- The Padres have selected the contract of hard-throwing righty Brandon Morrow, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. To clear space, they’ve optioned lefty Buddy Baumann to Triple-A El Paso and placed infielder Cory Spangenberg (quadriceps) on the 60-day DL. The 32-year-old Morrow has pitched more than 80% of his 768 2/3 career big-league innings as a starter, but he’s set to relieve for the Padres after being out of the big leagues for over a year due to shoulder trouble. He had a 6.43 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 21 innings for El Paso, although he fared significantly better than that in five starts in the big leagues last season.
Padres Rumors
Padres All In On Current Strategy
- Padres lead investor Peter Seidler says the team’s seemingly ill-fated bid at contention last season was “probably pretty close to neutral” from a financial perspective, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. The team’s acquisitions of Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, James Shields, Wil Myers, Craig Kimbrel and others only resulted in a disappointing season, although Seidler says they produced a “big pop” in revenue. Now, of course, the Padres have chosen a different direction, aiming to rebuild around young talent. “We’re taking all of our poker chips and putting it in the center of the table on this strategy,” says Seidler, although he does note that the Padres won’t be “intentionally bad” as they reset, deliberately putting a weak team on the field in the hopes of landing top draft picks.
Padres Request Release Waivers On Hector Olivera
The Padres have requested release waivers on infielder Hector Olivera, per a club announcement. He had been formally designated for assignment back on Aug. 2, and his release will become official in 48 hours once he clears said waivers.
San Diego acquired Olivera’s contract from the Braves in exchange for Matt Kemp prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but the acquisition was a formality. The Padres very clearly wanted nothing to do with Olivera, who was finishing up an 82-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy at the time, and only agreed to take on his contract as a means of off-setting some of the money they were sending to Atlanta in the form of Kemp’s salary. Ultimately, the trade will save San Diego about $25.5MM, and Olivera will never suit up in a Padres uniform.
The 31-year-old Olivera’s future in Major League Baseball is questionable at best, from this point forth. Neither Atlanta nor San Diego even feigned interest in having Olivera join their active rosters following his suspension, and it stands to reason that others throughout the league will take a similar approach. Olivera was arrested at a Washington D.C.-area hotel back in April and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery of a woman who was reportedly hospitalized and had visible bruising.
While the 2016 season has seen both Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes land new jobs after serving suspensions under the same policy, neither wound up going to trial — Chapman was never even arrested — which very likely helped their cases. Furthermore, Olivera has never been a productive player at the minor league or Major League level. And while on-field success would in no way excuse the heinous actions for which he was arrested and charged, his chances of finding additional employment within a Major League organization would be greater had he in any way justified the ill-fated six-year, $62.5MM contract to which he was signed by the Dodgers.
If, for some reason, another club does decide to take a chance on Olivera with what would assuredly be a minor league contract, that club would be responsible only for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors. (That sum would be subtracted from the remainder of what he is owed by San Diego.) However, it also seems possible that Olivera’s career in Major League Baseball has come to an abrupt end.
Padres Designate Matt Thornton For Assignment
The Padres have designated lefty Matt Thornton for assignment, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. The move clears space for new addition Clayton Richard.
[Related: San Diego Padres Depth Chart]
The 39-year-old Thornton signed a minor league deal with the Padres last offseason. He missed most of the first two months of the year with Achilles tendinitis, then struggled in 17 innings with San Diego, posting a 5.82 ERA, 4.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. His velocity has dropped from the mid- to high 90s as a member of the White Sox several years ago to 91.4 MPH this year, likely a key factor to his steadily declining strikeout rate over the past few seasons. He has a 3.41 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of 13 years in the big leagues.
Padres To Sign Clayton Richard
The Padres have agreed to a deal that will bring back southpaw Clayton Richard, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It is not yet clear whether it is a major league or minor league pact.
Richard, 32, previously spent five campaigns in San Diego. He’ll return there after washing out this season with the Cubs, who had tendered him a contract and agreed to a $2MM deal over the winter.
Though he dealt with injuries at times, Richard was generally a quality starter for the Pads, particularly over the 2010-12 campaigns. In that three-year, run, he carried a 3.88 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 520 frames.
After a rough 2013 campaign, Richard ended up missing all of 2014 after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He showed well in Triple-A for the Pirates last year and ended up being dealt right onto the Cubs’ active roster, ultimately contributing 42 1/3 innings of 3.88 ERA ball — mostly out of the pen.
That led to Chicago’s decision to give Richard a spot in this year’s pen. But he never managed to get on track, even when deployed sparingly. The southpaw finished only 14 frames in 25 appearances, coughing up ten earned runs and as many walks as strikeouts (seven apiece).
MLB Reviewing Padres’ Medical Disclosures In Recent Deals
Major League Baseball is taking a look at concerns that have arisen over the medical information disclosed by the Padres in at least two notable trades recently completed by the organization, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports. The swaps in question occurred with the Marlins (centered around Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea) and Red Sox (for Drew Pomeranz).
San Diego, of course, already agreed to something of a do-over in the case of Rea, sending minor leaguer Luis Castillo back to Miami and accepting the return of Rea. The 26-year-old righty departed in the middle of his first start with his new club with elbow issues, and it was just announced that he’ll need Tommy John surgery, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets.
It was reported at the time that the Marlins felt they had been wronged, with San Diego agreeing to unwind that portion of the transaction while insisting on organizational innocence. Olney explains that Rea informed the Miami staff that he had been treated for elbow discomfort in San Diego, which Miami then asserted had not been disclosed.
Now, per the report, it seems that questions have been raised about Pomeranz’s health. Boston parted with highly-regarded pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to get him, but the Sox now believe they’ve learned elements of Pomeranz’s medical history that ought to have been revealed by the Pads.
Importantly, in the case of Pomeranz, the Red Sox are not seeking any modification of the agreement. It doesn’t appear as if there’s any real ongoing issue there, then, apart from the league’s general review of San Diego’s practices. Olney notes that it’s not clear whether any sanctions could be considered.
As Olney also discusses, these swaps seemingly point to the need for a more formalized process for exchanging medical information between organizations. The question of health disclosures is also under consideration with regard to the amateur draft, and perhaps both discrete but related topics could be on the table as collective bargaining talks continue.
Padres Have Undergone Swift Rebuild Of Farm
- Though he has received quite a lot of criticism (and before that, praise) since taking over as the Padres’ general manager, A.J. Preller has overseen a swift rebuilding of the team’s farm of late, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. The work has been accomplished through a variety of methods, as Cassavell explains in a long look at the club’s action since the start of 2016. Preller says that the initial investment in veteran assets when he took the helm occurred due to an “opportunity in the short term to try to take a chance to put a competitive team on the field.” But there was also a back-up plan, he suggests: “There was also understanding at the time that we were going to acquire assets that potentially could be valuable to other teams. … As a baseball group, you’re always talking about: ’Here’s the best possible scenario, but also here’s other scenarios.'”
Padres Claim Patrick Kivlehan From Mariners
The Padres have claimed infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan off waivers from the Mariners, the teams announced today. Kivlehan, 26, has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso, according to the Padres.
Kivlehan has split the 2016 season between the Mariners and Rangers after being traded between the two teams twice. He originally went from Seattle to Texas along with Tom Wilhelmsen in the Leonys Martin trade, but the Rangers designated him for assignment and wound up sending him back to the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations on May 29. (A subsequent announcement of a player going to Texas in exchange never materialized, so it seems likely that the Rangers picked up cash in the swap). In 321 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Mariners and Rangers this season, Kivlehan batted .242/.291/.399 with nine homers and 16 doubles.
Kivelhan has played primarily third base throughout his minor league career, but he also has several hundred innings of work at first base, left field and right field. The Friars announced him only as an outfielder in their release, though that’s not necessarily an indication of how San Diego plans to deploy him for the remainder of the season.
Indians Discussed Derek Norris With Padres At Deadline
- The Indians considered a move for Padres catcher Derek Norris after their agreement to add Jonathan Lucroy was vetoed by the veteran backstop, according to Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer. Talks didn’t go very far, though, as Cleveland wasn’t enticed by a reportedly high asking price. The Indians also looked at Steve Pearce, but the team’s scouts weren’t enthused by his defensive profile at third.
International Notes/Signings: Gutierrez, Padres, Cardinals
Cuban right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, who rated No. 3 on MLB.com’s rankings of international prospects, is still weighing multiple options, tweets MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. Gutierrez has reportedly bounced around to multiple agencies and had a lengthy stay on the free agent market (he was declared a free agent last July) and may now pitch in Japan or wait until next year’s international signing period to strike a deal. That seems like an awfully lengthy wait for a pitcher who has drawn some pretty solid reviews in the past and as recently as March was said to have re-established himself as a prospect after briefly seeing his stuff take a step backward. Gutierrez is 20 years of age, so he’s subject to international spending limitations for now, although if he does wait until next year to sign, the international free agency process could look markedly different, as it’ll be discussed at length in the upcoming wave of collective bargaining negotiations.
That said, there are also a pair of international signings that merit mention…
- The Padres have signed Cuban righty Ronald Bolanos for a bonus that will be worth a bit more than $2MM, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. Badler notes that Bolanos, 20, played mostly as an outfielder in the 18U leagues in Cuba but converted to the mound in 2014 and has seen a substantial uptick in velocity as he’s filled out, with his heater now ranging from 90 to 96 mph. Badler praises his slider as a potentially above-average pitch and gives a less flattering review of Bolanos curveball, adding that the right-hander won’t pitch for the Padres this season but could open with one of San Diego’s Class-A affiliates in 2017. For those keeping score at home, the Padres’ total international expenditures (including the 100 percent overage tax with which they’re being hit on each of these signings) is now in the range of $65MM (as the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin points out, on Twitter).
- Lost a bit amid last week’s trade deadline chaos was the fact that the Cardinals signed Cuban shortstop/outfielder Randy Arozarena for a bonus of $1.25MM, as Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald first reported (Twitter link). Following the signing, Badler wrote about the 21-year-old’s plus speed and plate discipline, noting that he could eventually develop enough pop for 10 to 15 homers but figures to derive more value from his OBP than his power. He’s advanced enough to jump right into the mix at Class-A Advanced, in Badler’s estimation. Sanchez’s rankings listed Arozarena as the No. 16 prospect on this year’s international market.
