The Padres have designated utilityman Jose Pirela for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man spot was needed for outfielder Travis Jankowski, who was activated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A.
Pirela, 29, has not seen much MLB action this season despite the fact that he has posted loud offensive numbers. Through 242 plate appearances, he’s slashing a robust .353/.401/.674 with 18 long balls.
It seems the Friars had already seen enough to know how they felt about Pirela. He had received a long look in 2018 after a strong 2017 showing, but proved unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Through nearly a thousand total trips to the plate at the game’s highest level, Pirela is a .258/.307/.390 hitter (88 wRC+).
The story isn’t altogether different for Jankowski, who has run through 953 plate appearances in the majors with marginal results (.242/.319/.321; 79 wRC+). He is a year-and-a-half younger than Pirela and arguably offers a slightly higher floor with highly-graded glovework and baserunning. Jankowski hasn’t been overly impressive with the bat during his rehab assignment — his plate discipline hasn’t quite made up for a total power outage (.254/.371/.271) — but will get another chance to show he deserves a big-league job in San Diego.
JP will be missed.
He didn’t die, just DFA’d.
Those El Paso fans will miss him if he does not make it through waivers. Because he has hit so well in AAA, maybe some team will give up a prospect for him.
JP won’t be missed he had his chances n failed to live up to his billing in offense and defense.
Pirela was Refsynder before Refsynder was Refsynder…
Wow he’s been pretty great this year
Oh my god. It actually happened! They finally DFA’d La Cucaracha!
I wish it was kinsler, instead.
I mean, neither is part of the long-term plan but we know why Kinsler is still on the team. He’s still owed ~$5.56m and they don’t want to just release him and eat the whole thing. Pirela is still pre-arb.
About time. They should have dfa him two years ago. Next to the dfa list imo
Kinsler
Stock
Weick
Erlin
Marge
Give Guerra a little time to see if this reliever thing is going to work, if it doesn’t, then dfa.
Or your buddy Myersno Myers?
Sure. You interested in paying 71 mil dollars for nothing ?
Now do Ian Kinsler.
interesting. i know its the pcl, but Pirela might net more then your typical wild-card as a return, or could be a steal.
Pirela should get dealt for cash considerations.
I imagine someone will probably take a chance on him whether by trade or claim
Pirela had a -0.2 WAR in 5 ABs this year lol. 3 Ks and 1 DP. Guess it was all the Padres wanted to see.
Count me the lonw Pirela fan in SD though he was a streaky hitter he offered a versatility. He could rake at times! Wish he would have had one more shot
By your logic I “offer a versatility.” They could sign me up and I would play all over the diamond if they asked me to. I wouldn’t necessarily play well, however. And it’s the same way with Pirela.
Pirela will get picked up by another team, he deserves it. However, the days of the Padres having a team made up with AAAA players is finally over. Jankowski needs to dramatically improve his OBP. Otherwise his speed only helps his plus defense.
You sure about that? He’ll be 30 in November, has a lifetime .697 OPS in the majors, is not serviceable defensively at any position and this is his last option year.
Are you taking about Pirela or Jankowski? Frankly they’re both marginal players I’d like to see gone from the Padres.
Pirela. Jankowski won’t be 30 for another 2 years and is more than serviceable defensively at all 3 outfield positions.
Getting claimed and actually becoming a meaningful major league contributor are two different things. He probably will get claimed.
We’ll see. I wouldn’t give him a 40-man roster spot (and a major league roster spot starting next year) and I already gave my reasons as to why.
defensive prowess with a batting skills less than Pirela. Speed is good but he does not hit base hits. He’s a good pinch runner though.
They both stink Janko and Pirela
I’d sayJank defensively would be able to handle all three OF positions better than what we have now especially in the corner OF. Some how dum p Myers this guy is a head case, eat half his salary whatever it takes he just wasting time on the bench.
1/2 contract? .216, 12 homers, 27 RBI’s, 109
strikeouts. He’s not worth 1/2 34 mil for 3 years.
Better than Pmac..
Lmao I remember a year and a half ago when people were saying they should trade Hunter Renfroe because of this guy… Such lunacy.
Now all we need is Bauer for Renfore and Perdomo or a good rook in EP and we have a No. 1 SP then trade one of our top 50 minor rooks for a good middle RP, 7 inning guy who is est.
4 years of Renfroe > 1 year of Trevor Bauer at basically market salary
I don’t remember that … at all.
I remember it vividly.
I thought for sure we would finally make .500 this season but it doesn’t look like it. Just another year wasted away I don’t care if we hit 500 HR’s if we can’t W at least 81 games this year its totally wasted
Not really. At least they finally had a couple young players deliver on the hype (Renfroe, Tatis, Paddack) and aren’t losing anyone important to FA this offseason.
Totally wasted? Learning a lot this year about young pitchers. Making progress on the decision at catcher. Figuring out who will be part of this team’s bullpen, who will be in the rotation, and who will be gone. The introduction of possibly the most exciting player in baseball to the fanbase. The successful return of a potential starting pitchers from TJS that may be in the rotation next year. The terrific steps forward defensively by Renfroe. Also answers to questions about what Myers will be, etc. Increased ticket and merchandise sales, and TV viewership. I am personally very excited about the future and knew that it would not happen over night. I’m still hopeful that they win 81 games, but if they don’t I don’t see how the season could be considered a total waste.
One of the Friars problems is two guys hitting back to back who either hit HR’s or K a lot. That’s a problem, need someone who can hit for average, be an RBI guy when required and play great defense, AJ I think you need to trade Reyes or Hunter and one rook for a good SP
two possible trade candidates.
Pirela was our best hitter in 2017. He will get opportunity some where.
Billy Beane where are you? He knows how to get players at cheap who really produce. I give him and the A’s a lot of credit for their puny payroll they have a chance for a playoff card. Can AJ at least read this guys book?