Along with first baseman Eric Hosmer, who’s wrapping up his second straight disappointing season, Wil Myers stands out as one of the Padres’ most prominent big-money letdowns. Myers was the recipient of a six-year, $83MM extension in January 2017, when he was coming off a career campaign in which he smacked 28 home runs, stole 28 bases and totaled 3.5 fWAR. For the most part, though, that version of Myers isn’t the one the Padres have gotten since they locked him up for the long haul. And now that Myers is about to finish his least productive season in San Diego, the team “will test the market” to see if it can find a taker for the outfielder over the winter, A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com writes.
Myers addressed the idea of a move Friday, saying: “[A trade] is obviously a possibility. It is what it is. I’ve lived it twice, and you can’t control that. If I’m somewhere else, I’ll make the most of that opportunity. But if I’m here, I’ll make the most of this one. “
While it’s no surprise the Padres appear interested in cutting ties with Myers, there is no doubt it’ll be difficult for the club to deal him. Because the Padres backloaded Myers’ extension, the 28-year-old still has $60MM coming his way through 2022 (including a $1MM buyout in ’23). Myers simply hasn’t been worth close to that type of money over the previous three seasons, having accounted for a mere 3.0 fWAR in 1,372 plate appearances since inking his extension. Myers admitted to Cassavell that his contract “looks bad right now,” though he expressed hope he’ll turn around his fortunes.
This year has been especially forgettable for Myers, who has hit .239/.322/.415 (96 wRC+) with a career-worst 34.4 percent strikeout rate and just 0.5 fWAR across 480 trips to the plate. That type of production isn’t going to play in the corner outfield or at first base – Myers’ main positions since his career began with the Rays in 2013. As such, it stands to reason the Padres will have to eat a substantial amount of money in order to trade him.
When the Padres committed to Myers for the long term, he was their primary first baseman. However, the Hosmer signing pushed Myers out to the grass, where he, Hunter Renfroe and Josh Naylor have been the Padres’ most common corner outfielders this year. Unfortunately for the club, no member of that group has excelled in 2019, which seems to make it all the more imperative for touted prospect Taylor Trammell (whom San Diego acquired over the summer) to make a quick impact if he gets a big league opportunity next season. In the meantime, the Padres could make some changes to the unit’s composition over the winter, with a Myers trade perhaps atop their wish list.
Attach prospects. Dont need to eat money if you send quality prospects.
With tatis jr and machado entrenched maybe trade Abrams to unload the myers contract in order to create money to fill other needs. Still have edwards.
Yep good call. Makes sense.
But you know what the Padres were horrible for so many years that signing Wil Myers was not that bad of a decision. It paved the way for respectability. Notice how other guys came aboard after Myers bought into the team. He sign the extension which gave credibility to the franchise a little bit. Good investment if you think of it in a positive way.
I never understood that extension or the Hosmer signing but in your context I guess it makes some sense…..
Signing Will Myers to that kind of contract was always a reach, but if you do do this., you CERTAINLY do not turn around a sign ANOTHER very average first baseman in Eric Hosmer……..Boras played the Pads like a fiddle and I think the next highest offer for Hosmer was about 50 MILLION less than what the Padres paid and that would still be COMPLETELY too much…..
It makes no sense. Neither Hosmer nor Machado signed with the Padres because they signed Myers.
@wordonthestreet Agree. If either Hosmer or Machado had said “I wouldn’t have signed here if they hadn’t extended Myers first” or if they had taken even a slight discount to sign with the Padres over someone else he might have a case with that one. But they didn’t so he doesn’t.
And even if signing Myers were to have helped them sign Hosmer, that isn’t exactly a good thing.
Hosmer signed because KC wasn’t going to give that sorta deal.Manny signed because his image took such a hit in the W.S. And the Padrez offer was clearly the best he could get. None of that had to do with Myers.
Not at all. Every single one of those guys would have come aboard if they hadn’t signed Myers.
I don’t know if you remember the Padres 5 years ago but they were door mats. Will Myers was still pretty good player back then and gave the Padres some credibility.
I don’t think you even get a meeting with Manny Machado if Meyers then Hosmer we’re not aboard. That’s an absolute fact.
@Gary so you are saying that if the Padres don’t sign Myers/Hosmer then Hosmer/Machado would have taken paycuts to sign with someone else? Is that your statement?
Gary, Hosmer (who’s basically Myers 2.0) signed with the Padres because of their offer. Same as Machado. I think someone like Machado is smart enough to see those contracts as negatives and something to overcome certainly not a move made that stabilizes the franchise. I have no issue with either player signing there but it was about the money that much is certain
I guess you guys are probably right. Sort of like Robinson Cano signing with the terrible Mariners for all that money. I guess they don’t care who’s there they’ll just take the money and play ball.
there isnt any loyalty to a team anymore, its about the MONEY, period..
Gary signing Myers to that extension was a terrible move. Period. Name one player it paved the way to sign. Name one player who came aboard because Myers signed it. Not Hosmer. Not Machado.
You say to notice how others came after Myers signed but that lacks logical reasoning. Sure anyone who comes after the signing comes after the signing but not because of the signing.
Extending Myers was terrible. Signing Hosmer after the extension was even a worse idea. Preller is an awful baseball executive.
Tatis and Paddack. Preller is a great baseball executive. See I can cherry pick two items to support my argument too.
Jury is still out but this plan has to be seen all the way through.
Preller sucks big time, his pie hole should have been fired also..
Lol how does giving Myers or Hosmer ridiculous money give them respect. If you give players the most money and they aren’t located in Canada I’m sure most guys will sign where they get the most. This notion you have to overpay for someone to attract others is complete hogwash
yep. it what teams do when they want to show their rebuild is nearly over.
look at the nats, for example.
they wanted jayson werth, no chance he’d have signed for the money that was rumored, so the nats added more, got him, helped quite a bit at luring in more players.
astros did that in 2014 after several losing seasons.
seems like its done in year 3 or so of the rebuild (overpaying. give a guy who’s only looking at minor league deals a major league deal. old vet being offered 1/3? offer him 2/5-7. and so on)
Blue Jays might be a fit. They have a laughably low payroll next year, opening at 1B, and a FO that is looking for prospects.
They already have 6 bad OF one of which is Grichuk who makes about 50 mil to much. I’d be pretty surprised if they can move Myers unless they take back a horrible pitching contract
Myers is and should be a first baseman. He shouldn’t be playing outfield.
Flippin’ is thinking what I’ve been thinking: Jays take on a bad contract, take all the money, but demand good prospects come too.
Jays could use a good 1B: that is Myers’ best position, he is still young, and Rogers Centre will help his stats (look what it did for Smoak — from failed prospect to all-star).
SD might do it: Hosmer is blocking him at 1B, and Myers’ salary is jumping from $5.5 million to $22.5 million.
The only objection is that Vladdy will have to move to 1B eventually. But when?
Abrams is a future center fielder or second baseman just like Edwards
I’ll keep them
Thanks
I think it’s weird how everyone just wants to keep every single prospect forever, if you can use one to get out from Myers contract you have to do it if your the Padres, Major League Baseball has become 8 teams trying and 22 with a million prospects but awful on field products, it was much more enjoyable to watch front offices make rash decisions, and with more than half of baseball teams not even trying no one is gettin a competitive advantage, they are all just the same
Move Myers with Abrams? Why would we do that? Move Myers with Naylor or Morejon or Baez or Renfroe.
That’s the dumbest thing I heard. Give up our center fielder of the future to get ride of dead weight. That makes absolutely no sense.
Preller getting money from the owners is easier than getting Preller to give up his prized prospects, like Abrams, who won’t be a major leaguer for 3-4 years. Machado has a limited no trade and an opt-out after five years, with one year down.
Tatis Jr. is the SS now, but might have to move to 3B when he fills out. Hosmer has one more year of no-trade, then he has a limited no trade, and he’s 3 years from his opt-out.
How the new manager meshes with the high-priced veterans could mean some big changes in the next year or two. Preller’s instinct is to hold onto, not trade prospects, and that means some big names could be moving.
Name a team that would be willing to take on Myers without the Padres eating a great deal of money. Nobody will take on that contract without money eaten and prospects. Even then, most if not all teams would still be out.
I have always said if San Diego wants to add a prospect and eat some money Milwaukee could send a young player there way . Go ahead and put him at first for them along with seeing some outfield. It would work
I think Myers would be a solid change of scenery pick-up for a club that could afford it. I mean the guy obviously still has talent and isn’t past his prime (age wise). No matter what he’s obviously overpaid at this point but given another chance somewhere else to prove himself I think he could be someone worthwhile taking a gamble on. Who knows I could be wrong and he could wind up just being washed up… but I just feel like he’s too talented to not figure things out somewhat better going forward — I just think that at this point it might be best for everyone involved if he does so somewhere other than San Diego.
The only club willing to pay Myers $67.5 million over the next 3 years for league average production at best is the same group of dunderheads who gave him (and Hosmer, woof) the ridiculous contract to begin with. The Friars would have to ship out a gazillion dollars worth of prospect value just to get another team to sniff his putrid, backloaded monstrosity of a contract.
A little bit off topic BUT I just still don’t really understand the Trammell thing… they gave up quite a bit for him and he just doesn’t really seem to be as good as the hype surrounding him — he had a REALLY rough season in AA this year. Idk maybe he’ll turn things around but that whole deal just still kind of baffles me from a SD perspective.
Did you watch Trammell play the last month? They adjusted his stance a bit and he started to rake. Franmil is a clubhouse God, but he’s a DH and nothing more. Allen isn’t that good, so moving them both opened two 40 man spots and got rid of a defensive liability in RF for a kid that has a lot of potential. That’s how I see it.
I couldn’t say that any better myself. This is a little of topic but that Kimbrel trade that everybody loved it looking worse and worse everyday.
Who knows, maybe Guerra will be a good pitcher. He certainly couldn’t hit but maybe he can pitch?
The Pads have no one to blame but themselves, they got played by Scott Boras and Eric Hosmer was NEVER a 100 MILLION DOLLAR+ player and Will Myers is a slightly above average player at first base and a slightly below average player in the outfield……Bad team management is what keeps the Padres in last place every year……
The only issue with your post is the same problem the for Padres: too many Ls.
What every smart owner ought to do is ban themselves and their GM from talking with Boras and instantly their team will be better long term.
if you listened to what Royals fans thought of him youd certainly think so
I am a Royals fan (sadly) and I can tell you with 100% conviction that I was very relieved when Hosmer signed that contract and it WASN’T with KC. I would have loved to have had him come back, but no anywhere near that price. It would have further killed the franchise (see Kennedy, Gordon and Duffy deals for reference).
I don’t want to seem like a hosmer fan boy but he’s not having a horrible yr (minus his defense), I truly think hosmer can have the .300 batting average back if the padres can just stay in contention past June….
If you think Hosmer has had anything other than a terrible year, then yes, you are a Hosmer fan boy. He’s been awful.
Simple Mets Padres swap cano goes to sd Mets get Myers cano is owed 85 million with Seattle paying around 13m next season he’s under contact for 4 more seasons. This would open a spot for McNeil at 2 nd and Myers can fill in of corners who says no?
I like this deal but I think the Padres say no. I think Myers is worth more due to his age and one less year at that AAV.
It’s simple, then you woke up
Who says no? Cano, for one.
Plus, using your numbers, I think I might prefer Cano at $72 over 4 years to Myers at $67 over 3.
Plus, the Mets already have too many corner OFs. So, I’d say they say no too.
Sounds ugly to say, but I would prefer Myers.
Pads have no place for myers cano can at least play 2nd base. He hit better then myers too the last 2 seasons. Its ugly all around tho
I would argue with Luis Uris and David Edwards on a tear, you can argue 2nd base is more locked up then corner outfield (especially that we traded away franmil).
Xavier Edwards?
Crap I forgot Urias.. he will be a beast at some point. I feel like the pads rushed him, he truly looked overmatched however the guy has raked in the minors its only a matter of time before hes in the majors.
Wil would be a nice fit back in KC if the Padres ate some cash. Corners and 1B mix.
i can see a swap including Myers and Kenndey. Kennedy could be of some use to the Padres if they think they want to contend next year. Perhaps you have Hudson Potts and one of their catchers and or relief pitchers that need a roster spot going the other way.
I’ll put my trust in AJ!
How’s that worked out for padres fans so far?
The Padres will forever be two years away from being two years away.
By the time some of the young guys are good and Major League ready, the older guys will lose a step and lose effectiveness. Vicious circle.
Put your trust in AJ? He guy who extended Myers. Then signed Hosmer to that awful deal. How is Machado looking?
Good luck with AJ Preller. You are doomed with AJ
With the #1 farm system what has all baseball insiders drooling, we don’t need your concern.
You actually do need to be concerned as prospect are just that … prospects. Have fun winning minor league baseball games but in the big leagues you need to perform.
Preller has not even had the Padres at .500 in his entire LONG tenure. Good luck with Preller. You will need it
Hedges and Renfroe tore up minor league pitching and were top prospects.
Remember Brett Wallace? He was a #1 pick and top 40 prospect 2 years in a row. Prospects don’t always succeed, especially when their development stops once they hit the majors.
How about Myers for Ian Kennedy? One bad contract for another?
Makes no sense for KC
not straight up clearly, but assuming you attach a prospect you may be able to get it done. im sure some rebuilder will be willing to take a shot at him if at least some extra value is going their way.
How so? We don’t really have a 1B and Myers is still relatively young. He also cane up in our system and would know the other players on the team.
@kcpaul because they could get a better first baseman than Myers for the amount of money that he is making minus the amount of money that Ian Kennedy is making.
Kennedy has 1 more season left why would kc do that? Plus he saved 27 games or so hes been serviceable they may be able to unload him at the next trade deadline
Myers contract has much more money left on it. than Kennedy..
Trade Myers, Renfroe, Naylor, Urias, Wingenter, Margot to Cleveland to get Franmil back.
The Hosmer sign is easily the worst in recent history, especially because of Naylor being a fantastic 1B prospect. Hosmer just was never ever going to be worth that deal to begin with. I mean, yeah, he probably deserves that much of the Padres profits, as do all players deserve more than they’re getting, but his deal just never made sense for that team. He belonged more on KC than SD.
Weird a post you made at the time of the deal that says otherwise. I’ve got some other great ones of yours about the Redsox have unlimited payroll and the Redsox never regretting the sale contract. Lol keep up the comedy routine.
I see this is tour first encounter with Strike for
I remember two years ago when outinleftfield said that the Padres should not trade Wil Myers for Alex Reyes because Wil Myers was the Padres’ only above average hitter and because Alex Reyes wouldn’t pitch until 2019. Just one of the many times that guy was wrong.
Ouch!
i dont care
So that’s your burner account? Lol.
You mean Alex Reyes the Cardinals pitcher? The kid that got thrashed early in the season and then was injured in the minors the whole time the rest of the year?
I don’t see your point. Neither one has a good track record. Reyes still has age on his side but that does not say much…
I’d rather have a pitcher that’s battles injury issues and major upside on the cheap that a vastly overpaid player without a position that sucks and is syphoning valuable dollars that could be spent to improve other areas.
letsgodbacks is ignoring the real issue.
I’d love to see the Phils and Pads swap Herrera for Myers and split the difference on the contracts.
Phils could platoon Myers & Haseley in CF. Myers could play RF if Harper or Hoskins needs a day off and otherwise be a RH PH off the bench.
Myers can’t play CF
we dont need any more OF. dont need to say that more.
Myers would be awful in center field
Seems like you’ve already forgotten Cutch
Big money let downs? Jeez to have gotten one offensive year for the money we put in Belt like that would of been somewhat worth the cash thrown to him.
Yet that mope, A.J. Preller, remains employed……..
If MLBTR posted one story a day about a dumb move Preller made how long could it go on?
They already covered Hosmer & Myers. Giving Ian Kinsler 2 years? Taking on Headley’s contract to get Bryan Mitchell? Trading Grandal for Kemp? Eating Olivares contract to dump Kemp a year later? Taking Melvin Upton with Kimbrel, then trading Kimbrel for 4 guys that amounted to jack squat.
They could wrap it up with a reminder that he had to give Castillo back to Miami & serve a suspension for hiding medical records.
“Rockstar” LOL
Kinsler is making 4m a year
If you follow baseball at all you should know dealing away a guy like Yelich or say Kimbrel for far less of a return is not nearly as bad of a deal as signing someone like Hosmer. Problem is most fans or media guys haven’t figured out one deal is way worst the other and it’s always taking on and signing the god awful deal. Most teams have correctly identified its smart not to take on those massive deals and certainly not to sign the bums. But you collusion experts were figure out the market eventually.
Haha Preller the “rockstar” GM. What a bum he really is
Who would want Wil Myers and that contract while very other team is also dumping salary? To trade Myers, it won’t be a simple contract swap such as Robinson Cano for Myers. The problem will be compounded. To make Myers attractive, SDP will have to give up high end prospects and eat someone else’s shorter term contract in return
Nobody wants him, even if the Pads eat most of his salary. This article is a waste of time.
SD certainly has the prospect capital to attach a decent prospect or two to save some money on Myers. Such a trade would make sense, but a lot of the teams that you’d think would be interested in a bubble (BAL, DET) have their own albatross contracts to worry about.
No one is taking that contract for “a decent prospect or two”
How about a bad contract swap of sorts. Cards get myers and some cash or an average prospect, and send back fowler(less years and money owed) and cecil( 1 year left)?
Padres must eat some of Myers salary…package prospects…send him to AL. DH will be his best opportunity to contribute. All these posts looking through rear view mirror….stop. The windshield is much bigger….the future is all that matters. It will be interesting to see if veteran managers….Maddon/bochy…will come work for Preller. If they refuse the owners might realize that Preller is the problem. He is guilty of overpaying for sure. Owners will spend….but they want to win.
This is why I would sign big contracts as FRONT-loaded. When you sign someone to a long-term contract, you expect the first few years will be the best, surest of them. The later years have more uncertainty, which needs to be valued a little less. Examples are Will Myers, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera, etc
Between the acquisition cost and the likelihood of the Padres eating some money I would take a buy low chance on Myers
SD is going to have to find a way to shed salary at some point, unless ownership decides to spend even more lavishly–arbitration eligible players in the future will run up payroll quickly. Too much money is tied up into just 3 players. It’s unfortunate–usually this is an issue being discussed prior to the commencement of a rebuild, not at the time a turn-around is expected.
Nonetheless, it is reality.
Seems like a good change of scenery candidate. Looking at his career splits, he’s slugged pretty well at 3 of the 5 NL West parks (SF, AZ, and COL). Wonder if either of those teams could maximize his potential with him playing 100 games in those 3 parks each year ?
“Wil Myers trade potential”. Lol. You mean Wil Myers DFA potential. Nobody is touching him.
Since when is a .267 with 21 home runs disappointing?
Since Freddy freaking Galvis hit more home runs than that this year, since Myers struck out in 34% of his PA’s this year and since he is about to be making $22.5m a year.
21 homers is awful for an everyday first baseman in today’s juiced ball era. Plus his obp is truly terrible as well. Hosmer is trash.