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Tommy Pham Cleared To Re-Join Padres

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Padres outfielder Tommy Pham has now twice tested negative for COVID-19 infection, MLB.com’s AJ Casavell reports on Twitter. That’s the news he needed to join the club’s Summer Camp and begin preparing for the season in earnest.

Since he was able to achieve clearance rather quickly, it seems there’s hope that Pham will be ready to take the field on Opening Day (or shortly thereafter). He has about two weeks to get dialed in.

That’s not a ton of time, but it appears — given the timing — that Pham did not experience major symptoms from his infection. If he was able to maintain fitness and otherwise prepare for the campaign, perhaps he’ll be just fine with a limited run-up.

Pham has functioned as something of a quiet star in recent years. That’s just what the San Diego organization will need him to be if it’s to enjoy a breakout season.

Padres’ Jose Castillo Likely Out Six Weeks

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Padres left-hander Jose Castillo will miss roughly six weeks after being diagnosed with a teres major strain, manager Jayce Tingler told reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of The Athletic). The 24-year-old southpaw exited Wednesday’s intrasquad game with what the team initially termed a possible lat injury.

It’ll be the second straight season with a notable injury for Castillo, who was limited to 8 2/3 innings between Triple-A and the Majors last year. He opened the 2019 season on the IL due to a flexor strain and suffered a torn ligament in his hand in his first and only big league appearance last year.

The six-week absence could sideline Castillo for nearly half the truncated 2020 season, and Tingler acknowledged that it might take him out of the 2020 equation entirely. “We’re going to need some breaks for him to return to play this year,” the manager said. “We’re going to stay optimistic.”

Castillo, acquired from the Rays in the three-team blockbuster that sent Wil Myers to San Diego and Trea Turner to D.C., was excellent in his 2018 debut campaign. After pitching to a combined 2.05 ERA in 26 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he got the call to the big leagues and worked to a 3.29 ERA with a 52-to-12 K/BB ratio in 38 1/3 frames for the Padres. Armed with a fastball that averages 95 mph and a slider that has befuddled left- and right-handed hitters alike, Castillo generated a hearty 14 percent swinging-strike rate that season and looked to be on his way to establishing himself as a quality long-term piece in the Friars’ relief corps.

That may still prove to be the case, but it’s hard not to have some degree of concern with the arm injuries that have already begun to pile up for the promising young lefty. Drew Pomeranz, Matt Strahm, Adrian Morejon and likely fifth starter Joey Lucchesi are the only other southpaws on the Padres’ 40-man roster, although the team’s 60-man player pool includes non-roster a trio of lefties: Joey Cantillo, 2018 first-round pick Ryan Weathers and uber-prospect MacKenzie Gore, who could eventually push for a spot in the rotation in 2020.

Padres’ Jose Castillo Dealing With Possible Lat Strain

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Padres southpaw reliever Jose Castillo left the team’s intrasquad game Tuesday with a possible lat strain, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Manager Jayce Tingler said he expects to have more information on Castillo’s status in the next couple days.

While it’s unknown how severe the injury is, lat strains often lead to weeks-long absences. With that in mind, it’s in question how much the 24-year-old Castillo will be able to contribute to the Padres over a 60-game season. For now, it appears he’ll be in for a second straight injury-limited campaign, having made just one appearance in the majors last year because of forearm and finger issues.

When healthy, the hard-throwing Castillo has shown he’s capable of serving as a key member of the Padres’ bullpen. As a rookie in 2018, he recorded highly promising production across 38 1/3 innings with a 3.29 ERA/2.64 FIP and 12.21 K/9 against 2.82 BB/9. Castillo shut down lefties and righties alike that year, holding opposing hitters to a woeful .170/.253/.267 mark.

Jorge Mateo Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Recently acquired infielder Jorge Mateo tested positive for COVID-19 at intake testing, Padres manager Jayce Tingler revealed to reporters in a Zoom call today (Twitter link via Dennis Lin of The Athletic). He’s been dealing with mild symptoms, including loss of smell and taste. Mateo, acquired from the Athletics last week in exchange for a player to be named later, has not been to Petco Park and has been isolating since his test result. Once he tests negative on two occasions, at least 24 hours apart, he’ll be cleared to join his new club.

It’s an unfortunate start to Mateo’s tenure with the Padres, though it’s encouraging to hear Tingler relay that the 25-year-old is already beginning to feel a bit better. If he’s able to make a full recovery in time for the season opener, Mateo is likely to land on the Padres’ Opening Day roster. He’s out of minor league options and, if healthy, can’t be sent down to the team’s alternative training site without being exposed to waivers.

Mateo’s trade came before intake testing had begun, so there’s no way the A’s could’ve been reasonably expected to know about it (if he was even positive at the time of the deal), but the trade nevertheless underscores the importance of prompt turnaround time on testing. Delays have been prominent this week, even as MLB has sought to downplay them, and one can only imagine the complications that would arise were a player to test positive in-season immediately after being moved to a new club. Trade volume in general could be down this year given the unprecedented circumstances under which front offices are operating, but having as close to a real-time indicator of a player’s health as possible will be imperative for transactions to be allowed.

That’s not to sound callous; minimizing health risks for all players, coaches, staff and their families is of course the primary reason that tests need to be processed in expeditious fashion. But if roster movement is to be allowed, as is currently planned, the types of delays we’ve seen this week will need to be smoothed out in order to provide for the orderly execution of the season.

Tommy Pham Tests Positive For COVID-19

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The Padres announced today that outfielder Tommy Pham has tested positive for the coronavirus, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com was among those to cover on Twitter. Pham authorized release of his personal medical information. Fortunately, he’s said to be asymptomatic at the moment.

Pham, 32, has yet to suit up for a regular season game with the Padres. He was a key offseason acquisition for the San Diego organization, which is hopeful that Pham will continue to perform like the under-the-radar star he has been in recent years.

It’s good that the Padres were able to catch Pham’s condition before he entered the clubhouse and came into direct contact with all his teammates. He’ll be quarantined for the time being to avoid any possibility of transmission.

Hopefully, Pham will continue to experience no or limited symptoms. But in order to get into Summer Camp and get ready for the season, he’ll have to register negative for COVID-19 in two consecutive tests. That could well delay his availability for the coming season.

The Friars are also awaiting the arrival of closer Kirby Yates, another key piece of the picture in 2020. He is said to be dealing with a “non-COVID-related family issue,” but the expectation is that he’ll be able to get to work in the coming days.

Padres To Add Cole Wilcox To 60-Man Player Pool

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The Padres will add recently signed third-round pick Cole Wilcox to their 60-man player pool today, tweets Dennis Lin of The Athletic. The former University of Georgia right-hander was considered a potential first-round talent but, as a draft-eligible sophomore, came with some signability concerns. The Friars paid him a $3.3MM bonus that stands as a record for a third-round pick. That bonus falls roughly in line with the slot value for the No. 20 overall selection, so Wilcox ultimately did get paid at a mid-first-round level.

Wilcox will join top Padres pick Robert Hassell III in the organization’s 60-player pool, although neither is likely to be viewed as a big league option in 2020. Still, with no minor league season this year, the Padres are understandably interested in getting the top two talents they secured in this year’s draft some additional development reps — even if they’re only in a simulated game setting. There’s obvious benefit to getting the pair some in-person time with minor league coaches and player development staff as well.

Wilcox, who’ll turn 21 next week, got out to a ridiculous start to his 2020 season, pitching to a 1.57 ERA with a 32-to-2 K/BB ratio in 23 2/3 frames for the Bulldogs before the NCAA season was halted. The lack of walks was a particularly notable development for Wilcox, who’d issued 38 free passes in 59 2/3 frames as a freshman. The Athletic’s Keith Law was must bullish on Wilcox prior to the draft, ranking him 14th in the class and noting the 6’5″, 232-pound righty’s No. 1 or 2 starter upside while cautioning that there’s considerable development needed to reach that ceiling.

San Diego is now up to 53 players in its initial player pool.

Blue Jays Claim Breyvic Valera, Add Three Others To 60-Man Pool

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The Blue Jays have claimed infielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Padres, per an announcement from both teams. In addition to Valera, the Jays announced that they’ve added right-hander Bryan Baker, outfielder Josh Palacios and infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to their 60-man player pool.

Valera, 28, was carried on the Blue Jays’ roster for most of the offseason but was lost to the Padres on a waiver claim back in February. He spent time with both the Jays and Yankees in 2019, though he appeared in just 17 games and took just 52 plate appearances. Overall, Valera has appeared in the Majors with five teams but played in just 54 games, hitting .223/.294/.298 in 138 trips to the plate.

Lack of MLB track record aside, the switch-hitting Valera is the owner of a .302/.374/.442 slash in 1550 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Coupled with his defensive versatility –he’s played second base, third base and all three outfield positions — it’s easy to see why so many clubs have been intrigued by his skill set and taken brief looks at him. He’s out of minor league options, though, so the Jays will have to either carry him on the roster to open the season or else once again place him on waivers.

Turning to the three players added to the 60-man pool today, it’s feasible that any of the bunch could emerge as an MLB option. Kivlehan, 30, has logged 132 games in the Majors and tallied 242 plate appearances — albeit with a lackluster .208/.302/.401 slash in that time. Palacios, 25 later this month, spent the 2019 season in Double-A and turned in a .266/.371/.416 slash in a very pitcher-friendly setting. The 25-year-old Baker split last season between the Jays’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, pitching to a 3.17 ERA with 11.8 K/9 in 54 innings. Baker, however, also averaged six walks per nine frames and piled up 10 wild pitches, illustrating that control is an issue for him.

Toronto originally announced a player pool with 58 names, so the addition of these four will put them over the limit. However, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweets, a team can exceed 60 players if exceptions need to be made due to positive COVID-19 tests. It’s likely, then, that the Jays either have had additional positives in the organization that will remove some players from the 60-man pool or that additional transactions are coming today. Notably, the MLB.com transactions page does list Brandon Drury, Elvis Luciano, Hector Perez and Jonathan Davis as players to have been recently placed on the 10-day injured list with no reason given, though it’s not clear there’s any correlation to today’s moves.

Padres Chairman Ron Fowler On Finances, 2020 Season, Union

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With few to no fans in the stands during a 60-game season, Major League Baseball teams are undoubtedly going to suffer a financial hit this year. The Padres are among the teams in line to take a beating in that regard, executive chairman Ron Fowler explained to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“People don’t want to believe we’re going to lose, cash on cash, well over $100 million. I can assure you we are,” said Fowler, who added: “We’ve already borrowed $100 million. We are looking to increase our loan availability, and we are looking to make a significant capital contribution — more money into the team.”

Despite his disappointment, Fowler stressed to Acee that he doesn’t want to come off as a whiner. He’s instead trying to look forward to a baseball season and hoping the Padres will end their 13-year playoff drought or at least finish above .500 for the first time since 2010. San Diego went just 70-92 last year, which Fowler called an “embarrassing” campaign in September. However, in the wake of an active offseason, Fowler’s optimistic about the roster general manager A.J. Preller has assembled for 2020. He told Acee, “If we catch a couple breaks, we might be looking at a wild card.”

Regardless of what happens on the field this year, though, Fowler expects to enter 2021 with concerns about teams’ financial states, including his own club’s. Because it’s unclear how many (if any) fans will be allowed to attend games then, “We are planning for restricted revenue next year and doing what is necessary to be able to operate in that environment,” Fowler said. “We will adjust accordingly. To expect we are going to return to 2019 in terms of business is not real, I don’t expect that to be the case at all.”

Of course, after the 2021 season, the owners and players could be in for a labor war centering on the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. The fact that the two sides spent the past couple months in a public spat over the 2020 campaign could signal trouble going forward. It remains to be seen whether the league and the players will get on the same page in the next year-plus. For his part, Fowler’s not thrilled with the union’s chief negotiator, Bruce Meyer. Fowler, a key member of MLB’s labor committee, said of recent talks with the MLBPA and Meyer:“They had someone new who had a different view of how things should be done. That created a number of problems. We often thought we were negotiating with ourselves, and that’s not a good thing to do.”

Although he’s dissatisfied with Meyer, Fowler’s hope is obviously that the owners and players will achieve peace in CBA negotiations. For that to happen, though, he observed: “We definitely have to do it without it being negotiated in the press. We have to make sure we are communicating with our players what’s real and what’s not.”

Athletics To Trade Jorge Mateo To Padres

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In the first trade since MLB’s transaction freeze has lifted, the Padres are set to acquire infield prospect Jorge Mateo from the A’s, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN report (Twitter link). Oakland will receive a player to be named later in return. San Diego has announced the trade.

Jorge Mateo | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Long regarded as one of baseball’s more promising prospects due in no small part to his 80-grade speed, Mateo has yet to debut in the Majors. The 25-year-old was a central piece in the trade that sent right-hander Sonny Gray from Oakland to New York, but he hasn’t been afforded a chance in the Majors with either the Yankees or the A’s. He has, however, been on the 40-man roster of both clubs long enough to have exhausted all of his minor league options. In other words, he’ll have to make the Padres’ Opening Day roster or else be designated for assignment.

Mateo was one of several players in the mix for playing time at second base in Oakland, vying with Franklin Barreto, Tony Kemp and Rule 5 pick Vimael Machin for that role. Now in San Diego, he’ll once again be looking up at Jurickson Profar — a former ballyhooed prospect himself — and hoping to find his way into the mix for at-bats. Mateo does have a bit of center field experience as well, having logged 247 innings there back in 2017.

It’s easy to see why Mateo was so well-regarded back in 2015-16. He split the 2015 campaign between Class-A and Class-A Advanced at just 20 years of age and slashed a combined .278/.345/.392. He only homered twice, but Mateo added 23 doubles, 11 triples and an unheard-of-in-today’s-game 82 stolen bases in just 117 games. His stock dipped a bit with a mediocre showing in 2016, but 2017 saw Mateo bounce back with a .267/.322/.459 slash and 52 steals. A shortstop with that type of output piqued the Athletics’ interest, and the A’s sent Gray to the Bronx in exchange for Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian in a trade that now hasn’t really panned out for anyone involved.

Mateo’s numbers cratered in 2018, and while last year’s .289/.330/.504 slash in Triple-A were a nice rebound, the bounceback effort wasn’t quite as strong as it’d appear on the surface. That slash line translated to just a 96 wRC+ in the supercharged offensive environment in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (where Mateo’s home park in Las Vegas is particularly hitter-friendly).

Padres Agree To Terms With Cole Wilcox

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The Padres and third-rounder Cole Wilcox are in agreement on a $3.3MM signing bonus, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (on Twitter). With the deal, Wilcox, a right-hander out of the University of Georgia, receives a record bonus for a third-round pick and absolutely shatters his slot value of $767,800.

Entering the draft, Wilcox was widely regarded as a potential first-round talent, but as a draft-eligible sophomore, he had some leverage working in his favor. Concerns over signability might’ve caused some clubs to pass, and the fact that Wilcox’s eventual bonus aligns closely with what would’ve been Top 20 slot money illustrates the difficulties other teams may have had in hammering out a deal. The Padres signed top pick Robert Hassell III nearly $900K under-slot, though, and they also “saved” $450K on third-rounder Owen Caissie and fourth-rounder Levi Weaver alike.

Wilcox, 20, ranked inside the draft’s 25 best prospects in the opinion of The Athletic’s Keith Law (No. 14), FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (No. 18), ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (No. 23) and the team at MLB.com (No. 23) and Baseball America (No. 24). Wilcox’s fastball reached 100 mph in a bullpen role and sat mid- to upper-90s as a starter, Law notes. He also has the makings of a pair of above-average offspeed pitches, with his slider ahead of his changeup by most counts (although Callis & Co. believe the opposite to be the case in their report).

As with any pitching prospect, there are some red flags — notably Wilcox’s at-times spotty command — but his 6’5″, 232-pound frame and arsenal of power offerings are enough for Padres fans to dream on as the organization adds yet another high-end talent to its minor league ranks.

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