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NL West Notes: Seager, Rockies, Padres

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Dodgers phenom Corey Seager feels “normal-ish”, according to manager Dave Roberts (via an article by Ken Gurnick of MLB.com). Seager was injured while sliding into second base during the game in which the Dodgers clinched the NLDS series victory, and hasn’t done any baseball activity since then. Roberts adds that Seager won’t be traveling with the team to Chicago, though that could change under certain circumstances. Regardless, Seager can’t be added to the NLCS roster at this point unless someone on the current roster gets injured. In that case, the player Seager replaces would be ineligible for the Dodgers’ World Series roster, should the team advance that far. The 23-year old Seager batted .295/.375/.479 with 22 home runs during the regular season, and ranked first among all NL shortstops in fWAR. His situation will certainly be worth monitoring closely.

More from baseball’s NL West division…

  • In a mailbag article for MLB.com, Rockies beat writer Thomas Harding points out that Colorado used only eight total starting pitchers this past season, which was incredibly lucky considering they averaged 12 starters per season from 2011-2016. Seven of those eight starters are set to return in 2018, and while they have youth on their side, Harding wonders how the organization will adapt if their luck with pitcher injuries regresses to the mean. The Rockies playoff hopes for the next few years will rest largely on the health and development of their young starters, including Jon Gray, Jeff Hoffman, Antonio Senzatela, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland.
  • Speaking of mailbag articles for MLB.com, Padres beat writer AJ Cassavell suggests that San Diego’s bullpen-related offseason plans will largely hinge on whether any teams will meet GM A.J. Preller’s asking price on lefty Brad Hand. If Hand is traded, the Padres’ bullpen will likely need a significant overhaul, including some spending on established major leaguers. However, if he isn’t moved and the club is able to retain Craig Stammen, their relief corps may only need a few tweaks for 2018. To say that Hand essentially was the Padres’ bullpen in 2017 isn’t an exaggeration; his 3.89 Win Probability Added (WPA) ranked fourth-best among all relievers in baseball. All other Padres relievers combined for -1.76 WPA, and Stammen was the only other arm in their ’pen to exceed 0.20.

A.J. Preller On Padres' Offseason Plans, Brad Hand

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  • Padres general manager A.J. Preller told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune and other reporters on Monday that upgrading at shortstop and in the rotation will be offseason priorities. The Padres will also “look to tinker with the bullpen,” Preller said. Trading left-handed closer Brad Hand would qualify as much more than tinkering, but Preller didn’t rule out dealing him. “He was similar to a few years ago when we had (Craig) Kimbrel,” Preller said. “We talked to teams about Kimbrel at the trade deadline in ‘15. There were teams that reached out early in that offseason and said, ‘OK, we’re still interested.’ I would expect that to probably be the case, but we’ll see how that plays out.” Despite vast interest, the Padres decided against trading Hand at the deadline in July. The 27-year-old obviously comes with less team control now than he did over the summer, when an acquiring club could have viewed him as an integral piece for a playoff run, but he’s still signed through 2019. Hand made a relative pittance – $1.38MM – in his first year of arbitration eligibility in 2017.

Jhoulys Chacin Willing To Re-Sign With Padres

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Padres right-hander Jhoulys Chacin threw 180 1/3 innings of 3.89 ERA ball and contributed upward of two wins above replacement this season, making him one of the top bargain signings of 2017. Chacin inked a $1.75MM deal with the Padres last winter and should fare much better on his next contract, one that might come from another organization. But Chacin told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com and other reporters Saturday that he’d be willing to continue his career in San Diego (Twitter link). “It’s hard to tell,” Chacin said of his future. “But I would be really happy to come back here.” Re-signing the capable innings eater would make a lot of sense for the rebuilding, starter-needy Padres, as MLBTR’s Jason Martinez wrote Friday.

  • Padres owner Ron Fowler informed Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune that there are “a couple people we’re fairly close to getting deals done with,” which could mean Chacin or any of their other impending free agents. Regardless, both Fowler and managing partner Ron Seidler suggested to Lin that they’re happy with how this year has gone for the club. Seidler has seen enough progress to believe the Padres could soon be a factor in the NL West, a division the big-spending Dodgers have ruled over the past half-decade. Looking ahead two years, Seidler said: “At minimum, if we’re not in the chase for (the playoffs), I’d be disappointed. (If not), it wouldn’t mean I’d be angry or upset or anything. I think, given where we are right now, in 2019 we should have every chance not to just be a playoff team but to win the division.” Check out Lin’s full piece for more quotes from Seidler and Fowler on the direction of the franchise.

Yangervis Solarte Wants To Stay With Padres

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  • Infielder Yangervis Solarte acknowledges that the Padres could trade him, but says he wants to stay in San Diego, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. “If they want to trade me, what am I going to do? If I’m playing all these positions, I know there’s going to be teams that have interest in that versatility,” he says. “I want to stay here, I want to be here, but if they decide to trade me, I would just be thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me.” The 30-year-old Solarte has batted .255/.315/.419 while playing all four infield positions this season. He’s under contract for $4MM for 2018, and he has $750K buyouts on relatively cheap team options for both 2019 and 2020. His versatility, and the flexibility his team will have with his contract, could make him an attractive trade target this winter.

Three Needs: San Diego Padres

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Click here to read previous entries in MLBTR’s Three Needs series.

Despite another losing season, the rebuilding Padres have been better than most would’ve expected in 2017. At worst, they’ll lose 92 games — they sit at 70-89 heading into a weekend series against the last-place Giants — and they’re only four games under .500 since May 20th. The tone was set last offseason when the team signed four veteran pitchers — Trevor Cahill, Jhoulys Chacin, Clayton Richard and Craig Stammen — who went on to produce well beyond the $6.15MM it cost the team to sign each to a one-year contract.

Chacin and Richard have been positive clubhouse influences on a young team and combined for 63 starts.  (Chacin is scheduled to make his 32nd start of the season on Saturday and will likely push the duo over 375 innings on the season)  Cahill was on the disabled list twice, but he was very effective in his 11 starts as a Padre and ended up being part of a six-player pre-deadline trade with the Royals that netted San Diego a high-upside pitching prospect and one of the best hitters in the Arizona Rookie League. Stammen, who missed most of 2015 and all of 2016 due to injuries, came back strong with a 3.06 ERA in 59 appearances.

This offseason, expect the Padres to try this same strategy of adding inexpensive pitchers who can eat innings and possibly be flipped prior to the trade deadline.  The club could have some money to spend after clearing most of their payroll during the rebuild and they also have plenty of trade chips, both in the farm system and with an abundance of second/third base and outfield candidates.

[Related: San Diego Padres Depth Chart and Payroll Outlook]

1. Add two starting pitchers—one who can be penciled into the top of the rotation.
USATSI_10100439_154513410_lowres

Richard has already been re-signed to an extension that runs through the 2019 season.  Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo will come to camp with an edge over a long list of rotation candidates that will include Travis Wood, Matt Strahm, and several others who missed the 2017 season due to injury, including Robbie Erlin, Christian Friedrich and Colin Rea. Adding a few veterans to the mix should be a priority, with at least one that can be penciled into the front of the rotation.

Re-signing Chacin (pictured) would make a lot of sense, considering that he has been one of the better pitchers at home in 2017 (9-3, 1.79 ERA, 5.4 H/9). The 29-year-old might have priced himself out of San Diego, however, and could command a deal that is well above what the Padres are willing to offer at this point. Cahill, considering how well he pitched with the Padres when healthy, would presumably welcome a return to his hometown Padres.

While Petco Park is no longer considered an extreme pitcher-friendly ballpark, pitchers who are looking for an opportunity to rebuild their value are still likely to place San Diego high on their list of potential destinations.  Several hurlers have “figured things out” under Darren Balsley’s tutelage, which is why he’s been the team’s pitching coach for 15 seasons and counting. Clay Buchholz, Derek Holland, Ubaldo Jimenez and former Padres ace Tyson Ross could all be on the team’s radar as inexpensive bounce-back candidates.

2. Find a stop-gap shortstop who is better than Erick Aybar, Alexei Ramirez and Clint Barmes. 

Filling the shortstop void has been a recurring offseason priority for this team since they traded away Khalil Greene following the 2008 season. Everth Cabrera was an NL All-Star in 2013, but he was never able to lock down the job because of inconsistency, injuries and off-the-field troubles. Thus, the team has continued to kick the can down the road in hopes that someone would eventually come along and solidify the position, which simply hasn’t happened.  Short-term answers like Aybar, Ramirez and Barmes have not produced, and no prospects have emerged as the clear shortstop of the future…until now, which makes this offseason slightly different.

Whoever is written into the lineup card as the starting shortstop on Opening Day 2018 will be keeping the spot warm for highly-regarded 18-year-old prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., who some evaluators believe could reach the big leagues by 2019. Alcides Escobar, Danny Espinosa and J.J. Hardy, all coming off of bad offensive seasons, will likely be in the mix for one-year deals. The trade market for shortstops doesn’t appear to offer many options, but the Rays’ Adeiny Hechavarria, under contract through 2018, would be a possibility while the Rangers’ Jurickson Profar would fill the team’s need for at least the next two seasons—he does not appear to have accrued enough MLB service time in 2017 to reach four years—while Tatis continues to develop in the upper minors.  (Though Profar, himself not far removed from being the game’s top prospect, could be seen as a long-term asset at another position.)

Corrections: Hechavarria is under contract through 2018. The article had initially stated that was under contract through 2019. Profar appears to have fallen short of 4.000 years of MLB service time, which keeps him under club control through 2020 instead of 2019.

3. Acquire a late-inning reliever who can step in as the closer if Brad Hand is traded.

With Stammen headed for free agency and Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter dealt to Kansas City at midseason, the Padres will likely be shopping around for late-inning bullpen help. They also have to plan around a potential trade of Hand, who received a lot of interest at the deadline.

General manager A.J. Preller held on to Hand since, presumably, teams were unwilling to meet his high asking price, and Preller isn’t likely to lower that price this offseason.  If anything, Hand’s value increased after he posted a 2.22 ERA with 18 saves, six walks and 38 strikeouts in 28.1 IP after taking over as the closer in late July. With only two years of club control remaining, the 27-year-old lefty has more value with a playoff contender in 2018. In other words, there is still a high probability that Hand is traded this winter and the Padres will have a new closer heading into the season.

Kirby Yates and Phil Maton would be the top internal candidates to close if Hand is dealt. If San Diego was to add a third option with closing experience from the free agent market, Matt Belisle, Tyler Clippard, Bud Norris and Huston Street would fit the bill. Brandon Morrow, who pitched for the Padres in 2015 and 2016, would be an intriguing option to return. An impressive, injury-free season with the Dodgers, however, means that he’ll likely have plenty of interest around the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Christian Villanueva Putting Himself In 2018 Mix

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  • Third baseman Christian Villanueva has hit four homers in 10 games since the Padres selected his contract Sept. 18, putting him in position to compete for a 25-man spot next spring, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. The offseason minor league signing and former top 100 prospect with the Cubs will have an opportunity to win a starting job at second or third base in the spring, relays Cassavell, who notes that he could at least be a useful right-handed hitter off the bench. While Villaneuva, who was once part of trade involving Kyle Hendricks and Ryan Dempster, has slashed .333/.333/.778, his success has come over a minuscule amount of PAs (27). Manager Andy Green needs to see more, saying that “I don’t think you prove anything in September in such a short sample.”

Carter Capps To Undergo Surgery For Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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Padres righty Carter Capps will undergo surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. He had been dealing with a blood clot, leading to the diagnosis and course of treatment.

Obviously that’s not the best news for a hurler that only recently made it back from Tommy John surgery. It’s considered possible, though, that he’ll be able to return in time to participate fully in Spring Training.

Even if Capps is ready to join in when camp opens, it remains to be seen whether he’ll do so with the Padres. If he’s tendered a contract, the 27-year-old is not going to earn much more than the $987,500 he did this year, but it’s also possible that San Diego will simply decide it does not want to dedicate a 40-man spot to Capps.

After all, the once-dominant reliever did not quite look himself upon his return this year. In 12 1/3 innings, he allowed nine earned runs with seven strikeouts and two walks. His once-blistering fastball sat at just over 93 mph. And his swinging-strike rate — which topped out at a monstrous 25.4% in his unreal 2015 season — fell all the way to a marginal 7.8%.

It’s a short sample, to be sure, but Capps clearly has a ways to go to recapture any of the immense ability he showed in that magical 2015 campaign, when he struck out 58 batters and allowed just four earned runs in 31 frames. Given his young age, though, Capps will have plenty of opportunities to make it back even if the Padres decide against it.

Rosenthal On Padres' Offseason Goals

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  • At 69-85, the Padres have fared better than expected in the win-loss department this year (though their minus-182 run differential ranks last in the majors). In hopes of making more progress next season, they’ll look to the trade and free agent markets over the winter for “complementary” starting pitchers, help at shortstop and a veteran lineup stabilizer, according to Rosenthal.

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Minor MLB Transactions: 9/21/17

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Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Padres announced that shortstop Dusty Coleman and right-hander Jose Valdez have cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Both players have subsequently been sent outright to Triple-A El Paso. Coleman, 30, saw his most extensive big league stint to date this season, appearing in 27 games for the Friars and hitting .227/.268/.455 with four homers in 71 plate appearances. He’s only appeared in two Major League seasons, though he’s a veteran of five Triple-A campaigns, where he’s compiled a .239/.296/.414 batting line. Valdez, 27, has seen limited Major League action in each of the past three seasons, though he’s struggled to a 5.72 ERA through 50 1/3 innings in that time. The hard-throwing Valdez has averaged better than a strikeout per inning in the minors but has also averaged more than five walks per inning in that time. Valdez owns a 3.43 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 through 133 2/3 Triple-A frames.

Padres Extend Clayton Richard

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The Padres have announced an extension with lefty Clayton Richard, who had been slated to return to free agency. It’s a two-year deal with a $6MM guarantee and “minor” incentives, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports on Twitter.

Sep 7, 2017; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Clayton Richard (3) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Since signing a one-year, $1.75MM deal over the winter, the 34-year-old Richard has operated as a full-time starter for the first time since 2012. While he carries only a 4.82 ERA, some underlying metrics suggest he has deserved better. Richard has recorded 6.6 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 to go with a stellar 59.1% groundball rate. He has likely been at least a bit unfortunate to surrender a .348 batting average on balls put in play against him. And while Richard has been hurt by the long ball — he’s coughing up dingers on 19.7% of the flyballs hit against him — he has typically fared much better in that regard.

It’s uncertain whether Richard can sustain his promising showing, but he seems like a pretty reasonable pitcher to take a slight risk on. Richard’s two-seamer has averaged 90.7 mph, not far off his career average. And he has maintained last year’s surge in swinging-strike rate despite becoming a full-time starter; his 8.3% mark sits well above his 7.2% career level. Richard was quite productive while working mostly as a reliever in 2016 and certainly has shown an ability to succeed as a starter in the past; he posted sub-4.00 earned run averages for the Pads in that role in the 2010-12 seasons. Of course, Richard also has a history of shoulder problems that required surgical treatment.

For the Pads, locking up Richard now accounts for another rotation spot heading into the 2018 season. Youngsters Luis Perdomo and Dinelson Lamet seem quite likely to remain in the MLB staff and Travis Wood could still be an option despite his struggles. But with Jhoulys Chacin heading back to free agency, the Pads were looking at filling at least two openings.

Even with today’s move, the team could still add two rotation pieces over the offseason. Last year’s pursuit of budget-friendly veterans could be reprised; really, the Friars did quite well with Richard, Chacin, and Trevor Cahill, even if Jered Weaver proved to be a miss.

Whether or not it’ll make sense for the Padres to keep Richard in the rotation throughout the life of the deal will have to be seen. But he could have plenty of function regardless. The veteran southpaw could always slide back into a long relief or situational lefty role if others ultimately prove to be better starting options.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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