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Players Added To The 40-Man

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We’ll use this post to keep track of the players being added to their teams’ respective 40-man rosters today, which is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. Players must be added to the big league roster within either four years (if they were 19 or older at the time of their original signing) or five years (if 18 or younger) of their signing year in order to be shielded from selection.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo took a look at some of the biggest names who face roster decisions, though most of those won’t be much in question. At the fringes, teams must also consider the major league readiness of the player, since that factors heavily into whether they’ll be taken and kept. Any drafting team, of course, must keep a player on its active MLB roster for the full season (with certain exceptions relating to the DL) in order for their control rights to vest. Adding a player to the 40-man too early can have its own risks, because it limits flexibility and could require a team to expose that player to waivers if a need arises. With 26-man rosters reportedly under consideration, the Rule 5 draft could be quite intriguing this year, and that may bleed into today’s decisions as well.

Below is a division-by-division rundown of the names that were added to each team’s 40-man roster (plus the various waiver claims that spawned from teams trying to outright players to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects). We won’t delve into each player’s background, but if you’re looking to a little more about the names that were added, I’d highly recommend this tremendous, in-depth examination of each team’s additions by Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. If you want to see how the moves look in the context of a team’s roster, head over to Roster Resource for your club’s depth chart.

Onto the moves…

American League West

American League Central

American League East

National League West

National League Central

National League East

Padres Designate Oswaldo Arcia For Assignment; Brett Wallace Elects Free Agency

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The Padres announced tonight that outfielder Oswaldo Arcia has been designated for assignment. Additionally, first baseman Brett Wallace has been outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency. In corresponding moves, the Padres added the contracts of outfielder Franchy Cordero, shortstop Javier Guerra and right-handers Walker Lockett and Jose Ruiz to the 40-man roster.

San Diego was Arcia’s fourth organization in 2016 alone, as the former top prospect was designated for assignment by the Twins and bounced from Minnesota to Tampa Bay to Miami to San Diego on waivers. Once hoped to be the Twins’ right fielder of the future, Arcia hit just .203/.270/.366 this year and has batted a combined .219/.286/.369 in his past 287 plate appearances between the 2015-16 seasons. The 25-year-old unquestionably possesses pop — he’s homered 44 times in 1075 career plate appearances — but has looked consistently overmatched by left-handers, shows a lack of discipline at the plate and rates as a negative defender in the outfield.

Wallace, meanwhile, hit .189/.309/.318 in 256 plate appearances with San Diego this past season. The 30-year-old is a former top prospect himself, but the former first-rounder has never established himself as a quality regular or even a reliable bench option in the Majors. Wallace has had productive stretches — including above-average season totals in 2012 and 2015 (in small samples of work) — but he’s a cumulative .238/.316/.389 hitter. That’d cut it for a catcher or a defensively strong shortstop, but for a corner infielder the production is light.

The names added to the 40-man are headlined by Guerra, who was one of the centerpieces of last winter’s Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Guerra was joined by Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen in the trade that sent Kimbrel to Boston, and though he took a step back with a dreadful season (.202/.264/.325 in Class-A Advanced), the Padres still saw enough upside to dedicate a 40-man spot to him. Prior to the 2016 season, Guerra rated as a Top 60 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.

Blue Jays Claim Leonel Campos From Padres

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The Blue Jays announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Leonel Campos off waivers from the Padres. He’s the second right-hander they’ve claimed off waivers out of the NL West today, as Toronto also picked up Dominic Leone from Arizona.

Campos, 29, pitched 22 innings for the Padres this past season and turned in an unsightly 5.73 ERA and 5.7 BB/9, though he posted a more encouraging 9.8 K/9 and 50.9 percent ground-ball rate. Campos has averaged 93.3 mph on his fastball in his MLB career — a total of just 30 innings all coming with the Padres. He has a 4.35 ERA in parts of three seasons at Triple-A and has averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings at that level. However, he’s also displayed some considerable control issues, averaging 5.3 walks per nine and throwing 25 wild pitches in 109 2/3 innings.

Yankees, Padres, Pirates Have Reached Out To Derek Holland

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Michael Martini, the agent for left-hander Derek Holland, said earlier this week that his client is intrigued by the Pirates, and Holland himself has expressed interest in a return to the Rangers. Now, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram adds some more detail to Holland’s market. According to Wilson, both the Yankees and Padres have reached out to Holland to express some early interest as well.

Each of the three teams in question could use at least one arm, and the Padres in particular could stand to add multiple starting pitchers this offseason. With literally no guaranteed contracts on the book for the 2017 campaign, the Padres could reasonably afford to beat out any interested party on a one-year deal if they see fit and believe enough in Holland’s ability to rebound from three seasons that have been largely lost to shoulder and knee injuries. The 30-year-old Holland is a known commodity for San Diego GM A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers during the earlier stages of Holland’s career (including his peak year in 2013). As it stands, the Friars’ rotation will contain a hopefully healthy Tyson Ross and last year’s Rule 5 selection Luis Perdomo, but there’s little certainty beyond that point. Martini spoke this weekend about a desire to have a guaranteed starting spot, and the Padres could most certainly provide that.

The Yankees, on the other hand, already have a rotation that is full of injury question marks. While CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda improbably combined to start 93 games for the 2016 Yankees, each of those hurlers has dealt with significant injury problems in as recently as 2014-15, and the Yankees can’t reasonably expect that they’ll again be entirely healthy next year. Beyond that group is a quartet of young right-handers that have shown promise but haven’t established themselves as big league starters: Luis Severino, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell. Swingman Adam Warren, too, could conceivably start some games in 2017, though it seems likelier that he’ll open next year in the bullpen.

MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth already looked at the case for the Bucs to sign Holland this weekend, noting that there appears to be at least one open spot behind Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon. In the mix will be top prospect Tyler Glasnow, rebound candidate Drew Hutchison and youngsters Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault and Trevor Williams. The Bucs are known as a team that has turned around the careers of many pitchers, including A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Edinson Volquez, J.A. Happ and Ivan Nova.

Padres Re-Sign Two To Minor League Deals

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  • The Padres have signed righties Trey McNutt and Bryan Rodriguez to minors contracts. McNutt, once a well-regarded Cubs prospect, nearly went to Boston in 2011 in a deal for now-Chicago president Theo Epstein. He remained with the Cubs through 2015, though, before latching on with the Padres this past season. The 27-year-old threw a mere 7 1/3 minor league innings in his first season with the Friars organization. Rodriguez combined for 145 1/3 innings between the Padres’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, totaling a 4.46 ERA, 5.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9.

Padres Sign Jamie Romak To Minor League Deal

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  • The Padres have signed 31-year-old 1B/OF Jamie Romak to a minor league deal, Eddy tweets. Romak played sparingly for the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan in 2016 and produced just a .113 batting average over 85 plate appearances, but he had been a reliable minor league slugger before that. He has 200 minor league home runs to his name, including 27 in a .284/.363/.549 season with Reno in 2015.

Padres Seek Veteran Additions

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  • The Padres will look to make a few targeted veteran additions this winter, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune recently explored. GM A.J. Preller spoke of finding one or two “guys who have good makeup, guys who are in it for the team, guys who are willing to work, guys who aren’t selfish.” That could be outfielder Jon Jay, who the team is still interested in. Preller spoke highly of the versatile outfielder, but noted that preserving opportunities for a variety of younger players ill be a consideration “as we’re talking to Jon and determining an offer, the term and length.” Shortstop is perhaps a greater priority, with Preller noting that it’s “still an area we’re looking to address.” The team still isn’t sure whether Luis Sardinas is prepared to be an everyday player, Preller suggested. Jose Rondon will also receive consideration, but the organization certainly seems open to pursuing alternatives via trade or free agency.

Colin Rea Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Padres righty Colin Rea underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Rea had been attempting to avoid the surgery with a platelet-rich plasma treatment and rehab, but the decision was made to go ahead after he felt discomfort after a throwing session.

There had increasingly been hope that Rea would be able to return for the start of 2017, but the best case now is for him to make it back for the 2018 campaign. Of course, that would have been the expectation had he gone under the knife earlier, though perhaps now there’s a bit less wiggle room in his forthcoming rehab. Initial reports were that he was destined for a replacement of his ulnar collateral ligament in the middle of the season, but that was re-considered — influenced, perhaps, by the progress shown by Angels righty Garrett Richards in a non-surgical approach.

The 26-year-old’s situation was rather more complicated than that, of course. As has been discussed at length, Rea was sent by the Padres to the Marlins at the trade deadline in a multi-player pact. But he exited his first outing in Miami with elbow issues, teeing off a scandal of sorts that led to him being shipped back to the Padres. In related proceedings arising out of San Diego’s medical practices, club GM A.J. Preller ultimately served a thirty-game suspension for reporting issues that the organization has pledged to remedy.

Without Rea, the Padres’ rotation needs are more evident than ever. San Diego already seemed a likely landing spot for an arm or two. Without expectations of contention, expectations are that the club may look into some riskier, higher-upside assets on this winter’s player acquisition market.

Rea is set to reach arbitration eligibility before the 2019 season, so he’ll have a chance to post a platform year before hitting the arb cycle. Certainly, his earning opportunity will be limited by the inability to rack up innings in the second half of 2016 and all of 2017. The Padres will hope that he can return to health and improve upon the 4.69 ERA he posted over his first 134 1/3 major league frames.

Padres Receiving Interest In Yangervis Solarte

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  • The third base market could potentially see a bit of action via trade, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He says that the Padres are getting bites on Yangervis Solarte and the White Sox are listening on Todd Frazier. Of course, there isn’t an enormous amount of demand around the game, and Justin Turner remains available as a high-quality free agent, though it’s certainly possible to imagine organizations like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, and Brewers pursuing additions at the hot corner. The biggest conceivable trade piece, of course, would be Evan Longoria of the Rays, and Rosenthal says that Tampa Bay will indeed be open to considering offers. But it still remains quite difficult to see a deal coming together on him.

Padres To Open Extension Talks With Wil Myers

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Padres general manager A.J. Preller said today that he plans to sit down with first baseman Wil Myers’ agent this week to begin exploring a contract extension, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (via Twitter).

Myers, a CAA Sports client, managed to stay healthy for a full season for the first time in 2016 and delivered a breakout campaign with the Padres. In 676 plate appearances, the soon-to-be 26-year-old batted .259/.336/.461 with 28 homers and a surprising 28 stolen bases while also contributing plus defense at a new position. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating pegged Myers’ defense at eight runs above average despite the fact that he had fairly limited exposure to first base, having spent the bulk of his pro career catching and in the outfield.

Eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, Myers is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM next year, so the urgency for him to take an extension isn’t necessarily as present as it would be for a player that was still years from arbitration. The former top prospect’s first significant Major League payday is all but assured, though certainly there’s still reason for him to express interest in a long-term deal to offer more immediate financial security. And from a practical standpoint, Myers broke into the league at a young enough age that he could theoretically sign a five-year deal, buying out two free-agent seasons, and still hit the open market before his age-31 campaign.

Looking at the situation through the Padres’ lens, it’s easy to see how Myers can fit into the long-term picture. As MLBTR’s Jason Martinez noted in his Offseason Outlook on the Padres, San Diego doesn’t even have one guaranteed contract on the books for the upcoming season, so if the Padres and Myers’ agent can agree on a price point, there are no financial roadblocks elsewhere on the roster to impede a long-term commitment to Myers.

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