Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Padres Rumors

Padres Considering Bumgarner, Keuchel

By | at

We’ve heard many indications this winter that the Padres won’t be in the market for the very top free agents. While the biggest fish have landed elsewhere, there are still a few major players left for the bidding. And Jon Heyman of MLB Network suggests on Twitter that the Friars may still be involved.

Specifically, Heyman says, the San Diego organization is “taking close looks” at two of the top left-handed hurlers still available: Madison Bumgarner and Dallas Keuchel. Part of the reasoning, it seems, is to take advantage of the strong defenders installed on the left side of the San Diego infield.

The Friars have also been involved to some extent on trade candidate David Price. The outfit hasn’t been connected to Hyun-Jin Ryu, the other major remaining southpaw starting pitcher, but perhaps he can’t be ruled out.

There are surely barriers here, beginning with the widespread interest these pitchers — Bumgarner, especially — have garnered. The rotation market has been buzzing with activity all winter long and several teams are still in obvious need of new arms.

The Padres entered the winter with questions about how much more they could spend, given the team’s already hefty commitments to Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers. The club already made a big outlay for Drew Pomeranz. GM A.J. Preller has reportedly endeavored to deal Myers (and as much of his salary as possible), but hasn’t yet found a match.

It’s arguable that the San Diego organization isn’t in desperate need of adding a rotation piece. Having picked up Zach Davies in a trade, the team has a solid-looking five-man unit on hand that mixes stability and upside. You can never have enough depth, and it’d be awfully nice to add a higher-end veteran on the staff, but it would also be difficult to move any of the team’s top five rotation candidates to the bullpen or Triple-A. In the event of a signing, it’d be fair to wonder whether the club might plan to spin another pitcher off to address another need.

Latest On David Price Trade Talks

By and | at

It seems more and more plausible that the Red Sox will end up working out a deal involving lefty David Price, MLB.com’s Mark Feisand reports. The Padres, Cardinals, White Sox, Reds, and Angels have all shown varying degrees of interest in the 34-year-old, per the report.

Price is still owed $32MM a year for the next three seasons. That’s a big chunk of change for a 34-year-old who has made just 63 starts over the past three seasons — including 22 starts in a 2019 campaign that was cut short by elbow and wrist issues. Price was the embodiment of durability from 2010-16, pacing the Major Leagues with 1529 1/3 innings over that seven-year stretch, but he’s totaled just 358 frames over the past three seasons.

When on the field, of course, Price remains an effective pitcher — albeit one whose weighty annual salary no longer aligns with his rate of compensation. Dating back to 2017, Price owns a 3.75 ERA and 3.82 FIP. The 2019 season resulted in one of the worst ERAs of Price’s career (4.28), but he did give some reason for optimism with a career-high 10.7 K/9 and 28 percent strikeout rate. Price’s control remained solid (2.7 BB/9, seven percent walk rate), and his 21.0 K-BB% was the second-best of his career. Stranding runners was an issue, and a career-high .336 average on balls in play against him assuredly did Price no favors. Ultimately, though, Red Sox ownership’s desire to drop back below the luxury tax line is the driving factor in moving Price, whose seven-year, $217MM contract comes with a $31MM annual luxury hit.

Feinsand notes that the Red Sox have no desire to attach a desirable young player such as Andrew Benintendi to Price in order to simply shed the remainder of his contract. The Athletic’s Chad Jennings offers a similar sentiment (subscription required). “I don’t think we’d ever want to rule anything out,” chief baseball office Chaim Bloom of parting with prospects to help facilitate a Price trade (quote via Jennings). “But so much of what we’re always going to be trying to accomplish, but certainly now, is to make sure we have as strong a farm system as possible.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Sox would be forced to simply include cash along with Price in a trade. The Boston organization could certainly acquire another unpalatable contract in return, thus helping to . The Padres have discussed the possibility of including Wil Myers in a deal, for instance, although there’s no indication that such talks gained any traction. Myers himself is owed a regrettable $61MM over the next three seasons and just wrapped up an ugly .239/.321/.418 effort, striking out in 34.2 percent of his plate appearances along the way.

Athletics Acquire Buddy Reed To Complete Jurickson Profar Trade

By | at

The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Buddy Reed to the Athletics as the player to be named later in this month’s Jurickson Profar deal. Oakland traded Profar to San Diego in exchange for catcher Austin Allen and a PTBNL back on Dec. 2.

Buddy Reed

Now 24 years old, Reed starred at Florida in college and was selected by the Padres with the 48th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Scouting reports at FanGraphs and MLB.com tout him as a plus-plus runner with the potential to be a plus defender in center field, but he’s struggled with the bat at every level in the minors to this point outside of a strong half season in Class-A Advanced last year (which preceded additional struggles in Double-A).

In 2019, Reed hit .228/.310/.388 with 14 home runs, 15 doubles, two triples and 23 stolen bases with the Padres’ Double-A affiliate in Amarillo. Reed did post a career-best 9.5 percent walk rate in the Texas League this year, but he also whiffed at a 28.6 percent clip. Even if he’s unable to make substantial gains at the plate, Reed could still draw enough walks, run well enough and play strong enough defense to eventually be a fourth outfielder in Oakland. That said, he was eligible to be selected in today’s Rule 5 Draft and went unclaimed, so it’s fairly clear that other clubs are wary of his flimsy offensive profile at the moment.

Athletics fans looking to learn more about their new outfield prospect can check out MLBTR’s Q&A with Reed shortly before he was drafted back in 2016.

NL West Rumors: Padres, Marte, D-backs, MadBum, Rox, Marquez

By and | at

Continuing an active winter in the San Diego outfield, the Padres have joined the race to acquire Pirates center fielder Starling Marte, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. The Padres have already shuffled around their outfield quite a bit this offseason, having added two players (Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham) and subtracted another (Hunter Renfroe). They could get rid of at least one more if a team takes Wil Myers off their hands. The Padres at least tried to pawn Myers off on his first professional team – the Royals – in the clubs’ talks centering on utilityman Whit Merrifield, but KC didn’t bite, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report.

More rumblings from the NL West…

  • The Diamondbacks “floated” a proposal to Madison Bumgarner that would have promised him something in the realm of $70MM, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. That falls in line with MLBTR’s $72MM prediction (over four years) for Bumgarner, but the highly accomplished 30-year-old has his eyes fixed on a much richer contract. The longtime Giant’s reportedly aiming for a payday in the $100MM range.
  • Teams have inquired about Rockies right-hander German Marquez, but they haven’t shown any willingness to trade him, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. It’s neither surprising that other teams covet the strikeout-heavy Marquez nor that the Rockies want to keep him. Before last season, they signed the 24-year-old to a club-friendly extension – one that will see him earn a guaranteed $40.5MM from 2020-23 (including a $2.5MM buyout in ’24).
  • Back in late September, the Padres and lights-out closer Kirby Yates were reportedly discussing an extension. No new deal has come together since, but it appears the two sides will at least make an effort to hammer something out. In regards to a potential extension, Yates told Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I’m always interested. It’s not up to me. When you get to that point, you have the discussions.” Likewise, the Padres are open to it. The club will “start talking to Kirby about his situation for next year” later this offseason, general manager A.J. Preller revealed. The 32-year-old Yates has just one remaining season of arbitration control, in which he’s projected to earn a bargain salary of $6.5MM.
  • The Diamondbacks were already known to have interest free-agent center fielder Shogo Akiyama, and GM Mike Hazen revealed they met with the Japanese standout on Tuesday, per Piecoro.  The Cubs also met with Akiyama’s representatives.

KBO Notes: Kelly, Wilson, Raley

By | at

Though it seemed for awhile like Casey Kelly was drawing enough interest to warrant a return to the states, the right-hander has instead re-upped for another season in the KBO. Kelly signed back with the LG Twins for $1.5MM, which includes $300K in incentives, per Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net. Kelly is most famous for his time as a prospect in the Red Sox system. He was eventually dealt to San Diego in a 2011 blockbuster which also featured Adrian Gonzalez and Anthony Rizzo. Kelly never broke out with the Padres, thanks in part to 2013 Tommy John surgery, which kept him off the hill for the entire season. Kelly ended up accruing a mere 40 1/3 innings with the Padres in parts of two seasons (2012 and ’15), and later combined for another 45 1/3 between the Braves (2016) and Giants (2018). The 30-year-old Kelly has done rather well for himself overseas, going 14-12 last season with a 2.55 ERA across 180 1/3 innings as a starter for the LG Twins.

  • Tyler Wilson will also return to the KBO’s Twins for another season, per Kurtz. 2020 will mark Wilson’s third season with the Twins, for whom he put together solid back-to-back seasons. Coming off a 14-7 year with a 2.92 ERA in 185 innings, Wilson has signed for $1.6MM, including $200K in incentives. The 30-year-old Virginian appeared with the Orioles for parts of three seasons from 2015 to 2017.
  • Coming the other way, southpaw Brooks Raley could be on his way back after five seasons with the Lotte Giants in Korea, tweets Jon Morosi of Fox Sports. Raley was once a Cubs farmhand who broke into the majors for five starts in 2012. He also saw limited action for Chicago the following season, though totaling just 38 1/3 innings and a 7.04 ERA across those two seasons. The Cubs made Raley a 6th round draft choice in 2009 out of Texas A&M. The Minnesota Twins claimed him off waivers, but the Angels claimed him not long after. Raley never appeared at the big league level for either squad. Morosi notes that the 31-year-old Texan is drawing interest from big league clubs now, though which teams were not specified.

David Price Drawing Trade Interest

By | at

10:42pm: The Red Sox haven’t made any progress toward a Price trade, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. The Padres are among the teams they’ve talked to about Price, per Rosenthal.

6:21pm: Even though he’s coming off an injury-laden season and is still owed a significant amount of money, Red Sox left-hander David Price has garnered trade interest from “multiple teams,” Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets.

This isn’t the first time the 34-year-old Price has been in the news this week. His seven-year, $217MM contract, once a record for a pitcher, was toppled by the seven-year, $245MM pact Stephen Strasburg signed with the Nationals on Monday. The Price deal hasn’t fully worked out to the Red Sox’s liking thus far, though he did help the team to a World Series victory in 2018.

More recently, Price put up a decent but unspectacular 4.28 ERA during a 107 1/3-inning 2019 campaign that ended without a playoff berth for the Red Sox. Price made only two starts beyond July as he dealt with arm problems, posted a career-low 92 mph average fastball velocity (down from 92.7 the prior year), and saw his season come to an official end in late September when he underwent minor elbow surgery.

Although last season wasn’t a banner year for the former ace, Price did log an above-average 3.62 FIP with 10.73 K/9 against 2.68 BB/9. Most clubs would sign up for those numbers, albeit at a far more reasonable price than the $96MM Price is owed over the next three years. The Red Sox seem likely to move on from Price if they can get a major portion of that money off their books, as they – led by new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom – work to get under the $208MM luxury tax in 2020. However, it’s going to be difficult, and as Passan notes, jettisoning Price could require eating some of his salary and/or adding a valuable player to the package to convince a team to take him.

FA Rumors: Ozuna, Braves, J. Castro, Stammen, Peraza, Grandy

By and | at

The Braves are interested in free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. This isn’t the first connection between the sides, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last month that the Braves were one of the clubs in on Ozuna. Now, though, it seems the Braves are willing to aggressively pursue the 29-year-old qualifying offer recipient. In the event third baseman Josh Donaldson leaves Atlanta for another team, the Braves would regard Ozuna as a viable fallback option, Morosi suggests. MLBTR predicts Ozuna will reel in a three-year, $45MM guarantee, and if he lands anywhere near that neighborhood, he should fall well short of Donaldson’s next contract. That said, replacing Donaldson’s bat with Ozuna’s would still leave a sizable hole at third base for the Braves.

Here’s the latest on several other free agents…

  • The Angels, Astros, and Rangers are among the organizations with interest in backstop Jason Castro, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). With Yasmani Grandal and Travis d’Arnaud off the market, the 32-year-old Castro could be the best catcher left on the board. The pitch-framing savant’s coming off a strong season in Minnesota, where he batted .232/.332/.435 in 275 plate appearances and earned positive grades in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
  • Several teams appear to be in the market for reliever Craig Stammen. The right-hander’s most recent team, the Padres, as well as the Astros, Diamondbacks, Reds, White Sox, Blue Jays and Cardinals have all expressed interest, per Morosi (Twitter links). Stammen, whom MLBTR projects for a two-year, $10MM guarantee, has put together a strong career divided between Washington and San Diego. The 35-year-old logged a 3.29 ERA with 8.01 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent groundball rate in 82 innings last season as a Padre.
  • The Reds are one of the teams with interest in Japanese center fielder Shogo Akiyama, president of baseball operations Dick Williams revealed (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Clubs have until Dec. 19 to sign Akiyama, who had an impressive run with the Seibu Lions from 2011-19. It’s unclear what a potential Reds-Akiyama union would mean for Nick Senzel, their starting center fielder last season. Senzel could perhaps move to the corner outfield, which does look like a need area for the Reds.
  • The Cardinals are interested in re-signing backup catcher Matt Wieters, according to general manager Michael Girsch (via Goold). Whether it’s Wieters or someone else, the team seems intent on adding a veteran to play behind Yadier Molina. Wieters could wind up in Oakland if he doesn’t go back to St. Louis, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics have shown interest in the 33-year-old to back up Sean Murphy. This is the second straight offseason in which Wieters has landed on the A’s radar.
  • The Orioles and Indians are two of the four teams that have shown interest in infielder Jose Peraza, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The Reds non-tendered Peraza last week on the heels of an unproductive season, but he’s only a year removed from a respectable showing. The 25-year-old’s also controllable via arbitration through 2022.
  • Although he hopes to play next season, there has been little interest in outfielder Curtis Granderson, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Granderson is a revered clubhouse presence who has enjoyed an outstanding career, but he’s a free agent at an inopportune time. Granderson struggled to a .183/.281/.356 line with minus-1.4 fWAR in 363 plate trips with the Marlins last season.

Padres Rumors: Merrifield, Hedges, Mejia

By and | at

The Padres traded second baseman Luis Urias to the Brewers a couple weeks ago, and now they’re attempting to replace him. To that end, they’ve “been trying to” swing a deal for Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.

The soon-to-be 31-year-old Merrifield has been the subject of trade rumors for a while, but even though they haven’t been in contention, the Royals have refused to trade him thus far. Merrifield’s a favorite of Royals general manager Dayton Moore, though (per Feinsand) he admitted that the team must “be open-minded” in regards to any potential deal.

If the Royals are holding out for a haul of young talent for Merrifield, no team may be better equipped to put together a package than the farm-rich Padres. And finding a way to reel in Merrifield would be the latest sign the Padres are serious about breaking their long-running playoff drought in 2020.

On paper, Merrifield would be an enormous upgrade over the Urias-Ian Kinsler–Greg Garcia trio the Padres primarily relied on at second last season. Merrifield’s coming off an All-Star showing in which he slashed .302/.348/.463 with 16 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 2.9 fWAR in 735 plate appearances. Adding to Merrifield’s appeal, he’s only due to earn $15.25 through 2022 (including a buyout for ’23). However, that affordability could further encourage Kansas City to keep Merrifield.

Beyond second base, catcher is among the positions the Padres are focused on dealing with right now. They remain motivated to trade backstop Austin Hedges, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Though the team continues to provide public statements of support, it’s working to find a “new regular starter” behind the dish. Francisco Mejia is also still available, per Acee, though he’s less likely to be dealt. Trouble is for the Friars, it is difficult to identify quality backstops that could realistically be acquired. Willson Contreras of the Cubs is perhaps the most intriguing possibility.

NL Central Notes: Stearns, Hader, Pirates, Reds

By | at

Let’s take a look at the latest from around the NL Central…

  • “Frankly, at this point, we don’t think too much about that,” Brewers GM David Stearns told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter video link), MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, and other reporters when asked what pitchers are currently penciled into the starting rotation.  As usual, the Brew Crew will be flexible as possible in deciding which pitchers start games and how many innings they’ll accumulate, with Stearns citing Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser, Freddy Peralta, and Corbin Burnes as hurlers with starting experience.  Peralta and Burnes will indeed still get consideration for starting jobs, Stearns said, though both struggled in the role last season.  This isn’t to say that rotation additions couldn’t still be made, and relief help could also come later in the offseason, Stearns said.  Milwaukee had interest in re-signing both free agent Jordan Lyles and the non-tendered Junior Guerra before the two pitchers respectively signed with the Rangers and Diamondbacks.
  • Eyebrows were raised earlier this week at reports that the Brewers were open to trade offers for superstar reliever Josh Hader.  While Stearns didn’t deny the report or dismiss the idea of a Hader deal, he naturally didn’t give any hint about how much desire his club actually had in moving Hader, only saying that “I think we consider him the best reliever in baseball right now.”  Obviously, it would take a major offer to land Hader, who is controlled via arbitration through the 2023 season as a Super Two player.
  • Since Jacob Stallings is the only catcher on the Pirates’ 40-man roster, it isn’t any shock that GM Ben Cherington told media members (including Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic) that the Bucs are looking to upgrade the catching corps “in some ways.”  Biertempfel notes that Cherington was “emphasizing the plural,” meaning that Pittsburgh will look to add multiple catchers for both the big league club and the farm system.
  • With so much action on the free agent market so far, “I personally feel like there’s less trade activity likely to happen at the Winter Meetings than in prior years,” Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters.  “I think that’s the trend and I feel like other baseball front offices…feel like it’s gotten to the point where with all the other stuff that’s going on, it’s a time to continue conversations, but it’s really hard to push things across the finish line from a trade perspective.”  The Reds have already one major free agent splash in signing Mike Moustakas and have been linked to several other big names, though while Williams “would say it’s entirely possible” Cincinnati makes another signing during the Meetings, “there is not one that I would say is likely to happen yet….I don’t have one that is closing in on a physical or something.”

Trade/FA Chatter: Padres, Myers, Angels, Rox, Zobrist, Marlins

By | at

As expected, the Padres are hoping to trade pricey and underperforming outfielder/first baseman Wil Myers, Jayson Stark of The Athletic reports. The Padres appear highly motivated to part with Myers, according to Stark, who adds that there’s even a willingness on the team’s part to attach prospects from its loaded farm system if it would encourage someone to take the veteran off its hands. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported back in September that the Padres would “likely” be willing to eat half of the $60MM left on Myers’ contract to get rid of him. At this point, it’s unknown whether the amount’s still in that ballpark. Myers, who turns 30 on Tuesday, has another three years left on his deal.

  • The Angels’ pursuit of Gerrit Cole is garnering most of the Halos-related headlines at the moment, but he’s not the only upgrade they’re targeting. After struggling to find much production behind the plate in 2019, the club’s “heavily involved in the catcher market,” Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times writes. The Angels are focused on six to eight backstop options, per Torres, and general manager Billy Eppler revealed they’ve had “active” discussions with two teams about trading for a catcher.
  • Speaking of catchers, the Rockies had interest in Stephen Vogt before he signed a one-year, $3MM contract with the NL West rival Diamondbacks last month, Nick Groke of The Athletic relays. “It didn’t go our way,” admitted general manager Jeff Bridich, who added the Rockies remain focused on finding aid at the position.
  • Longtime utilityman Ben Zobrist is “50-50” on whether to continue his career in 2020, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The 38-year-old free agent, who sat out a large portion of 2019 as a member of the Cubs while dealing with a divorce, is currently prioritizing his family.
  • The Marlins are looking to upgrade a bullpen that was “not good” in 2019, according to president of baseball operations Michael Hill (via Wells Dusenbury of the Sun Sentinel). Veteran right-hander Sergio Romo was one of the Marlins’ most effective options, but they dealt the then-pending free agent to the Twins in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. Hill acknowledged Monday that there’s now interest on the team’s part in reuniting with Romo, 36. “We’re exploring the entire market of eligible guys and I know he’s been connected to us as well he should be,” said Hill. “I think if you asked him — he was very public in saying that [he] enjoyed his time with us so we’ll see where things go, but [he] was a player who did well for us and did a good job in his time with us.”
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