Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Padres Rumors

Progress Report: The Eric Hosmer Contract

By | at

In February 2018, with the Padres amid a rebuild and attempting to move closer to relevance, the club made the polarizing decision to sign free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer to a franchise-record contract. Although there seemingly wasn’t a wide market for the longtime Royal’s services, the Padres gave Hosmer an eight-year deal worth $144MM.

Hosmer stood out at times in Kansas City, including during a World Series-winning campaign in 2015, but fell on his face in other seasons. As a result of Hosmer’s inconsistency as a Royal, there were plenty who either loved or hated the Padres’ choice to hand him a headline-stealing payday. Those who opposed it gained the upper hand in its first year, in which Hosmer hit a meek .253/.322/.398 in 677 plate appearances. He was a below-average offensive player by wRC+ (95) and less than a replacement-level performer by fWAR (minus-0.1).

Considering the beginning of a long-term contract is when a player is supposed to be providing the most value, Hosmer’s woeful 2018 production was downright alarming. The Padres needed a rebound from Hosmer coming into this season, and while he has gotten better, the respected veteran still hasn’t given the Friars much bang for their buck on the field.

The best thing you can say about Hosmer the Padre is that he has been available more than most players. He piled up 157 appearances a year ago and has participated in 86 of the Padres’ 87 games in 2019. Along the way this season, Hosmer has slashed .293/.343/.45 with 13 home runs – just five fewer than last year – over 364 trips to the plate. He has also upped his weighted on-base average/expected wOBA from matching .310s last season to .341/.334 this year. Likewise, the 29-year-old’s 111 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR count as vast improvements over what he offered in those categories in 2018. They’re still far from great, however. In fact, the average major league first baseman has posted a 110 wRC+ this season. Of course, the average major league first baseman isn’t on a $20MM salary this year or locked into a big-money deal into his 30s.

While FanGraphs credits Hosmer with making more hard contact and less soft contact than he did last season, he continues to amass too many ground balls and too few fly balls. The typical batter hits grounders at an approximately 43 percent rate and flies 36 percent of the time. Hosmer’s at 57.3 and 21.0 in those areas in 2019. It’s hard to muster much in the power department with that combination, as Hosmer’s lifetime ISO (.155) and current ISO (.164) help prove. And Hosmer’s one of the majors’ slowest runners, making his grounder-heavy skill set even less conducive to success. The ongoing grounder overload hasn’t enabled Hosmer to take advantage of a 2019 hard-hit rate which Statcast places in the majors’ 87th percentile or an exit velocity that betters 71 percent of his peers.

Because Hosmer’s also still not walking much (6.9 percent this year, 8.2 lifetime), he continues to rely on a high batting average on balls in play to help buoy his numbers. That has paid off at times – including this season to an extent, as Hosmer’s .337 BABIP represents a 35-point increase over 2018’s. However, during seasons in which Hosmer’s BABIP has sat around average or worse, his production has typically fallen well short of expectations.

In further inauspicious news, the lefty-hitting Hosmer’s amid his second straight abysmal season against same-handed pitchers. Southpaws limited him to an unsightly .179/.240/.287 line in his first year as a Padre. Hosmer has bumped that slash to .250/.320/.324 this season, yet wRC+ indicates it’s still 24 percent worse than average. Struggles versus lefties aren’t anything new for Hosmer, who has stumbled to a .668 OPS and an 81 wRC+ against them over the course of his career.

A season and a half into his contract, the Padres’ choice to pay a premium for an inconsistent platoon first baseman continues to look like a head-scratcher. That’s all the more true when considering they already had well-compensated first baseman Wil Myers on the roster. Myers is now limited to the outfield, where he hasn’t garnered consistent playing time of late because he’s an ill fit in center and the Padres have superior hitters Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes manning the corners.

This has been a positive overall season for long-suffering San Diego, which is hovering around .500 and finds itself in playoff contention. The team still hasn’t benefited as hoped from the Hosmer signing, though, and there aren’t clear signs that’s going to change.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres’ Franchy Cordero Out Of Action Until September

By | at

The quad injury recently suffered by Padres outfielder Franchy Cordero while on a rehab assignment will keep him out of action until at least September 1, manager Andy Green told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Cordero has been sidelined for almost three weeks since first hurting his quad, and Green said that the injury also involved some tendon damage.

Cordero initially hit the IL on April 8 after suffering a right elbow sprain, a worrying enough injury given that surgery on that same elbow ended his 2018 season after just 40 games.  He seemed to be on track for a return in June, however, before hurting his quad while trying to beat out a grounder.

It now seems like Cordero will face his second consecutive lost season, a discouraging result for a 24-year-old who has shown some intriguing potential in his young career.  After crushing Triple-A pitching in 2017, Cordero received his first taste of the big leagues that season, and then batted .247/.324/.435 with seven homers in 174 plate appearances in 2018-19.  A whopping 62 of those 174 PA ended in strikeouts, though Cordero made the most of the contact he did make, with a 48.9% hard-hit ball rate over the last two seasons.

While it’s obviously still very early in Cordero’s Major League career and the Padres control him through the 2023 season, Cordero’s checkered injury history isn’t helped his chances of breaking in on a San Diego team that is already crowded with outfield options, both at the big league level and coming up the pipeline of a loaded farm system.  Trades could address this situation, of course, plus there’s the fact that Manuel Margot and Josh Naylor have yet to establish themselves as major league-caliber regulars.  But even assuming Cordero is able to make it back on the field in 2019, he’ll need a healthy and productive Spring Training to re-establish himself as a potential building block.

Mariners Acquire Matt Wisler

By | at

The Mariners have acquired right-hander Matt Wisler from the Padres in exchange for cash, the teams announced. Seattle had an opening on its 40-man roster, so a corresponding DFA or 60-day IL placement isn’t necessary. Wisler was designated for assignment by San Diego last week.

Wisler, 26, was once one of the game’s premier pitching prospects but has yet to find his footing at the MLB level. He’s shifted to a full-time relief role for the first time in 2019, and while the bottom-line numbers aren’t great — 5.28 ERA, five homers allowed in 29 innings — there’s also reason for optimism. Wisler is striking out a career-best 26.4 percent of opponents (10.6 K/9) thanks to a career-high 15.6 percent swinging-strike rate and 35.1 percent opponents’ chase rate. He’s also been plagued by a bloated .363 average on balls in play despite substantial drops in his opponents’ hard-hit rate and average exit velocity.

Opponents have batted .291/.344/.479 against Wisler in 2019 — good for a .349 weighted on-base average. But based on the quality of contact allowed and his enhanced strikeout tendencies, Statcast projects a more palatable .252 expected batting average, .394 expected slugging percentage and .314 weighted on-base average. Whether he’s able to turn things around in his new environs remains to be seen, but he’ll give the Mariners yet another fresh arm to trot out into an ever-changing bullpen mix. Wisler is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to improve at the MLB level or else once again be designated for assignment before he can potentially be sent to Triple-A.

MLBTR Poll: Will The Padres Trade Kirby Yates?

By | at

We’ve seen signs that the Padres are pondering a move this summer involving Kirby Yates. At least, that’s how I interpret recent reports from the team’s beat writers on just how hesitant the team is to move a player who has arguably been the game’s best reliever to this point of the season.

Sure, the Friars are putting out word that it’d take an “overwhelming offer” or an “unforeseen haul” to part with Yates. This is roughly like putting up your house on Zillow’s “Make Me Move” listings, but requesting blind bids instead of posting a zany asking price. Yates is totally not available … unless …

Let’s just say the Padres are interested in seeing how interested their rivals are in making a deal.

This is a familiar strategy with regard to controllable closers. And it’s one that often, but doesn’t always, lead to a swap. It feels as if Felipe Vazquez and Raisel Iglesias have been trade candidates for years. Surely, the Pirates and Reds have fielded offers, both before and after inking those two relievers to extensions. They haven’t moved … yet. The Padres have intimate, recent experience with just this sort of thing, having held onto Brad Hand, then signed him to an extension, and then traded him. Likewise, the Yankees hemmed and hawed and finally dealt Andrew Miller (like Hand, to the Indians) only after securing an offer of “two twin firstborns.”

In this case, there are certainly some strong reasons to think the Pads will have interest in a deal. Yates is already 32 years of age. The club is two games under .500 and has already been buried in the NL West (along with the rest of the division) by the powerhouse Dodgers.

On the other hand, Yates is also still controllable for another season — one in which the San Diego team hopes to be fully competitive. Heck, Yates could even be an extension candidate in the mold of Hand.

It’s hard to imagine Yates will ever look better on paper. He has racked up 27 saves in 35 1/3 innings of 1.27 ERA pitching, with an exceptional combination of 14.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. He has allowed just 21 hits and one home run this year. He’s earning only $3MM and change for the present campaign.

Yates has quite a lot of trade value. He also holds no shortage of appeal to a Padres team that needs to be efficient with its spending after making some uncharacteristically massive free agent outlays.

How do you see this one turning out? (Poll link for app users.)

Garrett Richards Could Return In September

By | at

Although the Padres sit below .500 (42-43) as the season nears the All-Star break, they’re still just two games back of a wild-card spot in the National League. If the team hangs in the race until late in the year, it could get back a key reinforcement in right-hander Garrett Richards. The Padres are hopeful the recovering Tommy John surgery patient will join their staff in September, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Richards went under the knife last July, effectively ending his Angels tenure, but that didn’t stop the Padres from making a strong commitment to him in free agency. The club guaranteed $15.5MM over two years to Richards, thus making him their second-biggest offseason signing behind Manny Machado.

The 31-year-old Richards earned his deal as a result of a promising stint with the Angels, a 744 2/3-inning stretch from 2011-18 in which he logged a 3.54 ERA/3.62 FIP with 7.8 K/9, 3.24 BB/9 and a 52.5 percent groundball rate. However, injuries – not just Richards’ damaged ulnar collateral ligament – undermined him toward the end of his Angels tenure. Richards concluded his run in Los Angeles with 76 1/3 or fewer innings in each of his final three seasons with the franchise.

When Richards has been healthy enough to take the mound, he has produced like someone capable of slotting in near the top of a team’s rotation. That explains why the starter-needy Padres took a gamble on him for a somewhat expensive amount of money. The team’s current rotation could certainly use a recovered Richards, having managed only mediocre numbers overall. Chris Paddack, Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer have been good or better, as has Logan Allen across a mere three appearances. But no one from a trio consisting of Matt Strahm, Nick Margevicius and Cal Quantrill has offered a solution over a combined 33 starts.

As they continue to wait for Richards, the Padres will welcome righty Dinelson Lamet back to their rotation Thursday. The 26-year-old Lamet, like Richards, has recently seen Tommy John surgery stall his career. Lamet impressed as a rookie in 2017 before hitting the operating table in April 2018.

Notable International Signings: 7/2/19

By | at

The 2019-20 July 2nd international signing period is officially underway, though it’s not exactly laden with suspense. Teams have long since lined up deals with newly eligible teenage players, so the news today largely represents confirmation of what was anticipated. Still, it’s a day of no small moment, particularly for the young men embarking upon professional careers.

Let’s round up some of the most notable signings of the day. Throughout, we’ll be citing to the reporting of Baseball America (signings tracker; scouting links) and MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (Twitter feed; rankings) along with analysis from Fangraphs. You can find each team’s total bonus pool and other information on the process right here. Check the above links for further information and other signings. Here are a few key deals:

  • Jasson Dominguez, OF, Yankees: Everyone’s top target is reportedly holding strong on his commitment to go to the Bronx. The deal is said to be for $5.1MM, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.com, with an announcement expected this evening. Dominguez is a switch-hitter who’s said to possess five-tool ability. The Fangraphs team is sufficiently impressed to run him all the way up to the #61 overall MLB prospect ranking right out of the gates (via Kiley McDaniel, on Twitter). The Yanks also have struck a $1.2MM deal with outfielder Jhon Diaz, Sanchez tweets. He was the 18th-rated player on the MLB.com board but ran all the way up to #7 at Fangraphs.
  • Robert Puason, SS, Athletics: Another player who’ll command about $5MM, Puason is a toolsy shortstop with big upside. He was said to have a deal in place with the Braves before that team was slapped with international sanctions. It’s worth noting that the Atlanta organization wasn’t actually punished for agreeing to terms early (though that widespread practice is officially forbidden) but rather for structuring a group deal with Puason’s trainer, as Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper explains on Twitter.
  • Luis Rodriguez, OF, Dodgers: The value on this one is unknown, but BA’s Ben Badler has photographic evidence of the signing (Twitter link). Rodriguez gets top-three billing from Fangraphs. The Los Angeles club is also in agreement with righty Kristian Cardozo, who’s also considered one of the thirty best players available.
  • Bayron Lora, OF, Rangers: Baseball America has made this connection for some time; Sanchez tweets that it’s a $4.2MM deal for the slugging prospect. Shortstops Maximo Acosta and Zion Banister are also members of the Texas signing class. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter) has the former at $1.6MM and the latter at $835K. As he notes, the Texas organization will need to acquire some added pool capacity to make the math work.
  • Erick Pena, OF, Royals: This is another signing called in advance by the BA crew. Sanchez has the bonus at $3.8MM (Twitter link). FG labels Pena “a well-rounded outfielder with considerable physical projection.”
  • Ronnier Quintero, C, Cubs: Occupying the #6 spot on the boards of both Fangraphs and MLB.com, Quintero will follow Willson Contreras from Venezuela to the Chicago organization. The Cubbies also have a deal with fellow top-ten-ish prospect Kevin Made, a shortstop. Sanchez puts the Quintero deal at $3MM and Made’s mark at $1.7MM. Another Venezuelan backstop, Brayan Altuve, will cost the Cubs another million bucks, seemingly setting up the organization for a search for some added pool money.
  • Roberto Campos, OF, Tigers: The Detroit organization popped for a hefty $3MM to secure the services of the Cuban outfielder, per Badler (via Twitter). Campos defected in somewhat dramatic fashion several years ago at just 13 years of age. He wasn’t listed among the best prospects, but Chris McCosky of the Detroit News indicates on Twitter that the Tigers like his bat quite a bit.

Several other well-regarded prospects also secured bonuses of $2MM or more, per Sanchez and/or Badler:

  • Twins, $2.7MM, outfielder Enmanuel Rodriguez
  • Angels, $2.2MM, shortstop Arol Vera
  • Marlins, $2.8MM, shortstop Jose Salas
  • Mets, $2.05MM, outfielder Alexander Ramirez
  • Padres, $2MM,  outfielder Ismael Mena
  • Astros, $2MM, shortstop Dauris Lorenzo

Latest On Padres’ Kirby Yates

By | at

Padres closer Kirby Yates has come up as a speculative trade candidate as Major League Baseball nears its July 31 deadline, but don’t count on the right-hander going anywhere. Yates is likely to stay a Padre “barring an unforeseen haul,” Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports (subscription link).

Yates would no doubt bring back a substantial return, something the Padres unsurprisingly would want for him. However, it’s debatable whether the Padres should seriously consider dealing him this month. At 42-41, they’re finally making real progress in the standings and have an actual chance to break a 12-year playoff drought this year. San Diego’s just a game and a half back of a wild-card spot in a crowded National League field, and a decent portion of its success has come on account of Yates.

General manager A.J. Preller has been something of a wizard when it comes to claiming relievers on waivers. He first grabbed Brad Hand from the Marlins in April 2016 and then landed Yates from the Angels in 2017. Hand turned into a stud for the Padres, though they were in the throes of a rebuild and weren’t able to take advantage of his brilliance in the win-loss column. The club flipped a post-breakout Hand to the Indians last June as part of a deal for young catcher Francisco Mejia, whom it hopes will be its long-term answer behind the plate.

Just as the Padres picked up a haul for Hand last year, they’re in position to hold out for a Godfather offer for Yates this season. The 32-year-old has mimicked Hand in going from castoff to star in a Padres uniform. While Yates was tremendous in 2018, he has been even better this season, having logged a ridiculous 1.27 ERA/1.33 FIP with 14.46 K/9, 2.29 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent groundball rate over 35 1/3 innings. Considering those numbers, it’s no surprise Yates has been close to automatic at the end of games. He leads the majors in saves (27) and has blown just one opportunity.

The Padres see the brilliant Yates as someone who could help them return to prominence this season and in the near future – at an affordable price, no less. He’s making a little over $3MM this year and comes with another season of arbitration eligibility. At the same time, though, Yates’ age, lack of long-term control and the volatility of relievers are all reasons for the Padres to consider cashing him in over the next few months. It could be an agonizing decision for Preller.

Dinelson Lamet Nearing Padres Return

By | at

  • Padres starter Dinelson Lamet is slated to make his long-awaited return to the team in the coming days, writes Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. The right-hander hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2017, when he flashed tantalizing stuff in his debut season and subsequently missed the entire 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has made six rehab starts this season—three in Single-A ball and three at Triple-A—throwing as many as 85 pitches, a mark that should govern his workload for the Padres down the stretch. The dynamic 26-year-old would boost the Padres rotation, which could be doubly important as Chris Paddack, the team’s best starter, faces questions about his workload.

Examining Wil Myers’ Struggles

By | at

Wil Myers stands as one of the Padres’ highest-profile and highest-paid players, the recipient of a six-year, $83MM contract extension entering the 2017 season. Myers was a first baseman coming off his lone All-Star season at that point, but his production has dipped since he landed his deal, and he lost his first base job when the team made an eight-year, $144MM commitment to Eric Hosmer in February 2018. Now, three months into the 2019 season, a struggling Myers is losing playing time as a member of a crowded outfield, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes.

Myers was out of the Padres’ starting lineup for their game against the Cardinals on Saturday. The 28-year-old has now started just twice for the Padres since June 19, a span in which he has totaled only 10 at-bats. Padres manager Andy Green insists Myers’ relegation to the bench is temporary, a way for the player to work on getting his strikeout issues under control.

“We expect Wil to be a part of what we’re doing here for a long time,” Green told Cassavell. “He’s handled everything that we’ve given him well.”

Green’s words may not do much to quell trade speculation centering on Myers, who doesn’t look like an ideal fit for the team’s roster anymore. The problem, even if San Diego does want to trade Myers to alleviate its outfield logjam, is that he likely doesn’t have much value. Myers’ 104 wRC+ since he signed his extension is just a bit better than league average – which isn’t optimal for a first baseman (if another team put him back there) or a corner outfielder, let alone a well-compensated one. Because the Padres heavily backloaded Myers’ contract, he still has $62.5MM in guarantees coming his way through 2022 (including a $1MM buyout for ’23).

Myers is now in the throes of his worst season since 2014, the year before the Rays traded him to the Padres. Across 272 plate appearances, Myers has hit .223/.317/.408 (94 wRC+) with 11 home runs, nine steals and 97 strikeouts against 31 walks. The former AL Rookie of the Year’s strikeout rate (35.7 percent) is 9.5 points worse than his career mark and good for dead last in the majors among qualified batters. Moreover, Myers ranks toward the bottom of the sport in expected batting average (16th percentile), average exit velocity (37th percentile), expected slugging percentage (43rd percentile) and expected weighted on-base average (43rd percentile), according to Statcast. There’s very little difference been his .325 xwOBA and .318 real wOBA.

To Myers’ credit, he’s a fast runner who has been a neutral or better corner outfielder over the past couple years, per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Myers has accounted for 3 DRS/1.5 UZR in the corners this year, though subpar work in center (minus-6 DRS, minus-2.7 UZR) has stained his aggregate defensive contributions. Overall, the package has been worth a measly 0.3 wins above replacement this year. Three Padres outfielders – fellow right-handed corner sluggers Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes as well as athletic center fielder Manuel Margot – have outdone him by that metric. The club also has rookie corner outfielder Josh Naylor on hand, though his career has gotten off to such a slow start that even Myers’ so-so 2019 numbers trump his.

To be sure, Myers is a better player than Naylor at this juncture. Still, Myers continues to look like a questionable fit in San Diego, and his recent role change (even if impermanent) makes that all the more obvious. But it remains to be seen whether the Padres, who are 41-40 and pushing for a playoff spot, will try to find a taker for Myers in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. Considering Myers’ unspectacular production and the money left on his deal, doing so wouldn’t be easy.

Padres Designate Matt Wisler

By | at

The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-hander Matt Wisler for assignment. They’re replacing him on the 25-man roster with righty Robert Stock, who’s up from Triple-A El Paso.

Wisler’s in his second stint with the Padres, though his designation could once again lead him elsewhere. Formerly a well-regarded prospect, Wisler initially left the Padres in April 2015, when the Friars sent him to the Braves in a deal for closer Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. Wisler lasted into 2018 with the Braves, who traded him to the Reds in July to acquire outfielder Adam Duvall, before returning to San Diego this past April in a swap for righty Diomar Lopez.

Now 26 years old, Wisler saw his first action with the Padres this season before his DFA, logging an unimpressive 5.28 ERA over 29 innings and 21 appearances. Wisler has, however, posted a 4.11 FIP with 10.55 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 43.4 percent groundball rate in the majors this year. Including his days with the Braves and Reds, Wisler has pitched to a 5.18 ERA/4.83 FIP with 6.74 K/9, 2.92 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent grounder rate in 367 big league frames.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top