The Padres have been rumored to be a surprise entrant in the market for the “Big Four” shortstops and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says this could “possibly even” include Trea Turner.
Since the Friars were recently connected to the shortstop market generally and Xander Bogaerts specifically, it’s not shocking that they would have some degree of interest in Turner as well. However, despite the “Big Four” shortstops often being lumped together, there’s a difference between them. MLBTR predicted Turner and Carlos Correa to earn $32MM per season or higher while Bogaerts is projected at an average annual value of $27MM and Dansby Swanson at $22MM.
Those might seem like small differences but they are magnified for a Padres team that paid the competitive balance tax in each of the past two years. The CBT system features escalating penalties for repeat payors, with a third consecutive year over the line resulting in a 50% tax for every dollar over. The Padres currently have a CBT number of $230MM, according to Roster Resource, just $3MM shy of this year’s lowest luxury tax threshold of $233MM. The second threshold is $253MM, something that the Padres would certainly go over if they add one of the top shortstops, at which point their spending would be subject to a 62% tax.
Since the Padres are also looking to upgrade their rotation, it’s always seemed hard to picture them laying out a huge contract for a shortstop and paying such a tax premium to do so. There’s also the on-field fit, which isn’t super smooth since they have Ha-Seong Kim and Fernando Tatis Jr. as shortstop options. It’s been suggested they could add a shortstop and play Kim at second, Jake Cronenworth at first base and Tatis in the outfield, but it’s probably easier to just sign a first baseman or a left fielder.
Elsewhere in Padres news, Rosenthal reports in a separate column that the club is likely to re-sign reliever Craig Stammen. The veteran, who turns 39 in March, recently spoke about his desire to return in 2023 despite dealing with a shoulder injury in the second half of the season. He’s been in San Diego for six seasons now and it seems like there’s interest on both sides in making it seven.
Tatis Jr should go to the OF
Padres should bring back Profar, sign Benintendi would be option 1, or trade for an OF from a team with surplus.
Profar, Grisham/Azocar/, Tatis Jr
Soto should shift to a 1B/DH/OF sometimes to keep his bat in the lineup and maximize defense in the OF.
Padres should bring in a RH power platoon bat that can play 1B/DH/corner OF to go against lefties.
Machado, Kim, Cronenworth, Soto on the INF.
Put money towards adding SP depth, RP depth.
It seems like Tatis is going to be playing the outfield and the Padres will add an infielder.
Sorry if I hit a nerve. Maybe we’ll see you in October. Not likely tho…
Sure, you’ll see the Padres in October while watching them on TV and you’re left at home wondering what went wrong in the playoffs again.
Is Tatis a better option over Soto in right field (honest question) Especially if Benintendi is in left.
@DodgerBlond
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_suspended_for_performance-enhancing_drugs
You know what that link is too? A very long list of players that have had PED suspensions. Every team has multiple entrees. It’s stupid to pick on the current flavor of the month.
SalaryCapMyth, Exactly. And that list is only the guys that got caught. Who knows how many have gotten away with it. It’s guaranteed no one would be trying to, if everyone that did, got caught.
I just don’t see the fit if they’re going after one of the big 4. They’re probably just trying to drive up the price.
I think this is a Preller bluff.
I’d agree with you if I hadn’t seen how he’s operated in the past. When there are shiny objects out there he wants them, and he collects as many as he can. I don’t think a signing is realistic, but I think the interest is real.
Every team in MLB is interested in Turner, why single out Preller just because writers like to?
I was responding to this being a Preller bluff. I doubted that because, as his history shows, Preller loves to go after the big stars.
And even if every team was interested in Turner, Preller being interested is curious, since the need at SS is much less for SD than most other teams. It would be one thing if they didn’t have other needs, like the rotation, and they they had a hole to fill at SS.
Maybe, Turner now wants to be as far away from the wifey as possible?
Please move Cronenworth to 1B and turn him into a 1.5 war player instantly lmao
Tatis should DH for 70-80 games until his bat is back to elite, avoid injury and focus on his bat.
Kim should be the shortstop for the first 7-80 games. If he can maintain his 2022 pace, he should stay there the whole season.
Who’s to say his bat won’t be elite right out of the gate? After his previous long injury layoffs, he came back mashing right away. I wouldn’t count on it being any different this time.
Who’s to say his bat will ever be elite again?? The problem is, this kid hasn’t really played a ton of MLB. Now he has a confidence problem I’ll bet with the world coming down on him. Not to mention the boost he may have gotten from PED use. I’m not saying he won’t be but that’s alot of stuff for a young baseball player to figure out and deal with
This was a longer layoff and a procedure was done. I think Tatis will hit over 35 homers in 2023 and he will miss a few at the beginning from his roid suspension. Average and oboe will take some adjusting after the long layoff. But could he be better or worse with lots of rest, of course it could go either way
It’s most likely he does what hes done, and with 500 AB that translates to 40+ HRs 30 SBs, 7+ WAR
Of course they are. Preller collects players like baseball cards. He goes for the big names regardless of how they fit together as a team.
Yep. Zero idea of how to platoon/accumulate depth/positional value, etc. The anti-Zaidi
@hiflew in looking at the present roster of the Padres, and last years as well, the roster seems well constructed, depth at SP, strong bullpen, flexibility among position players. Since you see it differently, I’m curious where you see mis-fit?
Flexibility is one of those current buzzwords that people think are better than they actually are. These baseball players have spent their entire lives playing a certain position and then at the major league level, they are just asked to move and try something new. Some bench guys are fine as utility players and having one “super utility player” is useful, but you don’t need the whole team of utility players. The biggest part of playing defense is repetition. Guys need to be able to know what to do without thinking about it.
I understand needing to change positions when you are stuck with a couple of extra guys on your roster and you can’t find an adequate trade. But to actively seek to sign players just to move them because their bat might be slightly better than another player that has played a spot his entire life is just asinine.
what evidence do you have that they are actively seeking players “just to move them because their bat might be slightly better than another player that has played a spot his entire life”?
I’ll reveal that at the trial.
Preller is like a kid in a candy store. He wants it all, cost and bellyaches be damned.
Typical Padres off-season – Preller is interested in every free agent on the market.
Won’t that be most teams too, they are always trying to get better for the upcoming season. There would be no point in free agency if teams aren’t interested in them.
I wonder what the true evaluation the organization has of Tatis Jr. at this point. They know better than any of us what he looks like without the juice.
@Yanks4life22- Just leave him alone. He’s still suffering from the killer ringworm.
Nice October Yanks !
@Aggiefan- Nice National League Championship Padres!
Lol, you realize he has never tested positive for anything aside from when he was out already, he was regularly clean and mashing before, so to suggest he can’t play “without the juice” just sounds like some dodger fanboy who talks out his pooper
You’re giving all rise alot of credit when it comes to reading comprehension
Obviously Tatis hurt the Padres trust. With or without PEDs he is extremely athletic.
Sell Trea Turner for what ended up being Wil Myers and a contract that can’t move. Buy him for a quarter of a billion dollars.
Was AJ buying shares in GameStop in Feb 2021, too?
Please don’t bring back Stammen.
I would love to see Turner with the Padres. I thought they had him in a trade from the Nationals. Loved to see him make the journey full circle back to where he was drafted, and if I remember correctly, Preller’s first trade.
First trade was Reymond Fuentes for Kyle Bartsch.
SD is where I picked him to land. They get back the one they lost !!
Please stop mlbtr
Brew’88;
LOL
It’s Silly Season in full swing…..
The winter meetings start Sunday and all the writers that get paid by clicks are pushing it because this the time of the year they make their big money.
I can’t tell what’s more outrageous – 1) The rumors that MLBTR is reporting on, 2) The projected salaries and interest and 3) The comments here…..
One guy thinks that Ozuna will hit 30 HR’s playing his home games in the vast Oakland Coliseum, and that for some reason a team in a full rebuild wants him and his baggage.
I skimmed over todays articles and comments. Words cannot describe…..
If he’s cheap Stammen is fine as a mop up guy/innings eater in low leverage.
The problem is he’s not a great roster fit from the standpoint that he’s another FA who can’t be optioned to AAA and he’s not better than the guys they would have to option if they need to call up a fresh arm.
Crismatt is out of options now too which means Steven Wilson and Tim Hill are the only two guys in that pen that can be optioned. If they have to send one of them to AAA and Stammen stays on the MLB roster, that’s just not putting your best 26 out there.
Stamen will be in their front office next
@damascusj- dodger fanboy? Is that the team you think I root for? Has Tatis been cheating all along? Exactly we don’t know. One a cheat, usually always a cheat though. Enjoy guessing how long he’s played the game clean? You’ll never know.
I guess you are the Judge, and jury. Nice October spankees
@Aggiefan- let me guess Tatis boyfriend or agent? Did you give him the PED’s or the ringworm tough guy?
All Rise99: you always trash talk and invite trash talk in return. Typical loudmouth Yankee fan. You give other Yankee fans a bad name. Never learn.
@utah cornelius- I talk trash and invite trash talk in return? Maybe you’re just bitter being stuck living in Utah? Maybe it’s time to move, and get a real life? Let me know how that all works out for you, and good luck!
seems like the most likely scenario was that the PEDs were being used for recovery from the injury \surgery. never suspected before and many times the guys caught using were using to speed up recovery. there’s likely little reason to believe he won’t come back the same player he was before other than long term effects of the injury \surgeries and maybe shaking off the rust of the long layoff
The Padres interest in Turner and Bogaerts is most likely driven by Dodgers and Phillies interest in those two players.
The SS is just a smoke screen, for what I don’t know, it doesn’t make alot of sense. Tatis in right for his arm, Grish platooning in center, move Soto to left. Go get a 1B/DH and starting pitching. Go the World Series and win.
Great post amigo, and if it doesn’t make sense then maybe it’s just driving the price up (at worst!)
LFGSD
maybe a corner outfielder who can swing it a bit and move Soto to dh as often as possible!
The SS is just a smoke screen, for what I don’t know, it doesn’t make falot of sense. Tatis in right for his arm, Grish platooning in center, move Soto to left. Go get a 1B/DH and starting pitching. Go the World Series and win.
AJ Preller doesn’t know how to fill a need. He just screws around with everybody’s situation. That’s no way to handle a professional athlete who needs to train at a position, not a bunch of positions.
He is a frustrating executive who has made a lot of bad moves. He may have gotten lucky on one but he shouldn’t have needed to have made that move. Trea Turner is a classic example of a horrible series of moves.
He traded turner before he ever played a game. He got back a guy that was prett6 good already with a ton of upside. It didn’t work out. What’s funny is the rays who people praise could of had turner instead they handed him to the nationals.
So it wasn’t one team that missed on turner but two. Plus every team that didn’t draft him. Prospects are prospects until there not. In baseball it’s very tough to judge how most of them will turn out. Let alone before they ever played a professional game.
There are probably more frustrated executives, like all the GMs who didn’t make it to LCS last year.