The Padres continue their search for an established outfielder, writes Dennis Lin of the Athletic. Free agent Tommy Pham remains a possibility, Lin indicates. San Diego’s regular season opener is just three weeks away.
Lin first reported the Padres had given some consideration to Pham at the beginning of the month. While San Diego has since added Jurickson Profar on a $1MM pact, that’s not a huge impediment to bringing in another outfielder. San Diego still has only three outfielders on the 40-man roster: Fernando Tatis Jr., José Azócar and Profar.
Regardless of whether they add anyone else, they’re sorting through a few non-roster players battling in camp. None is more exciting than 20-year-old Jackson Merrill. San Diego is working out the top shortstop prospect in the outfield this spring. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote this afternoon that Merrill seems increasingly likely to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster.
The Padres wouldn’t call Merrill up if they weren’t going to give him everyday run. He’d be making the jump past Triple-A. The former first-round pick split last year between High-A and Double-A. Merrill put up a .273/.338/.444 line in 211 plate appearances with Double-A San Antonio. That’s solid work in the pitcher-friendly Texas League, although it doesn’t guarantee he’ll find success against big league pitching right away.
Depending on potential acquisitions, the Padres could offer Merrill regular run in either left or center field. Pham would be limited to left field. Landing him would kick Profar to the bench and provide an upgrade to the lineup. Pham is coming off a .256/.328/.446 slash with 16 homers and 22 steals through 481 plate appearances between the Mets and Diamondbacks. He’s a known quantity for the front office after playing in San Diego from 2020-21.
Adding a corner outfielder would leave Merrill competing with Azócar and perhaps Jakob Marsee for the center field job. Azócar is a good runner and defensive specialist who has hit .249/.292/.341 in 153 big league games. Marsee, 22, only has 16 games above High-A. He posted excellent numbers at High-A Fort Wayne a year ago, running a .273/.413/.425 line with 41 steals and more walks than strikeouts. Prospect evaluators generally rank him as a solid but not elite minor league talent. He’s widely projected as a fourth outfielder based on strong strike zone awareness with limited power.
Each of Oscar Mercado, Bryce Johnson, Cal Mitchell and Tim Locastro are in camp on minor league deals. None of them is likely to step into an everyday role, but there should be room for at least one to secure a bench spot. Michael A. Taylor is the only potential regular center fielder left on the free agent market. Pham, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario are the top corner options. There’s still some activity on the trade front, as this week’s deal sending Manuel Margot to Minnesota demonstrates. While the Padres have been loosely connected to Jarren Duran and Sal Frelick in trade rumors, there’s no indication they made any headway in those discussions.
Bring back Pham, A.J.!
I never want to see Pham play for the Padres again.. he was a disaster here
“Bring back Pham”…I gotta figure Pham’s mouth cost him some opportunities because he’s an above average hitter much of the time. You can’t go around revealing team secrets, dirty laundry or putting your ex employers on full blast if you want a multi year deal or increasing opportunity. I do like the idea of the Pads bringing in Pham because I feel they can use another experienced OF.
Pham was a clown with the Padres. I would prefer to give Merill and and another prospect a chance
Jakob Marsee could be ready at some point early this season too. He had a huge fall league showing and can play CF.
Maybe you should look at Pham’s numbers with the Padres, jimbo . The only thing he “proved” is that he was better off playing for another team.
He was injured while playing for the Padres.
Merrill isn’t ready yet
Duvall or Taylor if you need a CF.
They need to do their best to get Mitchell or Wiemer from the brewers. Both studs that are potentially gold glove caliber cfs but blocked by Chourio and to a lesser degree Frelick
Only 1 of Mitchell or Frelick are the odd man out of a Chourio/Yelich outfield, and both have options. Wiemer will platoon at either CF or RF with Sal or Garrett.
If the Brewers trade anyone, I’d hope it’s Sal, or a smaller deal for Perkins because he does look blocked now. It would take a pretty significant overpay for moving Mitchell to make sense imo
Not appreciating this free agency game of chicken. Want to see players on teams getting ready for season. Want to draft fantasy teams without so many players’ teams listed as FA.
Bally/Diamond issues are probably as big a reason as any.
Taylor makes too much sense to actually happen, apparently.
Same with the Pirates. Perfect fit as a great defensive CF who bats righty. I wonder if he’s injured or thinking of early retirement?
Tommy Pham or Wil Myers on a minor league deal.
(I was hoping Pham and Joc Peterson would be on the same team and battle for a job)
Corey Dickerson still out there as well
Naw … I love Wil Myers, but he had too many “head” issues to maintain a consistent bat. He’s a lot like Grisham, i.e he has the talent, he’s DEMONSTRATED the talent, but he goes through so many mental summersaults that he strikes out 75% of the time. Their like a quality infielder with the yips. They make every throw in practice. They may look like 5 tool players (re: Profar), but every once in a while, their brain locks up making a play under pressure. That’s Wil Myers every time there’s a guy in scoring position, or so it seemed. I think Wil is retired, whether he admits it or not.
Good god, can Preller just quit already.
Can Preller for considering OF options?
Preller is what keeps the Madres so interesting. Good or bad.
sdmadres.org/ Please do support the Madres.
Signing Pham or MAT would require a salary commitment of close to eight figures, if not over. Los Pobres cannot make those types of commitments because they are broke. Dennis Lin needs to stop reporting on what the front office says, and start reporting more of what he sees & hears from others. Like in the article w/ Rosenthal where they truth bombed all of the delusional fans who thought there was an era of greatness beginning. Minor league NRI’s and scraps that get cut from spring rosters are all that Los Pobres can afford.
Not a single mlb team is broke champ
Los Pobres are clearly broke, Kiddo. Try reading sometimes. It’ll it might help you to stay on the right side of ignorant commentary.
…probably not though
You know nothing clown face
I know that I know more than you, Pinky
Cool story chump
Broke but currently top 10 in payroll commitments. Right.
They’re not broke. They’re limited in spending by cba tax penalties. After years of blowing past cba tax thresholds and paying excess $$$ in taxes their choices were reset tax penalties by spending under it for 2024 or pay 60-80% in tax penalties on overages and hurt their ifa $$$ and draft $$$.
You might be stupid enough to waste money pointlessly paying unnecessary high taxes. But smarter people than you rightfully said let’s not do that.
This isn’t about tax thresholds: they exceeded the debt service limit established by MLB and were told to get back in compliance. So yes, in a manner of speaking, they’re broke.
They’re paying 216 million so far this year. The threshold is 237 mill. Meaning they’re 21 mill away from getting penalized for passing the threshold for another consecutive year,
Yes it’s actually about tax thresholds. More consecutive years you pass them harsher the punishments.
How do you reduce punishments? You spend 1 year not passing any thresholds and penalties reset to 0.
I got called ‘clown face’ once…definitely an upgrade from f#@% face, let me tell ya.
That’s not what’s driving this payroll reduction; MLB instructed them to get back within league guidelines for debt service compliance.
Besides, $21 million is nowhere CLOSE to exceeding the next threshold. Teams that consider themselves ‘close to the next threshold’ are usually within 2-3 million..
21 mill isn’t a lot of money especially if you’re planning additions within the season to replace injured guys or via trade where you’re taking on salary. 2024 season doesn’t end until end of October this year. 8 months.
Yes. Cba tax penalties are driving these reductions. Cause who wants to waste money on taxes and losing ifa money and getting your draft picks knocked back is a recipe for disaster if it happens two years in a row.
I believe it’s both. The coverage has been pretty extensive on both issues. To get back in compliance the team will increase revenue via higher prices and payroll reduction. Hardly broke tho
Wannabee, apparently reading doesn’t keep you from being ignorant.
Devish, no they didn’t. After his article came out, the very next day Acee, the only one who ever claimed they had exceeded the debt service rules, backtracked his statement. Said he was wrong.
Nearly EVERY team was in violation following the 2020 season. The Padres submitted a plan to get out and prior to the 2023 season they were no longer in violation.
MLB allowed the Padres to take out a $50 million loan to complete the purchase of land next to the ballpark for a $1.5 billion development. cisterra.com/tailgatepark MLB would not allow the team to get further in debt if they were already in violation of the debt service rules. Makes no sense to even claim that.
Devish, since you repeated your moronic statement, I will cut and paste the facts.
No they didn’t. After his article came out, the very next day Acee, the only one who ever claimed they had exceeded the debt service rules, backtracked his statement. Said he was wrong.
Nearly EVERY team was in violation following the 2020 season. The Padres submitted a plan to get out and prior to the 2023 season they were no longer in violation.
MLB allowed the Padres to take out a $50 million loan to complete the purchase of land next to the ballpark for a $1.5 billion development. cisterra.com/tailgatepark MLB would not allow the team to get further in debt if they were already in violation of the debt service rules. Makes no sense to even claim that.
They are BROKE. Hence a prospect who’s never taken a AAA at bat is considered a shoe in for the OD roster. (And fools clamor!)
You are a fool. Hence repeating the same tired BS after being shown you are wrong.
It also shows you have not even WATCHED Merrill play. That kid is ready. As ready as Tatis was when they kept him on the roster to start the 2019 season after a half season in AA.
Your are a stupid head hee hee ha ho hee ha!
Is it about tax threshold? I thought it was about being low on actual cash? Gut says on paper only they are fiscally healthy. In other words, the lending institution (and MLB) that has been offering this line of credit for the team to go big with payroll, says NO to an increase in this money source.
You’re confusing being broke with being on a budget. The Padres, like most teams, are on a budget. They’ve spent to that budget.
Probably a bit of both since they had to take out a loan.
They rolled the dice last year and it came up snake eyes since the Diamondbacks won the NL. Time to chill out and start over. Just the unfortunate state of two thirds of baseball teams in thus screwed up system.
Padres had to trade Blake Dickerson to the tigers for 500k ifa money cause they were docked ifa money due to cba penalties
If this was about debt compliance padres wouldn’t have spent any money this off season except the draft. Yet they have spent money on free agents and significant money on ifa players. So the whole debt compliance this is hog wash and always has been.
It’s cba tax penalties. Losing ifa $$$ almost cost them a prospect they liked and getting their draft pick pushed back 10 slots hurts their overall draft spending.,
Pushing past the cba again would hurt their ifa spending and draft more.
Padres have a history of calling guys up skipping aaa. That’s nothing new. Doesn’t mean they’re broke. The decision is based on how they’re performing in spring training. You’re not very good at this whole trolling thing. People are just laughing at you.
Lol…. They are not broke. Are the Yankees broke because they don’t want to pay Snell 30 million per? No, but it’s about the Luxury tax, where 30 million is actually 60 million per they would be paying.
Also, who cares about skipping AAA. Many star players have done it. Stop acting like you know more baseball than the ones who actually get paid to make decisions……..
Plus we lost our TV deal and revenue of 50 million.
Kind of like when Ben told Luke “from a certain point of view” in Return Of The Jedi.
Wannabeechamp,
The Padres FO didn’t say they were interested in Pham. That is totally on Lin. Pham said the Padres had not talked to him or his agent.
The Padres FO and ownership did say they were still trying to add to the team and most likely make trades and some would assume it would be for an OF.
Kutsenda, Greupner, and Preller have all said there is payroll flexibility and they anticipate that the team that is in camp now is not the team they will start the season with. That would mean spending money.
They are the ones that actually know the team’s finances, the team had record revenue last season, have sold a record amount of both season tickets and individual game tickets already this offseason (around 3.4 million based on how many are still available for sale), and are telling advertisers that they have already sold more than 300k padres.tv subscriptions. so I am going to go out on a limb and say they are not broke and you have no clue WTF you are talking about.
I don’t always agree with web- padres new chairman literally just spoke about payroll the second day camp opened. He said there is payroll flexibility. Same reporters who have mention the padres finance issues said they have about 20-30m to spend. They are a little over 20m under the tax and have a current tax number around 212m, with a current payroll around 160m. Preller stated he also has payroll flexibility and that he would like to keep some money to possibly make addition in season if needed.
The fact is they have given a number of prospects/kids a look this spring and they have looked pretty good. Merrill right now looks like he will break camp with the team. Even tatis is on record saying he should. Marsee also has a chance and has played well during spring.
If they add a guy like Pham then they must see Merrill as a center fielder. Merrill said yesterday that he is most comfortable in center. Though he has played more games in left. Padres also don’t have a true dh so once manny is healthy there is a good chance a player like Pham could see a lot of time at dh. Profar will also get some starts at first to give cronenworth some days off.
So yes the padres do have some payroll limitations this year. That doesn’t mean they are broke.
He said there is payroll flexibility.
======================
29 other GMs say the same exact thing. Some actually say “full throttle” when they mean they are cutting payroll. Ignore the empty suits.
In this off-season, they got rid of Soto, Snell, Hader, Wacha, Lugo and Martinez. I’m sure I missed a few. They’re not broke.
They only “got rid of” Soto via a trade for 4 pitchers and a solid back up catcher.
The others mentioned exercised their rights as free agents.
frelick is going nowhere. However, you can have wiemer for a box of baseballs..
Writing Weimer off little quickly. Injuries kinda forced him into the roster. He’ll settle in. I don’t think he has a superstar ceiling, but his floor could be fairly high. Solid CF defense, just needs see more quality pitching and consistent at bats.
I heard the Yankees have this 4th outfielder who plays above average CF. Marquis Grisham or something. Should trade for him.
Tigers have an abundance of outfielders. Who would Padres want?
Greene or Meadows. What do the Tigers need?
The Tigers would need young, cost controlled LH OF, after making that trade. How about Baddoo?
Badoo isn’t the offensive upgrade the Padres need. Carpenter might be a better fit.
It won’t be Pham. They went down that road already. I have a feeling they will make a deal for an “odd man out” prospect and hope Merrill can hold his own.
Pham is a cancer. Stay away.
FG DC projections
Pham 100 wRC+, 0.9 WAR
Profar 96 wRC+, 0.4 WAR
Can’t believe the guy who complains about the Padres on every post about OTHER teams has been silent on this one. I nourish a faint hope that we are rid of the scourge.
Nope
… maybe a new user account name?
I have been a Padres fan since 1969 and the PCL Padres at Westgate Park and if the Padres sign Flim Flam Pham this year I will cancel my tickets and never set foot in Petco again. After what he did to Ha Soeng Kim and his whole Me Me Me attitude…screw that guy.
Likewise a fan since Suitcase Simpson and Rudy Regalotto (sic) would be a major surprise if Pham were brought back. Worse than a bad team would be bad PR from a loose cannon. Rosario would be a nice addition but probably out of their price range this year
Have we not been punished enough as fans with losing Soto and all the Dodgers acquisitions that we would be asked to endure a return of the Pham, too?
I’m simply amazed at all the Pham supporters on mlbtr. Really, I am!
/sarcasm
Pham and Kim are fine. They even went to the club together after that. Pham gets a bad rep because of his mouth but he is generally liked by his teammates.
Been a lot of talk in camp about Shildt wanting the team to have more of an edge. Like you aren’t going to come in here and push us around kind of edge. Pham seems like that kind of guy. Shildt also knows Pham from his cards days.
Apparently he is not liked by the FO or Shildt since Pham said they have not reached out to him or his agent.
They will probably get someone that gets squeezed off from another team later in spring training and keep Mercado. Reading some of the comments about being cheap is silly. They got warned by the league about being financially overextended, lost their tv deal, ended up taking a 50m short term loan, and their owner died. All within the last year. Of course they cannot spend until they have their finances back in order.
Padre fans and strip clubs alike don’t want Pham back.
And when was the last time they agreed on anything?
Holy hell just bring Wil back. Like why not at this point. Everybody loves him and he’s a good dude. Much rather see Myers than Pham out there.
I love Wil as well. However, I just can’t take another Wil Myers strike-out, either from watching a fastball down the middle, or swinging at a pitch off the plate that nearly ends up in the dugout. Just … no more. Too many years of it. Heck, Wil deserves better than another tour at Petco.
Although we know Padres won’t exceed CBT, we don’t really know how much below that they need to be at to meet all their financial obligations. I think MAT would be the best choice at this stage if he’s open to a one (or two with opt out) contract if it’s not much higher than his previous contract (which might be the current problem if he wants significantly more). Then if by the trip to ROK Merrill has earned it, let him play LF. Profar, Azocar and maybe Mercado as bench support especially if Merrill falters as the season progresses. Marsee heads to AAA at least for early part of season.
Only 4 guys on the bench. One will be Higgy. Another will be Batten or Rosario, if not both. If MAT or another player they trade for is in CF and Merrill in LF, that leaves two spots.
If MAT is in CF and Merrill in LF, that means the Profar and Azocar have the other two spots.
Marsee probably heads back to AA to start the season. El Paso is a horrible environment for top prospects.
Yeah if Merrill makes the team. They likely will have batten, Eguy, Profar as 3 bench guys.
Leaving Azocar or Marsee type in center or left. If they add another player then one of those two are likely on aaa – marsee most likely since he isn’t even on the 40 man.
I would not be totally surprised if they try and upgrade one of batten or Eguy especially if manny is going to dh for long. Of course they could always let Profar play some first and even let Merrill play some infield if they wanted to. Batten hit well on the team last year I just don’t really see him doing all that much but would be happily wrong.
According to Shildt yesterday, Manny is on track to start at 3B in Korea.
The OF market wasn’t great to begin with, but I feel like Padres attempted to wait out a deal a little too long. I thought a Jankowski reunion made a lot of sense, and I didn’t like losing Grisham in the Soto trade — I’d much rather fill C2 in FA than starting CF. Merrill will get a long look in the OF (undeserved at this point IMO but Preller likes challenging his top guys) and Pauley/Marsee seem like they could be 4th OF types and probably don’t have a whole lot left to show in the minors. Overall, the depth doesn’t seem as bad as years past, but the OF as a whole is gonna be uninspiring unless Merrill hits the ground running.
Preller needed pitching more than OF. The combination of some pretty decent prospects and NRI have provided him room to wait out the market. Honestly, I’m not sure that the FA outfielders left on the market are much better than the guys that they’re trying now in Spring Training. Yeah, yeah, I know, a team shouldn’t depend on a rookie and NRI retreads to win a pennant, but actually, those are the kinds guys who can make it happen, if the have good years. The Padres have a good core of position players. They are still building the pitching staff. If Preller’s gonna spend any money, it’ll be there. The offseason isn’t over yet.
(Here’s an opinion that will have some folks foaming a the mouth on this forum. I think Preller should sign Trevor Bauer. He’s been in the doghouse long enough, for so-called “offenses” (I won’t rehash all of that). Sign him, see if he can pitch, and throw in whatever “morals” contract clauses that might be necessary to ensure that he doesn’t become an embarrassment to the franchise. JUST DO IT, AJP!)
(Just imagine the fun we’d have when Bauer pitches against the Dodgers, with a rather SUBSTANTIAL chip on his shoulder. Any move that pisses off the Dodgers is fine by me, anyhow.)
Bauer will never pitch in MLB again.
Strictly from a pitching standpoint he is not very good.
In MLB, when not cheating with sticky substances he has a 4.51 ERA. How do we know when he used them? HE TOLD US EXACTLY WHEN.
In Japan he had a 2.76 ERA and ranked 47th in the 6 team Central and 90th in the 12 team NPB. Of starting pitchers in the Central League he ranked 29th of 42.
NPB spring training started on February 1st. If Bauer was welcome back in Japan he would be in camp there today.
Recently he had a blogger hitting his pitches for what would have been base hits. Video is on his own Twitter feed.
Bauer is just not a good pitcher.
He was convicted twice, once by MLB and a 2nd time by an independent arbitrator when he appealed his suspension, on 3 counts of violating the MLB/MLBPA JDC policy. Bauer and his attorney publicly admitted that he participated in the behavior that broke those rules. As far as MLB is concerned it doesn’t matter if it is consensual or not, its against the rules. He has said he is not willing to change that behavior. There is no reason for any team to take that chance.
Bauer already signed a MLB contract stating he would not violate the JDV policy. He did. Repeatedly. With at least 3 women that we know for sure and one more that came out after he was already suspended. They cannot add anything to the UPC that is not collectively bargained, so a special clause just for Mr. I-beat-women-to-get-my-rocks-off Bauer is not possible.
Just stop with stupid posts about that slime ball.
Like I said, triggered and foaming at the mouth. All that logic you cited because you don’t like the guy, because he offended your moral standards. So, blah blah blah blah…
Just stop with the stupid whinning about anything you don’t like. Grow up. I know that “adulting” is difficult, but if you put your mind to it,, it could happen.
They can sign Bauer, only if he rooms at your house, with your wife and daughters. (Or your Mommy and sisters)
Stymee, more like his mommy and body pillow waifu.
Like I said, stupid posts about that slime ball.
Stop with the whining about the Padres pitching and stop with trying to trigger others with suggestions that bad pitchers that would cripple the team’s fan support and PR efforts should be added just to satisfy your need to be a putz.
Normally you make decent and informed comments. That one was just stupid on so many levels. It was trolling at its worst.
I do think the pitching could still use a boost. I would take a Lorenzen type for bulk inning insurance. Whatever anyone’s thoughts are on Bauer, I think it’s evident that he’s been blackballed by MLB until further notice.
He’s made himself unhireable. That’s not the same as being black balled. He did this to himself.
He did not just burn bridges, he did a Bridge on the River Kwai on them. That is a big reason why no one wants to deal with him as much as the other stuff.
I have heard “not with a ten foot pole” mentioned.
I don’t wish to argue semantics: his reputation precedes him for many reasons and likely exceeds any on-field value he’d be able to generate. I’d think we both agree Bauer is not a serious consideration for MLB teams now and in the future.
If you listened to Preller, the Padres have not really been looking at the OF market from a FA standpoint all offseason. Profar wanted to be here, he is a utility guy, and he took a pittance to be a Padre.
As Shildt has said, they will only make a move if it’s for a true upgrade. His exact words. Other than Bellinger and possibly Duvall, there are no free agent OF out there that are true upgrades for the Padres.
As of today, the Padres OF is Tatis, Merrill, Azocar, and Profar.
Shildt also discussed keeping 3 catchers on the roster with Sullivan playing some LF and 1B and both Sullivan and Campusano playing at DH
I can understand the mentality of only springing for a clear upgrade, but the OF is going to need a lot of big breaks to be even average. Profar is a low-risk/low-reward bounceback, Azocar has never shown anything close to league-average offense, and Merrill is 20 and learning a new position. To lean heavily on any of these guys gives me a fair bit of apprehension and flashbacks to 2021 when Grisham went down and the OF was a black hole beyond Pham.
baseball-reference.com/teams/SDP/2019.shtml
There was this 20-year-old rookie that didn’t even have a full season in AA as a starter on OD.
That’d surely be nice!
No other team made Profar a better offer. He took that pittance, because the other options were take a smaller pittance or take nothing and find a real job.
Profar said he took less money to play for the Pads because he wanted to “come home”.
Web- those outfielders all likely make the team. Then it will be down to one of Sullivan, Mercado or Marsee for the last spot. Assuming Rosario and Batten both make the team. I’m actually more worried about the batten Eguy guys then I am the outfield options. Specially if manny has to dh very often. I know batten played well for the team last year.
26 man roster. 13 pitchers. 13 position players.
Cronenworth, X, Kim, Machado, Merrill, Azocar, Tatis, Campusano, Profar, Higgy, Batten, Rosario
Leaves 1 spot.
Shildt said they may carry 3 catchers and that Sullivan will be playing in games at 1B and LF.
If so, that leaves no spots.
I wonder if his contract would include a club opt out if he gets stabbed again.
Dayum. 2 years ago I thought the Padres were on their way to being a dynasty in the NL West. Getting that Dodger Monkey off their back. Going to the NLDS after hiring Melvin. WTH Man!!!!!!!
All the decent left hand hitting minor and major league free agents have been signed but I’m glad they’re interested, that must be fun for them.
I’m gonna speak for the CLE FO and openly offer up Myles Straw for any old thing you have laying around. Won’t do much for ya at the plate, but he’s fast and covers CF like nobody’s business.
Straw man argument, I see.
Just stay away from the Midway district.
I don’t think the Pads are as desperate to bring in another OFer as MLBTR thinks they are. But if they do, Rosario makes more sense as he bats L and the lineup needs a L. But MAT, Rosario, Pham, Duvall, each would eat up $8-12M AAV, leaving the Pads with insufficient $ to bring in another quality SP ( which they need more than an OF).
I’d actually say if they signed any of those guys it would be for more like 4-8m. Anyone who wants more they will likely not be doing a deal with. That would leave them enough to bring in another starter if they wanted to. Though there hasn’t been a lot on that front of late.
They all made $8M+ last year, likely putting them out of the market for a Lorenzen.
Pham himself said that the Padres have not reached out to him or his agent. I don’t believe there is any interest on the Padres part for a reunion.
Preller can’t Preller what with that Debt Service compliance mandate not being negotiable.
Just how it is. Until it isn’t.
And watch this be the Padres year to be last year’s Texas Rangers.
Mike Shildt…can he summon that intermittent Bochy Magic? We’ll see.
Preller can preller via trades if he wanted to. He so far has resisted his urge to trade away all his prospects.
That’s because the other side of a prospect trade is generally a veteran that makes decent money. Preller’s weakness has always been adding payroll with every trade. He can’t do that right now.
Hard pass. I think we’re all set. Another SP would be great
They traded the best hitting outfielder in Soto who was weak in the field and they needed pitching but you would have thought they would have substituted one of the pitchers for an outfield prospect not named Dominguez or Jones from the Yankees. Pereira who is a top 100 mlb prospect and had short major league sample size last season would have been perfect and could have replaced Thorpe in that deal and I’m sure the Yankees would have loved to keep Thorpe but I’m guessing the Padres valued Thorpe over Pereira even though he isn’t ranked in the top 100?
IMO, Grisham should never have been in that trade. SD needs Grisham and the NYY don’t.
SD needs .185 over last 1000 ABs? Nooooo, NY needs him wink wink
Yes. Pads wanted/needed young (née cheap) arms. Martian or Jones were mentioned in talks I’m sure, but it is readily apparent that (beyond those 2) the Pads had more faith in their own OF prospects.
Here is a trade idea, San Diego trades back Thorpe to the Yankees for Pereira and another minor league arm in Warren who is projected to be more of a low to mid rotation starter but also has lower floor than Thorpe.
They seem to be enamored with Thorpe, Billy. Not a bad idea though. As a Cardinals fan, I think that we should swing a trade with the Padres. We have Drew Rom, who went two scoreless innings the other day and is stretched out. We have Alex Burleson, who is a left handed bat and could fit into that lineup. I like Randy Vazquez and Graham Pawley. I know that we would have to add additional players for those two guys. I think that is a good conversation starter for both teams. If we threw in Giovani Gallegos and took a portion of his salary, let’s say half for this year, (2.8) It would be Gallegos, Rom, Burleson and Moises Gomez, for Vazquez and Pawley. The Padres can give Gomez his needed change of scenery, Burleson every day playing time, Rom gets a chance to start on a big league club, and Gallegos to offset Vazquez in the bullpen. What do you Padres fans think?
Why exactly…if this actually happened, would the Yankees have to include “another minor league arm” in a trade back involving a minor leaguer they originally traded to SD when SD has additional needs…….kind of stupid isn’t it…..why do the Yankees have to include another player…..not saying a straight trade Pereira for Thorpe wouldn’t work, but if I’m Cashman, and I know the Padres have a need for outfielders, this is straight up or nothing……not “throwing in” another arm regardless of floor which is always debatable for any minor league player…….throwing in players, especially pitchers is what depletes a teams minor leagues quickly……
What are they going to pay any outfielders with sea shells, tales of adventure, IOU notes? Lol
Deferrals?
I always thought Azocar was a 4th-outfielder type. Not sure you want him starting all season unless his CF defense is extra superlative, then you can live with middling offense. So Michael A Taylor would likely demand too much??
Other than power, Taylor is not a significant upgrade over Azocar.
How come the A’s got Andujar so under the radar and so easily when teams like the Padres still need outfielders
Start Jackson Merrill in LF or CF!
CF Michael Taylor would be a great pickup!