The Padres have long been expected to look for ways to bolster the offense this deadline season. The outfield looks like a particular area of concern, and AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes that the club is indeed scouring the market for help on the grass.
San Diego has had a middle-of-the-pack offense overall, entering play Friday with a .241/.317/.374 team slash line. That includes a monster .307/.381/.525 showing from star third baseman Manny Machado, though, and the Friars’ production has been a bit top-heavy. Five players (Trent Grisham, Austin Nola, C.J. Abrams, José Azocar and Wil Myers) have taken 100+ plate appearances and been at least 15 percentage points worse than league average with the bat, by measure of wRC+. That leads to some areas rife for possible upgrades, particularly in an outfield that has been a bottom-ten unit with a .220/.303/.346 showing.
Few outfielders are more obvious trade candidates than Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi. An impending free agent on a last place club, the 28-year-old looks like a virtual lock to change uniforms over the next few weeks. He’ll be a priority target for multiple outfield-needy teams, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the Padres are among the clubs with interest.
Benintendi is hitting .317/.386/.401 through 363 plate appearances. He’s only connected on a trio of longballs, but he owns a strong 10.2% walk rate and has punched out in a career-low 14% of his trips. While he’s not making much impact from a power perspective, he brings a disciplined plate approach and makes plenty of contact. Benintendi has also rated well in left field in the estimation of Defensive Runs Saved since landing in Kansas City, and he collected a Gold Glove and finished second in Fielding Bible Award voting at the position last season.
The Friars welcomed back left fielder Jurickson Profar from the concussion injured list this evening, just a week after he suffered the scary injury in a collision with Abrams. Profar will pair with Nomar Mazara in the corner outfield, with Grisham likely to continue as the regular center fielder. Each of Profar and Mazara is having a nice season, but they own more inconsistent career track records. Grisham has had a rough year, carrying a .192/.295/.334 line into play tonight.
Cassavell suggests a center field-capable player might be a target given Grisham’s struggles, although the market for center fielders is quite thin. Oakland’s Ramón Laureano is the top center fielder with a decent chance to be dealt, but he’d require a very strong return with three seasons of club control remaining. Benintendi’s teammate Michael A. Taylor would be a more affordable fallback, although he’s had a generally up-and-down track record at the plate for his career. Benintendi has a bit of experience in center field himself, but he hasn’t logged an inning there since 2019.
Payroll limitations loom over the Padres’ deadline outlook. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored, San Diego’s luxury tax ledger is just underneath the $230MM base threshold. The organization hasn’t shown much appetite for surpassing that mark for a second consecutive season, raising questions about what kind of acquisitions president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and his staff may be able to make. Benintendi, for instance, is playing on an $8.5MM salary. Around $3.4MM of that tab will still be owed come the August 2 trade deadline, and assuming that money would push San Diego into luxury tax territory if all else remained equal. Of course, the Padres could try to offload money of their own and/or only deal with teams willing to pay down the salary of traded players if they’re intent on avoiding the CBT.
No player the Padres add from outside the organization will be a more impactful addition than Fernando Tatís Jr. The star shortstop has yet to play this season after being diagnosed with a wrist fracture in Spring Training. He’s set for a step forward, though, as Preller told Ben & Woods on 93.7 The Fan that Tatís was set to begin his hitting progression today (Twitter link). He’ll continue to be reevaluated on a week-to-week basis, but it’s a notable development as he’d long awaited clearance to begin swinging a bat.
Tatís will certainly still need a fair bit of time to build back into game shape, and he’ll then have to embark on a minor league rehab assignment to get his timing down. In the interim, the Friars will continue to split shortstop time between Ha-Seong Kim and Abrams. The former has been the primary shortstop for most of the year. He’s played excellent defense throughout the season, and he’s caught fire of late at the dish. After hitting only .232/.327/.295 in June, Kim owns a .344/.421/.531 mark through the first couple weeks of July.
Think personally no moves will be made. Padres will do their due diligence but I don’t see anything happening. That said teams will miss out on some sneaky good pieces in the Padres farm system while asking for un-obtaimable blue chip pieces believing the Padres are desperate to make a move.
They are.
Padres not make a move ? Maybe you are content w just making the playoffs but peller is not. He’s got an itchy trigger finger too
They are just under the CBT and if they go over, they lose draft picks next year. They have a lot of guys coming off injuries, so unless someone takes salary from them in the form of Hosmer or Myers, I don’t see them making any big moves.
There’s other ways they can offload salary. They could dump Lamet or another reliever to free up some room
They should be signing David Dahl he has overhauled his stance and been raking along with signing Clint Fraizer
Clint Frazier is not a free agent. He accepted his outright to triple AAA a couple weeks ago
@Rynoshield- do you mean Jackson Frazier?
ok thanks I didn’t know that
Corey Dickerson is the answer to all of their prayers. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Tatis should be an outfielder when he comes back.
Tyler o Neil you are a padre
Voit and O’Neill, that’s a lotta beef
if Padres have a starter to give uo, that could happen.
if Padres have a starter to give up, that could happen.
Are the Cardinals seriously shopping O’Neil? Didn’t he just have an MVP season last year? I guess sell high as he’s already 27.
May have missed the boat on selling high
You’re a creak
Keep our prospects, let’s go with what we have.
Keep them for what?
Tatis has already indicated that he’s likely moving to the outfield when he returns…
Sounds like Friar fans like @Javia135 have a obsessive compulsive craving for Joey Gallo?
Ruiz in center, Myers with a strong comeback to earn a new contract, Tatis plays SS/OF, depending on matchups. Also depends on if Abrams keeps improving and if Kim stays hot. Don’t give away any more future all-stars for a Ludwick/Frazier. Benentendi (no power) won’t be a big enough addition.
Grand slam post, nailed it!
Lol Myers
Scared Money Don’t Make Money
Agree Benentendi does not fill biggest need (slug or speed) and they should lay off. The Frazier comparison is spot on. But Ruiz isn’t a good defensive OF so CF won’t happen on regular basis.
If Myers does well in return and Ruiz (and Tatis in a month) can provide some depth they should be standing pat on OF. They desperately need RP help though, and maybe another bat (DH or C or 1B?). And I’ll be first to say it….the SP hasn’t been very good since early June.
“And I’ll be first to say it….the SP hasn’t been very good since early June.”
Brewer88;
Yes, and consequently the team has backed off as well since then.
The Padres (Preller), Mariners (Dipoto), Cubs (Hoyer), Indians / Jays (Shapiro), DBacks (Hazen), White Sox (Williams / Hahn), A’s (Beane / Frost) , Twins (Falvey / Levine) and a few others seem to get their teams right up to a point that one thinks they’re about to kick the door down. Then something happens and the team takes a step back for a year or two. They reload, the team plays well and their fans think that this time Lucy is going to let Charlie Brown kick the football. Of course Lucy picks it up the last moment. Their employers / team owners seem to figure that the hassles of finding people to staff a new FO and go through the process of hiring new people, revamping the rosters, etc. is simply not worth it. So the FO stays in place, the owner gives them some dictates, and everyone waits for a miracle.
Are you talking about Hoyer post Theo? If so,no one that actually pays attention expected them to be legitimate contenders. If you mean during Theo…they won the WS in 2016.
If Trout or Ohtani were on the table, even a Soto then maybe the Padres change their tune but thats it.
@Samuel And what you just described has absolutely no correlation at all to what is happening with the Mariners right now…
Hey Pod fans how about a Blake Snell for Joey Gallo trade? He would definitely help your defense. He can play anywhere in the outfield, hit towering homeruns, and strike out 200 times a year, and hit under .200.
Aj Preller would block the Yankee’s phone number if Cashman proposed that to him
@LFGMets (Metsin7)- what does the F in your name stand for? I think GM AJ Javia135 would sign up for that kind of move immediately. He really has interest in Joey Gallo, truthfully. He’s saying he doesn’t now. I don’t really believe him though.
Nobody wants Gallo. The Padres might take him for free but they won’t give you anything for him.
I don’t see the Padres making any major trades. Every OF available is far too expensive for what they bring. Profar is plus in LF, put Tatis in RF and a platoon of Grisham and Ruiz in CF.
Reds will give you Pham or Naquin for a #10-20 team prospect, probably eat most of their remaining salary as well. Probably talking a return of someone like Garrett Hawkins, Corey Rosier, or Jackson Wolf territory in your prospect ranks. Pure lotto tickets.
Sure, if you take Hosmer.
Sorry Off-Topic: Hey are there any other favorite online boards where you all like to post? Reddit? Bleacher Report? I’m thinking a free place and not subscriber. Not like I need another place to waste my hours when I could be actually living my life, but I’m kind of a poor baseball nerd atm. Thanks guys (and maybe gals?)
Bleacher Report has been pure crap for a while now. Which sucks because they used to be great.
Anything else I know of is either subscriber like the Athletic (the commenting there isn’t anything to write home about) or team specific sites like Pinstripe Alley (Yankees site).
Fanside and Yardbarker are pretty good for news, some posts.
Reddit is decent
Hosmer looks like he’s *trying* to suck. They gotta move him by any means necessary.
Too bad teams have to actually “agree” to trade for him.
I’d rather see the Padres target proven players like Trey Mancini or Bryan Reynolds. Stop picking up these has-beens and one year wonders. In Mancini you get some much needed pop added to the lineup and a decent hitter, you can alternate him in RF/LF. In Reynolds you have a top of the order hitter that can replace Grisham in CF. Grisham has been the weakest link offensively, but I think we’d still need some pop so I’d look at getting maybe Nelson Cruz…? He hasn’t had a great start and isn’t much of an upgrade from Voit besides he has more experience which would play well in the post season. All I know is this offense needs a spark and Tatis won’t be enough.
How about Ruiz and Ray Kerr for Benintendi?
Rather keep Ruiz and see what he can do. He’s a spark plug
Best fit for Padres to be honest is Cubs C Contreras…DH/C. IMPROVES on Nola and Voit
Mazara reworked his swing (after refusing a minor league assigment last yr..stepped away from the game..saw a hitting guru in Florida and is a completely different player at the plate (Career best pace..) so since mid/late June when he arrived RF has been fixed.. Ruiz just came up Friday and has a 5 game hitting streak with a 2B a 3B and a couple RBIs + a SB.he has taken CF from Grish… and Profar is ranked like 3rd in WAR for LF.. so I don’t think OF is as much a need as people think now.. Beni does bring a consistent bat and Profar has cooled off a bit..we have DH too so more is more.. BUT still think Contreras is the play..unless we can move Hosmer and bring in Bell
The Mets will outbid everyone for Willson but the Pads don’t necessarily need to move Hos to grab Bell. I think the general consensus here is that the Pads don’t make a “big” move but if they do then I’d love to see Bell or Drury come to town. Cheers HenryS! Go Pads
Luis Campusano: Am I a joke to you?
they must not think he’s ready? or they don’t want a rookie catcher leading them on a playoff run?
I don’t think it’s Campusano’s bat, I think it goes back to the complaints from Snell about him last year as a receiver. They’re banking on pitching to carry them so they don’t want to risk it with him.
They only Gallo trade that would work is a Hosmer salary dump. Even then I’d still take Hosmer over Gallo. I watched Gallo play today he’s a slug, his bat is nonexistent and his fielding is average. He has no trade value, sounds like a prime Angel’s deal!
Gallo’s bat improves when the shifts go away
Gallo is a free agent, Hosmer is not. Gallo is less negative value than Hosmer.
Benintendi to the Padres would be a great pickup.
For Ruiz and Ray Kerr
KCmark-No chance Ruiz is available for a rental at this point. You may as well get that idea out of your head.
What if Barlow or Keller is included in the deal?
The Pads pass if only because they have lots of bullpen guys due to check-in soon & ex-Royal Ruiz is a more expensive prospect nowadays. His stock is through the roof rn.
Machado having monster year that’s a new one. 25th in Rbis, 35 in homers, 15th in Slig doesn’t seem monster good yes
1995 called. They want their analytics back.
Bring in Mancini, Drury and Bell…move out Snell, Lamet, Weathers and prospects.
@PadreB3011; if they want Mancini, Elias is probably looking for a mid level starter prospect? Someone like a Vela. Would SD consider this?
ABSOLUTELY! Our bats have gone ICE COLD!
Gallo for a bag of balls. Just to get the poor guy out of New York. It’s been brutal for him.
Hosmer and prospects, like Mears or Kopps for Gallo.
The Yankees have Rizzo. Don’t need another 1B.
Tigers got some Avila will give ya
Does this mean the Padres are less woke than the Yankees since according to Heyman the Yankees are willing to ignore Benni due to his personal bodily decisions?
Padres don’t have to travel to Canada several times a season like the Yankees do.
So they’re ok with endangering the lives of millions so long as they’re perhaps not directly contributing to it?
If everyone around them is vaxed they can’t endanger them … so let them endanger themselves if they chose to… I am vaxed my wife is not..personal choices.. if your vaxed you are ok so do as you want..
How can we be certain that all people he’ll come in contact with are vaxxed? Isn’t that uncertainty the reason he’s not welcome in Canada?
This is Baseball. If you’re scared or worried, post on CNN or BookFace
“Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leader of the U.S. government’s Covid pandemic response effort, has tested positive for the coronavirus.”
So the man that mind you is fully vaxxed and twice boosted and in charge of all things covid and has pretty much all medical related things at his disposal caught it about a month ago. He would have been fully allowed in Canada and most likely most if not all world leaders would have the same ability to transfer covid as a baseball player.
How can we be certain you are not transmitting covid to others? You could be asymptomatic and infect the entire country again and cause another full blown pandemic as im sure you dont have better access to medical supplies and assistance than the US Chief Medical Officer.
Being VAXXED is ENDANGERING!
Dr Fauci speaks… just live in your safe space and leave the rest of us alone you coward
Yeah Not really the most meaningful place to blog on politics. People on this site know about baseball (at least most of them) and aren’t the right people to discuss politics or vaccination policy with.
I didn’t think Benintendi’s exit velocity could endanger that many.
I see. You’re one of those. Go and climb under your bed and don’t come out. The covid boogeyman mite just get you.
If I am AJP Hosmer ..(gains full 10/5 rights after the deadline).. needs to be move 3/39 is not terrible BUT can’t have a career .701 OPS (postseason#’s)1B in the postseason…
If we acquire 2 BATS.. next man out is Luke Voit… career #’s and 2022 #’s are way out of wack… I want vintage Voit..not this Yugo version of him
“I want vintage Voit”
LOL
You mean the one or two decent years he had?
You can expect to see Hosmer batting cleanup and lining up at 1B forthe Padres every game through 2025. No one is trading for him and they weirdly refuse to bench him or move him down in the lineup.
And nobody cares if his salary drops to $13m/yr after 2022.
Play Ruiz every day in CF. It’s the only way to find out for certain if the adjustment he made to his swing this past off season can be sustained at the MLB level. So far, so good. Right now, Ruiz, with his dynamic speed and the ability to distract a pitcher, should be batting first or second in the lineup.
When Tatis returns, he’s a SS, period! Kim has enjoyed a decent streak with the bat, but that won’t last. We’ve have 500 MLB at bats to prove that point. Plus, the last thing the Padres need is Tatis diving for balls in the outfield and/or running into a wall.
Dreams of moving Hosmer are exactly that. Dreams! Nobody wants him, even if the Padres pay 80% of his salary. Total stiff.
Most contenders still need SP. Thus, it might be easier for the Padres to trade a Nick Martinez or Snell for a DH type who can smash. Voit, a good guy by all accounts, had his one hot streak and has pretty much been a zero ever since. Even a few games at Coors vs. mediocre pitching didn’t help.
If Myers shows anything upon his return, I’d put him at 1B. An outfield of Profar, Ruiz and Grisham is Gold Glove worthy. They’ll hit enough to be assets . If our infielders do their normal thing with the bats, we don’t need an outfield of Mike Trouts.
Ruiz GG- worthy? Based upon what information?
His lifetime experience as an OF is 10 months. Still learning position.
Benintendi and Merrifield for Ruiz and Kerr.
I don’t know what version of the Padres your watching but Kim is easily one of their best players. Tatis goes to a corner outfield spot and hopefully stays healthy enough to provide an upgrade
I think a Santander for Snell deal makes the most sense for both teams. Mancini a decent fit but not sure they want him in the outfield
Padres outfield of profar, ruiz and mazara is the best they’ve had all year. Mazara has done nothing but hit since he has been called up. Ruiz looks like he can be a real upgrade over Grisham at center. Myers will be back and can platoon at rf with mazara and some dh.
The number 1 thing the padres have to do is trade Hosmer. His money isn’t as bad after this year. Add some cash and prospect/s to get it done.
Once he is gone you can either trade for bell or Mancini. If the price is too high you can always move Cronenworth to 1b.
Contreras is the other piece they could use. He can catch or dh, deepening the lineup. Lastly they need to add a late inning reliever. Though do have a number of back end guys coming back in Aug so they could try to wait it out for them.
While the outfield stats look bad and they are. They aren’t as bad now as they were most of the year. 1b is the biggest issue. Reynolds is currently injured and may miss some real time. Plus the pirates want an arm and a leg for him. Center fielders in the trade market are limited or very expensive. I’d ride it out with ruiz. Kid looks the part and has had a monster season in the minors. So far in the majors he looks like he could continue that to a certain degree.
They could also consider trading clevinger and manaea. Then using some of those prospects to aquire castillo. Main reason for this is because of all the padres free agent starters next year. Would upgrade this year’s team (castillo is better) and give them another starter for next year.
Lots of teams would have interest in clevinger and manaea. Rather then spend heavy on castillo. Though this doesn’t need to be done by the padres it is an option. Could even add the name snell here though he is signed through next year so might be smart to keep him.
This article based on the Padres needing to strengthen their OF offense has been written numerous times every trading deadline and offseason for 3 years now.
It’s nice that the players mentioned in the article have changed; although as usual little or no discussion is held as to who the Padres have to trade that the teams holding the players rights might be interested in acquiring.
The Padres fit right behind the Yankees and Red Sox as rumor material. That’s to AJ Preller’s credit as he doesn’t work in a large, national media market. Which BTW brings up: Where are all the Jerry Dipoto / Mariner articles? He’s always churning his roster. Come on, the team just had a winning streak and is in a fight for a playoff spot. Surely there’s a bunch of “they need this or that” possibilities that can be stretched ad nauseum.
Just use Abrams melvin needs to be fired
Dumbest comment on the thread! Melvin is a genius!
Already been fired once.. not too long ago either. Padres winning percentage in 2020 was .617, last year it was .434., right now it is .554.. all lower numbers since he has been at the helm, padreb2011
@ Michael. Wrong. Melvin wasn’t manager of Padres during last year’s .434. But he has improved them to .554 since last year, give him a raise?
I farted
Hey buddy, help for you them.us/story/gay-men-masculinity-mental-health
So adamant on having him up at the start of the season #firemelvin
Great point!
Preller changes managers and coaches as almost as often as he changes players.
Juicy stuff ya got there!
I think for the right return the Padres could pry Santander and or Mancini from the Orioles. They could even snag Mullins for the right package.
O’s system is deep and those dudes are ready to break in majors. Doubt Os are looking to sell. 6 of their top 7 prospects will all be in bigs by all star game 23
Hey, for the right return they could pry Trout from the Angels. They could even snag Ohtani for the right package.
Contreras and/or Robertson along with Happ are names the Cubs potentially deal. Happ being the least likely but all three could help fill a need for the Pads. Not saying they go after all three just that one of those names helps fill a hole and helps their chances moving forward.
Castillo and Pham for Myers camp hassell and susana
Reds eat Myers contract to keep padres under cap
Would the Padres be interested in a return of 24-year-old outfielder Taylor Trammell, who posted an OPS+ of 125 in 94 MLB plate appearances this year before landing on the IL on June 30 with a hamstring issue?
Trammell may be expendable in Seattle when Mitch Haniger and Kyle Lewis return from the IL to join Julio Rodriguez and Jesse Winker in a crowded outfield (with Carlos Santana at DH).
No. Something like Haniger for Snell could work though, depending on other pieces involved.
@ tippin. That’s a trade that has been speculated for some time, even recently:
sodomojo.com/2022/07/15/mock-trade-mariners-padres…
Fansided is one-sided… Snell signed through ’23 is way more valuable than a 4th OFer on an expiring contract… what else would Seattle add to the offer?
Rather have bullpen help than OF help.
Michael A Taylor would be a good compliment to Mazara
Grisham and Ruiz can handle CF
Tatis Jr should covert to OF with Kim and Abrams handling ss with Kim playing 2b and 3b as well. Profar can shift to super utility 1b 2b 3b corner of center field.
The pen needs help and they should target at least 1 starter to replace Snell.
Ideal affordable wishlist
Michael A Taylor
Andrew Chafin / Matt More LHRP
Wily Peralta / Michael Fulmer RHRP
Martin Perez (SP)
Completely agree about RP being a glaring need. Rogers and Crismatt were great for a while, but meh lately. Garcia has been volatile, Stammen and Tim Hill mostly awful, and no one else has stepped up. Not sure why Castillo remains in minors.
Pomeranz, Suarez and Adams are a month away at best. P. Johnson is about 3 weeks away. Stammen….who knows, maybe he’s done.
By the time those guys return the team could be at .500 and too far gone. Blowing quality starts is the theme of the team this year, along with hitting like they’re the 1969 Pads.
(baseball-reference.com/teams/SDP/1969.shtml)
They did just get Steven Wilson back so that might help a little but not enough. Morejon and Martinez serve as stopgap RPs, maybe Gore will join them.. Just so many ifs, and not real sense of a near-time solution.
People seem to think offense is the issue but pen has been the biggest issue. Can’t hold leads. They need to overhaul the pen and bring in more reliable options.
Snell may not like it but him and Clevinger should piggy back each other
Musgrove Darvish Manea Gore/Martinez and Clevinger/Snell should be the rotation plan going forward. Get some pen additions that are more reliable.
Winning 1-0 2-1 is better than losing 8-5 10-7.
They’ll have to lean heavily on platoon advantages but it’s doable
RH starter
Hosmer, Cronenworth, Abrams, Machado, Grisham, Mazara, Tatis Jr, Voit, C
LH starter
Voit, cronenworth, Kim, Machado, ruiz, taylor/rh bat, tatis Jr, C
I like the piggyback ideas, but they really do need to replace grisham, who’s defense as of late has been atrocious. I’d say Ruiz center, mazara right, profar in left them add soto to DH, cause voit is bad
Agree bullpen is a joke and a problem all year. It’s fun to talk about another bat but all that might be available are either too expensive, playing a last place schedule or another dead yankee bat (don’t we already have one of those?) First place is gone they ain’t making up 11 games in loss column in the next 70 games. To hold on to a wild card they need help in bullpen or they can chuck this season. Bear in mind this is the most expensive time to make offensive upgrades and the Pads have a ton of money leaving the books after this year when upgrades will be cheaper this fall
Randall Grichuk would make an excellent Padre
David Peralta? Not sure he’s an upgrade over Mazara.
Mazara won’t be replaced, he’s been raking, they need to upgrade over grisham, who is just pure trash
I could see Ian Happ being a target from the Cubs potentially. Obvious history with Hoyer and Pads certainly doesn’t hurt.
Please No Gallo or Laureano. Laureano has been trash since he got busted for PEDs.
Padres should get soto! (I wish)
I hear there’s an OF available in DC
Just trade Lament to NYY for Gallo.
I could see a Benny deal that includes Hosmer in the return package