The Padres announced that they have signed outfielder Brian O’Grady to a major league contract. O’Grady cleared waivers with the Rays a couple weeks back and became a free agent.
O’Grady first joined the Reds as an eighth-round pick in the 2014 draft, eventually reaching the majors for the first time in 2019 after posting respectable numbers throughout his time in the minors. O’Grady was especially effective in Triple-A ball from 2018-19, when he slashed .286/.360/.553 with 36 home runs in 649 plate appearances.
Despite his success at the minors’ highest level, O’Grady hasn’t gotten much of a chance to establish himself in the majors, where he has batted .213/.302/.447 with two homers in 53 trips to the plate. After he collected 48 PA with the Reds in 2019, the team traded him to the Rays last offseason. The 28-year-old didn’t factor in much for Tampa Bay, though, and now he’ll try to earn a spot on a Padres club that already has Trent Grisham, Tommy Pham, Wil Myers, Greg Allen, Jorge Mateo and Jorge Ona as outfielders on its 40-man roster.
I’m glad we finally signed someone.
Lolz
I was hoping for somebody major league caliber! Like Snell.
I don’t think The Pads are taking on that salary c’mon now!!
Taking on that salary? Snell is due 10.5M in 2021, SD can definitely afford that. They’re going to need to spend about $10M this offseason to get a starter and a closer anyways.
Not saying the MLB FA predictions here are always right, but they had SD signing Hamels at $4M and Yates at $5M, so thats $9M right there. Whether its those guys or someone else, they have to add some payroll to fill those spots.
The money really isn’t the problem with Snell, its the haul of prospects it would take to get him. I think the Padres need to hold on tight to Morejon/Patino/Gore at this point. They’re going to need young controllable pitching moving forward.
really? why are the Padres of all teams wasting 40 man spots?
Not a waste. Kid has power, speed and can play all three outfield positions, 1B and DH. I’d say he’s worth a 40 man spot or bench bat.
He had one good year in the minors, dfa o’Grady
Yeah, it’s a waste. To all those people who claim every player Preller signs has “potential,” I would remind you how utterly meaningless that is.
Better yet, let’s put it into perspective. Every player who gets to the majors has talent and ‘potential,” otherwise they wouldn’t be there. This doesn’t mean that they will become everyday players or stick at the major league level. Most of them won’t.
I think the guy has potential. He has put up decent numbers in triple a a few seasons, and no one has given him to much of a spot to prove himself. So he’s probably going to be a nobody but there’s a chance he could turn out to be an extra outfielder. Never hurts to stash people like that in the minors in case of injury.
I think this is Pham insurance. No one knows how he will perform next season and if he doesn’t look right in spring training the Padres can put this O’Grady kid in Pham’s place.
I don’t see it that way. The team needs a backup CF regardless, and another lefty bat in the outfield group is nice to have.
They have a backup center fielder on the forty
If Pham gets cut, they can take a stab at this guy.
Pham’s not getting cut; they just tendered him a contract. Also, why on earth would the Padres get rid of Pham just to replace him this guy? It wouldn’t make any sense.
It’s a joke. Obviously not that good if you didn’t get it…
Lol it’s actually pretty funny now that you point it out. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if people are joking on this site given the loads of bad trade ideas that get thrown around in the comment section.
Pham will never always be known as the Padre who got stabbed at the strip club – during the pandemic.
How many people remember a AA Padres prospect getting stabbed ouyside of a bar in San Antonio? It was Joey Cora.
It wasn’t outside of a bar. It was outside of the stadium following a game. Apparently he had exchanged words with the fans in question outside the visitor’s dressing room.
I moved to SD in 98, so I didn’t know about that. However, Stab Diego seems apropo.
Yep, you’re right. I remembered it wrong. It was, in fact, outside the stadium. Oops.
I don’t know how to feel about this move. Part of me wants to think that O’Grady is just replacing Greg Garcia as a LH bench bat and since he’s cheaper, theoretically has more power, and can play all the OF spots as well as 1B/3B then it’s probably a fine depth move.
Then on the other hand, this is the last available 40 man spot for SD right now and O’Grady not really the type of guy who is going to help put them over the top, so I’m kind of curious to see what else they have in store this offseason. If they roll into spring training with this current squad of position players, I’m kinda skeptical of the bench.
I’m skeptical of the pitching.
Well yeah that’s another story completely, they need a closer and a starter. I still think they’re going to add those pieces, and they have pitchers on the 40 man that can be replaced.
They needed a LH bench bat and this signing addresses that need, but not in a way that I’m confident in. When they start signing bargain bin pitchers I’ll start worrying about that issue.
We need TWO starters. All we have at the moment is Lamet, Davies, and Paddack.
Lamet went through PRP treatment, possibly to avoid a second TJ, but there’s no guarantee it will work. He’s iffy.
Paddack is finding out that that ML hitters are not the same as class A hitters. He still hasn’t showed signs that he’s learning to adjust. He’s also iffy.
Davies was the best and most consistent pitcher on the staff.
Behind these guys? Nobody. And don’t even bring up Gore, Patiño, or Weathers. None of them are ready for the big leagues. Especially not on a team that plans on making the post-season.
You can be super pessimistic about all of the top prospects, but between Patino, Morejon, and Gore, at least one of them is going to emerge as a competent starter. They’re just too talented for all three of them to be complete busts.
I think they’ll sign a guy like Lester, Hamels, or Happ on a 1 year deal and then let the three top prospects compete for the 5th spot. If you get a bounce back year from Hamels then 1. Lamet 2. Davies 3. Hamels 4. Paddack 5. Morejon (with Patino, Luchessi, Gore as depth) is really not the end of the world. With how good the offense is, you can get to the playoffs with that rotation.
I’m not pessimistic about Patiño, Gore, and Weathers, I just don’t think they’re ready. I like Morejon, but they need to give him a role and stick with it. I’d still like to see two decent veterans added.
I don’t know what they’re doing with Luchessi, or why. He’s at that stage where he should be showing that he’s figured it out, but they didn’t give him the opportunity last year. Add to that the way they wasted Richards, and I don’t have a lot of confidence in Preller/Tingler/Cameron’s ability to build or manage a big league pitching staff. Especially if they think they can get away with using 8 pitchers per game in a full season.
Like you, I’m not nearly as concerned about our offense.
Jorge Mateo, Greg Allen, and Javy Guerra all have no minor league options. There isn’t room on a 26-man roster for all three, and they all might get squeezed out one way or another, whether by way of trade or DFA. There are a lot of parts that will move between now and March.
Guerra needs to go
Allen needs to go
O’Grady needs to go
Not knowing this guy at all or the thinking of the Padres front office, I’m going to abstain from commenting as if I know more than they do or that I’m infinitely better than people with years of experience and insider knowledge. Cheers to being reasonable!!
You commented about not-commenting!
I hope Pham is ok after his evening out at Pacers.
Not sure why it was a major league contract. I will say his swing reminds me of a combo Grisham/Cronenworth so maybe they may unearthed him so to speak.
Personally I’d love to see them go after Gallo. Trade Patino, Abrams and prospect for Gallo.
Nope.
@towinagain you must be a rangers fan to make that trade proposal. There’s no way the Padres give up Patino and Abrams for Gallo.
Gallo? No way. The guy has exactly one year where he looks like a ballplayer instead of a one-trick-pony, and some people think he’s an elite player? That’s ss dumb as calling Preller a “rockstar.”
Are you kidding me?
That’s WAAAY too much for Gallo. No way.
No
He’s my sleeper pick for MVP this year
I think a blockbuster deal involving campusano and patiño for snell is in the works and will happen shortly.
Patiño on his own should be enough to get Snell. And even then I still have to say “no thanks.”
Yeah it’ll cost a piss load
Yea typical Padre fandom Rays are trading Snell for Patino
World Series here we come