Padres Select Makita, Recall Mejia; Machado Appeals 1-Game Ban
As part of a series of roster moves, the Padres have selected the contract of right-handed reliever Kazuhisa Makita from Double-A Amarillo. The club recalled catcher Francisco Mejia from Triple-A El Paso, optioned backstop Austin Allen and left-hander Nick Margevicius to El Paso, and transferred outfielder Franchy Cordero to the 60-day injured list in other transactions.
Additionally, Padres third baseman Manny Machado has been issued a one-game suspension “for aggressively arguing and making contact with umpire Bill Welke” in Saturday’s game in Colorado, but he will appeal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today was among those to report.
This is the first big league promotion of the season for the 34-year-old Makita, whom the Padres signed out of Japan to a two-year, $3.8MM guarantee in January 2018. The submarining Makita struggled to a 5.40 ERA/4.85 FIP last season in San Diego, in part because of a microscopic 20.2 percent groundball rate. While Makita did manage 9.51 K/9 against 3.09 BB/9, that wasn’t enough to prevent the Padres from designating him for assignment last November. Makita has since pitched to a 3.82 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 in 35 innings at the Double-A level.
The recall of Mejia may be the most interesting move here, as he’s not far removed from a run as one of the majors’ best hitting prospects. Now 24, the Padres acquired Mejia from the Indians last June for relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber. Mejia hasn’t done much in the majors, though, which led the Padres to demote him to El Paso on June 1. But the Padres want more offense from behind the plate – something the light-hitting Allen and Austin Hedges haven’t provided – which explains their decision to bring the gifted Mejia back to the majors.
Machado, the Padres’ highest-profile player, may sit a game stemming from an ejection Saturday. He slammed his helmet to the ground and fired his bat against the backstop amid a heated argument with Welke.
Padres To Promote Logan Allen
The Padres will promote highly regarded pitching prospect Logan Allen, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. The southpaw is expected to make a start tomorrow.
Acquired as part of the 2015 Craig Kimbrel deal, Allen has steadily climbed the prospect charts over the past several seasons. The former eighth-round pick, now 22 years of age, cracked most top-100 charts entering the current campaign.
Allen hasn’t exactly been at his most impressive in 2019, though the offensively robust PCL surely hasn’t helped his stat sheet. Through 57 2/3 innings, he carries a 5.15 ERA with 63 strikeout sand 22 walks.
This continues the Padres’ season-long strategy of rotating up young arms to the MLB roster. That approach hasn’t led to much in the way of stable starting pitching, though it has allowed the team preserve its talent base while trying to compete. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results have been uneven.
Report: Padres Would Need “Overwhelming Offer” To Trade Kirby Yates
The Padres may be readying to listen on most of their position players, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be anxious to move their most appealing pitching assets. Indeed, the San Diego organization would require “an overwhelming offer” in order to part with emergent relief ace Kirby Yates, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell.
It’s hardly surprising to hear this stance emerge at this stage of the proceedings. The Friars are still hanging in the Wild Card picture, for one thing. Even if it has mostly resolved to deal, there’s little reason for the organization to enter a period of negotiation by hanging an OBO on one of its best trade pieces.
The Padres’ leverage here is aided by the fact that Yates isn’t an asset that must be cashed in just yet. He’s earning only $3,062,000 this year and has another season of arb control remaining. Even if the Padres decide to move him, it doesn’t have to happen in the next six weeks.
San Diego GM A.J. Preller has dealt with a situation like this in the past, with interesting results. The Friars held onto Brad Hand at the 2017 deadline, when he was among the top trade candidates, then locked him into a high-value extension. The club ultimately spun Hand off via trade in the ensuing summer. The situation isn’t quite on all fours with this one. Hand was a season further from free agency than Yates will be this winter; the Pads are also closer to dedicated contention than they were at that time. Regardless, the takeaway is that there are options here beyond a summer trade.
Yates has been every bit as impressive as Hand from an on-field perspective. Much like his former teammate, Yates took some time to find his way. But he has not stopped improving since landing in San Diego. The 32-year-old currently owns an absurd 0.96 ERA with 15.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 over 28 innings. Yates has yet to allow a home run this season.
At some point, someone will put the ball over the fence against Yates. Perhaps there’s a bit of regression coming. On the other hand, Statcast actually feels he has been a bit unfortunate to post a .216 wOBA, crediting him with a ridiculous .210 xwOBA based upon the quality (or lack thereof) of contact against him.
With a cheap salary and remaining arb control, Yates would be a monster trade chip for the Padres. It’s hard to imagine that Preller won’t at least see what he can get. And he’ll surely be realistic about the team’s chances of even making a spirited Wild Card run. At the same time, the organization has already proven it’ll push some chips toward the present with major free agent signings and the Opening Day promotion of Fernando Tatis. It’s possible to imagine a number of different plausible outcomes when it comes to Yates and the Padres.
Padres Reportedly Willing To Trade Most Position Players
Padres outfielder Hunter Renfroe has come up in trade rumors this week, and the club is indeed willing to deal the 27-year-old slugger, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. However, Renfroe’s not the only Padre who could end up on the move before the July 31 trade deadline. The team’s willing to give up “virtually” any of its position players except for shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado and first baseman Eric Hosmer, according to Acee.
The Padres’ goal in dealing from its current position player cast would be to upgrade offensively at two spots – catcher and center field – and add “young arms,” per Acee. Their desire to pick up controllable pitching has long been known, though it’s interesting they want a better offensive backstop.
Major leaguers Austin Hedges and Austin Allen haven’t hit, but Triple-A catcher Francisco Mejia rode his potential at the plate into high rankings on prospect lists not long ago. As recently as last summer, when the Padres acquired Mejia from the Indians for relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber, Keith Law of ESPN regarded Mejia as one of the game’s top five farmhands. While Mejia has struggled mightily in the majors since then, he’s still just 23 and has tallied a mere 134 plate appearances in the bigs. It’s unclear from Acee’s report whether the Padres would be open to parting with Mejia, who has raked since they optioned him to the minors last month, or if they just don’t think he’s ready to make an offensive impact at the game’s highest level yet.
The 26-year-old Hedges has made an MLB impact, meanwhile, but almost solely behind the plate. Hedges rates as an elite defender, and though he was a respectable offensive player just last season, he otherwise hasn’t hit much since his 2015 debut.
Likewise, center fielder Manuel Margot has seldom hit since the Padres first promoted him in 2015. There has been talk of San Diego demoting him to the minors to help alleviate its outfield logjam. But as a 24-year-old speedster who has excelled in the field and won’t reach arbitration until the offseason, he’d likely draw interest on the trade market.
Perhaps aside from Renfroe, right fielder Franmil Reyes stands out as the Padres’ most valuable trade chip among position players. They offer similar offensive skill sets, and Renfroe’s a much better defender, though Reyes is three-plus years younger. Set to turn 24 in July, Reyes has slashed .263/.320/.520 (123 wRC+) with 35 home runs in 516 PA since he first came up last season. Further increasing Reyes’ appeal, he’s earning a minimal salary and isn’t scheduled to reach arbitration until after the 2021 season.
If the Padres keep Renfroe and Reyes, perhaps they’d consider trading fellow corner outfielder Josh Naylor. The 21-year-old Naylor hasn’t gotten off to a strong start since the Padres promoted him May 24, but he’s a top 100 prospect or close to it. Franchy Cordero, yet another of their young corner outfielders, seems likely to stay put when considering his recent injury issues. Cordero, 24, has missed most of the past season-plus with right elbow issues, and he suffered a mild quad injury while rehabbing this week.
As for the rest of San Diego’s roster, outfielder Wil Myers and second baseman Ian Kinsler jump to the fore as players the team would probably like to move. The trade value is minimal in both cases, though.
Myers, 28, hasn’t lived up to the six-year, $83MM contract the Padres gave him in January 2017. They backloaded the deal, meaning he’s owed almost $63MM through 2022 (including a $1MM buyout in ’23). Although Myers was a 30-home run hitter as recently as 2017, he’s still just a .242/.324/.450 batter (106 wRC+) dating back to then.
Kinsler, 36, joined the Padres on a two-year, $8MM contract in the offseason. While Kinsler has long been a quality major leaguer, the Padres haven’t gotten much return on their investment so far. Kinsler has hit .204/.264/.387 (72 wRC+) with minus-0.3 fWAR in 201 PA., though he has fared much better following an ice-cold April (.262/.309/.505 since May 1). Regardless of whether the Padres find a taker for Kinsler, it seems like only a matter of time before he loses his starting spot to standout prospect Luis Urias.
After a surprisingly competitive start to the season, San Diego has begun fading from the National League playoff race. Losers of five straight, the Padres sit 33-36 and 5 1/2 games out of wild-card position. However, with the talent already on hand and the high-potential players baking in the minors, the club may not be far away from contending on an annual basis. It seems general manager A.J. Preller will operate aggressively over the next month-plus in an effort to better position his roster to accomplish that. With that in mind, the Padres should be a compelling team to watch leading up to the deadline.
Padres Option Chris Paddack
In a move that’ll come as a surprise to many, the Padres announced that they have optioned right-hander Chris Paddack to Class-A Lake Elsinore. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported the move (via Twitter), noting that the Friars are looking for ways to manage Paddack’s workload after he threw just 90 innings in 2018 — his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that Paddack isn’t expected to be in the minors long. Assuming he’s back up in fewer than 20 days, the move won’t impact Paddack’s timeline to free agency, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune points out (Twitter links). Acee adds that Paddack is going down merely to rest and is expected to return in 10 days or so (the minimum required length of an optional assignment, barring recall in the event of an injury).
While workload surely was surely the driving force in the decision, Paddack has also fallen into somewhat of a slump after his brilliant start to his rookie campaign. In the past month, the 23-year-old has pitched to a 5.76 ERA with 30 hits and eight home runs allowed in 25 innings. He’s still sporting a stellar 26-to-3 K/BB ratio in that time, but the long ball has been problematic of late.
Paddack’s 65 2/3 innings are already within striking distance of last year’s total, so the brief trip to the minors will give him some downtime without forcing the Padres to carry a pitcher they’re trying to deploy minimally for a week or two. Right-hander Robert Stock is up from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster and will give the Padres a fresh arm in the bullpen. He’s pitched to a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 Triple-A innings and collected 27 strikeouts in that time — albeit against 15 walks and three hit batters.
Hunter Renfroe Drawing Trade Interest
As explored at MLBTR last week, the Padres have a well-known surplus of outfield options, and the mix could soon become even more crowded with Franchy Cordero (and, eventually, Travis Jankowski) on the mend. The Friars moved Alex Dickerson in a trade with the Giants this week, shedding one outfielder from their 40-man roster, but Dickerson hasn’t factored prominently into the crowded outfield picture anyhow. His departure does little to thin the field.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported this morning (subscription required) that a more prominent player, Hunter Renfroe, has been “quite popular” with other clubs as the Padres and other teams begin to explore trade possibilities now that the draft is in the rear-view mirror.
Renfroe was an oft-speculated offseason trade candidate, as the outfield crunch facing the Padres isn’t exactly a new development. But the Padres held onto all of their outfielders this winter, as they were seemingly unable to find an offer to their liking. In the case of Renfroe, that should prove to have been a smart play given that the 27-year-old has elevated his stock through the first two-plus months of the 2019 campaign. Through his first 196 plate appearances, Renfroe is hitting .243/.296/.602 with 18 home runs, nine doubles and a triple.
The on-base issues that plagued Renfroe in prior seasons are still present; his 7.1 percent walk rate is a near-mirror image of last year’s 6.8 percent, and he’s actually seen his strikeout rate rise from 24.7 percent to 27 percent. Renfroe’s average exit velocity has increased, though, and he’s shown more power than ever before. It’s extraordinarily unlikely that he’ll sustain his current 32.1 percent homer-to-flyball ratio — that’s only been done three times in the past decade — but an increase from last year’s 20.1 percent rate seems quite reasonable.
Beyond that, Renfroe’s glovework has improved by virtually any metric available. He’s already topped last year’s total of five Defensive Runs Saved in fewer than half as many innings. Ultimate Zone Rating has never pegged him as a positive defender, but he’s at +4.2 in 2019. Statcast’s Outs Above Average (+2) gives him a positive grade for the first time in his career as well.
In Renfroe, teams likely see a flawed but talented slugger whose power and defensive skills may be on the rise. He’s controlled for another four seasons beyond the 2019 campaign, although he’ll be arbitration-eligible in each of those years by virtue of Super Two status. Renfroe looks likely to head into arbitration on the heels of a 30-homer season and with upwards of 90 career long balls in the bank, so the arbitration process will treat him nicely. But even though he’ll be well-compensated over the long haul, he’s still a couple of productive years from securing a truly significant salary.
That considerable amount of club control remaining will give the Padres some pause when it comes to trading Renfroe, but they’ve also been linked to controllable starting pitchers for quite some time now. Renfroe is the type of piece who could help them to acquire such an asset. Corner outfielders are easier to come by than quality starters, so to acquire multiple seasons of such an arm, the Padres may need to include some other parts. As noted in last week’s look at their logjam, the Padres aren’t short on internal replacement options for Renfroe, and several teams with starters for sale are notably thin in the outfield. The Tigers (Matthew Boyd), Blue Jays (Marcus Stroman), Indians (Trevor Bauer, if they move him) all face some uncertainty in the outfield.
The mere fact that Renfroe is drawing interest doesn’t mean he’s any kind of lock to be moved. The Padres could move a different outfielder or, as they showed this offseason, forgo any sort of move and find a creative means of keeping all their current assets through the end of the season. Other injuries around the roster could always arise and lessen any urgency to make a decision this summer. Renfroe is an increasingly attractive trade piece, though, and his name figures to be mentioned frequently over the next seven weeks as the deadline draws nearer.
Giants Acquire Alex Dickerson
The Giants and Padres have announced a swap that will send outfielder Alex Dickerson to San Francisco. Righty Franklin Van Gurp goes to San Diego in return.
Dickerson, 29, was designated for assignment recently by the Friars. He’ll find a match with a Giants organization that has been on the hunt for interesting opportunities in the outfield all season long.
Though the Friars long tried to give Dickerson an extended look, his body didn’t hold up long enough for extended action. He turned in a solid offensive showing in his first full MLB action back in 2016, only to miss all of 2017 and 2018 owing to back issues and Tommy John surgery.
Dickerson returned this year to a tough roster situation in San Diego. The club has several younger players who deserve looks of their own at the game’s highest level.
Though Dickerson didn’t run with what limited opportunity he did have in the majors — just three singles to go with seven strikeouts in 19 MLB plate appearances this year — he has once again showed an interesting bat at Triple-A. In 113 plate appearances, Dickerson is batting .372/.469/.606 with an 18:14 K/BB ratio and five home runs.
As for Van Gurp, he’s a 2017 25th-rounder who just received a promotion to the Double-A level. The 23-year-old has battled walk issues at times but has performed well in that area this year. Through 33 2/3 innings — five at Double-A and the bulk at Class A — Van Gurp owns a 4.54 ERA with 13.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.
MLB Draft Signings: 6/10/19
Here are the latest notable signings from last week’s amateur draft, with the newest signings at the top of the post. Click here for the full list of slot values and draft pool bonuses, and you can find prospect rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America’s Top 500, Fangraphs’ Top 200, MLB.com’s Top 200, and the Top 100 of ESPN.com’s Keith Law…
- The Padres signed second-round pick Josh Mears for a $1MM bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). That checks in about $543K below slot, giving the Friars some additional flexibility in negotiations with their other picks. Callis further suggests that the additional funds could help to sign third-rounder Hudson Head, who “won’t come cheap.” Mears, an 18-year-old corner outfielder, ranked as the draft’s No. 68 prospect according to Law. He was 93rd on BA’s Top 500 and 118th at MLB.com. He’s rapidly elevated his stock over the past year and had been committed to Purdue but will instead begin his pro career. The Washington native draws praise for above-average right-handed power and bat speed. Law calls his power “explosive.”
- Tigers second-rounder Nick Quintana announced on Twitter that he’s signed a contract with his new team. His No. 47 overall slot came with a $1.58MM value, though bonus terms . Quintana played third base at Arizona and checked in 43rd on Fangraphs’ rankings heading into the draft. He placed 77th at MLB.com, 81st at BA and 85th at ESPN. He’s regarded as a plus defender at third with above-average raw power, but there are some strikeout concerns and he’s a below-average runner as well.
- The Royals announced that they’ve signed supplemental second-round pick Alec Marsh. He’ll receive the full slot value of $906,800 that accompanies the No. 70 overall pick, Callis tweets. A right-hander out of Arizona State, Marsh was ranked most favorably by Law (No. 83 overall). He landed 97th at BA, 102nd at MLB.com and 113th at Fangraphs. Law notes that he has a four-pitch mix and a chance to start. Neither MLB.com nor Fangraphs gives Marsh a true plus pitch, but their reports credit him for average or slightly above-average offerings across the board and a good feel for pitching.
West Notes: Leake, D’Backs, M’s, Hampton, Padres, Alvarez
Some rumblings out of both the AL and NL West divisions…
- The Mariners and Diamondbacks discussed a potential trade earlier this week that would’ve sent Mike Leake to Arizona, though in the words of FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link), these negotiations “never got serious.” As we heard on Thursday, Leake was never contacted about the trade, which would’ve been a necessary step since Leake has a no-trade clause in his contract. Given that the M’s have shown a willingness to eat money in trades of their veteran players, Leake could have been (and perhaps even still is) a particularly attractive option to a D’Backs team that doesn’t have a ton of payroll room. In Leake’s case, Seattle would also be sharing the financial burden with the Cardinals. As per the terms of the trade that brought Leake to the Mariners from the Cardinals, St. Louis was responsible for $9MM of the $36MM owed to Leake over the 2019-20 seasons.
- In the words of one Padres official, there is still an “outside chance” that the club could ink 23rd-round draft pick Maurice Hampton, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, despite Hampton’s commitment to play both baseball and football at LSU. Hampton reportedly wanted a $2.75MM bonus to begin his pro baseball career, and while the team believes this asking price may have dropped, it still represented a hefty enough demand that Hampton fell to the 23rd round despite a consensus top-50 prospect ranking in the eyes of draft evaluators. Since Hampton was taken beyond the top ten rounds, any contract he signs worth more than $100K would see that excess money subtracted from San Diego’s $10,758,900 draft pool, leaving the Padres with less money to sign their other picks. However, the team has been trying to create extra financial space within their pool — the Padres took four college seniors (who have less negotiating leverage) with their picks in the seventh thru tenth rounds, and saved almost $543K when sixth overall pick CJ Abrams agreed to a below-slot bonus.
- Yordan Alvarez enjoyed a dream debut in the majors today, going 1-for-3 with a walk and his first MLB home run, a two-run blast that proved to be the winning score in Houston’s 4-0 win over Baltimore. The young Astros slugger is considered one of the game’s most promising young bats, though there is far from a consensus on his overall value as a prospect, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan writes (subscription required). Alvarez is largely seen as a bat-only player, with limited defensive value as a left fielder or first baseman despite some solid athleticism for a man of his size (6’5″, 225 pounds). “Any projection of Alvarez’s future value will take a hit by an evaluator who doesn’t believe he can stick in left,” Kaplan writes, and he speaks to several writers from sites such as Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and MLB.com about why Alvarez received a pretty wide range of rankings.
Pitcher Notes: Angels, Padres, Mets, Rangers
The Angels are set to place right-hander Trevor Cahill on the injured list with elbow soreness, according to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. Manager Brad Ausmus suggested Cahill won’t miss more than one start, though. Regardless of how long he sits out, this has been a disastrous season for Cahill, who joined the Angels after a solid 2018 showing with the Athletics. The 31-year-old Cahill has recorded a 7.18 ERA/6.35 ERA with 7.18 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9 in 57 2/3 innings since the Angels inked him to a $9MM guarantee over the winter.
- Cahill and fellow righty Matt Harvey (one year, $11MM) were the Angels‘ highest-profile free-agent additions during the offseason. Harvey has joined Cahill in disappointing during an injury-limited campaign, but he’s on the way back. Harvey began a Triple-A rehab assignment Saturday, the team announced. The 30-year-old went to the IL on May 25 because of an upper back strain. He got off to a brutal start before then, posting 48 innings of 7.50 ERA/6.17 FIP pitching with 6.56 K/9, 3.94 BB/9 and 2.06 HR/9.
- The Padres announced that they’ve placed reliever Adam Warren on the 10-day IL with a right forearm strain. The team recalled righty Gerardo Reyes in a corresponding move. The injury adds to what has been a trying season for Warren, a 31-year-old free-agent signing who has registered a 5.34 ERA/6.84 FIP with 7.85 K/9, 3.77 BB/9 and 2.83 HR/9 in 28 2/3 innings.
- Mets reliever Justin Wilson is slated to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Wilson’s not sure when he’ll return, but barring setbacks, it’ll have to be within 30 days. Elbow soreness sent Wilson to the injured list May 11, the second time the southpaw has been on the IL with issues in the joint this season. Not only that, but Wilson – whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $10MM contract in the offseason – has yielded five earned runs on nine hits with four walks (against nine strikeouts) in 9 1/3 innings in 2019.
- The Rangers have activated righty reliever Matt Bush and assigned him to the Double-A level, per TR Sullivan of MLB.com. It’s an important step forward for Bush, who underwent surgery on a partial UCL tear in his elbow last September. However, the procedure didn’t stop the Rangers from bringing back the 33-year-old on a minor league deal. Bush debuted with the Rangers in 2016 and has since notched a 3.35 ERA/3.65 FIP with 9.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 137 innings.