As expected, the Padres have called up left-hander Adrian Morejon from their alternate training site. The team made this announcement in advance of Morejon’s scheduled start against the Rangers this afternoon. Righty Luis Perdomo was optioned to the alternate training site to create roster space.
This will be Morejon’s second stint in the big leagues, and there isn’t really anywhere to go but up after he posted a 10.13 ERA through eight innings and five appearances (two of them starts) in 2019. A bothersome shoulder may have been partially to blame for Morejon’s issues, as he was sent to the injured list last August and was eventually shut down for the season.
Of course, Morejon is hardly the only player to have an underwhelming MLB debut, and the southpaw is still considered one of the sport’s more intriguing pitching prospects. He has been a staple of top-100 prospects lists for the last few years, with Keith Law (72nd), Baseball Prospectus (75th) and Baseball America (89th) all including Morejon on their pre-2020 rankings. Morejon was the headliner of the Padres’ spending splurge in the 2016-17 international signing period, as the Cuba native signed for an eye-opening $11MM bonus.
It wasn’t too long ago that Perdomo was holding down a spot in San Diego’s rotation, as the right-hander amassed 310 1/3 innings for the Friars in 2016-17, starting 49 of 64 games. Injuries hampered the groundball specialist in 2018, however, and Perdomo has been since used primarily as a reliever while yo-yoing between the majors and Triple-A. Perdomo did post a solid 4.00 ERA, 3.06 K/BB rate, 60.6% grounder rate, and 6.9 K/9 over 72 innings in 2019, though he had had a rougher go of things this season (8.10 ERA over 10 innings).
Just bring up Mac already!
Yeah a Morejon/Patino piggy-back start is cool and all, but if they’ve got a start that they need to fill, might as well just give Gore the ball.
On local SD radio when Patino got called up they had a scout on who was basically saying that internally within the Padres organization a good amount of people think that Gore is currently one of their best 5 SPs in the organization, so if they actually think that then I don’t get what they’re holding him back for at this point.
He will get a call up possibly after the trade deadline.
Davies and Richards might be on the move if they’re out of contention or hovering around .500 by August 31st.
Or Padres keep both and QO Richards.
But I see Quantril, Patino, Gore, and Morejon being given a longer look in September while limiting innings/pitches for Paddack and Lamet.
I’m really confused about this comment because it doesn’t seem to make any sense.
With expanded playoffs even though the Padres are .500 after losing 5 straight last week, if the season ended today they would still literally make the playoffs. So I don’t really know why on earth they would hypothetically be sellers in that situation unless they have some sort of epic collapse over the next 10 days. The second half of their schedule is much easier than the start (i..e. most of the Dodgers games are out of the way, more Giants, Mariners and Angels games remain) so they’re probably still going to finish like 32-28 or 33-27 and make the playoffs.
I also don’t get why they would limit innings for Lamet, who is like a top 10 pitcher in the league right now. He looks great, is fully healthy and is off any innings restrictions from getting TJ two years ago. Paddack also doesn’t have any innings restrictions, so why would they implement them next month?
I’ll keep this short and sweet.
Them making trades is dependent upon where they are at August 31st. Not end of the season. If they’re below .500 theyll most likely sell. If they’re above they’ll stay put or buy.
If they sell at the deadline no reason to make Paddack/Lamet go 6 or 7 innings. You know what you have in them and need to give other guys longer looks. Limiting them also reduces risk of injuries. Letting other guys like Quantril, Patino, Gore, Morejon get more innings would give them a decent look at the young hurlers.
From everything I have heard Morejon looks quite good in summer camp and has been pitching well. Gore has been having trouble with his control. Is that no longer true? Do you have a link?
Trade Davies and Richards? Are we competing this year and next or are we not? Davies is our second best starter right now. Richards has been excellent as well. Gore, Patino, Morejon may be great but they are unproven. We cannot just give them all rotation slots and hope. That is not competing.
Yeah heres a link from Darren Smith talking to John Conniff from Madfriars about Patino when he got called up, they discuss Gore as well during the 7th and 8th minute and thats where they say he’s one of the 5 best SPs right now.
iheart.com/podcast/256-the-darren-smith-show-30961…
I’ve heard like Eno Sarris say he’s ready too and its just a matter of finding him a slot in the rotation, but seems like the organization isn’t ready to make that move.
Richards is a free agent after the season. If you’re out of the playoffs come August 31st yes I’d trade him.
As for Davies, he’s controlled for 1 more year, having a career year, and his value may never be higher. If you get an offer you can’t refuse or is too good to pass up id trade him. If the offers aren’t good keep him and possibly shop him during the off-season depending what the younger pitchers show you in september
I’d hate for Davies to regress and become the next Ross or Yates and Padres fans saying man wish we traded him sooner.
They’re currently beating the Rangers now, so knock on wood they’re 13-12 after today with 12 more games before the trade deadline.
So you are saying if they go 5-7, (keep in mind half of these games are against the Rangers and Mariners) which would make them 18-19 at the deadline, that they should just call it a year? They’d probably be like ~2 games out of the playoffs with 23 games to play. I mean if they have a total breakdown and go 2-10 or something and they are sitting there 15-22, then yeah I could see them selling, but they’ve been playing .500 ball so I am not really anticipating an epic collapse over the next two weeks.
For what you’re saying to make sense, you have to basically assume that a .500 team is going to lose like 10 of its next 12 games, which is possible and could happen but I wouldn’t bet on it happening because its not really likely.
Who are the starting pitchers for that Padres in 2021 Marvel’s MAGA Man? Paddack, Lamet and…? Our #5 spot is currently in flux. I am still hoping that Quantrill will seize it. What about our #3 and #4 slots? Are we going to try to compete next year with some combination of Gore, Patino and Morejon in those places? Neither Morejon nor Patino have shown enough yet to be counted on. Gore has never pitched in mlb so he CERTAINLY can’t be counted on. Do you think Preller will risk going from a 500 team this year to back to the bottom next year? I don’t.
The Padres have a good rotation right now. I believe they will try to re-sign Richards. They will work the top prospects in gradually, allowing for mistakes and growing pains.
@Javia They can still sign Richards if they trade him.
Options the Padres have.
Yes. Start Morejon, Gore, Patino, or Quantril behind Paddack and Lamet.
They also have the option of resigning Richards, which if hes traded he can’t be issues a QO.
You could throw 20-30 mill at Trevor Bauer, who’s going year to year, to be the ace for a year. You could take a flier on Arrieta and Hamels for 1 year to anchor the back end of the rotation and provide that veteran leadership to a young pitching staff, who also have a lot of playoff and championship experience between the two.
Who are the starting pitchers for 2021?
Paddack, Lamet, Morejon/Quantril, Arrieta, Hamels.
Patino could use another year in the minors as could Gore.
Giving Arrieta and Hamels possibly 20 mill combined for 1 year helps more than Bauer and resigning Richards to a 3-4 year deal.
Doubt Richards declines the QO if it is extended.
So Marvel, you are going to trade 2 good pitchers and hope to replace them with 2 good free agents? Don’t you think whatever team is trading for Richards and Davies could do that too? Do you really see Preller being able to spend $30 million plus next year on Hamels and Arrieta? He does not have a ton of money to spend. Plus Hamels? What, $18 million for 2-3 starts? And do you guys really think that Richards will be looking to re-sign with us if we trade him and force him to uproot his life to pitch for a month and a half for someone else?
The two temporary stand-ins we need to pitch for us until the kids are ready are ALREADY HERE. You don’t trade them and try to replace them. I think teams like the Mets and the Angels were hoping to just fill up their rotations with free agents last year. How is that working out for them? Pitching is EXTREMELY valuable. You don’t trade starters unless you get a VERY big return.
I think QO is really unlikely for Richards, but also it’s too early to tell. If he’s dominating the next month and looks like a front of the rotation guy it’s somewhat possible that he could be in a spot to decline one.
A lot depends on the rest of the market, but I think it helps him that Robbie Ray, James Paxton, and Mike Minor don’t look good so far. If he can come out looking like one of the ~5 best FA pitchers available it could be a like a Will Smith situation last year where he’ll decline the 1 year QO to get something multi-year even if the AAV is way less.
Definitely would not count on being able to QO him though since everything needs to go his way and even then it’s a big risk.
Richards is a free agent whether you keep him or trade him. Would he resign with them for uprooting his life? You mean for a whole 2 or so months?.Yes. If they pay him the most. Just like any other free agent.
He leaves via free agency regardless if you keep him.or trade him you still need to replace him in the rotation for 2021.
You can disagree all you want but Davies is having a career year and the Padres and Preller would be stupid to not entertain offers when his value is the highest its ever been.
You can also resign Davies after 2021 just like you can resign Richards after 2020 if you REALLLLLY want to keep them.
I’d rather do the smart thing, get a good return for players/prospects close to mlb ready with 6+ years of team control for a guy you’re going to lose via free agency, unless you want to pay him a Jake Arrieta or Nathan Eovaldi deal, and a guy having a career year who may not contribute for 2022 and beyond unless you also pay him 50+ mill.
@Marvel exactly! If the Yankees were able to sign Aroldis Chapman after trading him the Padres should have no problem doing it with Richards. There is no evidence that players punish teams for trading them away.
@CNichols I think Richards probably accepts the QO no matter what but if he can continue to pitch well this season the Padres might be fine with that.
@Javia absolutely he would re-sign with the Padres if they trade him and allow him to finish out 2020 pitching for a team that actually has a chance and not be eligible for a QO! It will ultimately come down to money tho.
They won’t bring him up. He is way behind the curve this year and was having issues locating the strike zone in summer camp and currently. This is why patino got the nod and not gore
Calla him a right hander. Uses a picture of him pitching left handed.
Someone skip their morning coffee?
calls*
Will the app ever get an edit option like the website does?
Stop talking
Less Luis, More Jon.
Yo Adrian, you did it!
Jon More Adrian.
Morejon is a lefty. Please get a copy editor. This errors are getting quite bad from this site.
*These
L
if you knew that already theb why does it matter that much to you?
I like the typos and errors. Gives the site a minor league feel. And maybe, just maybe…the pic was put up on purpose to get the chat going.
hopefully he’s ready this time. he looked rushed last year.
who cares about the errors. 95% of readers either know which hand he throws with or dont care anyway.
No capital letters to begin your sentences! No capital letters to begin your sentences! Arrrgghh!!! It’s an affront to the creator!!!
JK DarkSide, in case you couldn’t tell.
You guys are excited thinking about the trade return but not looking at the problem. We have 4 reliable starters right now. That is more than most teams have. If we trade Richards and Davies we have 2. Teams with 2 quality starters do not go to the playoffs unless they have a very good offense. We do not.
Richards could be traded, yes, but he will get us a prospect outside the top 100. A 3 start rental gets you roughly a tuna sandwich, and not a fresh one! I think the qualifying offer is far and away our best chance to re-sign Richards. If we trade him we would have to come up with the top multi-year offer. We will not come up with that. Preller has ZERO money to spend! Ownership has closed the wallet.
Davies is cheap and valuable…to us. Your whole “he is having a career year” argument applies to anyone who trades FOR him too. We will not be getting a top prospect for him. I seriously doubt we could even get Brandon Marsh for him, and he is the #85 prospect and the Angels are as desperate as any team on Earth for starting pitching.
“If we trade him we would have to come up with the top multi-year offer. We will not come up with that.”
That will still be the case if they don’t trade him. Ditto Zach Davies, but one year later.
Perhaps we should keep that 1 year of Davies until our young replacement pitchers are ready? So we don’t have to keep running Patino out there next year with a 6.75 ERA.
Patino’s ERA won’t stay nearly that high and as for Zach Davies the debate really hinges on whether you think the Padres can contend this year and next. If not, you trade everyone who is a free agent before then.
Still waiting for to provide one shred of tangible evidence that players punish teams for trading them.
The Padres are currently competing THIS year. Are you expecting them NOT to compete next year? Again: Paddack, Lamet and WHO starts for us next year? I am sure that last year Houston was hoping Whitley would lock down one of their rotation spots. The Ray’s probably hoped the same with Honeywell. Problem is most prospects don’t work out. Perhaps we should hold on to the talent we currently have? I think it would be crazy of us to count on 2 or 3 rookie starters next year and still hope/expect to be competitive.
It took Lamet a full year and a half of pitching in mlb to figure it out and finally realize his potential. That is not counting the time he spent getting TJ surgery and recovery. Perhaps we should not expect more from our current prospects?
The point is trading Richards doesn’t mean he won’t start for us next year. And not trading him doesn’t mean he will start for us next year.
MacKenzie Gore, Luis Patino, Adrian Morejon, Michel Baez and Cal Quantrill are all options to start for the Padres next year.
Everyone couldn’t stop saying “If Preller wants to keep his job he has to start winning right now!” Yet all these same people want him to trade 2 of his top pitchers before the playoffs this year? Would you do that if you were him? No, you wouldn’t. You certainly wouldn’t want to count on 3 out of 4 rookies and 1 second year player to work out well enough right away and pitch well enough for you to keep your job!
You cannot stop saying Preller has to win to survive, but at the same time you want him to take huge chances? You can’t have it both ways! He has a team that is winning right now. The last thing he is going to do is take a torch to it!
Well yeah if they want to win this year then trading Richards and Davies isn’t an option. Especially considering how bad the bullpen is. But Marvel and I were talking about a situation where the Padres fall out of the race by the trade deadline. The point you keep ignoring is that trading Richards doesn’t mean they can’t sign him in the offseason. You said that a player wouldn’t want to sign with a team that made him uproot his life for a month and a half to pitch somewhere else but when asked to provide actual, tangible evidence that players punish teams for trading them you went into hiding.
And yes, the Padres should be able to assemble a quality rotation next year with Paddack, Lamet, Davies and some combination of Gore, Patino, Morejon, Baez, Quantrill and maybe a free agent addition. If you don’t think they can it means you doubt their ability to identify and develop young pitchers.
So now you DO want to keep Davies?
You know what, the Padres probably will be able to re-sign Richards even if they do trade him. If they make the highest offer. I just don’t like gambling. I don’t think the return we would get for him as a 3-4 game rental will be worth even the risk of offending him.
I don’t think we will have to worry because it looks like we are going to the playoffs.
I want to keep Davies if and only if we think the team can contend in 2021. Marvel’s MAGA Man was obviously acting under the assumption that they wouldn’t. If you make that assumption then yeah, trade Davies.
It’s also a gamble that we would be able to keep Richards even if we don’t trade him. And there is no evidence players get offended by being traded. Players are more aware of the business side of the game now than ever before.
I honestly have to say you are different today Mike. You are calm and you have a cogent argument. Kudos.
Regardless of that, I’m still waiting for you to come up with some tangible evidence that players get offended by being traded. Let alone offended enough to leave $ on the table in FA.
I honestly have to say you are different today Mike. You are calm and you have a cogent argument. Kudos.