The Padres are interested in veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic (via Twitter). That said, in a subsequent report, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell characterizes the level of interest as “pretty low.” (Twitter link.)
The San Diego organization has reportedly been searching for a higher-end starter all winter, but has yet to find a match. Keuchel, who’s closing in on his 31st birthday, is said to be looking for serious coin in free agency. It’s not yet known precisely what kind of average salary Keuchel is seeking — it seems reasonable to guess it’s in the range of $20MM — but he’s reportedly hoping for a five or even six -year term.
The Friars aren’t interested at the current price tag, says Lin. That’s not surprising to hear, as it’s frankly hard to imagine any team going well north of $100MM to land Keuchel. While he was outstanding in 2017 and (especially) 2015, Keuchel struggled in 2016 and was more good than great last year. With drops in his rates of swinging strikes (8.3%) and groundballs (53.7%) in 2018, there’s at least some cause for trepidation.
That being said, Keuchel still looks to be a high-quality rotation piece who’d improve any team. It helps that he nudged back over 200 frames last season, seemingly putting some prior shoulder and neck issues in the rearview mirror.
Still, it’s good for Keuchel to have another participant in his market. The Nats are reportedly involved to some extent, as are the Reds, Phillies, Blue Jays, and perhaps the Braves. While the Pads may not seem to be a likely landing spot at first glance, they did land Eric Hosmer (another Scott Boras client) last winter and have made clear they’re interested in beginning to make tangible progress at the MLB level.
sure
Yeah.
And very interested in JT Realmuto, too. After all, we desperately need catching. Hasn’t Preller has shown he knows how to build a roster?
Looks like some people don’t like having their boy Preller taken to task! Freaking weird dynamic with this fan base.
Padres showing interest everyone!
Almost as much as the Phillies!
Preller also wanted his media contact to report that he was “interested” in Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig. Fortunately, his contact reminded him that was going just a little bit over the top on the credibility scale.
Two days ago it was the Nationals……
Good for the padres. The little guys are coming to play this offseason
Thanks
You spelled Against wrong
No regerts
Thanks English professor
You forgot the period or exclamation point. Cheers!
That’s called a punctuation mark.
😉
3 years and $45m is most I would go. It’s a trap.
Yes, a big contract could get very ugly. Quite frankly, he’s going into free agency a lot like the Marlins Chen did. Same age and numbers over the last couple seasons before free agency.
In Petco, this guy could be a Cy Young. Chen comparison not equal.
Petco hasn’t been an extreme pitchers park for a few years.
Hopefully it’s a trap the Padres won’t fall into. He’s already 31 and they’re going to be paying for this guys’ decline years.
He could get 4/$80. I agree with the article that he is worth at least 20 per year, but I wouldn’t go further than 4 years.
5 year deal valued around 75m maybe 5m signing bonus totaling 80 is the most he will get
Signing bonus 80 mil? Dude had won 36 games last 3 years on playoff team. Padres winning with him 2019 no
5 million signing bonus on top of the 5/75 deal.
Signing bonus??
What part of signing bonus do you not understand?
The bonus would be him not signing..
ML free agents don’t typically get signing bonuses. Signing bonuses are usually for amateur free agents because of the differences in contract structure.
But you already knew that, right Ryan?
Santana got a signing bonus. Scherzer and Strasburg got a signing bonus. Heyward got a signing bonus. Greinke got a signing bonus. On your team, Hosmer got a $5 million signing bonus and Myers got a $15 million signing bonus.
legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/nl…
It’s not even rare. It’s common practice.
Thanks for the link. It’s seldom talked about in the media except as part of the total contract value, so I stand corrected.
Ya learn something new every day!
It seems like Myers’ signing bonus is spread out over multiple years tho.
Is there any practical reason for that money officially being part of the signing bonus as opposed to his yearly salary?
Will it have to be an overpay? That is the question.
Five years 100M is my best guess. With no options.
To the yankees
That’s what I’m betting too. Keuchel has the résumé to back it up. Of course, who knows if the future shows it was worthwhile in the end.
Nice we need to check this This year on Pitching … we need and ACE …. Stud to get the young Arms Up in going.. Next Year with Richards aboard will, have 2 o 3 Punch to contend the NL West. Maybe this year we can be 500 or over 500 .. will be nice… Dallas , Thor , Kluber , Trevor B. , Sony Grey or another Good Pitcher We Need Pitching the most SD Padres… 🙂
@ xabial
Did you read the part about Scott Boras being his agent?
He likes SD…#HotTalentLava
Yea, then I adjusted my prediction accordingly.
Five years 100M lol
NO!!
Keuchel is scary as far as getting front line starter money longer than 3 years.
Word
All left handed rotation:
Kuechel
Lucchesi
Lauer
Strahm
L.Allen
Richard
Erlin
Other options as well. The Padres are stacked organizationally, with Gore, Morejon, Weathers coming down the pipeline as well.
Question……..
If they’re so stacked, why do they have to sign free agents and make trades?
Because they are bringing players up from the minor leagues. It takes a few years to establish a potent rotation. Until last year, most of their higher talent were in the lower minors.
dvmin98;
But bringing up young players are what rebuilds are.
To show them the ropes you bring in a veteran manager – like Gardenhire in Detroit; and stopgap veteran players on short term contracts like Chicago just did with 31-year-old pitcher Ivan Nova in Chicago. You don’t overpay a 31-year old pitcher for 4-5 years or give a 28-year-old 1B an 8-year contract when you’re already sitting on a 6-year contract you gave to a 26 year-old that is a LF-1B-3B……and who knows what next year.
If a team is committed to young players – fine. But until they arrive you don’t throw money around that will drown you in later years when you’ll need it as the young players arrive.
What Preller is doing is crazy. No discipline – just an opportunist being taken advantage of by the pros.
Since you think you are so smart, name a recent WS winning team that didn’t add several major pieces prior to getting the ring?
Royals? Zobrist, K Morales, Rios, Infante, Volquez, Madson, Cueto, Young, Medlen, Vargas, F Morales, Blanton.
Cubs? Lester, Lackey, Arrieta, Fowler, Heyward, Zobrist, Chapman.
Astros? Aoki, Beltran, Fiers, Verlander, Morton, Giles, McCann, Gregerson, Harris, Gurriel.
Red Sox? JDM, Moreland, Pearce, Price, Sale, Eovaldi, Thornburg.
All teams add key pieces in the years leading up to winning. No one does it from their farm system alone.
I am smart.
All those teams brought in veterans AFTER the core was in place and had experience in the majors.
Thanks for validating my post.
LMFAO. They ALL lost 90+ games the year before they started bringing those guys on.
Some core. Reminds me of the Padres core that lost 90+ games and is filled with top prospects.
Your post is destroyed. Next.
Veteran presence atop the rotation. The Padres want and quite frankly need an Ace. Or a “Stopper”, they haven’t had that since Jake Peavy.
I’m not saying Kuechel is that but he is closer to that than anything currently on the Padres roster. He is built like Lester which means he should last. They guy is in phenomenal shape, why not?
He comes from the exact culture the Padres are trying to create. A guy who came from a rebuild and lead a bunch of talented prospects to a World Series title. Hosmer was brought in for the same reason. So was Kinsler earlier today.
If Syndergaard also comes it will be for that same reason. He has pitched inning games, on the big stage, he is young, and the Padres want to win now.
I’d personally love a Kuechel signing if it didn’t eclipse 100M.
Question 2+2=×?
And guaranteed to lose. 80% of batters are RH. Why give every team in the league the platoon advantage?
Preller. Roster management and ML pitching are not his strengths.
As a Padres fan – please noooooo!!!
Is this really the Padres showing interest in Keuchal or Scott Boras finding a new team to get them to sign all of his clients because he drained the Nationals out of all there money so he needs a new gullable FO lol
“……he needs a new gullable FO lol”
Preller and Phillies GM are on the top of his list along with their owners that think they’re misunderstood baseball geniuses.
Overpaying for Keuchel might not be a good idea, but compared to overpaying for Hosmer (or Myers, for that matter) or emptying the farm for Thor, it seem genius.
youtu.be/IVA799gKNzo
Truth
Who’s JTR?
He makes sense if the Padres can get him for 4 years 82 million. Any more than that I would walk away.
The money owed to Myers would need to exit soon however. Don’t see them elevating the payroll that much. Hosmer’s deal was an exception. I don’t see them doing it again with someone else until Myers is being paid by a different employer.
But. But. But…
What about JTR??
What about Thor?
Good pitcher, but not worth $20 million/year.
As far as Noah Syndergaard goes. I think that I finally found the perfect package the Padres could offer the Mets:
Padres get: Noah Syndergaard & Travis d’Arnaud
Mets get: Austin Hedges, Kirby Yates, Manuel Margot, Cal Quantrill, Anderson Espinoza & Jacob Nix
For all the Padres fans questioning the inclusion of d’Arnaud in this deal, well it’s simple. If the Mets acquired Hedges, they would need to get rid of one of their current catchers. Plus, d’Arnaud can supply some veteran guidance for Mejia. Now the juicy stuff. Not only do the Padres finally get their Ace but they’re able to hold onto their Ten Top 100 prospects. Now for the Mets, they clearly upgrade at catcher, Margot still has a chance to reach his full potential and would plug the Mets current hole in CF, Yates would share setup duties with Familia and give the Mets a potent trio to close out games. Jacob Nix could battle Seth Lugo and Jason Vargas for the 5th starter spot and in the event he’s not selected, Nix would join Espinoza & Quantrill in bolstering the Mets farm system. How is this not a brilliant trade for both teams.
A couple issues- The Padres have Hedges, Mejia, Allen, Torrens, and Campusano all in the system. They would not prefer to give extra pieces for an excess catcher who is not part of the plan and to sell low on Quantrill and Espinoza would not seem wise. Espinoza can make this trade look awful for the Padres, and even if Quantrill flops as a starter, it has been suggested he could develop into a dominant reliever which will be needed for San Diego’s competitive window.
Rather give up less and let you keep d’Arnaud or trade him to someone else.
@redrooster
Even if I took out d’Arnaud, which adding him was a benefit to the Padres, I would still seek the same return because quite honestly, the players the Padres would lose in this deal would not hurt them in anyway moving forward. It’s just a fact.
Padres don’t need more catchers or more 1-year rentals.
You can’t get Thor without giving up something of value.
I like the deal presented actually.
Mets get Hedges,Yates,Margot who help them immediately and Quantrill and Espinoza who help down the road.
This deal doesn’t hurt the Padres in any way.
Which means it will never happen.
Signed,every Padre deal ever.
@Latos Intolerant
You have to remember a few crucial points. d’Arnaud is entering the final year of control and all other catching options for the Padres, not named Mejia, are not big league ready yet. Having a veteran like d’Arnaud, especially at an affordable $3.7 millions(projected arbitration), for one season could only benefit Mejia. Second crucial point is this, the Padres have a logjam in the outfield and Margot would be the most expendable. Third point, Kirby Yates had a fantastic 2018 season BUT he’s 34 y/o, with a career ERA over 4, not part of the Padres future and has no guarantee of replicating his 2018 numbers. Last point but is the most important one is this, you HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING TO GET SOMETHING. I’ve always believed this. Giving up Quantrill, Espinoza & Nix in a trade for an ace caliber pitcher should be the easiest decision. Those three prospects don’t figure much into the Padres future, especially with those Ten Top 100 prospect ahead of them in the peaking order. Nix is a #4 or #5 starter AT BEST, Espinoza is coming off TJS and yes, even though Quantrill can & probably will become a really good RP one day, RP’s are a lot easier to replace. So, let’s be real. If the Padres can keep Tatis, Gore, Mejia, Urias, Paddack, Morejon, Baez, Allen, Patino & Weathers and get Syndergaard. They would be INSANE to pass up an opportunity like that.
It’s challenging because the Padres are not 1 piece away- a lot of unproven holes. Would pay the price of 2 years of Syndergaard next year compared to 3 with 1 wasted 2019 season. Your points are good, just SD isn’t there yet to let too many key pieces go. It makes more sense for the Mets as they want to win this year as well.
@Latos Intolerant
I agree with you, the Padres are not just one piece away but Syndergaard gets them a lot closer. And with the added bonus that the Padres would still possess the ten Top 100 prospects means that making future deals for other stars is a lot easier.
So a guy that has never completed a MLB season without a trip to the DL and has just 32 starts in the last 2 years is going to be a difference maker? LMAO.
There is a reason he is on the block and it’s not because the Mets believe he is going to be an ace anytime soon.
Stop trolling. Let the adults talk. Mommy warmed up your milk for you little guy. Don’t worry, us adults will just ignore moronic trolls like yourself.
Says the 10 year old Danny. You keep posting these incredibly inane posts and expect people to agree with you. Have you noticed that no one does? Of course not, you are a Mets fan.
I had to read all of your posts twice to try to determine what you were saying and that is 5 minutes of my life I will never get back. Still can’t figure out if you are serious or just trolling because the trade packages you are suggesting are ludicrous. Thor has not been traded because he is not worth what the Mets are asking for. If he was, he would be gone already. You are trying to talk about trade packages for much more than they have been asking for. They asked for Tatis straight up from the Padres and the Padres said no. That should have given you a clear indication of Thor’s value in trade. After the trades they made, the Mets still need a catcher, a CF that can get on base and has speed, and a pitching prospect, preferably LH. A realistic trade proposal would be something like Mejia who fits the need at catcher, is the 26th best prospect in baseball and is blocked by Hedges on the Padres, Jankowski who fits the need in CF, and Logan Allen who is the Padres closest LHP to the majors. Maybe a 40FV prospect on top of that package. That still might be too much for the Padres to agree to.
Don’t forget Hunt
That’s not enough for Thor
Takeaway Espinoza from the trade and switch Darnaud for Ronny Mauricio and im listening
@Soldierofgod619
Okay, you make no sense. So, you would hinder a trade Syndergaard because you wouldn’t want to include your 12th best prospect??? That’s just idiotic, not trying to be mean, but it is. Second, why would the Mets be trading ANY prospects to the Padres. The Padres already have ten of MLB’s Top 100 prospects. If there’s one thing the Padres don’t need are more prospects. Makes zero sense.
Espinoza is currently our 12th best because of TJ surgery. He was our #1 prior to tearing his UCL. So, really, he’s more like a top 5
@dvmin98
That’s fair but again, let’s be real here. Espinoza would have to be part of this deal with the uncertainties of Margot & Hedges.
The padres have zero need for another catcher unless its a prospect. Hedges,Margot,Yates,Quantril, Nix is a more than fair return for both sides keep darnaud. Yates is a real nice 7th inning guy and would look great infront of Familia and Diaz. But if you dont want Yates because hes a “over performing 34 yr old” hes 31 btw and 2 years left of arbitration left. We might not agree on it but removing Espinoza and Darnaud from your proposal would look pretty fair on both ends.
I would substitute Nix with Espinoza. With the uncertainties surrounding Margot & Hedges, I feel like he would be a must add, especially since the Padres would be retaining all of their Top 100 prospects.
Yates is only 31, I have no idea why I thought he was 34. Apologies.
So Hedges,Margot,Yates Ezpinoza,Quantril for Thor and Darnaud ? It would hurt to part with espinoza but I would do the trade im not sure if Padres are willing to include his name in talks tho as were pretty high on him before the TJ.
Wow, you are delusional. You do realize that the Padres #12 prospect would be the Mets #2 or #3 prospect today, right? Their #7 would be #1 on the Mets. It’s not about where they rank in an individual teams system, it’s what their value is compared to other prospects. The Padres are so stacked that their #10 would be #1 or #2 in many farm systems including the Mets, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Cubs, Rockies, Royals, Marlins, and Brewers, and #3 on a half dozen others. So just because he is their #12, doesn’t mean he is not incredibly talented and valued very highly.
Syndergaard is worth much less than you seem to think. If the Padres were willing to do it, and I don’t think they are or it would already be done, a package of Mejia, Quantrill, Nix, and a MLB backup like Jankowski would be more than enough. They would become the Mets #1, #4, and #5 or #6 prospects and would fill 4 spots on the Mets major league 25 man roster in 2019.
WAY too much for Syndergaard. Take out both Margot and Yates and you are being more realistic. I highly doubt the Padres move Hedges knowing that Mejia is not going to stick at catcher long term and knowing that they have another bat first catcher on the 40 man roster and MLB ready.
Because the best piece the Mets get back is either:
1) A catcher that can’t hit or get on base
2) A 31 year old non-elite reliever
3) An outfielder that can’t hit or get on base
4) 3 pitching prospects that might turn into #3 starters if everything goes perfectly.
None of those 4 options are even close to enough to headline a package for Thor IMO. Less quantity, more quality.
*And I’m not even close to a Mets fan.
@Priggs89
I totally get what you’re saying but you clearly don’t see how this benefits the Mets for not only the 2019 season but beyond. Okay, even though Yates is 34 y/o but he was one of the top NL RP’s in 2018 and when pairing him with Edwin Diaz & Jeurys Familia, the Mets would have a dominant bullpen in 2019, a season in which Brodie Van Wagenen has made clear that he wants to contend immediately. Second, did Margot have a bad 2018 season, hell yes but is he still talented & capable of becoming the player thought he would be, that’s a yes as well. Margot just turned 24 y/o and has a tremendous glove in CF. Margot committed only 3 errors in 136 games in CF last season. Third, on the surface, Austin Hedges numbers don’t look great, I’m not denying that but you have to dig deeper into the numbers. Hedges hit .247 with a .487 slug away from Petco Park. Also, he hit 10 of his 14 homeruns in the 2nd half, so his hitting got better. Also, with Margot’s elite glove in CF and Hedges already known to be a good defensive catcher, that was another thing that BVM stressed, which was improving the up-the-middlen defense. And lastly, sure, the three prospects I’ve added to this deal are not Top 100 but they would undoubtedly bolster an already depleted farm system after the Mets traded Justin Dunn & Kelenic to Seattle.
1 – Best defensive catcher in baseball.
2 – 9th best ERA by a reliever (2.14). 4th best ERA in Save situations (1.27)
Top 10 is elite. No question.
3 – Margot put up a 1.5 WAR in a bad offensive season. He has averaged over 2.0 based strictly on defense.
4 – 3 pitching prospects that would all be top 5 prospects in the Mets system.
That is far too much to give up for a guy that has never finished a MLB season without at least one trip to the DL and has 32 starts in the past 2 seasons.
You have got to pitch every day to get even close to that deal. Syndergaard has not done that. Come back next year if he puts up 33-34 starts in 2019 and get close to that package. Or come back if he gets 21 starts by the trade deadline like deGrom has done the past 2 seasons. Until then, he is not going to get a package even in the vicinity of what Danny the Delusional is putting out there.
It should scare people that the person who knows Thor better than anybody (his agent) has been looking to move him since the day he was hired. I think the Padres need nothing more than a right handed, controllable ace, but be a little cautious here.
This is a huge overpay. Syndergaard isnt a great pitcher cause he doesnt pitch
The first pitchers and catchers report 2/18….sign these players…… get em all under contract
I forgot how slow moving free agency is.
Right!? Freaking annoying.
Well we know what teams that ALL THE AGENTS LOVE THIS YEAR:
PHILLIES, PADRES, and WHITESOX!
Thor to Padres for Mejia, Gore & Myers
Get 2 great prospects and Padres get the stud SP & salary relief
Maybe throw Stamman in there too
Throw in Yates & I would say deal. Taking Myer’s contract is risky but might be worth it when getting the other pieces.
Then Mets move Mejia, Peterson & Don Smith for Realmuto
Keuchel and Morton are byproducts of Brent Storm. When they both leave, they will both go down hill.
I think Keuchel is one of the “landmine” free agents of this offseason. He’ll require too money and embodies far too much risk.
Still the last place padres. When is next year?
Watched him pitch well for the Lancaster Jet Hawks in 2010…I like him then and now even better…..Pull the over-pay trigger and keep the Babies, Go Rockstar GM..
Keuchel isnt a top of the rotation guy. Mid hes a 3 to 4.
Dude, in San Diego he’d be the ace.
Keuchel, Padres agree to 3 year deal according to ESPN’s Ben Balder
Deal is worth 48 million and he has a player option after the 2020 season
Lol
There are multiple teams interested in Carlos Gonzalez: Astros, Blue Jays, and Angels
Also, Kinsler “trying to recruit former teammate Jose Iglesias to Padres”, according to ESPN
Okay that makes a lot of sense
Jose Iglesias is preferring the Pirates over any other team.
Craig Kimbrel has a 7 team wish list:
Red Sox, Phillies, Braves, White Sox, Giants, Nationals, and Brewers
well you can cross off the Red Sox, Braves, Giants, Nationals and Brewers… so that leaves the Phillies, White Sox… or WHOEVER ELSE GIVES HIM A LOT OF MONEY! =D
If the Padres sign Keuchel, I would think it’s pretty reasonable to think it would be the first time ever a player reached the near zero percent mark for the contest.
Mets will shop Thor because of how injury proved he is.. any team that knows that but he is 26 a team like the padres with a deep farm system could trade a guy like Myers to the Mets for Thor.. then you can reach out to the dodgers who are shopping puig try to acquire him or you sign someone like a mark Ali’s or pollock. Pollock especially to like a 2 year prove it deal amd show me what you got.
Another team I feel like could make a trade for Thor is the A’s. They traded for Lester samardZija before to win a division but as young as Thor is you could give 2 decent prospects and maybe a guy like burns to complete the deal. Now you have your future front of the rotation arm to build around Davis Olson and Chapman
(eye roll…followed by, a sigh) Yea, right…all this talk about the more popular free agents possibly heading towards San Diego, is just that…TALK. How the hell are they gonna spend what they spent on Myers/Hosmer..AND make room for the 70-90 million that Keuchel is going to get?
if this ‘talk’ is supposed to encourage ticket buyers to get ’em while the gettin is good…good luck with that. Their ticket sales have fallen more and more the last few yrs.
Yeah because 18’ as supposed to be a step forward in the rebuild and Margot was injured and regressed, Myers was injured and regressed, the starting pitching was horrid. We lost more games in 18’ than we did in 17’ and that was with Hosmer and Galvis. Fans stop coming after that happens.
Hopefully Preller can add some more starting pitching before the offseason wraps up because I can’t watch this year if Lucchesi is the Opening Day starter. I’d puke.
They were worse in 18 then they were in 17 and their attendance fell less than the league average attendance fell.
Grin and bear it. If this rebuild goes as hoped and you and I are attending the Padres world series parade in 3-4 years, I doubt either one of us is going to be too upset about Joey Lucchesi being the opening day starter in 2019.
“The Pads”?? I’ve never heard that nickname, lol
I am not sure what the Padres are doing this offseason. They need a starter to anchor their staff, but Kuechel is not a #1. More like a #2. For that matter, neither is Thor. They need a guy that can both produce a 3.00 ERA and throw 200 IP.