Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Padres Rumors

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/22/17

By and | at

As teams and agents look to wrap up their business before the holiday season, there’s no shortage of minor league deals being wrapped up. Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Backstop Rob Brantly is in agreement on a minors deal with the Braves, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The 28-year-old won’t have a shot at a MLB roster spot out of camp, barring an injury to Tyler Flowers or Kurt Suzuki, but he could be the first line of depth behind that duo. Brantly has received only brief MLB action over the past several seasons. He spent most of the 2017 campaign at Triple-A with the Reds and White Sox organizations, where he posted a solid .293/.352/.443 slash in 321 plate appearances.
  • Also agreeing to a minor-league pact is righty Pedro Beato, who Heyman tweets will remain with the Phillies. Beato, 31, returned to the majors in 2017 with the Phils for the first time since 2014. He only received a single appearance, though. In 55 2/3 innings at Lehigh Valley, Beato posted a 2.75 ERA — his third-straight season with excellent results at the highest level of the minors. Of course, Beato also averaged a less-than-dominant 6.8 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9, with his success coming in no small part due to some batted ball fortune (.233 BABIP, 5.2% HR/FB rate) that he likely would not carry with him to the majors.

Earlier Updates

  • The Nationals agreed to terms with right-hander Jeff Ames, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). Ames, 26, was the 42nd overall pick in the 2011 draft but has yet to crack the majors. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2017, working to a 3.98 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 63 1/3 innings.
  • The Orioles announced minor league pacts with lefties Jayson Aquino and Andrew Faulkner, right-hander Tim Melville and first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez. Aquino, Faulkner and Rodriguez will be returning to the organization, while Melville will be joining the team for the first time. The 25-year-old Aquino has tossed 15 2/3 innings with the O’s over the past two seasons but struggled to a 6.32 ERA in that time. He does have a 4.02 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in parts of two Triple-A seasons. Faulkner, 25, logged a 2.79 ERA in 38 1/3 Triple-A innings with 8.1 K/9 last season but also averaged 5.6 walks per nine innings. Rodriguez, meanwhile, hit .279/.341/.471 with 22 homers in Double-A this past season, albeit at the age of 25 (older than much of the competition he was facing). The 28-year-old Melville has just 14 2/3 MLB innings on his resume and has been hit hard in that time. However, he also logged a 2.95 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 in 12 starts (13 total appearances) with the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Padres last year.
  • The Brewers announced that they’ve signed right-hander Radhames Liz to a minor league contract. Liz, a hard-throwing 34-year-old, has seen more time in the Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball than in the Majors in recent years. He didn’t pitch in 2017 but has allowed just two runs in 35 1/3 innings during the Dominican Winter League this offseason. He’ll compete for a bullpen spot in Spring Training.
  • Infielder Josh Rutledge has agreed to a minor league deal (and, presumably, a Spring Training invite) with the Giants, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. Rutledge has spent the past three seasons in the Red Sox organization and picked up 118 PAs with Boston this past season. He’s batted just .252/.319/.313 in 259 plate appearances across those three seasons but has played second base, shortstop and third base in the Majors (plus a brief 13-inning cameo at first base).
  • Right-hander Anthony Bass announced (on Twitter) that he’s latched on with the Cubs. Assuming it’s a minor league pact — the Cubs themselves have yet to announce the signing — he’ll head to Spring Training and vie for a job in the ’pen. Bass was hit hard in 5 2/3 frames with the Rangers last year — his first MLB action since 2015 after spending the 2016 campaign pitching in Japan. Bass had a 4.14 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 75 1/3 Triple-A innings with Texas last year and has experience both as a starter and a reliever.
  • Outfielder Shane Peterson has landed with the Padres on a minor league pact, as per the team’s Triple-A broadcaster, Tim Hagerty (on Twitter). A career .254/.319/.359 hitter in 322 MLB plate appearances, Peterson brings an excellent .296/.374/.474 career Triple-A slash to the Padres organization. He’ll turn 30 in February and can handle any outfield spot

Heyman’s Latest: Blue Jays, D-Backs, Cobb, Lagares, Castro

By | at

Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reported on a few items of note in his latest column and has followed up with some additional bits of information. We’ll run down some of the key takeaways here:

  • While the Blue Jays have been quiet thus far, Heyman says they could be lurking on a few interesting names. In the outfield, J.D. Martinez is a legitimate target, he says, as are Carlos Gonzalez and Lorenzo Cain. The club is also considering quality utility options such as Eduardo Nunez and Howie Kendrick. Meanwhile, Toronto has reached out to the Padres on Brad Hand, who’s a highly valuable relief asset. It remains to be seen whether the Jays will be willing to pony up a lot of cash or prospect assets to make a significant win-now move, but it’s notable that the team is at least exploring some notable possibilities.
  • The Diamondbacks reportedly had real interest in Orioles infielder Manny Machado, but Heyman says the Snakes were not willing to consider moving third bagger Jake Lamb in a deal. That’s not terribly surprising; after all, the 27-year-old Lamb has only just reached arbitration eligibility and posted consecutive solid campaigns in which he has maintained a composite .248/.345/.498 batting line. Though he’s clearly an inferior overall player to Machado, Lamb is the type of affordable, quality regular that a team with Arizona’s payroll can ill afford to part with.
  • Thus far, free agent righty Alex Cobb “is thought to have been asking for about $20 million a year,” Heyman writes, noting that his agents may view Mike Leake as a comp. Of course, Cobb is older and less durable than Leake was when he hit the open market, though Cobb also has a loftier established ceiling on the mound (at least, dating to his output before undergoing Tommy John surgery).
  • There’s some interest from rival organizations in Mets center fielder Juan Lagares, Heyman reports on Twitter. Of course, it’s far from clear that the New York organization has real interest in dealing away the 28-year-old. To the contrary, indications to date have been that the Mets expect to utilize Lagares quite heavily. The rangy defender last topped 400 plate appearances in 2015 and has not posted a league-average season with the bat since the season before that.
  • The Marlins are still indicating to rivals that they’re not particularly interested in dealing Christian Yelich or J.T. Realmuto, Heyman tweets, though of course that could yet be a bargaining stance. Notably, though, the Fish are said to be seeking ways of parting with the recently acquired contract of Starlin Castro. Though Miami executive Gary Denbo indicated earlier today the club intends to keep Castro, it certainly would not be surprising for Miami to strike a deal if it means shedding yet more salary obligations to a player who likely won’t be a part of the organization’s next contending roster.

White Sox Claim Jose Ruiz From Padres

By | at

The Padres announced today that right-hander Jose Ruiz has been claimed off waivers by the White Sox. San Diego had designated the hard-throwing Ruiz for assignment last week to clear a roster spot for trade acquisition Freddy Galvis.

Ruiz, 23, made the jump from Class-A Advanced to the Majors this season, though he only threw a single inning at the big league level. Ruiz worked as a catcher for the bulk of his pro career with the Padres but began transitioning to the mound in 2016 after batting just .203/.239/.249 in his career as a hitter. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the Padres’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA in that time.

Ruiz, however, sat at 95.3 mph with his heater in his lone MLB appearance this past season and averaged 8.2 K/9 in his first full season as a pitcher in the minors. He also averaged 4.5 BB/9, though, and posted a low 32.5 percent ground-ball rate, which contributed to some trouble in keeping the ball in the park (1.27 HR/9). He’s tossed 16 innings in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason, posting a 3.94 ERA with a 12-to-6 K/BB ratio, a hit batter and a wild pitch.

Dick Enberg Passes Away

By | at

Legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg, the 2015 Ford C. Frick Award winner and an icon in the broadcasting industry, has passed away at the age of 82, according to Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union Tribune. Enberg’s wife, Barbara, tells Miller that the family believes he suffered a heart attack.

Enberg’s career in broadcasting spanned well beyond the world of baseball, as he spent six decades also calling NCAA basketball, the NFL, professional tennis, the PGA and the Olympics, among other sporting events. That versatility brought Enberg’s iconic voice into the homes of millions of sports fans, from his humble beginnings calling Indiana Hoosiers football and basketball in the 1950s to the seven seasons he spent as one of the voices of MLB’s San Diego Padres from 2010-16.

Along the way, Enberg was honored not only by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award, but also by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, who named him the recipient of their respective Pete Rozelle Award (1999) and Curt Gowdy Award (1995).

“We are immensely saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg,” the Padres said in a statement issued by chairman Ron Fowler and managing partner Peter Seidler. “Dick was an institution in the industry for 60 years and we were lucky enough to have his iconic voice behind the microphone for Padres games for nearly a decade. On behalf of our entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to his wife, Barbara, and the entire Enberg family.”

Enberg’s signature “Oh, my!” call was a familiar refrain for multiple generations of sports fans across the country, and the impact that he had on the sportscasting industry is immeasurable. Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Enberg, as well as the countless fans whose lives were bettered by his passion, insight and joy over the years.

Padres Release Travis Wood

By | at

The Padres announced that they’ve released left-hander Travis Wood, whom the team designated for assignment over the weekend to clear roster space for right-hander Jordan Lyles.

Wood, 30, signed a two-year, $12MM contract with the Royals last winter but struggled enormously both in Kansas City and in San Diego this past season. The former Cubs lefty posted an ERA north of 6.70 with both teams last year, working to an overall 6.80 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 1.8 HR/9 mark in 94 innings. He’s still owed $6.5MM in 2018, but the Royals agreed to pay the entirety of that sum when he was traded to San Diego, so Wood will represent a pure lottery ticket for any club that signs him this offseason.

As unsightly as his 2017 results were, Wood had success with the Cubs from 2015-16, totaling 161 2/3 innings with a 3.51 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9 between nine starts and 122 relief appearances. Overall, he posted a 3.94 ERA in nearly 700 innings in parts of five seasons in Chicago. Given his experience both in a big league rotation and bullpen, Wood figures to draw interest from clubs looking for depth options in either capacity.

A low-payroll club like the Marlins, who had interest in Wood as a free agent last offseason, could make sense as a speculative landing spot given their overall need for affordable pitching depth. NL clubs may also be drawn to the fact that Wood has some ability at the plate (relative to his pitching peers, anyhow). In 195 plate appearances over the past five seasons, Wood has connected on eight homers and batted .202/.241/.354.

Padres Sign Jordan Lyles, Designate Travis Wood

By | at

8:10pm: Lyles will earn $1MM in guaranteed money from the deal, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (via Twitter), with Heyman adding that the deal breaks down as $750K in salary and $250K as a buyout for the 2019 option.  If Lyles’ 2019 option is picked up, Lin notes that the right-hander can also earn performance bonuses in that extra year.

7:10pm: The Padres have announced the signing of right-hander Jordan Lyles to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2019 season.  Lyles’ deal is a Major League contract and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the deal is worth $750K.  Lyles is represented by the Ballengee Group.  In a corresponding move, the Padres also announced that lefty Travis Wood has been designated for assignment to create 40-man roster space.

Lyles signed a minor league deal with San Diego back in August and posted a 9.39 ERA over five starts for the Padres.  That shaky stint underlined an overall rough year for the righty, as Lyles posted a 7.75 ERA over 69 2/3 IP with Colorado and San Diego.  ERA indicators such as xFIP (4.64) and SIERA (4.37) painted a more flattering picture of Lyles’ 2017 performance, as he did suffer from an inflated .352 BABIP and a below-average 61.2% strand rate.  On the other hand, Lyles also saw his home run rate balloon to a whopping 21.1%, an issue that hurt him both in Coors Field and Petco Park.

[Updated Padres depth chart at Roster Resource]

It’s worth noting that the Rockies exclusively used Lyles out of the pen over his 33 appearances in 2017 (and for 35 of his 40 games in 2016), while the Padres used Lyles only as a starter.  Lyles’ MLB contract will ensure that he gets a shot at competing for a rotation job in Spring Training, though the Padres may also deploy him as a long man in the bullpen.

Despite his unimpressive numbers last year, the Padres clearly saw enough in Lyles to give him a big league deal, and it’s a fairly low-risk bet by the team that Lyles still has some untapped potential.  He only just turned 27 in October, and Lyles does carry a pedigree as both a supplemental first-round pick in the 2008 draft and as a top-100 ranked prospect in his days in the Astros’ farm system.

It was just last February that Wood signed a two-year, $12MM (with an $8MM mutual option for 2019) contract with the Royals, with K.C. looking to reinforce its pitching depth by adding Wood as an option out of the rotation or bullpen.  In either role, however, Wood badly struggled, posting a 6.91 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 1.45 K/BB rate over 41 2/3 innings in a Royals uniform.  Wood was dealt to the Padres as part of a six-player trade in July and he posted virtually identical numbers over 52 1/3 IP for San Diego, all of which came as a starting pitcher.  Never a hard-thrower or a big strikeout-generator, Wood had traditionally found success by dominating left-handed batters or inducing a large number of infield pop-ups, though both skills seemed to evaporate for him in 2017.

The Royals are on the hook for Wood’s $6.5MM salary in 2018, and the $1.5MM buyout of his option will be split between the Royals and whichever team may next acquire his services.  While his advanced metrics didn’t always reflect his on-field results, Wood posted good numbers out of the Cubs’ bullpen in 2015-16, so it seems like that teams in search of southpaw bullpen help will certainly consider him as a rebound candidate.

Reactions To And Effects Of Dodgers-Braves Trade

By | at

The Dodgers and Braves swung an out-of-nowhere, payroll-geared trade Saturday consisting of five major leaguers, with just one (Matt Kemp) going to Los Angeles in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Charlie Culberson. LA, which made the trade for luxury tax purposes, previously tried to send Gonzalez, Kazmir and McCarthy to the Marlins as part of a package for now-Yankee Giancarlo Stanton, according to Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. Although that failed, Dodgers brass already had a fallback option in the Braves, whose general manager – Alex Anthopoulos – worked in LA’s front office until mid-November. The two sides began discussing the parameters of Saturday’s trade shortly after his hiring, per McCullough. Talks gained steam during this week’s Winter Meetings before culminating in an agreement Saturday.

  • The Braves immediately designated Gonzalez for assignment after his acquisition, but the 35-year-old had to waive his no-trade clause before the deal could occur. Gonzalez touched on that choice afterward, saying in a statement: “My final decision was not based on playing time, as I had agreed to a limited bench role. It is a way to test the free-agent market and see what opportunities are out there for me so I can make the best decision moving forward for me and my family. Lifting the no-trade clause is the hardest decision I have ever made in my career due to the fact that I loved every single second being a Dodger.”
  • The Padres will consider a reunion with Gonzalez if they’re unable to reel in free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer, Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests (Twitter link). Gonzalez was a franchise player in San Diego from 2006-10, slashing .288/.374/.514 with 161 home runs in 3,425 plate appearances and earning three All-Star nods.
  • Shortly after the news broke, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Dodgers would likely trade or release Kemp before he ever plays another game in their uniform (he was previously with LA from 2006-14). The Dodgers will first try to flip Kemp, confirms McCullough, who adds that they “appear willing to offer prospects” to help convince someone to take some of his contract. Kemp, 33, is due $21.5MM in each of the next two seasons. Keith Law of ESPN opines that he wouldn’t even be worth picking up if the Dodgers ate all of that money (subscription required and recommended). Regarding a discussion he had with Kemp, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said: “I was very open and honest with him about what the future might hold. It’s just too difficult to say, definitively, at this point.”
  • Having completed this trade, it seems the Braves’ heavy lifting for the offseason is mostly over, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution details. They improved their defense by getting rid of Kemp, thus freeing up a spot in the outfield for elite prospect Ronald Acuna (he’ll be in the majors early in 2018, whether it’s Opening Day or a bit later); added a veteran starter in McCarthy (possibly two if Kazmir recovers from a hip injury); and landed a backup infielder they like in Culberson. While Anthopoulos said the Braves could still seek a third baseman and relief help, he noted that those areas are not priorities, O’Brien writes.
  • Meanwhile, Nightengale, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs and Bill Shaikin of the LA Times agree that this trade will help set up an action-packed offseason in a year. Now that the Dodgers are unlikely to exceed the $197MM luxury tax threshold in 2018, they can be more aggressive in trying to reel in certain members of a star-studded class of free agents next winter. One of their own standouts, left-hander Clayton Kershaw, could be a prominent part of that group.

Padres Designate Jose Ruiz For Assignment

By | at

The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-hander Jose Ruiz for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to shortstop Freddy Galvis, whose trade to San Diego has now been officially announced by both the Padres and Phillies.

Ruiz, 23, made the considerable jump from Class-A Advanced to the Majors this season, though he only threw a single inning at the big league level. The Venezuelan-born Ruiz worked as a catcher for the bulk of his pro career with the Padres but began transitioning to the mound in 2016. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the team’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA in that time.

Ruiz, however, sat at 95.3 mph with his heater in his lone MLB appearance this past season and averaged 8.2 K/9 in his first full season as a pitcher in the minors. He also averaged 4.5 BB/9, though, and posted a low 32.5 percent ground-ball rate, which contributed to some trouble in keeping the ball in the park (1.27 HR/9). He’s tossed 16 innings in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason, posting a 3.94 ERA with a 12-to-6 K/BB ratio, a hit batter and a wild pitch.

In 1005 plate appearances throughout his minor league career, Ruiz is a .203/.239/.249 hitter, so it seems unlikely that he’ll return to the catching position anytime soon.

Padres Acquire Freddy Galvis

By | at

12:10pm: The two teams have announced the trade.

11:15am: The Padres look to have found their shortstop for the 2018 season, as they’ve reportedly reached a tentative agreement to acquire switch-hitting Freddy Galvis from the Phillies in exchange for minor league right-hander Enyel De Los Santos. The teams have yet to announce the trade.

Freddy Galvis | Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Galvis, who turned 28 last month, is a free agent following the 2018 season but will provide the Padres with a strong defender to serve as stopgap while ballhyhooed prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. continues developing in Triple-A El Paso. It’s been suggested in the past that Tatis could debut late in the 2018 season, so a one-year placeholder may be all the Friars truly need at the position. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Galvis to earn $7.4MM in 2018 after his final trip through the arbitration process.

In Galvis, they’ll acquire an OBP-challenged defensive specialist that has significantly increased his power output over the past two seasons. Galvis hit a combined 20 homer from his rookie season in 2012 through the end of the 2015 campaign. However, he popped 20 long balls in 2016 and 12 this past season while batting a collective .248/.292/.390 in those two seasons.

Defensively, Galvis ranks sixth among MLB shortstops in terms of Ultimate Zone Rating over the past two seasons. Defensive Runs Saved is less enthusiastic about his work, pegging him as an average defender and ranking him 12th among big league shortstops. Regardless of one’s preferred defensive metric, it’s clear that Galvis will represent a mammoth upgrade on the defensive side of the game for a Padres club that ranks dead last in shortstop DRS (-38) and UZR (-38.4) across the past two seasons.

For the Phillies, Galvis was on the verge of becoming expendable with top infield prospects J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery on the cusp of MLB readiness. Dealing him to San Diego will allow the Phils to deploy Crawford at shortstop from the get-go in 2018, assuming he looks ready to be tested against MLB pitching on a full-time basis in Spring Training. He’ll line up between Maikel Franco at third base and Cesar Hernandez at second base, assuming Hernandez (another trade candidate) isn’t moved prior to Opening Day as well. That trio will be joined by breakout slugger Rhys Hoskins at first base.

De Los Santos, who will turn 21 on Dec. 25, was the 13th-ranked prospect in a strong Padres system, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He fell shy of Baseball America’s offseason list of the Padres’ top 10 prospects, though BA’s Kyle Glaser tweets that De Los Santos would be a top 10 name in many systems throughout the league. Glaser tweets that De Los Santos sits 94-98 mph with a heater that he commands to both sides in the lower portion of the strike zone. Callis and Mayo note that he already has an average curveball and a changeup that flashes above-average at times.

The 2017 season was a strong one for De Los Santos, who logged 150 innings over the life of 26 appearances (24 starts) and averaged 8.3 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 with a 44.2 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 3.78 ERA. It’s not clear where the Phils intend to start him in 2018, but he’ll likely either return to Double-A and be in line for a quick bump to Triple-A early in the season or just open the year in Triple-A right out of the gate.

Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller first reported that the two sides were in serious negotiations (Twitter link). AJ Cassavell of MLB.com tweeted that the two sides were close and that a pitcher would go back to Philadelphia in the deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the agreement had been reached and that De Los Santos would be sent to the Phillies in return (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres “Clear-Cut Favorites” For Eric Hosmer

By | at

Following two face-to-face meetings, the Padres seem to be the clear-cut favorites to sign free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports. Nightengale also notes that the Red Sox are still “lurking”.

The Padres have been frequently linked to Hosmer this offseason, but multiple face-to-face meetings could mean that talks have reached a more advanced stage. Indeed, Nightengale’s use of the phrase “clear-cut” seems to imply that teams have at least made someone detailed pitches by now, and that the Padres are far ahead of their competition.

Hosmer is coming fresh off a career year and is just 28 years of age. He hit .318/.385/.498 with 25 homers in 671 plate appearances. The durable Hosmer played in all 162 games and added a Gold Glove to his list of accomplishments for the 2017 season. Hosmer ranked third among free agents in terms of earning potential on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents With Predictions piece.

The Royals free agent rejected a qualifying offer, so if the Padres were to sign him, they’d have to give up their third-highest pick in the 2018 draft (in the case of the Padres, who have a pick in Competitive Balance Round A, that’d be a second-round selection). Since Hosmer will almost certainly sign a deal for more than $50MM, the Royals would stand to gain a compensatory draft pick after the first round.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top