Adrian Morejon

Padres Notes: Morejon, Machado, Ownership

By Nick Deeds | February 2, 2025 at 1:02pm CDT

With Spring Training just around the corner, the Padres held their annual FanFest event yesterday and the impending return of baseball was a hot topic. With trade rumors surrounding right-handers Dylan Cease and Michael King while veteran Joe Musgrove figures to miss the entire 2025 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October, the club’s rotation has been under particular scrutiny in recent weeks.

However, the Padres end up filling out their rotation come Opening Day, one potential candidate to start has been eliminated at this point: left-hander Adrian Morejon. According to a report from Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune yesterday, club manager Mike Shildt spoke about Morejon’s place on the roster yesterday and gave the lefty a vote of confidence in a relief role.

“Adrián has found a really nice niche in the bullpen,” Shildt said, as relayed by Sanders. “It’s a spot that we think he’s not only going to do as well as he did last year, but take the next step and he’s excited about remaining in the bullpen and just being a dominant guy in that spot.”

That’s a bit of a reversal from earlier this winter, when Morejon was among a handful of relievers identified by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller as potential rotation converts. Moving players from the bullpen to the rotation has become quite popular around the game in recent years, and Preller’s decision to sign Seth Lugo as part of the club’s rotation mix and Lugo’s subsequent transformation into a bona fide top-of-the-rotation arm was a catalyst for that growing popularity.

Morejon was as sensible a candidate for such a conversion as any given his history as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, though given that 2024 was Morejon’s first healthy season as a big leaguer it’s understandable that the club has decided to keep him in the bullpen rather than risk more injuries by stretching him out. Stephen Kolek and Bryan Hoeing have also been discussed as potential converts to the rotation, but it remains unclear whether that’s still on the table for them entering camp or if, like Morejon, the Padres plan to keep them in relief roles for 2025. It’s even possible those decisions have not yet been made given the uncertainty surrounding the club’s rotation amid rumors of the club trading Cease or King.

Turning to the positional side of things, veteran third baseman Manny Machado spoke to reporters (including MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell) yesterday about the progress his elbow has made since undergoing offseason surgery last winter. That surgery cost him the final days of the 2023 season and kept him from returning to his typical post as the Padres’ regular third baseman until May, and continued to mix in occasional DH days throughout the first half. Machado noted that he dealt with the “lingering effects” of his surgery throughout the 2024 campaign, but made clear that “everything” has been different for him this offseason as he’s now “back to normal” for the first time post-surgery.

Whether that will be enough to help catapult the 32-year-old back into the .280/.352/.504 (130 wRC+) form he showed during his first four seasons in a Padres uniform remains to be seen, but it’s surely an encouraging sign for Padres fans that Machado is feeling healthier than he was last season, when he posted a 122 wRC+ with 3.6 fWAR. The veteran slugger has nine years left on the 11-year, $350MM deal he signed prior to the 2023 season, so Machado’s ability to maintain star-caliber production into his mid-to-late 30’s will be key to the Padres’ success over the coming decade.

While the Padres have been preparing for the coming season on the field and in the front office, a squabble between ownership stakeholders has been going on in the background. While the Padres announced back in December that Peter Seidler’s brother John Seidler was poised to take over as the franchise control person, that was seemingly put on hold when Peter’s widow, Sheel Seidler, filed a lawsuit against Peter’s other two brothers (and trustees of The Peter Seidler Trust) Matt and Bob Seidler. Matt Seidler subsequently filed a response to that lawsuit last week, and as the legal battle surrounding the role of Padres control person continues plenty of speculation has gone on among fans and media members about the future of the franchise.

As noted in a column by Matt Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times yesterday, however, one thing the Seidler brothers are resolute on is their commitment to owning the Padres. Shaikin notes that the brothers have “no plans to sell the Padres to anyone.” That apparently includes Sheel Seidler, whose legal counsel Dane Butswinkas, Shaikin reports, refused to answer whether or not she is attempting to buy her former brothers-in-law out of the franchise.

“Ideally, we would like to resolve this with the brothers,” Butswinksas said, as relayed by Shaikin. “However, for that to occur, it would take some level of cooperation from them. So far, we have seen no signs of that happening. The current path towards resolution, unfortunately, is through litigation, which we know can drag on for years and would be in no one’s interest.”

The possibility of a sale comes up in Shaikin’s piece, which MLBTR readers are encouraged to read in full, as part of a larger discussion about recent legal disputes between stakeholders within ownership groups in instances of divorce, illness, or death affecting a club’s primary owner. Those disputes, as Shaikin notes, have a history of being resolved through the sale of the team. Former Padres owner John Moores and, more recently, the Angelos family that formerly owned the Orioles are among previous owners who have sold their teams amid legal battles within the team’s ownership structure.

Padres Have Considered Luis Arráez Trade

By Darragh McDonald | December 12, 2024 at 4:27pm CDT

The Padres seem to have a budget crunch and are considering all kinds of options for how to stop feeling the squeeze. It was reported this week that they have been exploring the possibility of trading right-hander Dylan Cease and now Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that they have discussed trading infielder Luis Arráez. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that they have received inquires on Cease, Arráez and Xander Bogaerts as well.

It was reported this week that the club was probably going to have to drop its payroll commitments. They had a $169MM payroll in 2024 but RosterResource currently projects them to be at $210MM next year. It’s not known exactly where they need to wind up, but it should be somewhere in between those two numbers. Acee’s report from today suggests that Preller can be above $169MM but not by much. Trading prospects doesn’t seem to be a strong consideration since the club has done a lot of that in recent years. The farm is still highlighted by Leodalis De Vries and Ethan Salas but all reports have suggested those two are fairly untouchable.

That’s a tricky situation since the Friars need to upgrade at catcher, in an outfield corner and in the rotation. Doing so while also cutting spending is a difficult tightrope to walk. It’s a similar situation to last winter, when the Padres also had to scale back the budget but had notable concerns about the pitching depth and outfield.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller somehow made it work by trading Juan Soto to the Yankees for a pile of pitchers, including Michael King and Drew Thorpe, with the latter then used to acquire Cease. They also moved shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill to center field, skipping him over Triple-A, and struck gold by signing Jurickson Profar for just $1MM. They ended up having a good season and getting back into the playoffs but now face another tough balancing act.

Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish are all making big money but those contracts are hard to move, both because the players are key parts of the roster and each has a full no-trade clause. Cease and Arráez, however, have no such protection and both are controlled for just one more season via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Arráez for a salary of $14.6MM next year and Cease for $13.7MM.

That amount of money is perhaps a sweet spot. The players should have surplus value, meaning they would generate interest from other clubs, but the numbers are also big enough where a trade would reduce San Diego’s payroll by a notable amount.

It will be a delicate line for Preller to walk, especially with Cease. The rotation is already thin as it is, with Musgrove slated to miss most or all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery. There’s a strong front three of Cease, King and Darvish but question marks after that. Moving Cease could save some money and bring back a return of some kind, but it would make the rotation depth even thinner. Getting Roki Sasaki would be ideal since he’s very good and will be limited to a small signing bonus, but there’s no guarantees there and it will be another month before there’s clarity on the situation.

One thing that could help is converting a reliever to a full-time starting role, as they did with King last year and Seth Lugo before. AJ Cassavell of MLB.com relays that Preller has identified Adrián Morejón, Bryan Hoeing and Stephen Kolek as candidates for such a move.

MLBTR looked into the possibility of stretching out Morejón in October, though MLBTR readers were fairly split on the idea, with a slight majority favoring him staying in the bullpen. The argument for stretching him out is that he was once a highly-regarded starting pitching prospect before getting derailed by injuries. In 2024, he was healthy enough to avoid the IL all year, tossing 63 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.83 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 51.4% ground ball rate. The Padres could just keep him in that role since it worked for him but they could also view that healthy season as a springboard to a larger workload in 2025.

Neither Hoeing nor Kolek had the same prospect pedigree as Morejón but both have largely worked in relief after coming up as starters in the minors. Hoeing tossed 53 2/3 innings in 2024 with a 2.18 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. Kolek tossed 46 2/3 innings with a 5.21 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 55.9% ground ball rate.

Any of the three would be far cheaper than Cease. Hoeing and Kolek are still in their pre-arbitration years. Morejón’s injuries have limited him to modest $1.8MM projection for next year even though he has more than four years of service time. That price point is attractive but there’s obviously big risk in flipping an established starter like Cease and hoping for these guys to slot in for him.

With Arráez, it’s a bit easier to see the logic. Without him, the club could have an infield of Machado, Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth from left to right. Finding a passable first baseman for less than what Arráez is slated to make is more plausible than replacing Cease with a pitcher of similar quality. They could flip Arráez for whatever clubs are willing to offer in return, then theoretically sign someone like Donovan Solano, Carlos Santana or Justin Turner for less money.

But on the other hand, the teams interested in Arráez could also look to those options as reasons to not give up much in trade. Despite winning three straight batting titles, Arráez is a fairly limited player since he’s not a strong defender, doesn’t walk much and doesn’t provide power. He’s certainly useful but Acee suggests Cease is more likely to move because the prices on starting pitching have been aggressive this winter, meaning he would have more interest than Arráez despite having essentially the same projected salary.

The Bogaerts possibility in interesting but the least likely of the three to come together. As mentioned, he has a full no-trade clause and would have to approve any deal. He’s also set to make $25MM annually for another nine years, leaving $225MM left on his deal. Heyman suggests that the strong spending this winter makes the deal look more attractive than before, but that’s still an underwater deal.

Bogaerts is three years older than Willy Adames, who just got a guarantee of $182MM from the Giants. He’s also coming off a down year in which he missed time due to injury and slashed .264/.307/.381 for a 95 wRC+. His shortstop defense has also been questionable enough that the Padres moved him to second base in deference to Ha-Seong Kim, though he did retake the position late in the year when Kim was hurt. Even if the Padres found a taker for Bogaerts, it would create a shortstop vacancy and add another item to the to-do list. Re-signing Kim is theoretically possible but he’s still recovering from shoulder surgery and might not be a factor in the first half of the season. The free agent market doesn’t have any more clear-cut everyday options.

Speculatively speaking, it’s a bit easier to see this kind of thing with Cronenworth, who had been in trade rumors in the past. Going into 2023, he and the Padres agreed to a seven-year, $80MM extension for the 2024-30 seasons. He then had a down year in 2023 and the Friars looked into moving him during last winter’s budget crunch but didn’t get anything done. He bounced back with a .241/.324/.390 showing in 2024 for a 105 wRC+, much better than his .229/.312/.378 line and 91 wRC+ in 2023.

He is still owed $71MM over the next six years but that’s less than a third of the money left on the Bogaerts deal. Cronenworth is also a bit younger, turning 31 in January. Trading him would open a hole at second base for the Friars, unless they are willing to play Arráez there, but free agency features Gleyber Torres, Jose Iglesias, Jorge Polanco and other possible replacements.

There are many factors for Preller to balance as he puts together next year’s club, but it’s at least a position he’s familiar with. Naturally, how he proceeds will depend on what other clubs are offering for Cease or Arráez or other players, but it will interesting to see him juggle all the different elements.

Should The Padres Move Adrián Morejón Back To The Rotation?

By Darragh McDonald | October 18, 2024 at 8:35pm CDT

Left-hander Adrián Morejón just wrapped up the best season of his major league career, at least so far. He had appeared in each of the seasons from 2019 to 2023 but never reached 35 innings pitched in any of those. In 2024, he made 60 relief appearances, logging 63 2/3 frames. He allowed 2.83 earned runs per nine innings in that time. His 26.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 51.4% ground ball rate were all better than league averages. He added another two appearances in the postseason.

Now the Padres and Morejón will have to decide what’s next. The southpaw came up as a starting pitching prospect and was highly regarded as a minor leaguer. The Cuban lefty secured an $11MM signing bonus from the Padres in 2016, before the league introduced the hard-capped international amateur spending system that currently exists. Baseball America considered him one of the top 100 prospects in the league from 2017 to 2021, with Morejón getting as high as #52 going into 2019.

But his trajectory slowed down since that peak of his prospect hype, largely due to injuries. In 2019, he made his major league debut but missed time due to a shoulder impingement. The 2020 season was shortened by the pandemic and there were no minor league games, limiting him to just nine appearances and less than 20 innings that year. In 2021, he required Tommy John surgery after just two starts. He was off the injured list by June of 2022 but missed time in the second half of that year due to shoulder inflammation. In 2023, he spent time on the IL due to a left elbow sprain and right knee inflammation, limiting him to just nine major league innings and less than 30 on the farm.

With all of those injuries, the Padres understandably kept him in a relief role this year. As mentioned up top, he stayed healthy and thrived in the bullpen. Based on the way the past few years went, the club might be tempted to just keep Morejón in the bullpen. With Tanner Scott set to reach free agency, Morejón arguably projects as the club’s best southpaw reliever for 2025, ahead of Wandy Peralta and Yuki Matsui.

But there’s upside to considering the alternative, with Garrett Crochet being a best-case scenario example of what’s possible. Like Morejón, Crochet was a top prospect who had spent the early parts of his career either hurt or pitching in relief. The White Sox stretched him out for a rotation role in 2024 with fantastic results, as he posted a 3.58 ERA over 146 innings. Even those numbers sell him short, as that club’s poor defense seemingly contributed to a .318 batting average on balls in play for Crochet this year. He struck out 35.1% of batters faced, limited walks to a 5.5% clip and got grounders on 45.1% of balls in play. If it weren’t for that high BABIP, he probably would have kept some more runs off the board, which is why his 2.69 FIP and 2.53 SIERA were far better than his ERA.

That’s not to say that the Padres should consider such a performance from Morejón to be likely, but it demonstrates the proverbial pot of gold they could chase. Crochet is now a borderline ace and he will likely be the top trade candidate of this offseason, with the White Sox looking at bringing back a king’s ransom in terms of young prospects.

Morejón threw five different pitches in 2024, suggesting there’s potentially still a starter’s repertoire in there, without him relying on any one pitch too much. His sinker, slider and four-seamer were all thrown between 23 and 36% of the time, while he also sprinkled in a splitter 7.6% of the time and a sweeper at a 2.6% clip. That helped him avoid the extreme splits that can often doom a pitcher to a specialized relief role. Lefties hit .255/.303/.367 off Morejón this year while righties were only slightly better at .257/.321/.405.

Due to Morejón spending so much time on the IL, he has managed to accrue more than four years of major league service time. That means that, despite his limited track record, he’s slated for free agency after 2026. But the missed time has also prevented him from increasing his earning power. He made $850K this year, barely above the $740K league minimum. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a modest bump to $1.8MM in 2025. He’d be able to secure one more arbitration raise for 2026 before hitting the open market.

That price point is important for the Padres. Due in part to the collapse of their broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group, the club had to cut the payroll last winter. They flipped Juan Soto to the Yankees to help them duck under the competitive balance tax while also adding some needed starting pitching depth.

Starting pitching is again a concern for the Friars going into 2025, with the recent news that Joe Musgrove is set to miss all of next year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Michael King, Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish give the club a strong front three but they have question marks at the back end. Matt Waldron had a 3.71 ERA in the first half but an ugly 8.10 ERA in the second half. Randy Vásquez had a 4.87 ERA this year but with a tepid 14.4% strikeout rate and he also had an 8.21 ERA in his Triple-A starts. Musgrove will hopefully be back by 2026 but King and Cease are both slated for free agency after 2025, meaning there’s even less certainty in the future.

Improving the rotation will undoubtedly be a focus for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller this winter but the budget might again be an issue. The Friars already have an estimated $231MM CBT number for next year, according to RosterResource, just shy of next year’s $241MM base threshold. Assuming the club wants to avoid the tax again in 2025, that doesn’t give Preller a lot to work with and even back-end starters often get eight-figure deals in free agency. Last winter, Kyle Gibson got $13MM on a one-year deal, Lance Lynn got $11MM, Wade Miley and Alex Wood each got $8.5MM while Martín Pérez got $8MM.

In addition to filling out the rotation, Preller will be looking to replace lost offensive production. Each of Jurickson Profar, Ha-Seong Kim, Donovan Solano, David Peralta and Kyle Higashioka are slated to reach free agency, putting some notable dents in the lineup.

Given the club’s tight budget and long to-do list, it would be a great solution if Morejón could become a starter next year. That would be far cheaper than filling a rotation spot via the open market. There’s also the trade market but the Padres have sent out a lot of prospects in recent years and would probably love to avoid doing more of that, if possible.

But despite all the attraction of Morejón jumping into the rotation, there’s also the risk of another injury cropping up. In that scenario, it’s entirely possible that the Padres fall short of upgrading the rotation and also subtract a key lefty from the bullpen mix.

What do you think the Padres should do? Give him a shot at the rotation or stick with what’s working? Have your say in the poll below!

Padres Designate Pedro Avila For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | April 12, 2024 at 5:55pm CDT

The Padres announced that they have recalled left-hander Adrián Morejón from Triple-A El Paso, with right-hander Pedro Avila designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Avila, now 27, has bounced on and off the Padres’ roster over the years. Initially acquired from the Nationals in the 2016 trade that sent Derek Norris to Washington, Avila was added to the 40-man roster in November of 2018. At the end of 2019, he was non-tendered and re-signed to a minor league deal. He got his roster spot back in October of 2021 but was outrighted in June of 2022, before getting selected to the roster yet again a few months later in November.

Amid all of those transactions, Avila spent much of his time on optional assignment. He has pitched in parts of five major league seasons but only has 71 2/3 innings to his name at the big league level. 50 1/3 of those came last year, as he put up a 3.22 earned run average for the Friars. His 11.4% walk rate last year was on the high side but he managed to punch out 24.5% of batters faced while getting grounders on 58.8% of balls in play.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to carry those results over into 2024, at least in the early going. He’s thrown eight innings this year with eight earned runs having come around to score. He struck out nine batters but also walked eight.

Over his years as a Padre, Avila has burned through all of his options and can’t be removed from the active roster without also being removed from the 40-man. The Friars will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency by virtue of having a previous career outright.

NL West Notes: Grichuk, Yankees, Campusano, Morejon, Gonzalez, Rodgers, Kinley

By Mark Polishuk and Nick Deeds | July 16, 2023 at 7:27pm CDT

As the Yankees look for outfield help, Randal Grichuk is a “name that has come up” in the team’s explorations, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Now in his second season with the Rockies, Grichuk missed most of April recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery, but has since hit .300/.364/.473 (112 wRC+) over 225 plate appearances. Grichuk is a free agent after the season and would be a pure rental for New York, and he is owed roughly $3.89MM for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. The exact of who owes Grichuk that money isn’t exactly known, as the Blue Jays were paying $4.333MM of the total $9.333MM owed to Grichuk this year, so the Rockies’ 2023 financial obligation (and thus the obligation for any trade suitor) may technically be done, depending on how Grichuk’s salary was divvied up.

Regardless, Grichuk would still count as a relatively inexpensive acquisition for the Yankees. Grichuk can play at least passable defense at all three outfield positions, making him a usefully flexible option for New York both before and after Aaron Judge returns from the injured list. While his splits indicate a lot more success at Coors Field than at away ballparks this season, Grichuk does at least have a solid track record of success at Yankee Stadium, with a .279/.333/.532 slash line and seven home runs over 120 career PA in the Bronx. The struggling Rockies are reportedly open to moving pending free agents like Grichuk, though there’s a slight question mark about his health, as Grichuk has missed Colorado’s last couple of games due to groin tightness.

Here’s more from around the NL West…

Padres catcher Luis Campusano has missed most of the 2023 campaign after undergoing thumb surgery in early May, leaving the club to rely on the struggling Austin Nola and in-season signing Gary Sanchez behind the plate. Fortunately, Campusano appears to be nearing a return as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune write that the backstop is in “the final stages” of his Triple-A rehab assignment, and is expected to rejoin the club during their current road trip (which runs through July 23). According to Acee, Campusano’s return will result in a timeshare with Sanchez, though the playing time specifics are expected to be “merit-based.” Sanchez has hit .197/.279/.426 (94 wRC+) in 136 plate appearances with the Padres while Campusano posted a .238/.227/.429 (70 wRC+) slash line prior to his trip to the IL, albeit in just 22 trips to the plate.
Sticking with the Padres, the club announced today that left-hander Adrian Morejon was placed on the 15-day injured list due to right knee inflammation. It’s been a difficult road for Morejon, who has pitched just 47 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 campaign due to a Tommy John surgery, and then an elbow sprain that sent him to the 60-day IL at the start of this season. Morejon will be replaced on the active roster by right-hander Matt Waldron, who sports a 3.86 ERA in 4 2/3 innings of work with the Padres this season.
Luis Gonzalez underwent back surgery in March, but Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) today that the outfielder is set to begin a rehab assignment. It will take a while for Gonzalez to ramp up after the long layoff, but his recovery should line up with the August timeline recently mentioned by Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Gonzalez was a solid contributor to the 2022 club, hitting .254/.323/.360 over 350 PA in his rookie season.
Bookending the post with some more Rockies news, Brendan Rodgers and Tyler Kinley will start rehab assignments with the Rockies’ high-A affiliate on Monday, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Neither player has seen any action this season, as Rodgers underwent shoulder surgery during Spring Training and Kinley is recovering from an elbow surgery a little over a year ago.

Padres Designate David Dahl For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | June 6, 2023 at 4:05pm CDT

The Padres announced today that left-hander Adrian Morejon has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A El Paso. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, outfielder David Dahl was designate for assignment.

Dahl, 29, signed a minor league deal with the club and cracked the Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, he landed on the injured list just a week into the season with a quad strain, having made nine plate appearances in four games. He went on a rehab assignment and was optioned to El Paso once healthy. In 76 plate appearances for the Chihuahuas, he hit .265/.342/.382 for a wRC+ of 76, or 24% below league average.

It’s a continuation of a rough stretch for Dahl, who was once a fixture of the Rockies’ roster. He debuted in 2016 and hit .315/.359/.500 for a wRC+ of 113. He spent all of 2017 on the injured list but returned to post a combined .291/.342/.528 line for a 111 wRC+ in the two seasons after that. Unfortunately, he had a dismal 2020 when he hit just .183/.222/.247. He was non-tendered after that season and has bounced around since then, joining the Rangers, Brewers, Nationals and now the Padres in recent years, struggling to get on track for any extended period of time.

The Padres will now have a week to trade Dahl or pass him through waivers. If he were to clear waivers, he would be eligible to reject an outright assignment and return to free agency by virtue of having more than three years of major league service time.

California Notes: Walsh, Padres, Dahl, Engel, Cruz, Morejon, Pomeranz, A’s, Blackburn, Rucinski

By Mark Polishuk | April 9, 2023 at 10:09am CDT

Jared Walsh has yet to suit up for the Angels this season, as he has been on the 10-day injured list recovering from insomnia and recurring headaches. Manager Phil Nevin provided media (including MLB.com and J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group) with an update on Walsh’s condition, saying that “He’s doing okay. He feels like he’s making a lot of progress, getting some clarity on what’s going on.” The recovery process has included a two-week stint with a specialist in Utah, which has limited Walsh’s baseball-related training activity mostly to weekends with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City.

Owing to the unpredictable nature of his problem, there isn’t yet a timeline for Walsh’s return, as Nevin noted that the first baseman will need some level of a rehab assignment or a ramp-up period before he gets onto the field. Walsh was already making a comeback from an injury-hampered 2022 season, as he struggled to a .215/.264/.374 slash line in 454 plate appearances before undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in September.

Padres Select Rougned Odor, Domingo Tapia

By Anthony Franco | March 30, 2023 at 11:53am CDT

The Padres announced a few transactions as they set their Opening Day roster. Rougned Odor and reliever Domingo Tapia both made the team, with San Diego formally selecting their contracts. The Friars also confirmed the previously reported addition of outfielder David Dahl to the 40-man. San Diego needed to create two 40-man vacancies. They’ve done so by designating righty Michel Báez for assignment and placing southpaw Adrián Morejón on the 60-day injured list with an elbow sprain.

Additionally, San Diego placed a handful of pitchers on the 15-day IL. Joe Musgrove, Robert Suarez, Drew Pomeranz and José Castillo will all start the season on the shelf.

Odor is entering his tenth season at the big league level. The longtime Ranger second baseman has bounced around the league over the past few seasons. He’s been a below-average hitter overall due to dismal on-base numbers but continued to draw interest thanks to some left-handed power. Odor appeared in 135 games for the Orioles last season, hitting 13 homers but posting just a .207/.275/.357 line in 472 plate appearances.

Signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, Odor impressed in Spring Training. He put together a .316/.422/.474 slash with a pair of homers in 38 at-bats. The career second baseman also saw some corner outfield action in exhibition play to broaden his defensive flexibility off the bench. He could join Dahl and Matt Carpenter in taking some right field work until Fernando Tatis Jr. returns from suspension.

Tapia, 31, inked a minor league deal over the winter. He threw 17 innings for the A’s last year, allowing 16 runs with more walks than strikeouts. While it wasn’t a particularly encouraging season, Tapia averaged around 98 MPH on his fastball and posted a 1.76 ERA in 30 2/3 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas. He nabs an Opening Day bullpen job in San Diego after tossing eight innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts and no walks this spring. Tapia still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Friars could bounce him between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso throughout the season.

Báez has pitched at the MLB level in three of the last four seasons. The bulk of that came in 2019, when he made 24 appearances. Báez pitched only twice in the majors last year. He threw 21 1/3 innings for El Paso, allowing an 8.44 ERA while walking a huge 16.7% of opposing hitters. The Padres will now have a week to deal him or put him on waivers.

Morejón is now officially out until the end of May. He returned from Tommy John surgery to make 26 appearances out of the bullpen last season. Elbow soreness cropped back up this spring, an alarming development considering that history. Initial imaging didn’t reveal any structural damage, with the club first calling the issue inflammation. Terming it a sprain — which inherently involves some stretching of the ligament — is a little more concerning and will keep him out of action for a while.

Injury Notes: Blackburn, Pina, Morejon, Garcia, Szapucki

By Anthony Franco | March 17, 2023 at 8:00pm CDT

The A’s will open the season with both starter Paul Blackburn and catcher Manny Piña on the injured list, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters this afternoon (link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). Blackburn still can’t throw at full strength after ripping the nail on his middle finger a couple weeks ago. Piña, meanwhile, was diagnosed with left wrist inflammation after meeting with a specialist yesterday. His wrist is currently in a brace and there’s no timetable for his return to baseball activity.

Neither development comes as a surprise. Kotsay said a few days ago both players were questionable for Opening Day. Blackburn’s absence doesn’t figure to be a long-term concern but will require an adjustment to the starting five. Blackburn would have been assured of an Opening Day rotation spot, joining Drew Rucinski and Shintaro Fujinami in that regard. James Kaprielian seems as if he’ll join them, as Kotsay indicated today the righty is on track to be ready for the season after offseason shoulder surgery. The A’s will need to make a move at catcher in the next two weeks, as Shea Langeliers is the only healthy backstop on the 40-man roster.

More injury updates around the game:

Padres southpaw Adrián Morejón went for an MRI after departing a weekend Spring Training game with elbow discomfort. Manager Bob Melvin provided a generally positive update this afternoon, telling the media that Morejón’s MRI came back clean of structural damage (video provided by 97.3 FM The Fan). Imaging did reveal some inflammation in the joint and the young hurler will be shut down from throwing until symptoms subside. That could be within a matter of days, according to Melvin. While Morejón may still need to open the season on the 15-day injured list, that there’s no structural damage warrants a sigh of relief considering his injury history. He lost most of 2021 and the first half of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. The Friars used Morejón exclusively out of the bullpen last year. They’ve floated the possibility of moving him back to the rotation at some point, though it remains to be seen if his latest elbow discomfort will affect the club’s usage plan.
The Pirates announced last week that reliever Jarlín García was being shut down after experiencing some discomfort in his throwing arm. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk provided an update yesterday, telling reporters the southpaw has a nerve injury in the biceps area (via Justice delos Santos of MLB.com). He’ll remain shut down from throwing for at least four to five weeks before going for more testing late next month. It’s clear García is in for an extended absence to start the season, as even a best-case scenario in which he can start throwing again in mid-April will require a ramp-up period lasting into May. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Pittsburgh place him on the 60-day injured list at some point. García signed a $2.5MM free agent deal over the winter after being non-tendered by the Giants despite a 3.74 ERA in 65 innings last season.
Giants reliever Thomas Szapucki will meet with a thoracic outlet syndrome specialist next week, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’d been sidelined of late by discomfort in his elbow area and there’s evidently some concern it’s related to the condition. Thoracic outlet syndrome has become a fairly prevalent issue for pitchers in recent years, typically requiring a surgical procedure that involves the removal of a rib to reduce nerve pressure in the arm. The track record for players returning from that issue is mixed. While players like Merrill Kelly have come back better than ever, the likes of Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey have never regained their pre-surgery form.

Adrián Morejón To Undergo MRI After Experiencing Arm Discomfort

By Darragh McDonald | March 13, 2023 at 4:44pm CDT

Padres left-hander Adrián Morejón will undergo an MRI this week, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. The lefty had departed yesterday’s game with discomfort above his elbow.

Until that MRI takes place and a diagnosis is reached, it won’t be known if Morejón needs to miss time or how much. For now, it’s a concerning development for both the pitcher and the club. Morejón was once one of the top prospects in the league, with Baseball America featuring him on their top 100 list in five straight seasons from 2017 to 2021. Unfortunately, he’s been slowed down by injuries since then, most significantly Tommy John surgery in 2021.

Morejón was able to return to the mound with the Padres last year, though they kept him in the bullpen. He tossed 34 innings over 26 appearances, as well as another 13 1/3 frames in the minors, bringing his season tally to 47 1/3. The club was hoping to have him continue as a starter this year, now that he’s further removed from that surgery.

The Padres assembled a rotation this winter that was fairly deep but came with some question marks. The front three of Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell were going to be followed by Michael Wacha, Nick Martinez and Seth Lugo. Wacha had a nice season in 2022 but has dealt with recurring shoulder issues and hasn’t reached the 130-inning mark in a season since 2017. Martinez and Lugo, meanwhile, were each going to attempt to hold down rotation roles despite more recent success as relievers.

There was already some uncertainty in that group to begin with, which was going to make pitching depth an important factor for the Padres. That was only exacerbated when Musgrove recently suffered a fractured toe during a weight room accident. He’s expected to miss at least a couple of turns through the rotation to begin the season, which will thin out the club’s depth for a while.

The Padres once seemed like they would open the season with a six-man rotation prior to that injury. It’s possible that Musgrove’s injury changed those plans, or perhaps they could have turned to one of their depth options. Morejón would have been firmly in the mix for such a job, alongside pitchers like Jay Groome, Julio Teheran, Brent Honeywell Jr., Ryan Weathers, Reiss Knehr and Pedro Avila.

Any significant injury would take Morejón out of the running for the time being, but it will depend upon what the imaging reveals. The 24-year-old wasn’t set to be an essential member of the club’s staff but the Padres surely don’t want to subtract from their depth, especially given the question marks in their rotation. Any kind of setback would also no doubt be frustrating for Morejón on a personal level since he’s missed so much time already. Despite having just 42 major league appearances under his belt, he’s racked up over three years of MLB service time, much of that spent on the injured list. He reached arbitration for the first time this winter and will make $800K this year. He’s slated for two more passes through arbitration before reaching free agency after 2025, though he still has options and could see that timeline pushed back if he’s sent down to the minors for a meaningful stretch of time at any point.

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