The Marlins have claimed right-hander Lake Bachar from the Padres, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union Tribune on X. The Friars had designated him for assignment on the weekend. The Fish will need to make a corresponding move to open a 40-man roster spot for this claim.
Bachar, 29, has not yet made his major league debut but got a roster spot from the Padres based on his intriguing minor league work in recent years. He had to endure a lengthy absence, as the pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020 and then Bachar missed 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
He showed a bit of rust in 2022, posting a 6.15 earned run average at the Double-A level. Per an article from Sanders at Baseball America, a splitter camp run by Hideo Nomo in the spring of 2023 helped Bachar find a new gear. The righty went on to throw 60 1/3 innings at the Double-A level that year with a much-improved 2.69 ERA. He struck out 27.5% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10% clip.
He qualified for minor league free agency after 2023 and re-signed with the Padres on a minor league deal. That deal contained an opt-out at the start of August, so the Padres added him to their 40-man at that time to prevent him from getting away, but they kept him on optional assignment. He was briefly recalled about a week ago but didn’t get into a game and was optioned right back down.
Bachar was squeezed off the 40-man roster when the Padres bolstered their roster for September with catcher Elias Díaz and outfielder Brandon Lockridge. That’s despite him having another strong season in the minors. He has thrown 71 2/3 innings over 46 appearances at the Triple-A level with a 3.89 ERA in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League. He has a 27.4% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate.
Though he got nudged off the roster by the Padres, the Marlins are intrigued enough by his results to grab him. Bachar has almost zero service time and will still have two option years after this one, so he could be a long-term piece for them if he can hang onto his 40-man roster spot.
Lake Bachar? Where is that?
Minnesota. (Probably).
Not nearly as controversial as when Pennsylvania claimed Lake Erie.
So sorry Lake. You get to go from an organization that is competing year in and year out to one of the worst organizations in baseball all without even getting a chance to pitch in the majors in your short call up. You deserved better after all your loyalty to the Padres organization.
Did you just say that the Padres compete every year? What are you smoking? Also, based on the new Marlins roster refresh and how good their new hitters are looking, I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if they start making the playoffs next year. Their rotation talent is tops in all of baseball by about six and a half miles
@Chemo and how would define competing then? Since 2019, it looks like the Padres have been trying to compete for the postseason every year. There moves don’t always work but there have been no rebuilds in that time.
Not by referencing the Padres. They have won more than 89 games once in the last 15 years. They have had exactly one decent playoff run. They have had more losing records in the last seven years than winning records. Have they tried? Sure. But the Padres may very well be the biggest team bust in all of baseball for the last ten years. Not the team I would use as a model example of consistency. They have had about as much success as the Marlins for the last 5 years at a payroll cost of more than a billion dollars. Nuff said.
The original note was about competing each year. Sure the outcomes and success are not always favorable – easy to say that in hindsight after a season. But if you compare the Marlins and Padres, it is easy to see that one org tries to compete each year while the other does not. That’s what the OP appears to be saying about comparing the orgs.
And i’m only talking about recent Padres – prior to 2019 and for much of their history, they were pretty much non-competitive save for a few years every 15 years or so.
Since 2020 the Padres have been in the hunt for a playoff spot every year.
The Marlins are back in their normal last place and have just one hitter or starting pitcher that is above MLB average. Jake Burger at a 106 OPS+.
As a team the Marlins rank 28th in pitching as of today. fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st… Their starting pitching staff is dead last fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&lg… Even getting Alcantara back next season won’t propel them into the top half of MLB.
When it comes to hitting they are also 28th. fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st…
17% of prospects make the show as an above average player. Less than 1 in 5. If you are expecting them to contend next season you are smoking something other than weed. They might be able to crawl back from 36 games under .500 today to within a dozen games of .500 in 2025.
Do you not even pay attention to baseball?
Ummmm do YOU not pay attention to baseball? You go and reference their starting pitching while omitting the fact that their entire rotation comprised of all five starters (All of whom would be a number one or two on your team) are all injured AND they traded five guys from their bullpen in the last six months including possibly the best reliever in all of baseball for the year. They also have three hitters with an OPS of at least 106 and they traded a fourth. If you think they’d be where they are currently with all five starters then you are nuts. Dude, I get being a bandwagon fan, but damn, at least hang up a banner, any banner before acting like the Padres have done anything meaningful other than burning money
LMAO. None of those guys is better than Cease or King or Musgrove. The only one that would slot in higher than #4 on the Padres is Perez, who might be as good someday, but he isn’t yet. All of them will miss part of 2025 and NONE of them will immediately be as good as they were before the injuries.
Scott was the Marlins best reliever and he is a setup man in San Diego. Hoeing is also a Padre now. Now their relief staff is WORSE than being one of the worst in baseball. Thanks for making my point for me.
ONLY Burger has been a regular and has an OPS+ over 100. ONLY Burger. One guy. Even he only has 114 games played. You do know you can look this stuff up, right?
If they TRADED them, they are not Marlins. You do realize that, right?
Padres are in contention, will be next season, and have been in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
Marlins? Last place now and on pace for 90+ losses. Will lose 90 games and be in or close to last place next season. Have lost 90+ games and been near or at the bottom of the NL East 5 of the last 6 seasons.
Do you see the difference?
So I take it you are BannedMarlinsFan. Did your account get banned again? How long until this one gets banned?
Apparently, it is now infested with Marlins. It must be a saltwater lake.
Squeezed and nudged off the the roster…with his consent I hope.
They had two because it said so on his contract. It was that or let him go and soon after they decided to let go.
I would have liked to see him get into a game, but good for Lake. He’ll see the mound in Miami, for a couple years at least (probably.)
Simm is correct, Lake had a roster clause in his contract. It’s not like the Pads were going to protect him in R5 anyway. If anything, the call-up and impending DFA “jumpstarted” his career.
Someone needs to explain why Logan Gillespie is still on the 40 man.
AJ & staff like his potential. I would add there’s still 6 prospective years of control associated with him, too… as opposed to zero with Lake.
zero *options
off topic question: if you were the Pads would you extend Merrill? He’s under control through 2029. As a comp Dbacks extended Carroll 8 years $110+ after his ROY. I would think Merrill gets a lot more?
I absolutely would extend Merrill, if it fits “our” long-term plans (and I believe he does.)
Alot more than Carroll is doubtful, but a very good and recent comp. Similar structure “for sure”!
Maybe AJ rides out his cheap years though, as he does need to juggle below the CBT line “sometimes”?
Maybe offer 10y at $150MM and see if there’s interest?