The Padres have agreed to a deal with outfielder Juan Lagares, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It’s a minor-league pact that’ll pay out at $1.4MM if Lagares can crack the big league roster. There are also $1.1MM in available incentives and a March 19th opt-out date, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
Lagares could step into the shoes of just-traded center fielder Manuel Margot. First, Lagares will have to show that he’s primed to bounce back from a rough 2019 season.
At his best, Lagares gave the Mets high-end defensive work and approximately league-average hitting — quite a nice combination for an up-the-middle performer. But that was way back in 2014, when Lagares logged a Gold Glove and set the table for a spring 2015 extension.
Things just haven’t gone as well since. Lagares has dealt with some health problems and back-slid at the plate. UZR and DRS both soured on his glovework in 2019, though Statcast provided plenty of evidence that Lagares still has plenty of skill with the glove on his hand.
It seems the Friars will have a rather wide-open camp battle. Lagares and Wil Myers are each right-handed-hitting candidates to see time in center. Word is that lefty swinging Franchy Cordero could shift to the prime defensive spot; the recently acquired Trent Grisham is also an option there. Tommy Pham is sure to see a lot of action in the corner, with all of the above-listed players and a few others (in particular, Josh Naylor and Abraham Almonte) also potentially competing.
Been waiting for this blockbuster move
That was way too easy to predict
Nvm. I thought it said Pirates instead of Padres. My bad.
You just have been too crumped up.
So they trade Margot, a former top prospect, for this scrub. Doesn’t make sense to me. Their bullpen was already stacked.
Margot was the 4th OF behind grisham pham and Myers. With Trammell soon to be ready and Naylor Cordero already on hand.
Pagan has 4 years of team control and Yates is a FA to be at season’s end.
Pomeranz was brought in as insurance in case Yates leaves. Pagan trade all but says Yates isn’t signing an extension Padres like so they’ll let him walk in FA with a QO attached and already planned for his departure with the guys mentioned.
Or flip Yates at the deadline. Top end closers/relievers are always a big need for teams making a playoff push.
If Yates is flipped at the deadline it means the Padres are out of the race which means Preller is gone.
What, is it a problem for a team to have too many excellent relievers? Nobody ever said that about the Yankees. Could it be that the Padres just want to have the best bullpen in mlb and don’t want to trade their best reliever? Could be.
Margot was NOT BEHIND Grisham. Grisham is basically still a rookie. A rookie who was never even highly regarded as a prospect.
No. The bullpen wasn’t stacked. This is a cheap move to potentially cover their butts in case they need a center fielder. This guys isn’t meant to start.
Lagares making the team will be difficult if not impossible. He is cheap 30 day insurance plan that hopefully won’t be cashed in. Regarding that stacked bullpen, maybe its stacked for that trade for a centerfielder. Sensel and Inciarte are two trade possibilities.
Janko #2 another OF who can’t hit
Like Margot but this guy plays great defense
Platoon right handed bat that can handle all 3 OF spots. Defensive replacement if need be. Not a bad addition.
Now just get rid of Myers contract, offer up Morejon as the centerpiece to whoever is willing to take Myers, and roll with Pham Grisham and Naylor in the OF.
Upvoted for username, and I don’t even eat hotdogs
I just don’t see anyone taking on that Myers contract. The giants taking Cozart and cutting him is one thing, but that was only 12.6 million for one year. Myers is owed too much and has played far too poorly
Why didnt the Rays just sign Lagares and keep Pagan?
Rays sold high on Pagan for the additional control on Margot and whatever additional upside he may have over what-you-see-is-what-you-get, 4th/5th OF Lagares.
Having “control” doesn’t mean squat unless a player is worth having.
Yeah ok. If you love light hitting, frequent strike outs, ground ball outs and declining defense with frequent injuries Juan Lagares is your man.
I hate all of those things.
Good thing he strike out rate isnt wil myers status
Never 100 in a season
LOL. Funny to see a Mets fan saying this stuff about Lagares after many many many many Mets fans were talking about he was one of the top tier CFs in the entire game after his epic, Cooperstown bound 2014 season.
I wonder where are those Mets fan clowns that were saying that Lagares was better than Christian Yelich and Marcel Ozuna.
Dodgers got Betts, we got Largares.
2020 Padres will win it all.
This is a depth move, cheap insurance, nothing more.
Pads to still be looking up at the Dodgers in 2020. Got it.
Almonte will never get a 40 man spot with the padres again
Trade him to the Indians
I remember Almonte raking against us during September last year tho
If they get rid of Myers somehow, still have to deal with Hosmer. He was just as bad last year. I can understand a slump with the bat, but he was just as bad with the glove for all that $$$
So you trade a decent defensive Outfielder that can’t hit and then sign a decent defensive Outfielder that can’t hit?.
Perhaps Preller is aiming for unemployment instead of an extension…?
You are leaving out the part where they got a really good reliever with years of control in there…its actually pretty damn smart and if you’ve ever watched Margot for an extended period of time, you’d know they didn’t give up much. This is a minor league signing. The takes on this are hilarious.
Margot’s not very good. I’ve been saying that for years. But Pagan comes with some question marks, too.
Sometimes amazing, isn’t it?
Lagares has not been worthy of a major league job in almost a half decade. His bat is horrible, he’s never gotten on base regularly and is a singles hitter without stolen base ability. Yes, he plays great defense. Is it worth 15 doubles, .275 obp and .225 batting average? Last time I checked, he wasn’t getting younger.
Well then good thing its a minor league deal then and won’t be a factor.
Still wondering why Margot hasn’t improved. He seems to possess the tools and never heard anything about lack of effort or attitude. What is his ceiling? He’s still very young. Is it poor coaching? For someone who rarely strikes out and can run, why are Margot’s on base numbers so low?
Never mind, just saw his splits versus righties and lefties.
Hurry, tell us about those splits. I don’t have time to look them up.
Ain’t no one got time for that.
The minor league deal is no big deal (though Lagares probably makes the team as Grisham’s backup). It’s the idea of trading a player and signing a similar player to replace him. As for the really good reliever with years of controll: Pagan has now been traded each of the past three offseasons, there must be some reason for that.
Grisham? The only reason he got called up last season was injuries. He’s not very good.
Padres have had Grisham penciled into the starting lineup since the day they made the trade with the Brewers so Preller obviously sees something he likes.
Just like the “something” he saw in Bryan Mitchell? Gimme a break.
Oh, but they’ll tell you we didn’t give up anything to get Mitchell except the $13M they blew on Chase Headley and it’s not your money and the evil capitalist owners should just give it to the poor players anyway, so why are you complaining about the Mitchell deal?
The Mitchell thing was just one more grain of sand on the beach of evidence against Preller. I’m still flabbergasted by the people who were defending Preller on that one.
Good pick up. Why? Typical Mets. This guy excelled well in the minors and showed glimpses of a solid player. As with every guy Mets give up on he will now reach his potential in a city not as nasty
The Mets gave him a 5 year contract which they regretted a year or so in. He never lived up to what had convinced them to give him the deal. I’d love to see him make a comeback but it’s ridiculous to blame the Mets for not giving him a chance,
Also, if the Mets are to blame for giving up on him, why is a minor league deal the best he’s able to do just as spring training is starting? You’d think that other teams would have jumped on him.
I’m a Mets fan and I loved Lagares early on, but he was often injured diving in center field and his bat was non existent. He did start hitting well and a bit for power in August and September of 2019, but by then the writing was already on the wall, too little, too late. It’s still a low risk medium reward if he starts out hot in ST. I used to love the kid and have all of his baseball cards. I still wanted the Mets to sign him to a minor league contract with an invite, for depth in case of injury and at worse he could start out in AAA, but the Padres offered him much more than the Mets would have, so good for him. Good luck with him Padres fans, you never know, he might surprise.
I remember many Mets fans ranking Lagares as a “top tier” CF after his 2014 season (which is laughable). It was clear from Day 1 that he was a 4th OF on any team that had 3 decent OFs. My two favorite Lagares moments as a Marlins fan is 1) when Mets fans were saying that Lagares was better than both Christian Yelich and Marcel Ozuna (HAHAHAHAHA!) and 2) when he was in RF and the Brewers had a hit into the RF corner with Matt Albers on 1B, and Albers was able to come around all the way to score, despite Lagares having the ball while Albers was still between 2nd and 3rd (another HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!).
Agreed that his bat started to heat up in Aug/Sept 2019! He had a 6 RBI game in the finale of a 4 game Dbacks sweep! Grand slam baby!
Used to joke that when Mets pitchers would give up a hard hit ball to CF and he’d catch it they’d think “When you’re in trouble dial 9-Juan-Juan!” Mets Fan and glad Lagares is getting a chance with Padres. Injuries hurt his career and he’s a slow starter w/the bat but he was a good soldier. Basically lost his spot in 2015 after the Cespedes trade and Conforto call up. But always stayed prepared to play when given the chance and never any clubhouse or media/social hanging out issues. Wish him the best with San Diego!
Thanks! That’s good to know. I’m fairly certain he’ll be better than Grisham.