Padres Designate Luis Perdomo, Select 3 Players
The Padres announced that they have designated right-hander Luis Perdomo for assignment and selected three players – righties Reggie Lawson and Mason Thompson, and infielder Tucupita Marcano.
Perdomo is off the Padres’ roster as they prepare for this winter’s Rule 5 Draft, but he actually first joined the team as a Rule 5 selection from the Rockies before the 2015 campaign. Perdomo has since given the 444 1/3 innings of 5.19 ERA/4.44 FIP ball with 6.74 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and an excellent 57.3 percent groundball rate. Now, if any team takes on the 27-year-old, it could get him for two seasons of arbitration control.
Lawson was the 71st pick in the 2016 draft who ranked as a top 100 prospect that year. He made his Double-A debut in 2019 and pitched to a 5.20 ERA/4.14 FIP with 11.71 K/9 and 4.23 BB/9 in 27 2/3 frames. MLB.com ranks him as the Padres’ 10th-best prospect and gives him a chance to at least turn into a stellar major league reliever.
Thompson is not among the Padres’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, but the site is high on Marcano, whom it places at No. 8 in the team’s system. The 21-year-old middle infielder “could develop into a serious on-base threat as a bat-first middle infielder,” per MLB.com.
Offseason Outlook: San Diego Padres
The 2020 campaign represented a major step in the right direction for the Padres, who clinched their first playoff berth since 2006 and advanced in the postseason for the first time since 1998. While things are no doubt looking up for the franchise, its offseason hasn’t come without some drastic changes in the early going. The team found out earlier this week that right-hander Mike Clevinger won’t pitch in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and then executive chairman Ron Fowler stepped down from his role. Fowler’s exit leaves the Padres with a new control person in Ron Seidler.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Manny Machado, 3B: $240MM through 2028
- Eric Hosmer, 1B: $79MM through 2025
- Wil Myers, OF: $41MM through 2022 (including $1MM buyout for 2023)
- Drew Pomeranz, LHP: $22MM through 2023
- Mike Clevinger, RHP: $11.5MM through 2022
- Craig Stammen, RHP: $5MM through 2021 (including $1MM buyout for 2022)
- Pierce Johnson, RHP: $3MM through 2021 (including $1MM buyout for 2022)
Arbitration-Eligible Players
Note on arb-eligible players: this year’s arbitration projections are more volatile than ever, given the unprecedented revenue losses felt by clubs and the shortened 2020 schedule. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, who developed our arbitration projection model, used three different methods to calculate different projection numbers. You can see the full projections and an explanation of each if you click here, but for the purposes of our Outlook series, we’ll be using Matt’s 37-percent method — extrapolating what degree of raise a player’s 2020 rate of play would have earned him in a full 162-game slate and then awarding him 37 percent of that raise.
- Dan Altavilla –$700K
- Zach Davies – $7.2MM
- Greg Garcia – $1.6MM
- Dinelson Lamet –$2.5MM
- Emilio Pagan – $1.2MM
- Luis Perdomo – $1.0MM
- Tommy Pham – $8.0MM
- Matt Strahm – $1.6MM
- Non-tender candidates: Garcia, Perdomo, Pham
Option Decisions
- Declined 1B Mitch Moreland‘s $3MM option in favor of $500K buyout
Free Agents
- Moreland, Garrett Richards, Trevor Rosenthal, Jurickson Profar, Kirby Yates, Jason Castro
The Padres are fortunate enough that they shouldn’t have to spend much time worrying about their catcher position or their infield in the coming months. In-season acquisition Austin Nola looks like the answer as the Padres’ primary backstop, though they may have to decide whether to deploy Francisco Mejia as his backup, use him as a trade chip and turn the role over to Luis Campusano, or shop for help from outside the organization. Other than that, the Padres look set with the superstar third base-shortstop tandem of Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. on the left side of their infield and second baseman Jake Cronenworth and first baseman Eric Hosmer occupying the other positions. The main concern in that group is Tatis’ future, as the Padres have to worry about keeping him in the fold for the long haul with a contract extension. The two sides have already expressed interest in mapping out a long-term arrangement.
There is less certainty in the outfield, though the Padres appear to have their solution in center with Trent Grisham. Right fielder Wil Myers had a tremendous bounce-back year in 2020, but if the Padres had their druthers, perhaps they would move on from the pricey three seasons left on his contract in a trade. That looks unlikely unless San Diego takes back a similarly inflated contract, so Myers figures to remain with the team. While those two positions may be spoken for going forward, left field looks like less of a sure thing. The Padres could just keep Tommy Pham, but his production cratered during an injury-shortened 2020, and non-tendering him would save the Padres about $8MM. Meanwhile, Jurickson Profar – who played more games in left than any other Padre last season – is a free agent.
If the Padres say goodbye to Pham, there’s a case that they should just re-sign Profar, who had a respectable year. Otherwise, Michael Brantley, Joc Pederson, Brett Gardner and Robbie Grossman are among those they could target in free agency. Of course, more choices will become available when teams announce which players they’re non-tendering.
With Clevinger, Dinelson Lamet, Zach Davies and Chris Paddack comprising 80 percent of their starting staff, the Padres’ rotation seemed to be in enviable shape just a couple days ago. Their confidence probably took a hit Wednesday, though, with Clevinger’s out-of-nowhere TJ procedure. He won’t be a factor next year, but the Padres do still have most of their rotation settled with Lamet and Davies, who each broke out in 2020, and Paddack. They also feature MacKenzie Gore, Luis Patino, Adrian Morejon, Joey Lucchesi and Ryan Weathers as in-house options who could assume starting spots in 2021.
If the Padres don’t want to turn over spots to two members of that group, they’ll have plenty of free-agent possibilities. Southern California native Trevor Bauer is easily the cream of the crop, but signing him may require the Padres to hand out yet another nine-figure contract. More modest options include their own free agent, Garrett Richards, as well as Masahiro Tanaka, Jake Odorizzi, ex-Friar Corey Kluber, Jose Quintana and James Paxton, among others. The Padres also look like a realistic trade suitor for the Rangers’ Lance Lynn, who’s due a modest $8MM next year and whom his team seems likely to trade.
The bullpen may be an area of some emphasis in the offseason for the Padres, who could lose summer pickup Trevor Rosenthal in free agency. Former star closer Kirby Yates is also on the market, though he didn’t pitch much in 2020 because of injuries. That said, the Padres do have a lot of their 2021 bullpen already figured out with Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm and Craig Stammen set to reprise their roles. Austin Adams and Tim Hill are along among the veterans remaining in the mix, but it still wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Padres seek bullpen help from elsewhere. The big prize could be Josh Hader, whom the Brewers are open to trading; otherwise, in no particular order, Rosenthal, Yates, former Padre Brad Hand, Liam Hendriks, Blake Treinen, Trevor May, Jake McGee, Mark Melancon and Shane Greene are some late-game hurlers who should draw their share of interest in free agency.
With the Padres in the throes of a seemingly endless playoff drought at this time last offseason, general manager A.J. Preller had his back up against the wall a winter ago. Preller and the team he built found a way to deliver, though, and now the Padres look like a club that should contend again in 2021 with another productive offseason. The Padres are short on glaring holes, but there is at least room for improvement in their pitching staff and perhaps their outfield.
Ron Fowler Steps Down As Padres’ Chairman; Peter Seidler Named Control Person
2:25pm: Major League Baseball formally announced that Seidler has been approved as the new control person in San Diego.
2:00pm: Ron Fowler has stepped down as executive chairman of the Padres and sold a majority stake of the team to general partner Peter Seidler, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Seidler, who was already part of the organization’s ownership group, has already been approved by the other 29 owners as the Padres’ new control person, according to Acee.
The 77-year-old Fowler will remain involved with the Padres as a minority shareholder and as an advisor. More notably, he’ll still have a voice in next year’s collective bargaining talks, per the report. Fowler previously served as the chairman of MLB’s labor committee in the last wave of collective bargaining talks in 2015. He figures to again be an influential voice in a contentious set of negotiations after years of frustration from players, culminating in this spring’s three-month return-to-play staredown against ownership.
Fowler has been a relatively vocal owner in recent years, weighing in with thoughts on his club’s struggles on multiple occasions and also going into a perhaps unexpected level of detail on some free-agent pursuits — Eric Hosmer most notable among them. More recently, Fowler promised that “heads will roll, beginning with my own,” barring improvement from the club in the 2020 season.
The Padres, of course, did improve substantially in 2020 — not only posting a 37-23 record in this year’s truncated slate of games but riding a second-place finish to their first postseason berth since 2006. Fowler’s Padres toppled the Cardinals in the Wild Card round of this year’s expanded playoff format, but the absence of top starters Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet loomed large as they fell to the eventual World Series Champion Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
Fowler perhaps foreshadowed some change earlier this summer when he spoke about financial uncertainties regarding the 2021 season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and questions about what level of attendance will be possible next year.
Minor MLB Transactions: 11/17/20
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Padres have agreed to a deal with right-hander Parker Markel on a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, Steve Adams of MLBTR tweets. Markel was a 30th-round pick of the Rays in 2010 who has since spent time with a few other organizations. The 30-year-old made his major league debut in 2019 and combined for a 7.77 ERA/7.30 FIP with 9.82 K/9 and 6.95 BB/9 in 22 innings between the Mariners and Pirates. Markel has a much better track record at the higher levels of the minor, though, including a stingy 2.57 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 over 101 2/3 frames in Triple-A ball.
- The Indians have re-signed left-hander Anthony Gose and infielder Andruw Monasterio to minors deals, the team announced. Gose will be in spring training as a non-roster player. The former Tigers and Blue Jays outfielder transferred to the mound in 2017 and has since put up a 4.39 ERA with 10.0 K/9 in 65 2/3 minor league innings, owing in part to a blazing fastball, but Gose has walked more than eight batters per nine. Monasterio joined the Indians in their trade that sent catcher Yan Gomes to the Nationals in December 2018. While he’s still just 23, Monasterio got off to an inauspicious start with the Indians when he hit .217/.279/.253 with one home run in 279 Double-A plate appearances in 2019.
Mike Clevinger To Undergo Tommy John Surgery; 2-Year Deal Official
The Padres announced that right-hander Mike Clevinger will undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss the entire 2021 season as a result.
This is stunning news, though it won’t bring an end to Clevinger’s run with the Padres. The team announced that the two-year deal it was working on with Clevinger last week is now official, so he will remain with the organization for his final pair of seasons of club control. Clevinger will earn $11.5MM on the pact, Joel Sherman of the New York Post was among those to report. Unsurprisingly, it’s a backloaded agreement that will see Clevinger take home a $2MM salary in 2021 and $6.5MM in 2022, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. He also received a $3MM signing bonus. Clevinger will earn $250K in incentives if he starts five games in ’22 and another $250K if he starts 10, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
Now 29 years old, Clevinger has been one of the majors’ most effective starters since he broke out in Cleveland in 2017. But the Indians decided to part with Clevinger this past August when they sent him to the Padres in a mega-deal before the trade deadline. Clevinger then helped the Padres to their first playoff berth since 2006, throwing 19 innings of six-run ball with 9.0 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9, though he battled elbow issues in his brief debut with the club. He only threw one playoff inning, which came in a start against the Dodgers in the NLDS, before departing.
Little did the Padres know that Clevinger’s most recent outing on Oct. 6 would be his last until at least the start of the 2022 season. Until now, it seemed safe to assume Clevinger would rejoin Dinelson Lamet and Zach Davies near the top of the Padres’ rotation next year. In light of this news, though, it’s unclear how the Padres will fill out their starting five beyond Lamet, Davies and Chris Paddack. There are some in-house possibilities in MacKenzie Gore, Luis Patino, Adrian Morejon, Joey Lucchesi and Ryan Weathers. Otherwise, the Padres could turn to the free-agent market or look to acquire help via trade. Either way, losing Clevinger for all of next year looks like a devastating blow for the up-and-coming San Diego franchise.
NL Notes: Nationals, Wood, Hoffman, Padres, Cubs
Alex Wood was a target for the Nationals at the 2019 trade deadline, as Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports that the Nats “nearly acquired” the southpaw, who was then a member of the Reds. The timing is interesting, as back injuries prevented Wood from making his 2019 debut until July 28, just three days prior to the deadline. While Wood ended up making seven starts for Cincinnati that season, it’s fair to assume that the Nationals may been considering him as a reliever (or a swingman) given the dire state of Washington’s bullpen at the time.
Needless to say, the Nats don’t regret how things turned out for them at the 2019 deadline, as July 31 acquisition Daniel Hudson played a critical role in Washington capturing the World Series. But with Wood now a free agent and the Nationals looking for some veteran pitching depth, GM Mike Rizzo could very well revisit the idea of adding the left-hander to the D.C. roster. Wood was again hampered by injuries in 2020, tossing only 12 2/3 innings for the Dodgers during the regular season and posting a 6.39 ERA. However, his campaign ended on the high note of a World Series ring and a 1.35 ERA (one run in 6 2/3 relief innings) in four postseason outings.
More from around the senior circuit…
- The Padres announced that longtime third base coach Glenn Hoffman is retiring from coaching for a new position as a senior advisor in San Diego’s baseball operations department. Hoffman has been a mainstay in the Padres’ third base box for the last 15 seasons, coming on the heels of seven seasons as the Dodgers’ third base coach (and a stint as the Dodgers’ interim manager in 1998, as Hoffman led the team to a 47-41 record). As per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, bench coach Bobby Dickerson seems to be the favorite to take over third base coaching duties.
- The Cubs will be looking for more pitching depth this winter, though Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that four rotation spots may be settled, to some extent. Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks are obviously entrenched atop the starting five, and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein sounds comfortable on Alec Mills and Adbert Alzolay taking up the next pair of rotation spots. There have been questions about Alzolay’s ability to stick in the rotation, but the Cubs were apparently impressed enough with the improvement of his slider to regard him as a starter. Youngsters Tyson Miller, Brailyn Marquez, and Justin Steele will get a shot at the fifth starter’s role, but Chicago is also looking outside the organization at the middle-to-bottom tier of free agent pitchers, depending on what the Cubs decide to do with the rest of their roster. Epstein has left open the possibility of bringing Jon Lester back on a short-term deal, but the Cubs are comfortable letting him test the market.
Padres, Mike Clevinger Working Toward Two-Year Deal
The Padres are working toward a two-year contract with right-hander Mike Clevinger, reports Fansided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). A two-year pact would buy out Clevinger’s remaining two years of arbitration, creating cost certainty for the Friars and granting some extra financial security for the pitcher himself. It would not, however, provide the Padres with any additional club control over Clevinger, who is currently on track to reach free agency after the 2022 campaign.
It’s sensible for both the Padres and Clevinger, who’ll turn 30 next month, to proactively look to avoid the arbitration process entirely. Arbitration figures to be messier than ever this offseason in the wake of the league’s broad-reaching revenue losses, so it behooves San Diego to get some cost certainty — particularly if doing so allows them to backload Clevinger’s salary. For Clevinger himself, he’ll avoid a potentially contentious process and lock in not only his 2021 salary but his 2022 contract on the heels of a season that ended with elbow concerns.
Clevinger earned $4.1MM in 2020, and using MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s 37-percent projection method, he’d land at a $4.8MM salary in 2021. That’s obviously a rather modest bump, and the uncertainties surrounding this year’s arbitration process in general inherently create a fairly broad range of variance. Still, a two-year deal figures to check in south of $20MM, given that Clevinger’s second- and third-time arbitration salaries would have only been a fraction of his open-market value, as is typically the case with arb numbers.
The 2020 season saw Clevinger again pitch at a very high level, as he worked 41 2/3 frames of 3.02 ERA ball with a 40-to-14 K/BB ratio. He struggled with his control a bit early on but righted the ship with the Padres, issuing just three walks in 19 regular-season innings following the blockbuster trade that shipped him from Cleveland to San Diego. Clevinger came under fire early in the season not only breaking Covid-19 protocols but traveling with the Indians after doing so. Cleveland learned of his infraction after the fact and subsequently optioned him to their alternate training site; Clevinger was traded not long after, although the organization denied that his rule violations played a role in driving the move.
Whatever the motivation, the Padres stand to benefit in the years to come. Clevinger joins Dinelson Lamet as a front-of-the-rotation arm at Petco Park, and the Padres have a wealth of other pitching talent on hand as well. Chris Paddack struggled in 2020 but was dominant as a rookie a year prior. Zach Davies enjoyed a breakout year this season following a trade from the Brewers. Top prospect Luis Patino made his big league debut in 2020, and the even more ballyhooed MacKenzie Gore should do so in 2021. Lefty Adrian Morejon gives San Diego yet another intriguing, high-upside option.
All told, it’s a both enviable and inexpensive crop of arms that give the Padres considerable long-term depth and upside. The Padres have some high-priced players on the position side of things — Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers — and will likely explore a long-term deal for Fernando Tatis Jr. at some point. Nailing down Clevinger’s price helps the front office and ownership alike get a better sense of the budget for that and other moves over the next two years.
Padres, Indians Complete Mike Clevinger Trade
The Indians and Padres have completed their massive Aug. 31 trade in which Cleveland sent right-hander Mike Clevinger to San Diego. Per announcements from both teams, the Padres have acquired right-hander Matt Waldron.
Waldron, who turned 24 in September, joined the Indians when they chose him in the 18th round of the 2019 draft. He made a good impression during his first minor league season, in which he amassed 45 2/3 innings of 2.96 ERA pitching with 11.2 K/9 against a measly 0.8 BB/9 between the rookie and Low-A levels. Of course, Waldron wasn’t able to build on those numbers this year because the pandemic wiped out the minor league season.
However Waldron pans out, the Padres probably don’t regret making the deal. Even though he missed time with injuries after the team picked him up, Clevinger helped the Friars to the playoffs with 19 innings of six-run ball in September. Clevinger has two more years of affordable control left, so he’ll remain a key cog for the Padres going forward.
The Indians, meanwhile, saw three of the six players they acquired for Clevinger and outfielder Greg Allen don their uniform in 2020. Righty Cal Quantrill was highly effective over a small sample of work; outfielder/first baseman Josh Naylor went on a tear during their two-game playoff loss to the Yankees after a subpar regular campaign; and catcher Austin Hedges‘ struggles at the plate continued.
Quick Hits: Mets, Lindor, Angels, Hill, Padres, Pirates
The Mets could go after Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor in a trade during the offseason, but the return might prove prohibitive for New York. As David Lennon of Newsday tweets, the Indians could ask for an Andres Gimenez–Jeff McNeil tandem in trade talks. That would be a lot for the Mets, who saw Gimenez perform well as a rookie in 2020 and who have gotten tremendous production from the versatile McNeil dating back to his 2018 debut. McNeil has batted an outstanding .319/.383/.501 in 1,024 major league plate appearances, so it seems highly unlikely the Mets will part with him and Gimenez for one year of control over Lindor.
- Former Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill, whom they parted with in late October, continues to look like a serious candidate for the Angels’ general manager job. Hill will have an in-person meeting soon with Angels owner Arte Moreno, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
- Padres left-hander Matt Strahm recently underwent successful surgery on his partially torn right patellar tendon, Robert Murray of Fansided reports. The 28-year-old Strahm logged a 2.61 ERA/4.93 FIP with a career-worst 6.53 K/9 against 1.74 BB/9 over 20 2/3 innings in 2020.
- John Baker looks like the front-runner to take over as the Pirates’ farm director, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reports. The former major league catcher has been working in the Cubs’ front office since 2015.
Padres, Royals Complete Trevor Rosenthal Trade
The Padres and Royals have completed their August trade that saw reliever Trevor Rosenthal head to San Diego for a player to be named later. The Royals have acquired right-hander Dylan Coleman in exchange, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets.
Now 21, Coleman was a 2018 fourth-round pick of the Padres who has done well at the lower levels, minus a rough High-A debut a year ago. Coleman has pitched to a 3.18 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings during his minor league career.
The 30-year-old Rosenthal, a former lights-out Cardinals closer who has battled injuries of late, enjoyed a rebound campaign between the Padres and Royals in 2020. He didn’t allow a single earned run over 10 frames as a Padre and ended the year with a 1.90 ERA/2.22 FIP and 14.45 K/9 against 3.04 BB/9 in 23 2/3 frames. Rosenthal is now one of the most desirable relievers on the open market.