The Dodgers have hired Dontrelle Willis as a special assistant in the player development department. Willis made the announcement himself via Twitter, joking “Special assistant sounds dope even tho i don’t know what it means.” A veteran of nine MLB seasons, the D-Train is best remembered for his time with the Marlins from 2003-07, a stint that included NL Rookie Of The Year honors in 2003, a second-place finish NL Cy Young voting in 2005, two All-Star appearances, and a World Series ring with the Marlins’ 2003 championship team.
Still only 39 years old, Willis’ last MLB game was in 2011, though he kept pitching in the minors and in independent ball until 2015. He has since worked as a TV broadcaster since retiring, and Willis will now move into a front office role alongside a former teammate from the 2010 Tigers — Will Rhymes is entering his third season as the Dodgers’ director of player development.
More from around the National League as we head into March…
- Noah Syndergaard is making good progress in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Mets manager Luis Rojas and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told reporters (including Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). The right-hander’s latest rehab step was throwing three sliders on Saturday, and Syndergaard has otherwise been participating in most normal workouts and baseball activities. This doesn’t mean his timeline has been pushed up, however, as Syndergaard’s target date for a return is still sometime in June, more than 14 months after his TJ procedure. Hefner sees the extended recovery time as a plus, describing the usual 14-15 month process as “good for the player, for their long-term success…making sure that you’re really locked in before the lights turn on and intensity goes up.”
- “It was fun to sit back on a team and I wasn’t in a trade rumor,” Wil Myers told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It was cool to watch these trades unfold and they became my new teammates instead of guys I was traded for.” Myers been a constant on MLBTR’s pages over the years, thanks to two past trades and a number of other rumors, particularly last season when the Padres reportedly explored several deals to get Myers (and his contract) off the books in the wake of his lackluster 2019 season. In 2020, however, Myers rebounded to hit .288/.353/.606 with 15 homers in 218 plate appearances — the best overall season of his career in terms of pure production, with the caveat that it came during an abbreviated season. Myers still has $41MM in guaranteed money remaining on his deal through the 2022 season, though that contract no longer looks quite as onerous as it once did, given both Myers’ production and the Padres’ willingness to spend big in pursuit of a title. “To sit back and know what this organization has been through, what I’ve been through, it’s really cool to sit here and see where we are in 2021,” Myers said.
Wow, only 39? Sometimes it feels like that 2003 Marlins championship was 30 years ago.
The ensuing sell-off and 16 years of mediocre-to-awful baseball probably has something to do with it.
You got that right.
Yeah, considering that from 2004 through 2009 (the rest of that decade), the Marlins had 4 winning records in those 6 seasons just wreaks of awful after winning it all.
Now the 2010s were awful, but that was several years after that championship.
Right!!
This would explain why the giants signed kazmir and not willis.
Myers had a great year last year, but I imagine Preller would trade him if he thought a team would take him lol.
Lol a lot of Padres fanboys think the dude has actual trade value
I don’t understand how you got “Wil Myers has trade value” out of “Preller would probably trade Myers if he could”.
MLB, they are operating that AI that malfunctions and kills all of humanity, and that’s how they got that answer
Lets just pray Will Smith is in time
I don’t think they are referring to your comment, they are referring to other threads and places like Facebook/Twitter/Reddit where Myers is like some kind of god to a small section of Padres fans. I don’t get it either…
Wil is a god to the Padres fans on Reddit/Twitter, but removepitcherwins really needs to get over it. Every single time Wil Myers is mentioned on this website, he always comments about how he has no trade value.
I’ve noticed that too. Maybe he thinks no other team has ever signed a contract it later regretted. As for regret, even though he didn’t perform as well as we liked, he was on a reduced salary early on. Last year so went well. It isn’t like the contract has been so bad so far. On the negative side, sure but not a lot. The negativity is based on the high years at prior performance. I have tried to explain that 2020 and subsequent years Myers is on a different team and that will likely (did 2020) affect him mentally in a positive way. As for fan favorite, this guy signs autographs and talks to fans at ST more than any player I have ever seen.
From attending ST the previous 2 years, I saw Wil signing every day multiple times and interacting with fans like no other player. Even on 3/10/20 right before the shutdown when players weren’t stopping, he would sign for kids. I suspect that is at least in part the basis for the social media feelings toward him. I’m not on social media so I can’t speak to that but, if he is treated that way, here is a personal perspective as to why.
Because he does have no trade value
Nobody said he had trade value, just that if Preller could move him, he would, implying that he hasn’t been able to move him because of a lack of trade value.
Many Padres fans (not necessarily including bbatardo) think he shouldn’t move him unless he gets back “a frontline starter/an elite closer/top prospects.”
Who Would play RF for Pads in 2021 with a a reasonable expectation of .260, 28 hr and at least good defense if he was traded (based on a actual historical statistics). Nobody on the current team is the answer so, that is my perspective on why we shouldn’t trade him. We don’t need another frontline starter anywhere or a closer for that matter as much as we would need a RF if Wil wasn’t there.
The father, the son, the Wil Myers. Amen.
@Longtimecoming I used to think that they would trade Myers once the money owed to him was more manageable to offload, but aside from the money issue, the other aspect that you’re correct on is that they don’t really have the internal candidates to replace both him and Pham if they are gone, and I’m assuming that Pham will leave in FA after this season.
Profar can plug one of those holes, but Hassell isn’t ready and I don’t think Oña is going to be good enough. So it makes more sense to keep Myers through 2022 rather than try to dump his salary, unless they’re going to move Abrams to CF and Grisham to RF to take Myers spot, which might be what they have to do long term anyways, but I don’t think there’s any need to rush that.
Exactly. I agree on everything you just said and feel that until Abrams is ready, Wil is RF. Now, if he produces like 2020 for next 2 years, they may actually be glad they have a 20 mil option for 2023 though because LF will be up for grabs unless Hassell is also ready. Prospects are prospects until they aren’t. Fingers crossed that both prospects hit it big.
@Longtimecoming the better outfielder who they could sign with the money they would save by trading Myers is the answer to that question. Also it is very possible that Myers doesn’t hit .260 in 2021.
@CNichols not sure why you think Pham would be so hard to replace. He was already a serious non-tender candidate this offseason.
Outfielder they could sign with money saved: ok looking at Myers actual productivity and actual money paid, please make a list of guys that they could get. Remember those 4.5 mil years and his productivity. 2020 – earned even the 22 mil. So who would they get to produce his numbers? Of course there is every chance he doesn’t hit .260. He could hit .261 or .259 or any other number but based on recent productivity as a guide as opposed to a crystal ball, .260 is a reasonable expectation for him. I guess you have a better way for predicting that your hypothetical better options would hit better than .260 in 2021 (for far less money even) if the Padres would have signed them instead of extending Myers years ago?
All of them. Literally no one that isn’t a Preller kool-aid drinker sees Wil Myers’ contract as having any surplus value at all. In fact, a couple of weeks ago during a live chat, someone asked if Wil Myers would get claimed if Preller put him on waivers tomorrow and the writer (I think it was Steve) said no. And trading him implies they get something for him rather than the nothing they get if they lose him to waivers.
The lack of prospects to replenish their OF is one of the reasons that they tendered Pham a contract. I’m just saying, if you lose both Pham and Myers then it exacerbates that problem.
Dennis Lin at the Athletic had an article back in December about why they tendered Pham a contract and it says, “Other factors contributed to the Padres’ willingness to gamble on another season of Pham. The farm system, for example, is low on major-league-ready outfield prospects after an August trade of Taylor Trammell. And San Diego still favored Pham’s track record as an on-base threat over potentially cheaper options in trades and free agency”.
Thats basically the point I am trying to make about Myers too. Pham’s gone in 2022 and if you get rid of Myers too then you have two holes to fill in the OF not just one, but they don’t have MLB ready OF prospects to replace these guys.
This is a distinction that I don’t disagree with. I don’t think anyone would likely claim him for the 2 years remaining. Ok. Does that mean the entire production of his career makes his contract bad? I say no based on stats. You say they could have “all of them” as better options for the past 4-5 years of Myers productivity / value. I don’t think so. Name 1 available RF that the Padres could have gotten to produce what Myers did in 2020 for 22 mil – he has to have been available and has to have been more productive. Your focus seems to be on what is left. My focus is looking back and saying it hasn’t been bad. My focus is saying if he remains as good as 2020 then it will be good deal. You seem to say that you know he will not be any better than 2019 so it is a horrible contract. I admit I don’t know the future, so I stick with the past for reasonable projections. You seem to skip 2020 and 2018 and 2017 and 2016.
@Longtimecoming See? I just made you admit that I am right. If no one would claim Myers it means he’s not worth his remaining contract. And since supply and demand determine what a player is worth along with his production, if he’s not worth his remaining contract it means the Padres could sign someone as good or better for less in FA.
“My focus is saying if he remains as good as 2020 then it will be good deal.”
Therein lies the problem. Your argument is based on assumptions favorable to your position.
“
How do you know that he won’t be worth the rest of his contract? Padres have him and don’t have the luxury of not claiming him off waivers. Supply? Not a lot of better options out there – maybe cheaper contracts, but better production available for the taking? You haven’t named them. You said the Padres could use the saved money to add other players? I said we didn’t really need any others. So, Pads have his contract and don’t have the choice. My problem with you, line what others said, you jump on the Myers has no trade value line that matters. No one, even the article, mentioned or suggested that Myers had trade value yet, you, as a negative nelly, had to pipe up and say what didn’t need to be said. I merely presented the posit trust as the team that has the contract, they don’t have any reason to regret the extension based on productivity. Extensions are risk. I think it is reasonable I think Myers will at least reach 22 mil production or at least close enough to where the city tract wasn’t a loss. Was it a huge win? Only time will tell but for now it is at least a push.
@RemovePitcherWins You are right about Wil Myers having no surplus value or alternatively no trade value, but you’re conflating that concept with his on field value to basically say that he is worth nothing, which isn’t accurate.
Wil Myers has no trade value solely because he is still owed $41M over the next two seasons. He can still play starting caliber RF and produce value on the field, he’s just overpaid for the amount of on field value that he adds, hence his contract being underwater and why he likely wouldn’t be claimed on waivers.
The ZIPS projection on Myers is 249/.323/.480, a 108 WRC+ and 1.6WAR, thats an above average player. So where would SD replace that output from? There’s no one better than that remaining in FA and this year I think the only better OF than that were Springer/Ozuna/Brantley and maybe Pederson. There’s not a ton of options to replace that kind of production, so even if theoretically you should be able to get more value on the open market, in reality its hard to actually do that.
CNichols. Bingo! Thank you. Well said and brings my point home. RemovePitcher thinks everyone is arguing against his unnecessary statement of “no trade value” when they try to bring out other perspectives on the actual real life situation as it exists in reality and not on a fantasy league.
Not Pederson
I am not conflating anything with anything. Myers isn’t useless. But for what he’s being paid, you could do better. And If that weren’t true, he’d get claimed on waivers by the team with first dibs.
You are taking a fantasy league approach. Real life – walk us all through how and who the Padres could have in RF right now with all real world facts in play that proves that they could “do better.”
Wouldn’t be claimed does not equal Padres could do better. Tell us how and who.
Not if that person doesnt exist. Also Wil’s contract was backloaded, he gave SD a lot of cheap years before it went to 20 million per year.
Padres could do better at that price point is exactly what Wil not getting claimed means.
Padre fans still counting prospects as shoo ins. They haven’t produced homegrown position player All Star starter since Gwynn
Roberto Alomar and Benito Santiago say WHHHAAAT? I’ll be nice and stop there because I don’t have the time. Quit being so sour and smell the roses PadreforLife (but I refuse to be a real fan)
padreforlife is right for once (is the world ending?) Tony was the last homegrown position player to represent the Padres at the ASG. Although frankly Hunter Renfroe not making it in 2019 was a joke.
Seriously – Roberto signed as amateur free agent in 1985 and represented the SD Padres in 1990 all star game as a 2nd baseman.
Please explain how you and PadreforLife are correct?
Because Tony Gwynn represented the Padres at the All Star game more recently. Last time was 1999.
if by “homegrown” you mean first MLB game played as Padre after they came out of Padres minors then Everyth Cabrera is last to be in ASG for Padres (2012).. Then there’s Jake Peavy. Padreforrecentlife?
Using the last AS game as the measuring stick when the comment was taking a shot at Padres for not having “homegrown position players” makes sense. Don’t actually focus of the fact that the Padres actually did “grow” both Alomars (Sandy appeared only as Indian); Baerga (didn’t appear as Pad) and Santiago; – these players were “homegrown” by Padres. Now criticize then management and ownership for trading them so young all you want and I’ll be right there with you. But don’t ignore and say they weren’t “homegrown” by Pads as they were “grown” AFTER Gwynn was “grown”.
@RPWinsFTRBooks, if he was useless the Padres (who only have a pennant in their interest) wouldn’t start him and bat him in the heart of their lineup. They’d let him go. There’s something about a 30 HR/15 SB/260 hitter that keeps them hanging on.
@Brewer88 Everth Cabrera wasn’t homegrown. Taken from the Rockies in the Rule 5 draft.
And I never said Myers was useless. Just that for what he’s making, the Padres could do better. Also, everyone and their grandmother hit 30 HR’s in 2019.
@Longtimecoming being able to successfully get guys over the hump into the majors is kinda the most important step in the development process, is it not?
His first ML game was for Pads after a season in Pads farm.. By most definitions that’s homegrown.
@Brewer88 No, Cabrera’s first ML game was for the Padres after spending no time in the Padres farm system. He was a Rule 5 pick which means the season before he made his ML debut he spent the entire year in the Rockies’ farm. And by no definition is that homegrown. H0megrown literally means the player was drafted (or sign as an int’l free agent) by one team and has spent his entire major league career with that team. That’s it.
He played AAA Padres in 2009 before being called up.
@Brewer88 No he did not.
You are correct, I see that he was on the opening day roster, was sent down to minors later in season. Hey my apologies
I did a quick search for how many all-stars in 2019 season were “homegrown” by your definition (and thanks for that clarification by the way), and it was just 6 guys, which I found interesting. I guess homegrown isn’t as common as it used to be?
@Brewer88 He was never sent down. He had a hand injury and made a rehab assignment before being reinstated from the IL (the rules regarding IL placement and rehab assignments are the same for Rule 5 players as they are for any other player). Cabrera was never optioned in 2009.
It’s not “my” definition. It’s THE definition. The definition of homegrown is not open for debate.
home·grown
/ˌhōmˈɡrōn/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
grown or produced in one’s own garden or country.
“a basket of homegrown fruit”
belonging to one’s own particular locality or country.
“a jazz concert featuring homegrown artists”
That is not in reference to sports. Look at any “each team’s best homegrown player” list and you will notice that players who were traded for as prospects, even if it was very shortly after they signed, are not included. Fernando Tatis Jr. doesn’t qualify as homegrown, for instance.
Wil is the Golden God!
Exactly the beat writers in San Diego are biggest homers ever they never tell the whole story. Myers had nice 60 games against the dregs of NL West and AL West. Of course he did nothing against Dodgers in DS because he can’t hit good pitching
60 games isn’t a year he’s owed 40 mil he is of no interest to teams unless Padres paying down contract
Ryan thinks he’s rainman or something…Definitely, Definitely thinks he’s rainman.
Always thought you and padreforlife were the same person based on your bad takes and even worse grammar. Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe your comment is just a red herring…
The Dodgers have a bunch of “special assistants” on their FO roster. Chase Utley is another one of them and as far as anyone can tell his duties consist of showing up on SportsNet LA very rarely for pregame and postgame shows. So no wonder Willis has no idea what the title means. It seems like it means you have friends inside the organization.
Better than Utley giving lessons on how to slide.
If Utley is giving sliding lessons then Ruben Tejada must be giving how to tend broken hip seminars to the rest of the league?
For an extra 25 dollars David Wright will stair the player down afterwards
Stair?
Four twunny five dollers Daved Rite will stair doewn the playur.
Pretty sure they are referring to the death gaze DW shot at Utley after that dirty ass play. But yea, stare.
Does this make Wright the StairMaster?
Good one!
YAWN
Here’s what was written about Raul Ibanez when he left LAD after 4+ years of being a special assistant. They basically could be anything from rover coaches in ST or during the year, maybe help get a tough to-sign-draftee to sign by having them scout a game, and sure maybe an event now and then
“ Ibañez has been part of the Dodgers organization since 2016 when he was hired to assist in all aspects of baseball operations, including scouting, player development and working with the club’s players, both at the Major and Minor League levels.”
This was 4 weeks ago. It took about 4 seconds to find this on google. I’d also bet the D Train joining LA+Ibanez leaving timing are linked
I’d bet money they do a lot more you don’t hear about. you are quite cynical jeez
google.com/amp/s/dodgerblue.com/dodgers-special-as…
Jeez is right, but for a different reason (mostly for not getting it).
Utley for example was hired to be a special assistant in broadcasting. He is seen on-air almost not at all.
That’s something you could look up too. Some of knew it already.
Meh. You made it sound like you believe the entire position is a joke where they have no real duties, and utley is simply one example. Not that your entire point was based solely on him. Either way, it’s wrong
You really think AA landed the Braves job directly from LA because he had no duties?
Just because he’s not on tv doesn’t mean he’s not doing something associated with the team.
Just an unintelligent comment by Willis
Utley should be reincarnating eternally into that moment when he hurt Tejada and dying immediately from the pain.
D Train was so fun back in the day. The crazy windup right out of a sandlot game, the smile, just a guy who was having fun playing the game.
He sat in with Rojas on an Angels game and did a good job a while back.
They kept trying to mess with his windup and such. It made sense to try to tinker with it at a point…. But if he was successful one way and then bit successful at all any other way then what should you do? It was sad. At least he got to accomplish things players would dream of before his career ended.
Ludafish, I don’t remember them messing with Willis’s mechanics until he struggled, then they went to his falling off the mound “issues” and attempted to straighten it out and of course, it made the situation worse.
Miami, back in the day had a bad reputation, deservedly for messing with pitchers mechanics. Andrew Miller was another they tried to “fix” and by the time Marlins instructors were done, he was barely touching 90mph.
Maybe it was a good old boy club of coaches, maybe it was Loria being cheap with the types of people being brought in, but regardless. That team just didn’t have a clue, organizationally.
I’m a marlins fan also from way back, like you and it was nearly criminal with some of the nonsense that fans had to endure, still until see better actually happen instead of talk.
Marlins seemed to find great SP’s on the regular Beckett, Burnett, Penny, Pavano, Willis, and for one game in the playoffs against Atlanta – Livan Hernandez.
Look at their World Series run. They were giving him pitches a foot off the plate. Umps starting being tighter with the strike zone after that season, and it hirt a lot of pitchers, especially DW.
Willis’ extension was the worst contract ever handed out by DD. Worse than Miggy’s, ever worse than Zimmerman’s. And that’s pretty bad.
Heck, at least Zim pitched a few games for his money. D-Train got the extension before throwing a pitch in Detroit, IIRC.
For some Yankees fans the 2003 World Series seems like it was yesterday. Not as bad as a memory 2001 but 2003 still stings. I still hate Josh Beckett who later went to Boston to win again.
Coach Willis, I can’t seem to hit the outside corner with my fastball can you help me with that?
That’s not the whole conversation. At least know the whole story.
Coach Willis’ response: “Kid, just go to a wacky pitching style that makes them jump to swing at it.”
Player: “But Coach Willis, the league will adjust at some point. What do I do when they stop swinging at my pitches out of the strikezone?”
[Crickets chirping]
Throw your leg super height contort your body into a pretzel and the look up at the sky, close your eyes and fire, it’ll be fine.
I guess D train will try to replace the footsteps of T Lasorda at ST this year. At least he has that great smile…….
Meyers was much, much more selective and disciplined at the plate last year which lead to his success. The new hitting coach preaches it and almost demands it. When you get ahead in the count and swing at strikes, you become a better hitter. Instead of giving him credit for that, some people only want to focus on the negative. Human nature is funny.
He was healthy too, and he’s never had this good a lineup around him in the order. He’s now in a situation that promotes improvement over his career averages.
“I don’t know what truculent means, but if it’s good, I’m that”.
Lentils hauled by truckers union