The Padres are set to activate first baseman/outfielder Wil Myers from the DL, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). His return was suggested on Twitter yesterday by James Clark of the East Village Times, who reported that the team will option Franmil Reyes in a corresponding roster move.
Myers has been on the shelf with an oblique injury and has only taken forty plate appearances thus far on the season. He recorded just one home run and no walks in that ten-game sample, but still stands with a .300/.300/.450 slash to this point.
If there was a notable development early in the year, it could be that Myers drew positive reviews for his work in right field. The sample is too small to tell us much of anything, but it’s generally positive given the circumstances.
After all, the Friars have an extended commitment to Myers, who was bumped to the outfield to make room for Eric Hosmer. Though he’s earning just $2MM this year and $3MM next, Myers is due a healthy $20MM annually from 2020 through 2022. His contract also includes a $20MM option for an additional season, which comes with a $1MM buyout.
There has been chatter at times that the Padres could look to find a taker for some of that deal, though there’s no real indication that it’s a serious consideration. The San Diego organization does have a rather extensive group of options in the outfield, but can ill afford to try to move Myers now, when his value is at a rather low point.
For the time being, then, the club will hope that Myers can show good health and good form on the field. It’s conceivable he could end up being involved in some trade discussions over the summer or the offseason to come. At this point, though, it is not really clear where the interest would come from or how a deal might conceivably be structured.
Without regular time available in right field now that Myers is back, the Padres will send the 22-year-old Reyes down to continue honing his craft at Triple-A. His first taste of the majors certainly highlighted some of his strengths and challenges as a player.
Reyes knocked six long balls and carried a .228 isolated slugging market in his 96 plate appearances. On the other hand, though he had sported quality K/BB numbers on the year at Triple-A, he has posted a whopping 40.6% strikeout rate and meager 4.2% walk rate in the majors. Reyes is also quite a large man who has drawn some ire for his work in the field, though DRS actually viewed him as an approximately average performer in right (again, in a limited sample).
“Myers is due a healthy $60MM annually from 2020 through 2022.”
– Haha, holy moly!!
Will fix, thanks.
Might as well be $60MM annually, so far as the likelihood of SD finding anyone to take that contract just now. Will be interesting to see how much value Myers can rebuild with a decent year or so of production.
$60 million annually from 2020-2022?
Yeah that’s a healthy $180 contract right there
$180 Million
The irony in name and last two statements is hilarious.
You never want to start with.. if he can stay healthy, but if he can Myers should provide a boost to the team.
I’d trade him for JBJ straight up, and eat the contract.
Sounds like the kind of deal that SD may be able to make with an AL team in a year or two if Myers is at all productive.
JBJ?
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Why would AL team pay him 20 mil to be a DH
Who in the f**k structured this contract and what in the hell were they thinking? The team may just be hitting competitive territory when his salary spikes to a $22 million annual commitment. The team knew they are in the throes of a rebuild when they singed him to it which makes it even worse. Talk about an incredibly irresponsible decision. They’ll still need to add pieces when competing and they’ve basically shackled a 1/5 of their payroll to Myers. This makes no sense to me and it somehow manages to make the Hosmer deal even worse. Wow, I didn’t even think that was possible.
You’re valuing Myers contract solely on this season. Do I agree paying him 7M over the first 3 years of the deal and 60M over the last 3 is a little crazy? Of course. Don’t look past the fact that they were able to get a 30-20 guy last year for $2M base salary. If he gets back healthy and produces the rest of this year, next year and in 2020 they could easily move him come the 2020 offseason. He would be 30 and only owed $40M total which if he is still productive isn’t much nowadays (of course they would most likely only move him if they weren’t contending.)
Easily move him, huh…
My argument is that the smart thing to do would have been to one of two things. They could have either front load the contract, which would have maximized his value during his peek performance years (towards the end of the deal). Or they could have spread the money out to a more reasonable AAV for a small market team to handle. The could have done 6/$60 million at $10 million/year for example. The luxury tax hit would be reasonable and maintainable throughout the life of his contract while simultaneously buying out his peak production.
Instead they back loaded it and it absolutely makes zero sense for a few reasons. The first is that pretty much every young player on the roster will be hitting arbitration when his salary peaks. The second is that his back loaded contract along with his lack of a premium position and now the addition of Hosmer makes him both expendable and un-tradable at the same time (especially with the team’s current outfield depth). Finally, it hinders a small market team from investing more in a younger core.
Honestly, San Diego’s payroll was only $68.5 million in 2017 and it currently sits at $91.9 million (with roughly $23 million or so in dead salary). If they would have bit the bullet and front loaded the contract the only season that would have been taxing on the team’s payroll by small market standards would have been 2018. Instead they’ve made a potential convoluted mess when it comes to locking up their core players and achieving cost certainty by avoiding arbitration all together by having his salary peak at the end of the contract.
Wow. Are you a GM?
Plus he has baseball sense of a fly
Can someone explain how San Diego, a city with a population of 1.5 million people and roughly 3 hours from LA, is considered a small market team? Seems like an excuse for why a bad team can’t make money.
3rdStrikeLooking in my dreams. lol.
Easily move him? Have you seen how difficult it’s been for corner outfielders and first baseman on the market? It’s brutal. Moving a guy without an exceptional bat, who fields in a corner and is owed 20+ million a season, is the opposite of easy.
The contract was criticized heavily when it was signed, and it’s not looking any better now.
The fact that they locked in two defensively limited players for that amount of cash is absolutely mind boggling. Not to mention that neither has ever been considered a premium defensive position player. Hosmer aside from this year is basically rates as a consistent butcher at first according to advanced metrics. The end of these contracts are going to be ugly.
Spot on. Can you please explain to me how Preller got a contract extension?? I know Padres owners/managment can’t make a sound decision to save their own lives, but seriously. Terrible deals, and I’ve heard for over a decade how our farm system is 1-2 tears away from dragging out of the cellar. I’m numb anymore. Really sucks being a lifelong San Diego sports fan.
“Seems like an OK contract to me.”
James Shields
To answer your question the 15M signing bonus was split over the first three years which made 17, 18, and 19 pretty close to what his projected arbitration numbers would be. It was also sold in town that would allow them to spend money over those years to fill holes. Yeah it was an overpay but they had to resign someone when the theory in town was anyone worth a darn will get traded eventually. Doesnt make it right but I can understand and accept it.
Lets see how the second half goes. and even 2019. With that said, AJs track record shows he will cut bait, if it comes to that
Sweet
Outfield is already better
Need a third baseman
Devers
Brad Hand and Tyson Ross for Rafael Devers, Jayson Groome and Michael Chavis.
That’s actually a pretty fair deal. Padres might have to offer up Stammen or Yates to sweeten the pot a little though
I don’t know, with Groome undergoing TJS rehab at the moment and Chavis currently serving an 80 game suspension, their stock isn’t as high as it once was. This trade proposal makes a lot of sense because Boston is getting Hand and with a nice extension he just signed and Tyson to get them through the rest of the season as far as a veteran who will eat innings for a third baseman who is struggling at the big leagues and the two guys I mentioned above.
The risk is on the Padres end because your hoping each of the 3 guys being acquired pan out. Boston gets 2 guys who immediately insert into a win now situation who have been playing at all-star level this season.
You do realize that villy is the better player? That’s the sad part.
No way
Give them Getty’s
Eh, I’d rather see the Padres look for a taker for Hand elsewhere. Over the years, the Boston farm system has developed a reputation of “Buyer beware” and this hypothetical trade is a perfect example of it.
I still like the Houston farm
They do have a historical list of guys who have busted hard but that’s also because of the over hype of their prospects. Groome looks legit, doesn’t seem to be struggling at any level, albeit before surgery.
The Padres would have a nice platoon with Villanueva playing against lefties and Devers playing against righties. Devers is an advanced you hitter who I didn’t expect to continue to struggle, he was a top 15 prospect in the games this time a year ago.
Lastly Chavis gives you a guy you could shift over to 2B or just insurance if the combo of Villanueva/Devers doesn’t pan out. It’s another advance hitter added to the system regardless of position they declare for him at the MLB level.
No way Boston does that deal without Machado in hand for the long term. Because Who then would play third base?
Ta Ta to the Franimal. See you soon! (work on those k’s)
Myers has shown a remarkable inability to stay healthy at any position except first base in his career. I actually believe he is a useful player but I do not believe he will ever stay healthy unless he is at first base.
Right? When they moved him off first I knew what was coming…..
In retrospect SD would have been wiser to sign Moustakas for 2 or 3 years at a much lesser amount than Hosmer, but when they signed Hosmer they were well aware of Myers’ extensive injury history, so it’s on them. Keep him in the OF and he’ll keep hitting the DL. Padres will ultimately have to deal him elsewhere in a swap of bad contracts, but that won’t happen for a while.
They wanted Hosmer more for his “clubhouse leadership” than onfield contributions – and were willing to bid against themselves on an insane contract to land it.
I doubt Moose was ever a thought in their mind, as he doesn’t fit the time frame or makeup they were looking for at all
It’s too bad they didn’t frontload the contract like they did with Hosmer. It would have made the upcoming years less painful, especially now that he’s back in the outfield. Now they might end up potentially paying him 20 million dollars to sit on the DL when he gets injured again in the future.
When Hedges comes back in a few days the Padres will finally have their full anticipated opening day lineup out there on the field. We shall see what they can do collectively. It will be interesting to see the impact Myers has in terms of his return meaning moving Renfore and Villanueva down in the lineup in which they might start getting some better pitches to hit.
Interesting? Get real, they’ll stink like always.
If you want brad hand or Ross, you will take Myers and his stupid contract. He is worth $2m and will be making 20m very soon. Sickening.
No team would do that
Where is the know-it-all outinleftfield who said Preller would be stupid to trade Myers for Alex Reyes?
I’m far from a ‘know it all’, but I consider myself an authority on the subject of the Padres sucking. With the exception of two years (basically), we have stunk up one stadium after another, but non worse so than our own. Preller is a tool of a hire that only proves we’ll continue to suck for eternity. We’ll never have the right combination to be competitive. History tells us so…
Hosmer underwhelming also
Been in San Diego for 55 yrs. We were duped into paying for a new stadium, with the promise of being competitive year after year. Our team sucks from the owners to the bat boys. They will never be, not pathetic. It hurts my eyes to watch them on t.v., and boils my blood to watch these perennial losers in person. By far the worst thing about living in beautiful S.D., is them awful Padres. Keep the faith? HAHAHAHA
You wasn’t a real padres fan. They didn’t have the money to keep that 98 team and rebuilt it and a competitive team for three years. Then they got rid of that last owner and the new one is spending like it’s going out of style.
They are building big and if you don’t like it go watch a different team
Put Myers at 3b. It’s doubtful he’ll do any worse than Spangenberg or Villanueva. He might not even get hurt. He’s been there before.