We’ve seen signs that the Padres are pondering a move this summer involving Kirby Yates. At least, that’s how I interpret recent reports from the team’s beat writers on just how hesitant the team is to move a player who has arguably been the game’s best reliever to this point of the season.
Sure, the Friars are putting out word that it’d take an “overwhelming offer” or an “unforeseen haul” to part with Yates. This is roughly like putting up your house on Zillow’s “Make Me Move” listings, but requesting blind bids instead of posting a zany asking price. Yates is totally not available … unless …
Let’s just say the Padres are interested in seeing how interested their rivals are in making a deal.
This is a familiar strategy with regard to controllable closers. And it’s one that often, but doesn’t always, lead to a swap. It feels as if Felipe Vazquez and Raisel Iglesias have been trade candidates for years. Surely, the Pirates and Reds have fielded offers, both before and after inking those two relievers to extensions. They haven’t moved … yet. The Padres have intimate, recent experience with just this sort of thing, having held onto Brad Hand, then signed him to an extension, and then traded him. Likewise, the Yankees hemmed and hawed and finally dealt Andrew Miller (like Hand, to the Indians) only after securing an offer of “two twin firstborns.”
In this case, there are certainly some strong reasons to think the Pads will have interest in a deal. Yates is already 32 years of age. The club is two games under .500 and has already been buried in the NL West (along with the rest of the division) by the powerhouse Dodgers.
On the other hand, Yates is also still controllable for another season — one in which the San Diego team hopes to be fully competitive. Heck, Yates could even be an extension candidate in the mold of Hand.
It’s hard to imagine Yates will ever look better on paper. He has racked up 27 saves in 35 1/3 innings of 1.27 ERA pitching, with an exceptional combination of 14.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. He has allowed just 21 hits and one home run this year. He’s earning only $3MM and change for the present campaign.
Yates has quite a lot of trade value. He also holds no shortage of appeal to a Padres team that needs to be efficient with its spending after making some uncharacteristically massive free agent outlays.
How do you see this one turning out? (Poll link for app users.)
If Edwin Diaz has taught us anything, it’s that Yates will probably not have another season as fantastic as this so sell him before he falls off and cash out.
No
you don’t want the entire bullpen to be trash
Does it make any difference to where they’ll finish in the standings? If they can get a decent return, they should sell high while he has value.
@NYYankee66 Why would they have to trade MLB talent at all? The Padres are in acquisition mode, not rebuild mode.
Close poll so far.
I say No because of the Market,the Price is high and Teams are unwilling to Pay a high Prospect for a Closer ie:Red Sox and Contrary to speculation I don’t think Smith is going either,these Guys are hard to replace and I don’t think anybody’s going to Pony Up.
Red Sox have nobody to trade and their recent experience with trading for a “top notch” reliver (Carson Smith, Tyler Thornberg) has failed miserable.
The Padres asked for Rafael Devers in return for Yates in the offseason according to an article in The Athletic.
What? Teams arent unwilling to pony up for closers…..
Brad Hand, Aroldis Chapman, Sean Doolittle, Edwin Diaz have all been traded within 3 years and it wasn’t cheap.
Red Sox dont have nearly the prospect capital other teams do to acquire help. Theres a difference between unwilling to do so and being unable to do so.
All the Teams who would be looking for high End Closers aren’t willing to Pony Up,the Market has changed in the last couple of years.Right now the GM’s are starring at each other to see who blinks first and the teams that have these Closers are going to be stubborn and they won’t be traded for now.
I voted ‘no’ only because I think the Padres will compete next year and who ever they get in return won’t make the impact Yates will have. If anything, Padres will want to add to the bullpen next year and still have Yates. So they could deal for a controllable RP this year.
The Padres are the masters of finding the unknown pitchers and turning them into dominant bullpen arms. They should trade him if they can get a massive return.
I never understood teams with a 500 or losing records on closers. If your team is not very good and you have a good closer it makes no sense to hold on to them. Cash out and try to get good prospects while you can and think about the future. Does it really matter who closes when you have a losing record? Definitely replaceable.
Because they are 3 games back from the wild card. They have a young team and will definitely be strong playoff contenders next year and the years to come. I can definitely see why they would want to keep their closer.
Because they have a good closer and because they’ve sunk a lot of money recently on Machado and Hosmer. They are trying to be competitive. If they deal him, who closes for them next year? Not some A-ball pitcher they get in return for him.
“If they deal him, who closes for them next year?”
The same person who closes for them in 2021 after Yates becomes a FA. And in 2020 if Yates regresses.
Trade high.
They’re only a couple of games out in the Wild Card, in a league where there are a zillion and one possible permutations. And the “future is bright” mantra is getting tired in San Diego; it’s time for the “future is now”.
I see them adding, maybe a lot of adding, rather than subtracting. You don’t have to move Gore or Patino, et al, to get useful pieces. And they may only be pieces away.
Agreed
Yeah, he’ll be do a big raise next year and the Pads have already dished out a lot of cash. He’ll get a good haul.
with the current bullpen the Padres probably won’t hold up in a race for a wild card spot and Yates probably will help the team better as a trade chip. He’s had a great start and a contending team might give up a good prospect to solidify their pen. Padres need to start focusing on making a real push in 2020 and 2021
Ownership clearly viewed themselves as contenders this past offseason, giving $300MM to Machado and starting Tatis Jr’s service clock immediately. I don’t think they suddenly swallow their egos and trade Yates. IMHO they’ll try staying their multi-year course.
Besides, the Pads already have (one of) the best farm systems and one of the worst bullpens. They really gonna deal from weakness to add more strength? Sorting out their AAAA logjams in pitching and offense seems a bigger priority.
Why would the Padres have to get prospects back?
The “best Closer in baseball” ought to bring back a ML starting pitcher who’s ready now from a contender who’s pitching rich…ie:Indians/Braves/A’s etc.
Or a CF’r who’s not being utilized like Ender Enciarte or Adam Eaton….even if other players need to be involved.
Point is…..just about any team in contention could use Yates and most could justify trading for him this season.
Pitching rich Cleveland and Oakland have faced numerous injuries to their pitching staffs. Cleveland is missing Kluber and Carrasco and just got Clevinger back from the IL. Oakland had Montas suspended and has their two best pitching prospects Luzardo and Puk injured. Who are those teams going to trade, especially since both are in playoff contention? Cleveland also has one of the best bullpens so far this season so why do they need Yates?
I only wish Ender was enough to get Yates LOL! If Ender and Gausman could show a little production coming off the dl, between now and the trade deadline…package them together for Yates? Both teams adding mlb pieces…could that be close to a fair trade?
How about Minter and Allard. I think that would be a fair deal for Yates.
Well the Padres need a CF (Inciarte) and they are looking for more of a veteran SP to lead their young guys. That is why I suggested Inciarte and Gausman.
I dont see Atlanta trading Minter for Yates straight up. Not that Yates isn’t the better pitcher right now, but Minter’s ceiling is too high to give up on yet.
Trading him for Yates isn’t “giving up on him”
Well I don’t see the Braves trading Minter for Yates. I could be wrong. I think Minter’s ceiling is just too high for the Braves to trade him for Yates.
I don’t disagree with that assessment but trading for a proven shutdown closer doesn’t mean you are “giving up on” the player(s) you trade away.
You’re correct. I shouldn’t have said “giving up on” him. I should have said they aren’t ready to move on from him, maybe.
I think they still see him as the closer of the future. I see them wanting to add Yates to Minter, Newcomb, and Jackson….not having to subtract one of them to get Yates.
The Padres need to move 3 guys out of their bullpen. Yates is the top arm, it would take an overwhelming package. The type of package a Kardashian would expect.
Is someone takes Myers along with Yates then yes make the deal . You can then speed they money that Myers was getting to better the ball club
He gone! After getting swept by the last place Giants and looking down the barrel at a 4 game series to close out the first half against the Dodgers there is no way the Padres stay in the race long enough to convince Preller that Yates should be kept.
6 games under .500 at the break, & this team has shown no consistency, to lose to the amount of mediocre clubs the Padres have is deflating.
Munoz is the closer of the future. Maybe even Jose Castillo. Either way, a 32 year old reliever on an epic 2 year run shouldn’t be held on too.. get a deal you’re happy with and fix the bullpen in the offseason.
Agreed. Lets hope that Yates has a 3 up, 3 down inning next week at the All Star game.
I was hoping Castillo would be up already, but he seems to be getting hit around a bit in the Minors. Hopefully he’s just knocking off the rust.
The crazy thing about this years pen is that this is usually Balsley’s specialty. Taking castoffs and making them serviceable to very good bullpen arms is the norm in San Diego.
Way to hand them a 4 game sweep in advance…..
I’m not but after watching the Giants series and how we looked, coupled with how the Dodgers have looked lately, I don’t see how you can have much optimism the Pads do anything more than lose 3/4.
You are far too used to the Padres having a need to go get prospects for quality MLB players. That time is over.
It is time for them to add to the team, not subtract their best.
As much as I like Yates, I say trade him while you can. Get what you can get for him. He’s 32 and not getting any younger. He maybe has another year or two before that velocity is really going to start declining and he’s going to start to get hit really hard. Yes we’re in the hunt for the wild card but getting swept at home by the last place Giants was hard to watch. I don’t think we’ll be as close by the end of the season even with Yates. Trade him, get some controllable prospects and go for it next season. We have the best pitching coach in all of baseball, I’m sure we can find another waiver wire guy that’s younger that he can make into a dominant bullpen piece. Next offseason concentrate on pitching, get it trade for a front end starter and get 3-4 good bullpen pieces. If I’m the padres I move Strahm to the pen as he seems to have more success there. Maybe after trading Yates, bring up another young guy to see what he gots and hand the closing duties to Strahm and see if he can handle it.
The Padres control him for one more year, so if he can be dominant for one more year then they should keep him.
There is no one in the system to replace him. Definitely not Strahm.
Trading Yates would mean the team has surrendered this season and next. I don’t think that the owners of the Padres spent $500 million the past two years to give up on 2019 and 2020.
Even with Yates this year, we don’t make the playoffs if the roster stands as it is. If we trade for a front end started, then I could see keeping him. If the roster is going to stand still, and the offer is right than trade him. Not saying we should trade him for peanuts, just saying if the offer is right pull the trigger and shoot for next year.
Should he be traded, yes. Will he be traded, no. Preller will demand far too much, teams will not meet the price, Yates will come back down to earth next year and his value will no longer be what it is now.
It’ all a crap shoot when it comes to the playoffs anyway. How’d Hand do against the Astros in the playoffs last year after the Indians sent a top catching prospect to the Padres?
Doubt it, Padres need him next year. Their bullpen not named Yates has cost them quite a few games this year.
This. Was going to post it if you hadn’t. Sure, he probably won’t be as good next year, but it will still be better than anyone else currently wasting space on the bullpen. Why get rid of a good piece just to have to replace him again in the offseason?
Not saying they should/shouldnt trade Yates but reasons to get rid of a good piece just to have to replace him again could be to get multiple good pieces or a good piece that simply better suites their window. They need bullpen help so they might actually keep Yates and add to the pen in the offseason. Im not sure how their farm looks in terms of potential bullpen help as well as what areas they might rather fill though.
Would need to know who they would be getting in return. If they can get decent enough prospects, absolutely trade him. A team that is not contending shouldn’t be worrying about saves. If the return is lukewarm, then hold on to him and trade him in the offseason or hope for a better performance by the team next year
What need do the Padres have for more prospects?
Lol every team can always use more prospects. The padres would presumably be seeking more MLB ready ones
Koamalu, I’m gunna call you Hammer. You’re always hitting the nail on the head. Pads farm is stacked, so much so that there is a considerable logjam coming soon. IF Yates gets traded (a big IF) then the Pads need a big time MLB arm in return. Bauer, Sanchez, Cole, Strasburg, etc. Obviously there would need to be additional parts included, refer to stacked farm for pieces.
Preller is creative. I suspect he would only move Yates if it helps next year.
Or, wildly, can he package Yates and Myers together to get out of Myers contract? Might have to try in prospects and somehow include Dipoto, but I’m allowed far fetched ideas on this forum.
Myers is striking out alot but other than that he is awesome. Myers helps the Pads next year, whether it be in CF or as a 4th OF. IF a package deal of Yates/Myers/? is made, then the Pads are getting a very good MLB arm in return. Stroman, Bauer, etc.
Yeah, .222 batting avg and .729 OPS are awesome! But hey, if you enjoy watching him, good for you.
Advanced analytics show alot of good numbers for Myers. Hitting balls harder than ever… but striking out 30% of the time leads to the AVG and OPS being down. Great glove, great speed, great teammate…. he is probably just having a down year but the numbers suggest he will do better. And we do like watching him, he is very talented!
LMAO Myers for Stroman or Bauer? Go to an asylum.
Yates/Myers isn’t a good starting package for an arm? Ok bro
Not your bro. No one is trading anything good in any trade that involves them getting Myers.
Valid opinion. Thanks for the chat fellow Friar.
It’s not an opinion. Like the Earth being round. Padres would have to eat at least half of Myers’ contract to move him for an org filler.
Dont confuse me with reddit Gwynning. That guy is an idiot. And yes, we are all logging opinions here. OF course we would have to eat some contract which, along with Yates, is a very valid starting point for a trade. My opinion, of course. Good day and go Pads!
1. I have no idea who that is.
2. No one is trading anything but org fillers for Myers even with Yates included.
3. You’re not “go Pads”ing your way out of this one.
Angry much?
Not at all. Just realistic.
Happy 4th
Asinine
Oh wow, how your insults have magically swayed my opinion. You are so correct, how could I have been so blind? Wow
Not an opinion, guy. Jays and Indians could get top 100 prospects for Stroman and Bauer. And you expect them to trade them for… Wil Myers? And then you try to hide behind the “Go Pads”ing and the “Happy 4th”ing? Just ludicrous.
Do you read? Yates + a cheap Myers is a good starting point for a trade, no? Throw in a Weathers plus maybe another and you have a bonafide offer. You are a smooth brained troglodyte if I’ve ever met one. Now go pound sand if you cant agree to disagree.
There is no agreeing or disagreeing with facts. Those teams can get top prospects for their frontline starters without taking on Wil Myers’ toxic contract. And if they are trading Bauer or Stroman in the first place, it means they are rebuilding. And if they are rebuilding, why would they have any interest in 32 y/o, year-and-a-half-out-from-FA Yates?
Good to know you have the inside track of every single GM’s mind in the business!! You deserve a raise! You don’t like the deal? Then hang up the phone. Good day and stay classy San Diego.
No, no one is trading anything with any value at all for your best friend Wil Myers. And a team with any designs on contending this year or next year wouldn’t even think of trading Stroman or Bauer if they had them.
Leave the snark to people who are good at it.
Only if you promise to leave the baseball talk to those who are good at it.
File that one under: you, not
You’re Gwynning on reddit, aren’t you? The biggest idiot around! So subtract Myers from any deal, I’m ok with him as a spot starter or 4th outfielder. The Pads still have the equity to engage these teams for a proven SP. Now, kindly disappear.
I don’t go on r/Padres. And yes, the Padres can trade for almost anyone they want. But certainly not if they try to include Myers in the trade.
Trade value only matters if your team is in a rebuild and is trading away valuable MLB players for prospects. The Padres are no longer rebuilding.
The rebuild isn’t really close to complete yet nor has it shown to be successful yet. The building blocks are there but the pads are still struggling at the moment. I’d say flip Yates while you can
Yates,Myers,Kinsler
For
Lefty/switch above average MLB CF, and a lottery ticket.
Gets Urias on the big club, money shed obviously, opens up 1 or 2 40 man spots for guys coming off injury.
But whose the trade partner?
How about the Mariners? Maybe a little Dee Gordon in CF with a better than lotto pick prospect?
This would cost the Mariners their Top 2 prospects, and prospects are not what the Pads need. Pad farm is stacked, so much so that they have to move prospects in deals soon themselves. Pads need an ace. I’d consider Paxton for Yates/Kinsler but that ship has sailed.
No one is interested in trading an org filler for Myers. They certainly aren’t going to trade an above average MLB CF for Myers.
Myers the player is serviceable and worth a spot. Myers the contract is the price a team pays to get Yates. Of course nobody wants that, which is why the return is light, and more palatable if a team is giving up a (less) bloated contract like Gordon.
Yates for a top 50 prospect or a team friendly extension and trades next year if out of it.
Why would he sign a team-friendly extension just to be traded? Makes no sense as a player.
See Brad Hand. See ‘san diego discount’.
And how’s that working out for him? Playing for below market value for a team he never wanted to play for in the first place? If anything Brad Hand (along with Seth Smith and Yangervis Solarte) is a cautionary tale for Kirby.
They are cautionary tales, agreed. And proof that it does happen, and could again.
Never said it doesn’t or can’t happen. Just that Kirby should think twice about doing that. If I’m a player I’m not signing an extension with the Padres for one cent less than market value unless it comes with a full NTC.