Padres Rumors

NL West Notes: Shields, Padres, Parra, Thompson, Crawford

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2016 at 10:11pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL West…

The Padres’ trade of James Shields puts an end to the “spending spree” chapter of A.J. Preller’s tenure as San Diego’s GM, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal observes, and it seemed like the club was eager to put this era behind it. “How exactly did the Padres make the White Sox hurt” in the trade, Rosenthal asks, noting that the Friars didn’t receive a significant player return in exchange for the veteran righty and they’ll still be paying the majority of Shields’ remaining contract. In a general overview of San Diego’s situation, Rosenthal notes that the franchise is relying on a big influx of prospects in both the draft and the next international market to help make up for all of the young talent lost in the Padres’ flurry of moves during the 2014-15 offseason.
Gerardo Parra has yet to take off at the plate since joining the Rockies, though he tells MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that he feels it’s only a matter of time before he becomes more consistent at the plate. Parra entered Sunday hitting .269/.281/.429 over 218 PA, with a 1.8% walk rate that is far below even his modest 6.1% career mark. Parra has struggled badly (.681 OPS) against right-handed pitching and away from Coors Field. Between his bat and lackluster defensive metrics, Parra has been a sub-replacement level (-0.4 fWAR) player for Colorado in the first year of a three-year, $27.5MM free agent contract.
Trayce Thompson is having a breakout season for the Dodgers and become a part of the club’s growing young core, ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla writes. Thompson’s emergence played a big role in L.A. designating Carl Crawford for assignment earlier today. “[Crawford has] had a great run and where we’re at right now, and where this organization wants to go, you have a lot of young guys coming,” manager Dave Roberts said.
In other NL West news from today, Hunter Pence’s date for hamstring surgery was set for Thursday and we collected some Diamondbacks notes.

Shields Notes: Padres, White Sox, Tigers

By Connor Byrne | June 5, 2016 at 9:13am CDT

The latest regarding right-hander James Shields, whom the Padres sent (along with cash) to the White Sox on Saturday for shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. and righty Erik Johnson:

Before agreeing to take Tatis and Johnson, the Padres asked the White Sox for their two best prospects, shortstop Tim Anderson and righty Carson Fulmer, per ESPN’s Jim Bowden (Twitter link).
In an effort to get a quality return for Shields, the Padres reached out to “every team in contention,” including the Tigers, reports Tony Paul of The Detroit News. Tigers executives listened to the Padres’ pitch, but they ultimately balked at their asking price, enabling division-rival Chicago to land the 34-year-old. Shields would have upgraded a Tigers rotation that has gotten particularly disastrous performances from Mike Pelfrey and the now-demoted Anibal Sanchez this year, though it’s unclear what they would have had to give up for him.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller doesn’t regret signing Shields to a lucrative long-term contract in 2015 and losing a first-round pick in the process, he told reporters Saturday (via Kirk Kenney of the San Diego Union-Tribune). “We wanted to get some excitement and see if we could put a contending club on the field,” said Preller, whose Padres have gone 97-122 since signing Shields. “It was more of a situation where it was, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can take a shot and compete and contend and win,’ knowing that if that didn’t work out at a point down the road knowing we had the ability to pump the brakes and go in a different direction.”
The White Sox will pay Shields $5MM this year and, if he doesn’t opt out of his contract at season’s end, $10MM in both 2017 and 2018. They’ll also be responsible for a $2MM buyout on his 2019 club option, according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link).

White Sox Acquire James Shields From Padres

By charliewilmoth and Connor Byrne | June 4, 2016 at 11:29pm CDT

A week after talks between the Padres and White Sox regarding James Shields began gaining “significant momentum,” the two sides have officially reached a deal. The veteran right-hander and cash (reportedly $31MM of the remaining $58MM on his contract) will head to Chicago in exchange for fellow righty Erik Johnson and shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres general manager A.J. Preller announced.

Since beginning the season with a red-hot 19-8 mark, the White Sox have fallen to 29-26 and have dropped to third place in the AL Central, though they’re only 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Royals. While their starters entered Saturday with the majors’ eighth-lowest ERA (3.61) and seventh-best fWAR (5.7), their pre-Shields rotation was a top-heavy group. Aside from superstar Chris Sale and the underrated Jose Quintana, who has posted ace-like numbers this year, the White Sox haven’t gotten overly impressive production from any of their other starters.

With Shields aboard, the expectation is that either Mat Latos or Miguel Gonzalez will lose his spot in the rotation. Regardless of whether the White Sox demote Latos or Gonzalez, their top four will likely consist of Sale, Quintana, Shields and Carlos Rodon as long as all four are healthy. Whether Shields will stay in that top four beyond 2016 is up in the air, though, as he could opt out of the final two years of his contract at season’s end. That would mean leaving $42MM on the table, however.

Shields, 34, isn’t the pitcher he was during his best years with the Rays and Royals, but he remains a competent innings eater who’s on pace to exceed the 200-inning plateau and surpass the 30-start barrier for the 11th straight season. That aside, Shields does come with red flags. After a dreadful final start with the Padres, Shields’ ERA (4.28) is at its highest since 2010. Further, his strikeout rate – which spiked to a personal-best 9.61 per nine innings last year – has regressed to 7.62 (closer to his 7.84 career average) and the control that he displayed in his earlier days has declined. Shields’ walk rate is at 3.61 per nine innings, which is in line with last year’s 3.6, and his velocity has dipped. To Shields’ credit, he has long been a capable ground-ball generator – at 48 percent this year, there’s no sign he’s slowing down in that area. That should help his cause as he shifts to the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field, but he does have the third-highest home run rate among qualified starters since last season (16.9 percent).

For the Padres, this is undoubtedly a disappointing ending to a short-lived experiment. Shields joined the Friars on a lucrative long-term deal as a free agent in 2015, at which point the club gave up the 13th overall pick in that June’s draft to sign him. With Shields in the fold, the Padres had designs on competing for a playoff spot. They instead finished a disappointing 74-88, though, and have begun this season 22-34. San Diego is now rebuilding, so keeping Shields around wouldn’t have made sense.

The 26-year-old Johnson, who’s the more established player the Padres got for Shields, could figure into their rotation at some point. Johnson has posted a 4.50 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 across 98 major league innings. In a 523 2/3-frame minor league sample size, Johnson’s strikeout rate (7.8) hasn’t looked much different, though he has walked fewer batters (3.1) while working to a terrific 3.23 ERA.

Tatis, meanwhile, signed with the White Sox for $700K as a 16-year-old last summer. The Dominican native is the son of former big leaguer Fernando Tatis, and Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote at the time of his signing that the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder pairs power potential on offense with a good arm on defense. Tatis, therefore, could potentially serve as a third baseman or outfielder in the majors.

Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported May 28 that the two teams were discussing a Shields trade, and he confirmed the return for the Padres today. Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted earlier today that a deal was close. FanRag Sports Jon Heyman then reported that the framework of a deal was agreed upon. Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago had Johnson going to San Diego. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reported that the trade was done. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the amount of money the White Sox will receive in the trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Padres, D-backs, Dodgers, Nats

By Connor Byrne | June 4, 2016 at 10:26pm CDT

Padres general manager A.J. Preller told reporters – including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com – that four to five clubs called him with interest in right-hander James Shields, whom San Diego ended up trading to the White Sox on Saturday. With the Shields trade out of the way, Preller doesn’t expect to do much else until things heat up around the trade deadline, he added.

More from San Diego and a few other NL cities:

There’s a “pretty good possibility” righty Erik Johnson, one of the two players the Padres received for Shields, will slot into their rotation as Shields’ long-term replacement, manager Andy Green said (Twitter link via Cassavell). For now, the Padres have optioned Johnson to Triple-A El Paso, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter).
Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the club has “no regrets” about the widely panned offseason trade that sent Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair to Atlanta for righty Shelby Miller. Nevertheless, La Russa believes that Swanson – the top pick in last year’s draft – “will be a star” in the majors.
Injured Dodgers starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy are unlikely to make it back before the All-Star break, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter links here). Ryu, who had a setback last week with his surgically repaired left shoulder, will need to make at least four rehab starts before he can return to the majors. He has to resume throwing first, however. McCarthy also isn’t ready to begin a rehab assignment. In the meantime, the 2015 Tommy John recipient will throw a three-inning, 60-pitch sim game at some point in the coming days.
Right-hander Bronson Arroyo is recovering well from partial tears in his rotator cuff tendons and hopes to pitch for the Nationals this season, Bill Ladson of MLB.com relays. Arroyo, whose injury forced him to use a sidearm delivery in early May, is now healthy enough to throw from a three-quarter arm slot, Ladson writes. “I guess my shoulder has turned the corner,” Arroyo told Ladson. “Now, the shoulder feels pretty good. It’s little less pressure throwing sidearm, but it has been OK throwing over the top. “ The 39-year-old, who hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2014, has been pitching intrasquad games at the Nationals’ spring training complex in Florida. He’s likely to make five more starts there before the team reevaluates him July 1. If all goes well, Arroyo could then begin a rehab assignment and perhaps join the Nationals down the stretch. Arroyo has started in the vast majority of his major league appearances (369 of 405), but he told Ladson he’d be willing to work out of the Nats’ bullpen.

Pitcher Notes: Pomeranz, M’s, Giants, Royals, Tigers

By Connor Byrne | June 4, 2016 at 5:53pm CDT

The Padres traded James Shields on Saturday, but they aren’t as willing to move their best starter, southpaw Drew Pomeranz, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). The club would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal the 27-year-old, according to Lin. Pomeranz currently ranks eighth among qualified starters in both ERA (2.22) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.66), and he’s playing this season on a meager $1.35MM salary. Thus, it would likely to take a significant haul to land him and his two-plus remaining years of team control.

James Shields Trade Talks “Heating Up”

By charliewilmoth | June 4, 2016 at 11:53am CDT

TODAY: Shields trade talks are “heating up,” FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes (Twitter links). The White Sox appear to still be involved, as the Padres have been scouting their prospects. One team (perhaps the White Sox, although that isn’t certain) has made a “compelling offer,” and two other teams are contenders to land Shields as well.

MAY 29: The Padres are fielding calls from plenty of teams for Shields and other players, tweets Heyman. Given the many moving parts, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn that a Shields trade doesn’t appear imminent.

As between the White Sox and Padres, discussions are “fluid,” reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Whether a deal happens will come down to how much of Shields’ remaining $58MM each team is willing to absorb, per Levine, who adds that Anderson will not be part of this trade (Twitter link).

MAY 28: The White Sox and Padres are discussing a trade involving righty starter James Shields, and those negotiations have “significant momentum,” Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. It’s unclear whether a deal is likely to be completed soon, however. Jon Heyman of MLB Network corroborates Lin’s report that the White Sox and Padres have discussed Shields, but he notes that other teams are also in the mix (Twitter link).

The Padres initially signed Shields prior to the 2015 season as part of their ill-fated bid to build a competitive team. He posted a modestly disappointing 3.91 ERA, 9.6 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 that year. He’s gotten somewhat better results this season, with a 3.06 ERA, although his peripherals (7.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9) don’t suggest huge improvement.

The broader issue with Shields, perhaps, is his backloaded contract. He’s making $21MM this year and will make $21MM in each of the next two seasons, plus a $2MM buyout or a $16MM option for 2019. (He also can opt out after this season, but it seems unlikely right now that he’ll do so.) Those numbers could make trading for Shields tricky, especially given that he’s already 34, although Lin notes that the Padres would be willing to eat salary. It’s also unclear how Shields’ home-run tendencies might play in U.S. Cellular Field, a relatively homer-happy ballpark.

Nonetheless, Shields has an extremely durable arm and produces relatively consistent results, and he could help most teams, the White Sox included. The Sox have gotten brilliant performances from Chris Sale and Jose Quintana this season, and they’re likely also happy with Carlos Rodon and Mat Latos (although Latos has been shaky recently). Shields could, however, conceivably upgrade the other spot in the White Sox’ rotation, which currently belongs to Miguel Gonzalez.

As for the Padres’ potential return, ESPN’s Keith Law tweets that he recently heard the White Sox would be willing to part with shortstop prospect Tim Anderson in exchange for a mid-rotation starter. (There is, however, no specific indication that Anderson is involved in the Shields talks.) Anderson, the 17th overall pick in the 2013 draft, is batting a solid .314/.342/.408 for Triple-A Charlotte (although with 44 strikeouts against just eight walks) and is generally regarded as one of the White Sox’ best few prospects. He would appear to be a strong return for Shields, although it’s difficult to speculate on how the trade might work without knowing how much of Shields’ contract the Padres end up paying.

Injury Notes: Hill, Gallardo, Wheeler, d’Arnaud, Simmons, Sano

By Jeff Todd | June 3, 2016 at 8:35pm CDT

There’s a lengthy list of names whose injury situations warrant mention tonight:

Rich Hill will miss his next scheduled start for the Athletics, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee reports. He’s dealing with groin soreness, and while that doesn’t appear to be a major concern, manager Bob Melvin made clear that the team “want[s] to make sure he is as close to 100 percent as he can be” before putting him back on the MLB bump. Hill is both a key to Oakland’s hopes and a top potential trade chip, but he’s already recorded more major league innings this season than in any single campaign since 2007.
The Orioles may finally welcome back righty Yovani Gallardo late next week, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Baltimore hopes that he’ll be ready for activation after his next Triple-A rehab start on Tuesday, per skipper Buck Showalter. Headed in the other direction is reliever Darren O’Day, who is expected to miss something close to the minimum after hitting the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain.
The Mets have updated timetables for two important young players of their own, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports (here and here). Righty Zack Wheeler is not expected back until mid-July at this point. That’s a few weeks later than had been expected, but he is said to be progressing as hoped and there certainly isn’t much of a rush from the team’s perspective. The catching position is one where New York could use some help, though, and it’s certainly promising to hear that Travis d’Arnaud is ready to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. That would put him on track to return to the majors within the twenty-day period allowed for position-player rehab stints.
Likewise, Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons is “close” to undertaking his own minor league assignment, as Mike Scioscia tells reporters including MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez (via Twitter). The basement-dwelling Halos badly need Simmons not only to return, but to pick up his pace at the plate when he does.
Padres righty Cesar Vargas has been diagnosed with a flexor strain, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). He won’t even get another check-up for three weeks, so it certainly seems that a fairly lengthy absence is to be expected.
Miguel Sano of the Twins has a moderate hamstring strain that will keep him out for longer than the 15-day minimum, per LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (via Twitter). While Minnesota’s hopes for the present season appear to have all but evaporated, Sano remains both a critical future piece and a possible factor in the team’s deadline plans. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe looks like a plausible trade piece, which could lead the way to a return to the hot corner for Sano.
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira left today’s action with right knee pain, as Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees blog reports. He’s headed for an MRI to get a clearer idea of the issue. Teixeira was already dealing with a neck ailment, so the health questions continue to compile for the veteran. If a DL stint is required, New York could conceivably dip into its minor league system for Chris Parmelee or Nick Swisher — either of whom would require a 40-man spot. It doesn’t help that catcher (and occasional fill-in first baseman) Brian McCann is day-to-day with some elbow pain, as Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News tweets.
Three-time Tommy John surgery recipient Jonny Venters is set to be activated by the Rays’ High-A affiliate on Saturday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 31-year-old was once one an electric reliever for the Braves, but he last pitched professionally way back in 2012.

Heyman’s Latest: Harper/Machado, Braves, Shields, Odor

By Steve Adams | June 2, 2016 at 6:28pm CDT

Bryce Harper of the Nationals and Manny Machado of the Orioles are young, controlled superstars who look like highly appealing extension targets. Of course, that also makes them incredibly expensive potential candidates for their respective teams, as Jon Heyman explains at todaysknuckleball.com. According to Heyman, there’s some suggestion that it could take more than $500MM over an unprecedented term to keep Harper from heading to the open market after the 2018 season. “We have not to this point had any substantive negotiations about a long-term deal,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said with regard to Harper. Rizzo did suggest that the team has serious interest in doing so, however. “They know what our intentions are,” he said. “My intention is always to get him on a long-term deal that will make him a National for life. At a very young age he performed admirably, not only admirably, but the year he had was historic. It’s going to be a unique deal. We have a very unique player.”

As for Machado, he might not be far behind in value if the O’s hope to reach a deal. Intriguingly, the report suggests that Baltimore very nearly agreed to a seven-year contract with its best player at some point in recent years. That would have certainly proved a bargain given Machado’s increasingly outstanding performance, though the terms of the prospective pact are not known. (Neither is it clear what caused negotiations to fall apart.)

Here’s more from Heyman:

“A few teams” have checked in with the Braves on Nick Markakis, Heyman writes, but his recent skid at the plate hasn’t helped out his trade value much. Kelly Johnson, too, could become available, though Heyman adds that GM John Coppolella said of Julio Teheran that he expects the right-hander “to be on the team a long time.” From my vantage point, Markakis doesn’t have much value at $11MM per season and with apparently evaporated power. Even if the Braves were to pay down half of his remaining salary through the 2018 season, he hasn’t been productive enough to bring in a meaningful prospect return.
The Orioles talked to the Padres about James Shields in Spring Training but weren’t willing to cover even half of the salary owed to Shields at the time. Shields has two years and $44MM remaining on his contract following the 2016 season (if he doesn’t opt out), and he’s earning $21MM this season as well. Shields has grabbed headlines recently, having been prominently featured in trade rumors over the weekend and then suffering a 10-run meltdown earlier this week, which the team’s executive chairman publicly referred to as “an embarrassment.”
The Red Sox, too, have considered Shields but are waiting to see how Eduardo Rodriguez performs upon returning from the disabled list (so far, so good). The White Sox, meanwhile, would want the Padres to pay down a significant portion of the $57MM that remains on Shields’ contract (again, barring an opt out). Heyman writes that a source indicated that shortstop prospect Tim Anderson wouldn’t be involved in talks, though that doesn’t strike me as a surprising revelation; even with half of his contract paid down, that would seem like an overpay on Chicago’s behalf. On a somewhat similar vein, Heyman adds that the Padres approached the Tigers about Shields, but Detroit had no interest in parting with any of Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris or Matt Boyd in a potential deal.
Shortly after the Rockies acquired Jose Reyes, the Yankees were willing to part with shortstop prospect Jorge Mateo and pay half of the $22MM that is owed to Reyes annually through the 2017 season, Heyman hears.
The jobs of Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Twins manager Paul Molitor are safe, Heyman writes, though he adds that Detroit GM Al Avila has privately told Ausmus to stop discussing his job security (or lack thereof) with the media, as the situation doesn’t need any extra fuel.
Greg Holland could take the mound in August, per Heyman, and he may wait until that point before deciding on a team. Both the Royals and Braves have shown interest to this point, he adds.
The Athletics “may be a favorite” for Cuban second baseman Jose Miguel Fernandez, writes Heyman, who also notes that incumbent second baseman Jed Lowrie could help a number of clubs on the trade market. The Padres, too, are said to be considering Fernandez, he adds.
Rougned Odor’s agent and Rangers GM Jon Daniels recently rekindled extension talks, and Heyman notes that the team heaped praise onto Odor during his appeal hearing during which his suspension for punching Jose Bautista was dropped from eight games to seven games. His suspension has also given Jurickson Profar a chance to play, and Heyman writes that the former top prospect could be a trade candidate now that he’s healthy. Sticking with the Rangers, Heyman adds that the Phillies lobbied hard for Texas to include Nomar Mazara in last year’s Cole Hamels blockbuster, but Daniels refused to give him up.
The Nationals talked with the D-backs in the offseason about Gio Gonzalez, but Arizona wouldn’t part with Ender Inciarte or David Peralta in the prospective trade. Heyman writes that the Nats spoke to a few teams about Gonzalez, including the Marlins. However, Miami wasn’t keen on surrendering Christian Yelich.

Jeremy Guthrie Released By Padres After Exercising Opt-Out

By Jeff Todd | June 2, 2016 at 6:23pm CDT

THURSDAY: Guthrie has been given his release, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter.

WEDNESDAY: Veteran righty Jeremy Guthrie will exercise an opt-out clause in his deal with the Padres, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). He expects to hit the market soon, though the precise timeline is unclear.

Guthrie, 37, has thrown sixty innings at Triple-A on the year. He owns a 6.60 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 over that span. Guthrie has generally been trended up of late, though the overall picture doesn’t inspire much confidence.

It remains to be seen whether Guthrie can make it back to the majors for the 13th consecutive year, but other teams will certainly give consideration in light of his track record of large innings tallies. He has topped 200 innings in five of the last seven seasons and owns a 4.37 lifetime ERA over 1,764 2/3 total frames. Last year, though, was his worst complete season in the majors, as he allowed just under six earned runs per game for the Royals.

Padres Chairman Ron Fowler Addresses Team’s Struggles

By Steve Adams | June 1, 2016 at 7:15pm CDT

The Padres just wrapped up a 1-7 road trip with a disastrous start from James Shields, and the 10-run meltdown from the team’s highest-paid pitcher was apparently enough to prompt owner Ron Fowler to speak on the matter. In an interview with Dan Sileo on Mighty 1090 radio in San Diego (audio link), Fowler called the team’s “embarrassing” and described the recent road trip a “pathetic.”

“I’m a very competitive individual,” said Fowler in the interview. “I think I’ve won a lot more than I’ve lost in my life. This baseball experience has been very frustrating, very embarrassing. … To have a starter like Shields perform as poorly as he did yesterday I think, is an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him.”

Shields, who has been the subject of recent trade rumors (most notably involving the White Sox), tells Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller that he’s not embarrassed by the start but doesn’t enjoy losing any more than the team owner (links to Miller on Twitter). “I feel like I’ve pitched well all season long,” said Shields, who is in the second season of a four-year, $75MM contract that contains an opt-out clause at the end of the current campaign. “Obviously, I was the guy that tipped him over the edge. It is what it is. I don’t like losing either. I understand his frustration. As far as it being an embarrassment to me, I’m not embarrassed by it.”

Shields, of course, was one of the final pieces to a whirlwind 2014-15 offseason — general manager A.J. Preller’s first on the job. His four-year contract was just one in a litany of moves made by San Diego that winter, as the new Preller-led front office also acquired Matt Kemp, Justin Upton,Wil Myers, Will Middlebrooks, Derek Norris, Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton.

There were questions about the club’s defense and dearth of shortstop options, and the season proved to be a letdown for the Friars, who finished with a 74-88 record while receiving scarce production from the vast majority of their infield spots. However, the team elected not to act as a seller last summer (curiously, in the eyes of many) and instead retooled this winter with the hope of a better on-field product.

“It seems like at every turn — we have great pitching in ’14, what we’re going to do is add some offense to it, think we can make a run at it in ’15,” said Fowler. “That was a miserable failure. We’ve got some key players intact this year. We thought we’d be at least a .500 baseball team, and we’re anything but. … We rolled the dice with [Preller] on some Major League signings, Major League trades, and we have to collectively look at that and say it didn’t come together as well as we wanted. I don’t think there’s a brighter GM out there. I don’t think anyone works harder, but the results are not there, and I think A.J. would be the first one to tell you that.”

Asked specifically about his coaches, Fowler expressed praise for rookie manager Andy Green and his field staff, calling the unit “as good of a group or a better group” than he’s seen. Asked, then, if the problem should be placed on the players, Fowler replied: “It’s on the player, but the organization has to accept responsibility for probably having the wrong players. … part of it is on the players, but our job is to get the right players here who can be motivated and deliver at game time, and right now, we’re not doing it.”

Not lost on Fowler, though, is the chance to bolster the club’s long-term outlook with a significant draft bonus pool and a large swath of international signings. “We hired A.J. because we knew we had to develop a farm system and we had to do far better in international than we’ve done,” he said. “I think this draft coming up and the international signing period on July 2 will give us a far better view of A.J. I will say that he’s done a spectacular job of building the player development area, and I think the players we have in the farm system, as a group, are stronger than they were before.”

The Padres have the third-largest pool of any club in Major League Baseball, thanks to a pair of compensatory picks received when Ian Kennedy and Justin Upton signed elsewhere as well as a Competitive Balance lottery pick (Round B, No. 71 overall) that they won in last summer’s lottery. As such, the Padres have an enormous amount of flexibility and a wide variety of creative approaches to take next Thursday. The Astros, for instance, have had success by spending well over-slot in the supplemental rounds at the expense of some later-round savings — landing Lance McCullers with the 41st pick in 2012 and then picking up outfielder Daz Cameron, a one-time potential Top 5 selection, at No. 37 last season when he slid due to signability concerns. Beyond that, the Padres are rumored to be prepping to shatter their international spending pool, which would provide a significant boost to the lower levels of their farm system.

All that said, however, the team will be facing some difficult decisions as this summer’s Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline approaches. Though they didn’t sell off any pieces last summer, an arguably greater urgency to do so exists this summer. Fowler conceded that some moves could be on the horizon. “Well, to stay status quo, probably, unless we start playing a lot better is not likely,” he said. “But you’ve got to get value in return. You don’t just let somebody go unless you think there’s some value or unless you basically are just frustrated by any other options.”

The draft and international markets will be a boon to the farm system’s lower levels, but they’ll have little impact on the club’s big league roster in 2016-17 (though there are some Cuban veterans on the free-agent market, such as Jose Miguel Fernandez, that are more near-term targets). As such, whether it’s this summer or in the offseason, it seems safe to expect that the Padres will be making another significant wave of moves in an effort to inject more help for the current on-field product.

I should stress that the entire 11-minute interview is well worth a listen for Padres fans or any that are interested in their recent plight. Fowler seemingly acknowledges that the Padres’ woes are a collective failure for which both ownership and the front office are at fault, candidly stating: “…in a normal environment, if you’d performed as well as we have over the past three years, you’d probably be unemployed.”

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