Guerra gets the boot and they try to resign him to minor league deal (doubt he passes through though)
I think it is going to be Guerra. The kid is hitting .177 or something close to that down at El Paso when I looked a few nights ago. I think they brought him up in that Mexico series and the 26th man to try to light a fire under him so that he could get hot and possibly get up to the bigs but he has been awful offensively.
Nice. Pick up an extra pick in the draft. Maybe select a high upside player to convince them to forgo college.
Now just trade hand stammen yates sell high on jankowski and lets get the youngster up.
Seattle tried to trade for jank
Sorry Seattle your farm sucks
Yeah Kyle Lewis is the only one that looks like a potential stud in their system, but anything else gets hung up on in any major trade discussions immediately.
I like Preller’s strategy. We’ll take on your dead-weight contracts (within reason ofc) for prospects / draft picks
Not a bad strategy. Should have gotten like a lottery ticket along with Headley and Mitchell tho.
I think the Padres could’ve gotten more out of that trade as well, but at the same time it was a fair deal at the time. Headley was hitting .273/.352/.406 on 2017 with the Yankees, which would have given him a starting job at third for the Padres for sure if they didn’t find a trade partner and Mitchell has four years of team control. Idk why, but the Padres see something in him that’s valueble, I don’t, but they’re the professionals. Besides we have up nothing for them
Right here is why MLB will likely never allow MLB teams to trade regular draft picks. Good on the Pad’s.
They will allow Draft Picks in Trades then their would be Trades at Draft and more at deadline.
7 million for a top-2-round draft pic is a nice deal. I doubt Hughes ever throws a pitch for the Padres but that part doesn’t rally matter.
“I doubt Hughes ever throws a pitch for the Padres but that part doesn’t rally matter.”
Icing on the cake.
I’m surprised nobody has said this but I think the reason why they saved $7M is because they want to have a possible chance of resigning Dozier. Isn’t he a FA end of this year? Just saying
Good call. He’s struggling right now, which should decrease his price, and make it easier for Twins to re-sign him.
I’d be very surprised if he stayed. I think other teams will offer more money and years, unless they’re afraid of the losing a draft pick when the Twins QO him.
The 74th Pick in the draft, when linked with the spending amount, is worth $7.25 million, now.
Though nobody will own it, as such.
Remember when this guy had Roger Clemens comparisons? Man, that feels like a lifetime ago now.
Hughes got hurt, twice, and basically TOS is a career-killer (it’s like rotator cuff surgery in that almost nobody has ever recovered from it) San Diego got a nice draft slot for Hughes’ contract; as I wrote earlier, I doubt Hughes ever throws a pitch for the Padres.
Hughes got hurt, twice, and basically TOS is a career-killer (it’s like rotator cuff surgery in that almost nobody has ever recovered from it) San Diego got a nice draft slot for Hughes’ contract; as I wrote earlier, I doubt Hughes ever throws a pitch for the Padres.
Preller ever make good trade?
You ever make a good comment?
#gotheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem
$7.25 million seems like an awful lot of money to pay for a #74 draft pick. Hughes won’t play for the Padres. He is done.
Good move. Top 100 draft pick plus a reclamation project for a $7.5 million. Hope it works out for the Padres.
Is there a particular reason other picks aren’t tradable in the MLB? Or is it just something they put in awhile back and it hasn’t been an issue, so they never changed it?
Competitive balance picks can be moved.
Who’s getting DFA’d?