The Padres announced that outfielder Oscar González has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A El Paso. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Jhony Brito was transferred to the 60-day injured list. The Friars also announced that infielder Eguy Rosario, who was designated for assignment a week ago, cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso.
González, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Padres in the offseason. When he didn’t make the Opening Day roster, it was reported that he had an in-season opt-out at some point. That’s presumably why he is being added to the roster but kept in El Paso today. The club doesn’t have a spot on the active roster for him but also doesn’t want him to get away. He’ll give them some optionable depth for now.
He has shown a bit of pop but also with pretty rough plate discipline. He made a splash with the Guardians in 2022, hitting 11 home runs in just 382 plate appearances, plus another clutch home run in the playoffs. But his 3.9% walk rate was very low and dropped to 2.8% the following year. He has also only drawn walks in 4.7% of his minor league plate appearances since the cancelled 2020 season.
When his results tapered off in 2023, the Guardians optioned him to the minors several times and put him on waivers at season’s end. He was claimed by the Yankees but passed through waivers shortly thereafter. He spent 2024 in the Yankees’ minor league system, hitting eight home runs in 78 Triple-A games. He didn’t get called to the majors and was able to elect free agency at the end of the year, which led him to the Friars.
He had a huge .400/.431/.564 showing in the spring but with a .500 batting average on balls in play in that small sample. In four games with El Paso thus far, he has two home runs but a .167 batting average and no walks. It’s a flawed profile but the Padres are perhaps intrigued by the power potential, at least enough to give him a 40-man spot for now.
They have Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. locked into the center and right field positions respectively. The left field and designated hitter spots are more open, currently featuring a rotating cast that includes Jason Heyward, Brandon Lockridge, Gavin Sheets and Yuli Gurriel. Lockridge isn’t fully established as a big leaguer while the other three have been fairly inconsistent in recent years. If any of them struggle or get hurt, the Padres could turn to Tirso Ornelas, Connor Joe or González, who are each on the 40-man.
The reason they had a 40-man spot to work with is that they evidently don’t expect Brito back anytime soon. He started the year on the 15-day IL due to a right forearm strain. The club hasn’t provided any updates on his status but this transfer means he can’t be reinstated until late May at the earliest.
As for Rosario, it’s a bit of a surprise to see him go unclaimed. He is out of options, meaning he would have needed an active roster spot with any claiming club, but his numbers have been decent. His major league work comes in a sample of just 100 plate appearances but he has a solid .245/.283/.500 line in those. He has slashed .279/.363/.493 for a 115 wRC+ in the minor leagues since the cancelled 2020 season. Defensively, he has experience at all four infield spots and right field.
President of baseball operations suggested recently that the Padres would find a trade partner for Rosario. “Eguy’s a big league player,” Preller said. “…He’s going to get an opportunity to go elsewhere and play in the big leagues I would think immediately, and we’ll try to add some value through a trade here in the next week.” But not only did the Padres not line up a trade. No club was even willing to grab Rosario off the wire.
He’ll therefore stick with the Padres as non-roster depth. Since this is his first career outright assignment and he has less than three years of big league service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
maybe he can preform similar to his first season.
WHaTA WeEK!
Glad to see Rosario pass through waivers unclaimed. He will take Iglesias’ spot on the roster soon enough. Brito’s injury was obviously much worse than they let on at the time.
Re: Eguy. Me too, surprised af he Cleared!
I’m very disappointed Cashman didn’t jump on Eguy. He’s got to be better than Pablo Reyes.
Unlike Tyler Wade, I’m shocked no one else claimed Rosario
Dang it, Sosa is still with the White Sox…
Also off-topic, but my god your Padres are taking on the Cubs tomorrow. You guys are on fire with the Dodgers, it’s gonna be tough for the Cubbies!
I get the feeling we’ll see him replacing Gurriel at some point (his RBI single on Saturday notwithstanding)
Brito’s injury another big loss for the Padres, I thought he was one of their better options to plug any holes in their rotation this season, either as a trade chip or pitching for the Padres.
Pivetta could have a good season. Vasquez had a nice start, no walks through seven, his K’s will come.
Looks like its Kolek/Krob/Groome as depth options if Vasquez and/or Hart bomb at some point. Austin Krob had a good start in AAA and is an interesting prospect. Lizaraga also is interesting but looks to be a year to two away, could be a nice trade piece.
Good start for the Padres. Wonder how bad Dharvish’s elbow is. If he can return strong this season, Padres will be all right.
Groome is suspended from baseball right now for gambling
I wonder if he is training and getting ready for the season, his suspension looks to be up in June.
He’ll have to cut back on the walks, atrocious WHIP in ’23, but he could get it back on track.
@Pads Fans
re: “Brito’s injury was obviously much worse than they let on at the time.”
Forearm strains are a little bit like obliques. They heal when they heal.
~~ IF ~~ they heal, and don’t require TJ surgery.
So, in that way, forearm strains for a pitcher is a little bit like death, and a lot like purgatory. Time heals the injury, and there’s much the pitcher can do until he’s healthy enough to start throwing again. They’re stuck in no man’s baseball land.
And due to health privacy restrictions, we only know the ballplayer and team wants us to know. Are they having platelet injections? Anything but rest? I wouldn’t suspect anything about Brito one way or another from what we know.
Who is the best clean San Diego padre of all time?
Not you.
Cry more
I’m not an advocate for telling the group what to do, but we should all mute this knucklehead.
Done and done
I have Gwynning’s mute list installed as a browser extension. 🙂
I think it is creepy and tacky to discuss the personal hygiene of grown men…good day!!!
I mean, I get your sinister question. But the greatest Padre of all time is Tony Gwynn, and he was clean, and kind. And I’ll take any opportunity to sing his good praise.
I’ll stare at Tony’s baseball reference page every so often. Then I’ll gawk at Greg Maddux’s page. It’s just beautiful…
Dave Winfield gets my vote. He just didn’t have the shiny batting averages that Gwynn did.
Anyone else notice that the NL West is 25 & 7 so far? 2 undefeated teams. The Giants are 5 & 1. D’backs are 4 & 2. Best division in baseball so far and its not close.
Going to be a good weekend for baseball for sure.
Pads/Cubs and Dodgers/Phillies. I’d be surprised if either of the undefeated are still undefeated come Monday.
Small sample size. Give it some time. You may be right, but its early.
If not for the Rockies, 24-3
Pretty solid start for the 4 Horsemen, Brewski!
Yep, amazing.
And … uhh.. kinda scary. I mean they don’t have 4 wild card teams in the NL, right? At this rate, some good teams are gonna be hurting at the end.
(But of course, baseball will sort itself out. It always does, i.e. return to mean.)
I mean, theoretically all 3 Wild Cards *could* come from the West…
Anyone notice that all the teams in the AL Central have the same record so far?
5 way tie for 1st! And last!
E-Guy
Surprised Eguy cleared. Must mean the GM’s aren’t as enthusiastic about him as Padres fans are.
Kinda strange that *nobody* had a clear 40 spot?
He’s out of options so they’d need an open 26-man roster spot as well.
You’re right, 26! My bad
Probably because it’s just early in the season. Most teams don’t really know what they’ve got as far as the roster is concerned, and few GM’s are going to make themselves look bad by DFA’ing someone they just put on their opening day roster, to add a Padre prospect (or suspect). Of course, if the Rosario had some serious MLB time, it’d make a difference. For example, Preller could be justified in dropping almost anyone on the bench (or if he’s hot like Sheets, trading him). for the right guy.
Don’t believe they are allowed to trade Sheets in any context until mid-June.
If he had options AJ could have probably gotten a trade partner. Hard to see another team clear not only a 40 man spot, but an active spot as well for him when they are trying to bring along their own top prospects.
If he had options they probably just keep him.
Maybe.
Yeah, top prospects Baez, McKinstry, and Ibanez of the Tigers. Sure there’s Jung in the minors, but he’s lefty and would still allowed Eguy to fit.
Tigers should have grabbed him.
You definitely fall in love with your own team’s prospects.. guess that goes for all the other teams, too.
Wait, so neither Billy Ashley nor DJ Peters ever hit 40 jacks in the bigs?
No, no Paddy O… but Todd Hundley and Richard Hidalgo sure did… in one season!
They were prospects who “didn’t miss.”
If he was that good somebody would have claimed him. Fan favorite does not always translate to good player.
Nice moves, AJ. Go Pads!
Lol, over the past couple of seasons and this year, AJP has hit so well on his bench and pitching pick-up’s, makes ya wonder if the guy made a pact with the Devil. Or, maybe it’s good karma for having to endure some of the past catastrophes (including the Cruz/Carpenter DH platoon – OUCH!).
And Hosmer!
Hos…who?
Wow I did not expect that, but I am good with it,
I was actually hoping another team would give him a spot on their 26 man roster. He’s a MLer
Brew you are a better man. I wouldn’t have minded that for his sake, but wasn’t hoping for it!
He can still make his play for our Pads LT, but hopefully not as an injury replacement at 3B!
Agreed wholeheartedly. That said we have had that need the last couple of years for a few weeks at a time. HSK (and Eguy a little) we’re there in 23 / 24. We just didn’t have a guy at all if Eguy left. Watching Manny grab his calf last week made me think of it (while Eguy was still in waiver claim limbo).
Life ain’t fair, but if Rosario can keep his mental focus and self-confidence, he’ll have his day yet. .
underrated player
So, all that gnashing of teeth and freaking out on this board about picking the old guys over Eguy, then the bench chugs along like a well-oiled machine, and Eguy stays in the organization anyway?
Well. I hope everyone feels better.
Gurriel still does not look good. I’m perplexed about what the org sees in him at all.
The vets with a history of power surges make better bench bats. The don’t complain about lack of PT and they are focused on isolated ABs.
A 22 year old needs every day for development and mindset isn’t to sit around and get 4-5 ABs / week.
Now that said, J Hey and Uli are on a short leash – I hope. Both have had their moments this year already so if you watch the games you should have seen Yuli with a hit that won a game and J Hey has had some really good defense for an aging vet.
They aren’t Matt Carp yet.
But they already have a vet in Joe who I’m sure would do fine (or at least better than Gurriel). I get after Manny and Tatis there’s no real righty-thump in the lineup, but I’d much rather have the guy who can give competitive ABs than trying to turn back the clock with a guy who hasn’t shown it for 3 years straight.
Forgot to mention Heyward. He looks alright to me. The bat will come around a bit more, and even if it doesn’t, he still contributes in the field and on the basepaths. I don’t really get the hate for him.. he’s older, sure, but 35 and league-average against righties the past 2 years is beyond serviceable
“Competitive ABs” – did you not see that AB where he won the game? That was a late inning competitive AB if there ever was one.
Will he ever do it again? Who knows but not sure why you are ignoring what has actually happened so far in 2025 while sticking with your belief as to what he will or can do.
He may not be with the team in a month for all I know but he has earned another week in my book and more importantly AJ and Shildt’s book.
Gurriel is a guy that you can not even think twice about DFAing. He’s first to go, and it might be soon. He’s just a placeholder in the moment. I’m beginning to look at these things like “load management” in b-ball terms.
He did have the RBI, can’t take it away from him. I don’t think he has much to offer going forward when you look at the larger body of work these past 3 seasons. I’ll be happy to see him go, maybe I’m just irrational about him being on the roster no matter what he does.
If he doesn’t produce over next 10-12 games I’m all for DFA.
Also, I wasn’t really a big fan of his getting a roster spot but reality is the other guys need to play everyday.
I’m not even sure who the best “bench player” is at AAA right now. I just think the names that will get thrown out need to be playing everyday.
Conner Joe maybe but I don’t have a lot of faith in him either for the same reasons that you raise for Yuli (except not as old). He may be next guy up for a shot though.
Lockridge is looking good in LF so not looking to take too many ABs from his development.
Bench guys are valuable for what they can do.
That was a dribbler that got through when the infield was in. That was luck, not skill. Gurriel has added nothing. As bad as Iglesias has been at the plate, and not having a ball leave the infield in spring training or the regular season is exceptionally bad, he at least had a great play in the field at 3B. Neither should have been on the team to start the season.
Gurriel and his .125 BA looks bad. Iglesias still has not hit a ball out of the infield since the calendar turned to 2025. Of the entire bench, only Lockridge looks like he belongs in the majors.
Heyward is hitting .143. While Joe and Ornelas are tearing it up in AAA.
The Padres are still 7-0, so its working even though those players are not contributing.
Gurriel was done last year. Don’t know what Preller sees in him.
Gurriel has a .077 BA now.
Why did they put Gonzalez on the 40-man roster if he’s not getting called up?
Because he had an opt-out/upward mobility clause.
Oscar hit 2 HRs last night and I would m bet have expected to be able to keep Eguy. He is the closest thing to a 3b near ready prospect that Padres have if he weee ever needed for a stretch.
The Padres and MLB misread the data. González’s selection is a gamble on a high-variance, low-probability outcome, while Rosario’s outright exposes a league-wide blind spot to a player whose floor and flexibility offer greater expected value. A team that claimed Rosario could’ve turned a free asset into a 2025 difference-maker, while the Padres’ move risks squandering depth for a mirage of power. It’s a logical disconnect no one’s clocking.
York – hope you are right about Eguy. Always liked him as a prospect.
I am concerned that of all of the GM’s out there, no one claimed him – I tend to think they know more (or have access to more knowledge) that us fans.
Fingers crossed and hope I get to say, “York was right!”
Oscar the grouch
I’m happy to keep Rosario in the organization. How long does Gurriel stay on the roster? He’s positively cooked with the bat.
So far he has 1 GW hit in 7 games as a part time player (Saturday 1-0 game) so let’s give him another week at least!
Extreme SSS, but an 81 EV and 41-degree LA do not inspire confidence. He’s hitting the ball softer than Maldonado.
Gavin Sheets is going to be the biggest move of the offseason. Big difference hitting after the Padre hitters and Whitesox hitters.
I hope so. The Padres needed someone to pick up the slack after losing Profar, and thus far, Sheets is doing that both in terms of performance and in the spark he brings to the clubhouse/dugout.
When is a bat also a phallic symbol for 200
WTH?!
Apparently Eguy was not THE guy…
Underrated comment.
No one wants to trade for him because the price of Eguy’s too high.
Tariff the chickens!
Looks at the size of that bat!!