Although the Padres are looking for starting pitching help, it “doesn’t appear” they have interest in free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel at this time, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes.
A match between the Padres and Keuchel looked like a possibility on multiple occasions during the offseason, though reports indicated a union was improbable. However, at those points of the winter, few would have expected Keuchel to remain without a team nearly two full months into the current campaign. Odds are Keuchel will have to wait at least a couple more weeks to sign, as it wouldn’t make much sense at this juncture for a team to ink the 31-year-old before the June 3 draft. Because Keuchel rejected a qualifying offer from the Astros, a club that signs him prior to the draft would have to surrender a pick. The former AL Cy Young winner will be free of that burden soon, however, which could finally end the staring contest between him and teams in need of starting pitching.
It’s no secret the Padres want to bolster their own rotation, but if they don’t have a change of heart on Keuchel, any noteworthy addition will have to come via trade. Dating back to the offseason, reports have tied the Padres to several controllable hurlers – most recently the Indians’ Trevor Bauer – though their attempt at going big-game hunting for a starter hasn’t yielded anything yet.
The Padres’ unsuccessful pursuits on the trade front have left them with a youth-laden rotation that has been a mixed bag this season. Chris Paddack, Matt Strahm and Joey Lucchesi have held their own (though San Diego’s monitoring the workloads of Paddack and Strahm), while Eric Lauer and the just-demoted Nick Margevicius have had difficulty preventing runs. The team called on Cal Quantrill to take over Margevicius’ vacated rotation spot Sunday, but he struggled during a loss to the Pirates.
The Angels need to get him after the draft
Offense and bullpen are clicking but we may be delusional if we think Keuchel is going to put the Halos over the top. The rotation is too inconsistent – including Skaggs now. Can’t rely on Heany to stay healthy either. Love the Canning kid but it’s too soon to say if he can sustain his output. Might be best to save the money and really go for it next year when Ohtani is back in the rotation.
What if the Angels get hot right before the draft? Arte has said the Angels have $$ money to spend this year on a player that gets in the playoffs.
For what? Lock up 4th in the division?
you misspelled *second
And 10 games back in the WC? This is a completely lost franchise with zero hope of playoffs for the foreseeable future.
Isn’t upton about to came back soon??
Would have made sense during the offseason but now they’re at a point where Keuchel won’t help them that much
Not sure about the draft pick compensation rules. If Keuchel signs with a team other than the Astros after the draft I know the team that signs him won’t have to give up a draft pick, but do the Astros still get a pick or do the Astros lose out on it?
Astros will not get a compensation pick if he signs after the draft.
Same article 3X this week.
What does Kuechel want? $80 mil or something? Dude, take a contract. Your value is dropping by the day and the first start pressure is going to be insane.
Why would he take one now? His leverage goes up once the draft pick compensation is no longer attached.
The Twins need a starter, that moves Pineda to the pen.. because they definitively need Help in the pen too.. could they man up and make a sweep of Keuchel and Kimbrel?
Of course Keuchel would help the Twins, but I don’t think we need him. If we’re looking for starting pitching, why not just target Stroman instead? If anything, I’d much rather see them give Graterol and Romero shots at claiming Pineda’s (possibly Gibson’s) rotation spot.
Also, do we even need to improve our rotation?? What about the bullpen? I’d much rather see us go after Kimbrel, Givens, Doolittle, Iglesias, and Smith
Soft tossers don’t play well in todays MLB, especially in the post season.
This just in padres still suck.
This just in imindless still mindless.
Lol
I’m sorry, when did the Dodgers last win the World Series title? How much money have y’all spent trying to get that title?
consider the goalposts moved
MLB needs to either get rid of draft pick compensation or make the team give up a pick for the next draft. It’s BS that a draft pick might be holding this up. I vote for getting rid of the system.
That will never go away. That’s a good rule for a team trying to keep their own player. If anything that draft pick comp should stay the whole season. The next couple years MLB contracts are gonna be changed big time. Your already seeing teams with these early extensions and that’s the future of baseball.
Ironic watching an Astros fan sniveling about the system, the same system they tanked in and built a winner.
Realistically assuming Keuchel signs how long will in take him to ready to start a MLB game?
Previous posts said a few weeks…..
Previously is was discussed in Padres threads how “every team with the top ranked farm system has made the playoffs within two seasons, except for the royals… who went to the World Series in the third year”….
After watching this team, I think it’s safe to say you can include the padres as a team with a top ranked farm system that will NOT make the playoffs within two seasons. The offense is horrendous and the pitching is coming back down to earth (outside of Paddack and Strahm). I still have a feeling Paddack comes back down to earth a bit…. his last start against the dodgers showed just why it’s important to have a reliable 3rd pitch. His location was off and changeup was poor…. and that’s all hitters had to do, sit fastball and adjust to changeup. Nothing else was being thrown. I still think he will be good…. but he really needs a better third offering.
The offense is still ranked near the bottom of the league in every single major category. So yeah, they need starting pitching…. and bullpen help. But they also have serious issues in their lineup. This team is still 2-3 years away….. and that’s being optimistic.
To be fair, the offense has been bad, but their best hitter has been on the IL for like two weeks now. But the outfielders are all pretty bad right now; Myers is having some serious swing problems and Reyes and Renfroe are pretty much all-or-nothing right now. Hosmer is doing his usual empty batting average thing, and for some reason the Padres are running what’s left of Ian Kinsler out almost every day rather than just play their best 2B prospect everyday until he figures things out. Margot has been terrible, Hedges has been unlucky but he’s not there for his bat, and Mejia just can’t get enough playing time to get going.
But I do think the Padres finish with about 75 wins this year, and next year contend for at least a wild card. They can’t compete with the Dodgers, especially financially, but the other West teams all have problems too.
Agreed. The Padres have chosen pretty much the best possible time to open a competitive window. Over the next few years the only other team in the division that looks to be any good is the Dodgers. With their excellent farm and a bounce-back from some of their veterans, the Padres could put it all together next year. Keuchel doesn’t make any sense for them this year, but then neither did Machado, and anyone who does sign Keuchel will be getting only about a half a season from him and will pay accordingly. If the Padres still have the financial ability to sign him he’s a great fit for where they’re going.
Machado made all the sense for SDP. Look at the depth chart behind him at 3B. There is nothing. Without him they basically had to hope Hudson Potts could stick at 3rd and hit well enough to start every day.
Machado made sense for the future. Signing him was not about this year. Nobody seriously expected the Padres to compete this year. Next year they could be a force, especially if they can add starting pitching. That’s why Keuchel makes sense.
Very bright paying him 300 mil to be average hitter. It should work well years 5-0 also.
This is Prellers FIFTH full season. The Cubs and Astros (your favorite – only- comps) were in the playoffs in the FOURTH year of their respective regimes.
That “stat” about farm systems and playoffs was bunk. Heavily skewed and seriousl flawed. If you look at an aggregate of the top 5 “ranking” publications, and go back even 7 years, you’ll see it means nothing to have a “top ranked” farm system with regard to winning above the WC.
I don’t think it makes sense for the Twins to make a run at Kuechel on a 1 year prorated contract because he is no longer a massive upgrade from our other starters. It makes more sense for them to try and trade for an ace who’s or a solid #2 starter in order to compete come postseason time.
Question Padres fans, is Matt strahm legit? I haven’t been able to watch many of his outings, but his numbers look good.
Yeah, Strahm is legit; he’s actually a bit like Hader. Big fastball from the left side. I think his better role would be a Hader-style multi-inning reliever, because he’s not really stretched out to start, even now, but maybe he gets there.
Personally I think Strahm should be more of a setup guy. I completely agree, he isn’t a stretched to be a starter, but think he has the goods to be a great 8th inning guy.
Beginning every season we have to listen to how Padres are going to be on top and this year with Manny somehow they thought it would be better.Dodgers still own them. One thing they can win a contest in..ugly uniforms especially the diharria colored ones …theyre tied with the snakes for first…..
Intelligent insight. Thanks for the uniform analysis as well. Nowhere in Vegas, nor in any MLB publications that I saw were the Padres predicted to be above .500. The Dodgers are clearly the best team in the division. Nobody thinks otherwise. For you to suggest something as asinine as “every season we have to listen to how the Padres are going to be on top…” is comical. San Diego has not been picked to be near the top of the division for quite some time. Perhaps you are referring to fan excitement, or people posting things while the team was having a very successful April and early May? Give the Padres a year or two. They won 66 games last year. I just can’t imagine how incredible life must be to be as smart as you are in addition to being a fan of a team that is so good, has so much money, and has such great uniforms! God I want to be like you juanpaolo! I feel so inadequate!
Why sign a Machado and Hosmer to be mediocre.
To move in the right freaking direction?!?! Are you serious? Tough stretch the last week…I am a 40 year old “Padre (fan) for life” and I do not remember a more exciting group of players ahead of minor league talent, combined with ownership displaying a willingness to spend, really – ever. Why sign good players? Why spend a ton of money internationally? Why go after top draft prospects? Because they sucked before and now they are progressing…Holy smokes Padres fan. Do a little research on the pitching that is on the way. Gotta start somewhere guys…
To establish a veteran core around which they can build with their farm talent as it comes up. Was that supposed to be a trick question?
Yeah, I am seriously beating my head against the wall. Maybe that guy was the one booing Machado yesterday. Insanity.
The question was pretty fair with Hosmer even though it wasn’t intended to be so. Although, asking why they signed Machado is just bad trolling. It’ll be interesting to see what the Padres do, tbh, because they can shorten the window trying to jump it.
Just keep going to the ballpark when the Dodgers fans take over your stsdium,and you and the other 100 fans keep chanting beat L.A. while you are getting your asses handed to you
Im starting to think there is something in Keuchel’s medicals that are not being released, and that is part of the hesitation in teams not signing him.
He’s 31 and all of his peripherals took a deep decline last season, so it’s possible that teams are concerned about that. But he can’t withhold his medicals from a team; it’s against the rules and teams have gotten in lots of trouble for concealing medical records. And players have had their contracts voided.
He has a history with a neck injury. Thats the worst thing you can have
Padres won’t sign him