Even after adding Xander Bogaerts to an eleven-year, $280MM deal, the Padres are looking for more, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports they’re keen to bring in a starting pitcher and a corner bat.
The Padres have been busy this winter, signing Bogaerts and getting deep in the markets of Aaron Judge and Trea Turner before they signed elsewhere. They have seen starters Mike Clevinger and Sean Manaea depart in free agency (although Manaea is still available), while they weakened their depth a bit by dealing MacKenzie Gore to Washington in the Juan Soto trade, so it makes plenty of sense that they’ll now focus on bolstering their rotation.
Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell are currently lined up in San Diego’s rotation, while the re-signed Nick Martinez is expected to start the 2023 season there too (although he wound up in the bullpen after ten starts in 2022). Adrian Morejon is an option as a starter, but he only appeared out of the bullpen last year after returning from Tommy John surgery. There’s every chance the Padres still view him as a starter, but given he has two options remaining it wouldn’t hurt for them to add another starter to give them another option.
The Padres luxury tax payroll is projected at around $254MM now, just shy of the second tier of luxury tax penalties. That’d seem to make it unlikely that they’d pursue someone like Carlos Rodon – the top free agent starter available – but then again, it’d be foolish to rule San Diego out of anything at this point. The Padres did meet with Koudai Senga last month, and were reported to have interest in Seth Lugo as well, but either of those two or options like Nathan Eovaldi and Chris Bassitt could make sense. They could also look to the trade market where someone like Pablo Lopez could be available, but having pulled off some big trades in recent years they may be reluctant to part with more prospects.
A corner bat seems like less of a need for the Padres. It’s not entirely clear how the team will align defensively after bringing in Bogaerts, but there seems a good chance that Fernando Tatis Jr. (when he returns from suspension) and Soto handle the outfield corners, and Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth take the infield spots, especially after AJ Preller said (via The Athletic) Bogaerts would at least begin as their everyday shortstop. Tatis will return in late-April so they won’t be without him long, but the team may want to rotate some of their starters through the DH spot and so a utility-type free agent addition could make some sense there.
AJ, stop Bogaertsing the free agents.
Wow, the Padres are still not done for this off-season they are still looking to add more to their roster. They are trying to be better than the super team the Dodgers. Please Preller give a chance to other clubs to improve too, you guys already have five players that can play shortstop in the roster trade at least Kim to a club that needs a shortstop. Tatis Jr, Kim, Cronenworth, Bogaerts and Machado can play shortstop.
And Drury.
He’s a free agent
Oh yeah, thanks Fletch.
Excuse me it’s called free agency for a reason. Teams can spend whatever they want on players to improve their ballclub. The padres aren’t the only team spending money…Mets, Phillies, etc. are doing the same thing as the Padres.
VegasatNights- I know the teams can spend their resources the way they want. It’s just that I think the Padres could consider trading Kim.
If Crony moves from 2B to 1B, Kim, Rosario or Tatis have play 2B.
They need depth too and they traded away all their prospects that are MLB ready.
What’s a Cronenworth?? Not very much.
More than Nutting
If they take HSKim out of starting in the middle infield, I will question if God exists.
4 WAR worth. All Star.
Tell other owners to take a smaller profit and put it back into the team. MLB is making more than ever
Make it 6 and could be 7. Nola + Drury.
By what possible metric are the Dodgers still a “super team”? They’ll probably be third in the west.
LMAO. THIRD?! keep dreaming. it’s a two horse race &. NO ONE ELSE is even close.
And you’ll start hearing more about our top prospect, Jackson Merrill, who’s also a SS. Haha!
If they fail to get Carlos Rendon…
…did they pass on the left hand side?
Rodón
Padres want a lot of things
Padres want a hamburger, they want a hot dog and as Judge Smails stated many moons ago
You will get nothing and like it
I was just about to post “The Padres want everything”. You kinda beat me to it lol
Well how much do they need?
They have a pretty full team as it is
They seem to be getting what they want.
All the big rollers are trying to buy a World Series victory. Only one of them can succeed at a time, and of course there’s no guarantee that any of them ever will. From a business point of view, these whopping long-term deals may make sense. Marquee players bring fans to games, boost concessions, generate parking revenue, sell over-priced merchandise to willing fans, and so on. Maybe. I don’t know. But do these mega contracts for years at a time produce Workd Series winners that can be largely attributed to such players in the roster?
Only one of them can succeed at a time, and of course there’s no guarantee that any of them ever will.
=================================
That’s the fun part. The Phillies, Mets, and Padres can shatter all the payroll records they want, and one won’t make it to the NLCS, and two won’t make it to the WS.
“They seem to be getting what they want.”
Are they? I remember them not getting Judge and Turner.
They got an elite bat. Seems to me that is what they were looking for.
Before that they got Soto after everyone said he was untradable.
Signed Machado and Tatis.
Well, they kept trying until they got something close to what they wanted. Bogaerts was their 2nd choice for a SS, and 3rd choice as a FA. It’s not like they’re getting exactly what they want, but a reasonable substitute.
Tatis was acquired via trade.
Tatis was signed to a 14 year deal that will keep him a Padre to 35 years old.
Well call the Brewers and get Winkers I think they will trade him
That’s a good take. Put him at DH, and see if he bounces back.
Yankees have the PERFECT corner bat for you! One Aaron made to order! Aaron Hicks coming up…..
Hicks needs to go.
And will will throw in a third baseman for free.
We’ll trade Hicks and that mystery 3-bagger for a can of tuna… that way both sides of the trade seem fishy. =P
I feel the Padres are a strong candidate to meet Rodon’s asking price and contract length, although they could pivot to somebody else. Also, is it Kodai or Koudai? I see both names when I look him up.
It’s kodai, and the padres, with how they’ve been, could theoretically get Rodon AND Senga
It’s fine to say Kodai in English, but it is in fact こうだい which is Ko-u-da-i.
The Japanese “ou” sound when said in English has a similar “o” sound like the word “cold” but perhaps hold the “o” a little longer.
But the English “ou” sound can lead to easier mispronunciation for Japanese words so just “o” is sufficient most of the time. (so people aren’t calling him cowdai or something)
Just to build a little bit on this, Japanese letters/syllables are rigid in their pronunciation, unlike English.
So こ is always pronounced ‘ko’ and う is always pronounced like a shortened, halting ‘ooh’ sound (roughly; the vowel ‘equivalents’ of of A, E, I, O, U are Ah, Eh, Ee, Oh, Ooh) and together they make that Ko-ou sound. Accents, of course, may change things slightly, but the bottom line is the sounds should be the same no matter the context. Check out a YouTube video on Japanese syllable pronunciation for the exact sounds.
Like:
ご is ‘Go’, ほ is ‘ho’, and ろ is ‘ro’ and if you combine any of them with う, they will make the same sound: gou, hou, and rou.
Japanese pronunciation is much more simple than English, where we can have things ‘rouge’ and ‘rough’ where the vowels sound completely different based on context.
Just like the vowels in Hawaiian language, but good thing for us Americans that Hawaii uses the Latin alphabet.
Flyin’ Hawaiian was spelled “Shane Victorino”
Thanks. Good explanation. You obviously know way more than I do, but I would add that, unlike English, Japanese also has no accent on syllables. I cringe when I hear Hiroshima pronounced her-RO-sh-ma.
I find it interesting that the pronunciation of foreign cities is cringe-worthy. I wouldn’t expect many foreigners to be overly familiar with the pronunciation of some of our cities (if they don’t use a Latin-based language).
You’re right, Hardly anyone calls it Paree.
But part of the reason that particular one makes me cringe, is that for a long time it was pronounced he-ro-SHE-ma. That wasn’t correct either but at least the vowels got pronounced close to what they should be.
But somewhere along the line, people, mostly on TV, got it into their heads that her-RO-sh-ma was correct. It isn’t. I guess they’re trying to emulate the way the Japanese kind of run the syllables together, but it’s even more wrong.
Padres trying their best to buy that trophy!
It’s not a trophy. It’s a piece of metal.
Whatever works
Rodon, bassitt, senga or eovoldi + Lugo.
Conforto, Brantley, profar + Drury.
By the time the padres are done they may give the mets a run as the most expensive payroll.
With those additions they’ll be mostly former Mets anyway
I don’t understand how that’s a bad thing.
Isn’t Profar a free agent?
They’re $95 MM behind the Mets, will never come close
I’m surprised more teams haven’t considered Conforto. But being a Boras client in this market, I can see him asking for an insanely inappropriate contract.
Clipper what’s your thoughts on the Yankees going after Conforto or Profar?
Hm, those are both interesting prospective acquisitions. I think Conforto interests me more than Profar, who seems to be a potential IKF replica in NY. Conforto seems to have the higher upside.
I’m awfully piqued by what Kay was implying the Yankees are involved with that is supposed to be even “bigger than Rodon.” If they acquire Rodon and another major acquisition the Yankees are looking good!
While I think Kay might have some inside knowledge, the first I heard of the something bigger than Rodon was from Buster Olney. I don’t pay any more attention to him than I do Heyman.
I don’t think there is a bigger FA than Rodon. With multiple holes to fill, no way they get Correa. If they really go big, I think it will be a trade. I havno idea what that could be.
I think Kay was referring to Buster’s comments actually. I honestly didn’t resize Buster was that bad. Frankly, I’ve never read or paid much attention to him as I tend to read the Yankees specific guys or Rosenthal.
I hope it’s true though!
Comparing Olney to Heyman was a bit over the top but Olney will throw things against the wall to see what sticks. I guess he’s more of a comp to Sherman.
That catcher in Oakland would be considered major?
The Yankees have platinum glove winning Jose Trevino behind the plate. Not saying Murphy isn’t better but the Yankees aren’t spending the prospect capital it will take to get him with a good catcher already on the team.
Confort turned down a four or five year deal from the Mets at about $20-25 million per year prior to 2021. Then he played poorly but still turned down the $18.4 million QO after the season. Then he hurt himself in the offseason and still turned down a 2 year, $30 million deal over the summer from one of the best teams in baseball, the Astros.
So it’s difficult to judge how much he’s asking, but I would imagine it’s a lot.
He could have had $100+ million. He could have had $18 million with a chance to rebuild value before hitting free agency again. He could have had $30 million and a WS ring (hindsight 20/20 on the ring, but still). He’s turned all of that down. So who knows?
No presure!
GO DO IT! I can’t wait to see the Mets and Padres get up to a 400 mil payroll just to wet themselves again.
Senga and Darvish would be neat.
Why would
That be neat?
Senga + Brantley would be perfect
Ozuna and Rosario for Kim.
The padres actually don’t need to go for broke for a corner bat. Edwin Rios can be signed for cheap. Super underrated, dodgers made a mistake non tendering him
you right, I LIKE RIOS ALOT ,for the PADRES.
Well we tried that w Beaty
Seeing how last season the team was above league average in hitting, and slightly below league average pitching, I’m surprised they didn’t prioritize a SP. Especially since they should hit better next season anyway. They have Tatis returning, and Soto, after underperforming last season, as many traded players do, should be better settled in and a little more comfortable.
I can’t find who posted it now but the Padres returning pitching staff had 3.23 ERA in 2022. Adding a back of the rotation starter to eat some innings and they will be good.
Collectively the team had a 99 ERA+. Along with the FA, and other losses (Gore), I would have thought pitching would have been the priority.
Maybe that’s just how the market went, position guys first, but I look at the roster, the hitters they’ve got now, they had a team 104 OPS+, or will have (Tatis), and think pitcher was their biggest need.
Admittedly I could be wrong, often am, or maybe Preller just wants the Pads to outhit the other teams.
You are right, SP (depth) is their biggest need. I’m guessing they will address that
Biggest need coming into this offseason was hitters with high OBP and SLG. Padres ranked down near the bottom in SLG. Before signing Bogaerts, only Machado of the returning Padres had a SLG% over .400 in 2022. Not even Soto did it as a Padre.
Padres need some pop.
The returning pitching staff was quite good in 2022. A 3.23 ERA and 108 ERA+ What the Padres can still use is someone at the back of the rotation to eat up innings until young guys like extremely talented Morejon can start throwing 100+ innings per season.
I agree they need slug after last year’s debacle. Tatis will help, but losing Bell and Drury (and Profar and Myers) and adding just Bogaerts isn’t advancing, it might be regression. They need some pop at 1B/DH and as of yet don’t have it. And more than anything, they need some hitting depth at OF too. Grisham his .184, he shouldn’t be starting against LH pitchers.
Their returning SP are fine, problem is there’s only 3 of them (4 if Martinez starts). Morejon is talented but hasn’t proven himself yet. Weathers is even more of a project. So aside from 3 SP from last year, it’s REALLY thin. They have to add another #3-#4 SP if they’re going to compete with the best teams. That’s why they went hard for Senga (didn’t get him) and likely will go for Rodon also (likely won’t get him). Who else can help? Wacha?
I’m not sure partially basing the need for power on Soto’s small sample is a good reason. It’s not at all unusual for a traded player to struggle a bit until they’re more comfortable. I’m pretty sure, since Soto came to SD with a .538 SLG, that he can be counted on for providing power.
And last season they were without Tatis, who has a career .596 SLG.. With Machado, who had a .531 SLG that gives them 3 guys reasonably expected to provide .500+ SLG.
So, I’m not sure I see them as needing a power bat as the priority. Injuries happen, and more people say you can’t have too much pitching, than say that about power hitting.
I’ve been saying SP depth is the #1 need. But after Soto, Tatis and Machado they don’t have a guy who can hit 20 HRs, maybe Bogaerts? Most if not all the top tier teams have more slug than the Pads even with Soto/Tatis returning to form. The lineup as it stands now, has just 4 guys with career SLG% over .400, and OBS greater than .730. HRs aren’t everything, but the other numbers, in combination with very few SBs, suggests low run production. They need more slug.
Maybe you’re right. They hit 153 HRs last season, 21 less than league average. But I don’t know whether you need more than 3 guys capable of 20 HRs. A well-balanced team has guys that get on base with power guys to drive them in. Too many HR guys and you start leaning toward a lineup swinging for the fences, some of whom will be all or nothing guys.
Don’t get me wrong. Signing Bogaerts can only make them better. But I’m just surprised that pitching wasn’t the priority.
History suggest big spending in one off-season will blow up in at least one teams face. Will it be the Padres, Mets, or Phillies?
Rangers
Why do some writers here write Koudai and some Kodai? I’ve seen Kodai everywhere else but MLBTR.
I believe his actual name is spelled Koudi. Most places Americanize it based on how it’s pronounced.
If I recall, similar happened with Ohtani initially as well.
Yankee Clipper
I believe his actual name is spelled Koudi. Most places Americanize it based on how it’s pronounced.
====================================
What’s interesting is that they give themselves American names. In Japan, they refer to each other by their last names. Knowing that Americans prefer first names, they will give themselves one.
Joe, I didn’t know that but that’s really interesting. Thanks for the info.
Yes it did happen with Ohtani. When he was going through his signing process I saw Otani and Ohtani and didn’t know why then either so I figured I’d ask this time
I wrote a little explanation of this on a comment above. It deals with pronunciation. Even though the correct spelling would be Koudai, Kodai is often used to avoid strong mispronounciation.
Or writers are just lazy… haha
Yasmani vs Yasmany Tomas, Shohei Ohtani or Otani. It’s nothing new.
Cronenworth to Miami for Lopez?
Justin Turner, JD Martinez, or Evan Longoria would all make sense as DH bats. First Base is down to Brandon Belt, Jesus Aguilar, Yuli Gurriel, Dominic Smith, Colin Moran, and Miguel Sano in free agency. The trade market is not much better as Yandi Diaz, Bobby Dalbec, and Luis Arraez are the available options there.
Not sure who fits here but we know the Padres have had interest in Dominic Smith before so maybe they still do
Hey man, where do you stand in the while Bloom-Xander scenario? I’ve seen a lot of baseball talking heads that say RSox Nation is super pissed (understandably).
Sad to see X go but glad they didn’t give him that kind of deal. 11 years for a 30 year old will not end well regardless of where he plays
mlbtr just put out an article (an hour ago) interviewing Bloom with quotes from others. Check it out.
Most folks don’t understand that, in regard to free agents, $28M usually buys $28M worth of talent no matter who you spend it on. If Rodon is healthy, he will give us the same WAR as Bogaerts.
While it would be nice to root for the same guys forever, that doesn’t happen very often.
Oh I bet the Brewers would trade you Winkers and Tellez if price is right . l bet you would be surprised that it wouldn’t take much to get them.
Mets
I think Cronenworth will be moved for pitching…and you’ve all thrown out alot of names of potential replacements at first and DH.
They lost 2 corner bats to FA, lost their starting LF, lost 2 SP. They need to replace those and won’t come from minors. They picked up a SS though.
Agreed
They have a LF, a really good one named Juan Soto. Unless they trade Grisham this offseason, when Tatis is back they’ll go Soto in left, Grish in center, and Tatis in right.
It would be nice to get a guy like Brantley though who could DH and occasionally mix in out there.
Tatis wont play every game in OF, and won’t play first 3 weeks of season. They need an OF
David Dahl will probably get the AB’s until Tatis returns.
David Dahl will probably get the AB’s until Tatis is back.
sure they could bring up a guy from minors and toss him out there, but even after Tatis returns, the hope is that they have someone who can also platoon some with Grisham, who in 2022 recorded the lowest batting ave (.184) of any Padre in history with that many ABs (451). I wonder what Myers would cost? He could provide veteran back up at OF and corner INF
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase don’t bring back that AAAA player Myers!
well that got your attention.
Myers is actually a slightly above average player Harambe. His lifetime OPS+ is 111 and it was 108 last year. He is not worth anything close to the $20 million he was being paid, but he is a decent player who could be an above-average backup at 1B and OF.
Azocar in the OF. Rosario will also get a roster spot until Tatis returns.
But Azocar has a career OPS of .629, he’s a designated runner in extra innings and a defensive replacement, but he’ll do little to help the Pads compete with teams like the Dodgers, Phillies, Mets and Braves. They need another hitter or two as right now they only have 4 rostered players with an OPS over .730
LF was is now Tatis’ after he returns. Azocar will hold down the fort until he get to SD on 4/20.
They lost a utility guy in Drury and Bell the worthless.. Cronenworth takes over at 1B and has been better than either of those two.
Campy and Nola pick up time at DH on days they are not behind the plate..
That leaves the Padres with needing a 1B/DH with pop in their bat. High SLG and ISO hitter.
They signed Martinez to be a starter. We will see if he can handle that full time. They do need a starting pitcher to eat some innings so that Morejon, Knehr, and others in the minors can be depth instead of thrown into the rotation.
Forgot about Groome.
Thought the plan was to move Soto to LF, Tati to RF/CF
Tatis getting traded
His contract looks really good right now! Can Tatis avoid more stupid stuff and hit 40+ homers on 2023? I think so.
Heyman Report: Tatis to the Yankees for Hicks and a lollipop.
They’ll have to be sent separately. I don’t trust Hicks with the lollipop.
Hi Clipper!
Nope. But Atlanta will trade you Ozuna for a stick of used chewing gum.
C Nola
1B Cronenworth
2B Kim
SS Bogaerts
3B Machado
RF Soto
LF Tatis/Azocar
CF Grisham
DH Rosario/Campusano
S1 Darvish
S2 Musgrove
S3 Snell
S4 Martinez
S5 Morejon as opener
When are they going to finally play that young catcher ?
That young catcher is Luis Campusano and he is listed at DH in the comment above yours. Jorge Alfaro was not retained so Campusano is getting the first shot to be the Padres new backup C.
NYY
Giancarlo Stanton
Oswaldo Cabrera
Domingo German
SD
Yu Darvish
Ha Seong Kim
Stanton has a no trade clause and can (and probably would) block a trade unless it was to the Dodgers. Plus why would the Padres trade Darvish if they are trying to win now?
I don’t think a Stanton trade is realistic, but I disagree that he would block a trade to San Diego. Why wouldn’t he want to play there? Win now team. Perfect destination.
The Athletic posted an article at the beginning of November talking about the Yankees possibility of trading Stanton and noted that when the Marlins traded Stanton to New York he told the Marlins he would only ok trades to (obviously) the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers or Cubs. Now granted several years have passed and Stanton could change his mind but i doubt he ok’s a trade out of Yankees Stadium to go to try and hit at Petco
For what it’s worth, and this is just anecdotal, but I remember Stanton said he loves hitting at Petco (during the ’16 All Star break).
I guess the interest of fairness he’s hit (Padres pitching) pretty well at Petco posting a career .323 BA with 8 HR’s in 19 games there. I still don’t see a trade ever coming together though
Same. Thanks for the stats, I was curious earlier but had to duck out to dinner.
Not even close. The Padres are in win now mode, so Darvish is not being traded.
Stanton put up 0.7 WAR last season. He was barely a replacement level player. His OPS+ was only 113. Kim put up a 5.1 WAR and his OPS+ was 107 and he can actually play a position.
German threw 72 innings of 3.61 ERA/4.44 FIP with 7.2 K% which is far below league average last season. Padres have 3 of him already.
Maybe Stanton, Cabrera, Dominguez, and $175 million for Kim. You keep German.
Seidler doesn’t like the term “win now mode”, nearly every time he speaks publicly he states that they are in win perpetually mode, year after year after year after year.
Pads, your proposal is a joke right?
I agree w Tatia being dealt.
I think Tatis is staying put unless Machado and Soto are extended first.
What could a Tatis deal look like? Maybe Pablo Lopez, Jorge Soler, Eury Perez and Garret Cooper?
No. Soler & Cooper are not desirable. You would have to pay teams to take them and they still wouldn’t want them. I don’t think there is a trade package with the Marlins that would even be acceptable. Not even if you added Sandy Alcantara to that package you propose. Tatis has all the potential in the world still, do not rule him out already.
I’m not sure why so many folks are suggesting the Pads cut anchor with Tatis. He’s very young, with a highly desirable contract (in terms of per year salary) and he’s determined to get it together. The upside is merely …..BEST PLAYER IN MLB (and he has been in his first 1000+ ABs)? Such upside is worth some patience by the Pads. He’ll have to screw up again big time before they think of trading him.
I’m not speaking for anyone else Brew, but it would seem to me that fans of every other team want Tatis. Hence, the random fandom speculation that we see here on MLBTR.
rand fand om om I like that Gw, breath deep, savor the now. OM OM
I’m sorry…. But NO! If the Pads could trade Tatis straight up for Alcantata they would do it in a heartbeat!! Nobody in their right mind would trade Alcantata for Tatis and his massive contract. Not even mentioning Jr coming off a PED suspension and he is a juvenile f**kboy.
Tatis has a no trade clause and a 13 years on his contract. He is one of the best young players in baseball. He is not going anywhere.
Call the Cubs and ask for Kyle H. and give up a minor leaguer while eating the salary.
I doubt the Friars would do that but heck if they did the Cubs should do it!
San Diego should offer Carlos Rodon a 100 year / $300 million contract
Years 98 and up may not work out so well…
So a corner bat. Does that mean they were actively trying to sign Josh Bell but got beat out by of all teams small market Cleveland?
Padres apparently never contacted Bell’s agent regarding bringing him back. The way he sulked and played bad defense, worse than his usual by far, while his bat disappeared in SD, that is not a surprise.
Resign profar to play OF till Tatis gets back. Profar shifts to super utility
Sign a DH- Justin Turner or Evan Longoria
Sign a #4 like Kluber, Wacha, Cueto, Hill or Miley. Sign some minor league depth like Zach Davies and Erick Fedde
My name’s not Fozzie Bear but I say Wacha Wacha Wacha!
Rodon would be a solid fit in SD.
Yeh, so would Santa Claus…..call your Rock Star GM…..sign him…..12 years 400 $million…..done deal.
The Dodgers are taking a step back. The Giants are sputtering, directionless, and incoherent. The Snakes and Rox do not have their ducks in a row. Perfect time for Padres to go ballz to the wallz. Give it it everything they got. They have a two year window to maximize here. Why not? Make it work.
only because you said that, the Dodgers will sign Rodon and Correa tonight just to spite us all
Padres entire farm system is now Jackson Merrill. Their window is the next two seasons, and it will slam shut
Dylan Lesko and Samuel Zavala are great prospects too
and what’s not to like about Snelling
Hey Pads, whatcha got taking back Eric Lauer and Luis Urias?
Urias? Another SS? Sure, why not. At least the could use Lauer.
I hope they allow Ryan Weathers and Jay Groome to earn spots in the rotation.
Weathers and Groome have been their own poison. They’ve both had opportunities, Gromme in the Red Sox system, and Weathers in the Padres, they are both at least 5 years in the minors, have had AAA or MLB opportunities, are neither are ready. I mean, like “not ready in a major way”.
Guaranteed that as soon as EITHER demonstrates they are ready, they’ll be on the MLB roster to pitch for the Padres. Now, if the roster is filled 30 days into the season, and those guys are lighting the AAA world on fire, they might have to wait a bit until the Padres have an injury or other opportunity for a spot start, but they certainly won’t be held back. The Padres, if anything, have the reputation for pushing prospects forward a bit too quickly. (Note: The only prospect I believe was held back by the Padres was Ty France, and I blame Preller’s $$$ commitment to Hosmer for that. I don’t hate Hos, but he cost the Padres an outstanding future firstbaseman, by leaving “no place” for France, i.e. resulting in his trade to the Mariners. That was a huge Preller error.).
Did you see Groome pitch in 2022? He is ready. Weathers is going through the motions. He needs a major attitude adjustment.
This is the offseason that Weathers would have had to go on the 40-man roster had Preller not stupidly put him on the 40-man roster for 1 and 1/3 innings in a game they lost anyway back in 2020.
Given that the Mets have just signed Senga, I have the gut feeling that AJ Preller will fill the starting pitcher need by trading off the 26 man roster. He MAY consider paying out another small fortune for a guy like Rodon, or a second tier FA, but the Padres have a heck of a lot of IF depth. They could lose Kim or Cronenworth, maybe pick up another low cost IF to backfill, and still not lose much on offense or defense, relative to the rotation needs.
Now, I hope to heck BOTH of those guys are still on the roster opening day, I love ’em both, but either one of those guys could be a starting shortstop star on half the MLB teams out there, i.e. maybe a team that has SP depth and an IF need. (No idea what teams would line up for that kind of trade, though.) Given the possibilities of:
1) Preller does nothing.
2) Preller signs another high $$$ FA.
3) Preller trades off the roster from a position of strength
4) Preller trades prospect(s) to get the pitcher
…. I think the likely hood is #3, #2, #4, or #1, in that order.
Of course, Manaea had a decent half season, before he seemed to run out of gas, he’s available, probably at an affordable price, he’s not chopped liver, and the Padres are already pretty strong in the rotation #1 to #4, plus guys like Morejon, he might fit the bill, too. Not my first choice, but I wouldn’t go bezerk if Preller resigned Manaea, either. (At least he was healthy, unlike Clevinger – so happy he’s gone. Not his fault, but he was costly deadweight over the past 2.5 seasons.)
The corner bat, that’s just RHB/LHB match ups, easy to find a bench guy.
Finally, regarding other options for #3 above, a guy like Grisham might be a possible trade candidate, but his only tradeable value is as a 4th OF, with offensive upside, at the moment. Looking at the entire 26 man roster, the two IF I mentioned are the only likely trade candidates I can think of, again, if trading off the roster. (Of course, there’s always the “AJP goes wild with trades” option, with 10 players & prospects going out, 5 or 6 coming back, across 5 teams, because well, “the Preller factor”.)
Grisham lost his confidence last couple of season and mashed in October(other than that weird bunt). He’s way more than a 4th OF and should bounce back
lol
i hope this nonsense about Xandah playing SS is quickly spit-canned. dude sucks at short and Kim is an all star caliber defender. stop kissing free agent @$$ & do what’s best for the team. in this case: kim at short, xandah at 2nd, Soto in left, Tatis J-uice-R in right. end of story.
but then again, if we were doing what’s best for the team, we’ve would’ve have run bob melvin outta town since he’s straight up trash as a game & bullpen manager.