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Padres Rumors

Padres Open To Trading From Rotation, Catching Depth

By Anthony Franco | March 30, 2022 at 9:34pm CDT

With a little over a week until Opening Day, the Padres still have a highly uncertain outfield mix. Michael Conforto and Brett Gardner remain available in free agency, but the Friars are an estimated $6MM shy of the $230MM base luxury tax threshold and are reportedly reluctant to exceed that figure.

If they’re not content with their internal outfield options, a trade may be the better way for the front office to go. Dennis Lin of the Athletic reports the Padres are willing to entertain offers on some of their catchers or starting pitchers. Dealing from their depth in either area wouldn’t necessarily mean the Padres bring back a big league caliber outfielder in return, but it seems the front office is at least open to exploring those possibilities.

Neither development comes as a surprise. During the lockout, MLBTR noted the potential for San Diego to entertain trades from both the catching group and rotation depth. The Padres currently have four catchers on the 40-man roster, all of whom have reasonable claims to a spot on the MLB club.

Austin Nola is the presumptive starter. Luis Campusano is a top prospect who doesn’t have much more to prove in the minors after hitting .295/.365/.541 in Triple-A. Víctor Caratini is coming off a rough season, but he’s had success in the past and works well with Yu Darvish. Jorge Alfaro would appear to be fourth on the depth chart, but San Diego acquired him from the Marlins and he can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, meaning the Padres need to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment. The Friars presumably won’t carry all four on the Opening Day roster, even with rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players in the early going, so it’s natural they’d be open to dealing from that group.

On the pitching side of the equation, San Diego is set to open the year with a starting group of Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger and Nick Martínez. That wouldn’t leave spots for any of Chris Paddack, Reiss Knehr or former top prospects Ryan Weathers and MacKenzie Gore. All four of those pitchers have options remaining, and the Friars could certainly opt to stockpile depth after seeing a series of rotation injuries contribute to a second-half collapse last year. Lin doesn’t specify any names whom the Padres are particularly inclined to move, to be clear. Yet as with the catching surplus, there may at least be enough depth for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to consider a move — particularly if one of those arms can bring back MLB-ready outfield help.

Trent Grisham is locked in as the center fielder, with Will Myers set to handle right field on most days. San Diego saw Tommy Pham depart in free agency, leaving Jurickson Profar and the newly-acquired Matt Beaty among the favorites for playing time in left. That’s not a great group of corner players for a hopeful contender, and the Pads have shopped both Myers and first baseman Eric Hosmer throughout the offseason. Lin writes they’re still exploring possible Hosmer deals, although moving much of the remaining four years and $59MM on his deal has proven too tough a task so far. It’d probably be easier to move Myers, but that’d just further thin the corner outfield group.

Aside from Myers, Profar, Beaty and Grisham, the Padres don’t really have outfield options on the 40-man roster. Lin writes that manager Bob Melvin has already ruled out the possibility of moving second baseman Jake Cronenworth off the position, something the organization considered but never tried last offseason. Alfaro has some experience in left field but shouldn’t be more than an emergency option there. Trayce Thompson and Nomar Mazara are in camp as non-roster invitees and could both get big league looks, but neither is necessarily an upgrade over Profar and Beaty.

More interesting than the possibility of any of those veterans getting a spot is the chance for top prospect CJ Abrams to break camp with the club. A consensus top 15 prospect, Abrams only has 42 games of Double-A experience. He impressed there last year, hitting .296/.363/.420 with a pair of home runs and 13 stolen bases, but his season was cut short when he fractured his left tibia in late June. That kept him from seeing his first Triple-A action.

Nevertheless, both Lin and Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune have written this week the organization is considering carrying the 21-year-old on the MLB roster. That’s certainly not a given, as both Lin and Acee hear that some with the Padres believe he’d benefit from more time in the minors. Not only does he have limited experience against high level pitching, Abrams has never played a professional inning outside of the middle infield.

Given his athleticism — evaluators credit him with top-of-the-scale speed — there’s a belief he could handle all three outfield spots. Melvin acknowledged this afternoon he might give Abrams some consideration behind Grisham in center field (Acee link). Keeping him in the majors would allow San Diego some cover behind Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim in the middle infield while Fernando Tatís Jr. is on the injured list. Yet there’d certainly be risk in putting Abrams into a major league outfield right out of the gate, even in a utility capacity, and there’s an argument to be made for the Friars starting him at Triple-A El Paso. It’ll be known soon enough what route Preller, Melvin and the rest of the San Diego brass choose to take with the Opening Day roster.

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San Diego Padres Austin Nola CJ Abrams Chris Paddack Eric Hosmer Jorge Alfaro Luis Campusano MacKenzie Gore Reiss Knehr Ryan Weathers Victor Caratini

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Padres Trade James Norwood To Phillies

By Steve Adams | March 30, 2022 at 9:50am CDT

The Phillies have acquired right-hander James Norwood from the Padres in exchange for minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo and cash, according to announcements from both teams. San Diego designated Norwood for assignment earlier this week.

Norwood, 28, tossed five scoreless innings of relief for the Friars last season and has 27 total innings of Major League work under his belt dating back to his 2018 debut with the Cubs. He’s logged a 3.67 ERA, albeit with a below-average 18.5% strikeout rate and a bloated 13.1% walk rate.

Norwood has a decent overall track record in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 4.05 ERA in parts of three seasons. He whiffed 37.2% of his opponents in 44 2/3 Triple-A frames this past season, which surely held some appeal to the Phils. Norwood is out of minor league options, meaning he’ll need to either break camp with the Phils or be designated for assignment once again. Given that Philadelphia sent a minor leaguer to the Padres, as opposed to a simple cash transaction or waiver claim, it would seem Norwood has a decent shot of being included in Philadelphia’s Opening Day relief corps.

As for the 20-year-old Pichardo, he’s a Bronx native who joined the Phillies in June 2019 as an undrafted free agent. He spent most of his time at shortstop after signing in ’19 but played more third base in 2021. Pichardo logged just 35 total games across three levels last year and batted .247/.476/.466 with two homers, six doubles, two triples, two steals and a 32-to-28 K/BB ratio in 105 plate appearances.

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Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres Transactions James Norwood Kervin Pichardo

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Dodgers Trade Matt Beaty To Padres

By Steve Adams | March 28, 2022 at 10:59pm CDT

The Padres have acquired first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league right-hander/infielder River Ryan, per a team announcement. The Padres announced Ryan, a two-way player in college, as a pitcher in their press release. The Dodgers initially announced him as an infielder, but Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets that they still plan to give Ryan opportunities on the mound.

To open space on the 40-man roster, San Diego placed left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who underwent forearm surgery last August, on the 60-day injured list. Beaty was designated for assignment by Los Angeles last week.

Beaty, 28, was a somewhat surprising DFA by the Dodgers, as he was fresh off a .270/.363/.402 showing in 234 plate appearances last season. While Beaty didn’t show substantial power (seven homers, four doubles, one triple, .132 ISO), he walked at a league-average clip, was plunked 10 times (thus driving up his OBP a bit) and made contact at an above-average rate. Beaty fanned in 18.8% of his plate appearances last year and has a career mark of 16.4% — well south of last year’s 22.6% league average (excluding pitchers).

The Padres have been on the hunt for outfield upgrades for much of the offseason but have also reportedly been hamstrung a bit by payroll concerns — a driving factor behind their reported efforts to trade Eric Hosmer and/or Wil Myers. It’s been a generally quiet winter for the Friars, who’ve added a bit to their bullpen (Robert Suarez, Luis Garcia) and signed Nick Martinez to a four-year deal that is laden with opt-out opportunities. Offensively, the lone addition of note thus far has been Luke Voit, whom the Padres acquired from the Yankees last week.

Beaty will give San Diego an option in left field, where utilityman Jurickson Profar had been among the leading candidates for playing time. Beaty can also spell Hosmer at first base or mix in at designated hitter if Voit is unavailable. In addition to his work at first and in the outfield corners, he’s spent a bit of time at third base, but defensive metrics aren’t especially bullish on him at any of the positions he’s played thus far in a small sample of innings. He also has a minor league option remaining, so the Padres don’t necessarily need to commit to keeping him on the big league roster all season.

Ryan, 23, was an 11th-round pick out UNC Pembroke just last season. Though he pitched to a 2.32 ERA with a 29.7% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 93 innings of bullpen work during his NCAA career, the Friars didn’t actually put him on the mound during last year’s pro debut. He spent a dozen games with the Padres’ Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona Complex League and batted .308/.349/.436 with a homer, two doubles and four stolen bases in 43 plate appearances.

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Los Angeles Dodgers San Diego Padres Transactions Drew Pomeranz Matt Beaty

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Padres Claim Kyle Tyler, Designate James Norwood

By Mark Polishuk | March 26, 2022 at 1:35pm CDT

The Padres announced that right-hander Kyle Tyler has been claimed off waivers from the Red Sox.  To open up space on San Diego’s roster, righty James Norwood has been designated for assignment.

It has been a whirlwind week for Tyler, who is now playing for his third different organization in the last four days.  Tyler was designated by the Angels on March 19 when the Halos needed a 40-man roster spot for Ryan Tepera, and then after the Red Sox claimed Tyler on Tuesday, they DFA’ed him again on Thursday to claim Ralph Garza from the Twins in another waiver move.

Tyler is now headed back to SoCal, this time in a Padres uniform.  The 25-year-old has worked almost equally as a starter and as a reliever over his 232 1/3 career minor league innings, so Tyler gives the Padres yet another option on a roster that is now quite loaded with rotation depth, even if there are plenty of injury questions.  Tyler has a 3.25 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate over 232 1/3 innings as a minor leaguer, and he posted a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 MLB innings last season, in his first taste of big league action.

Norwood has pitched 27 innings spread over 28 games in the last four Major League seasons, with a 3.67 ERA to show for his brief time in The Show.  Norwood has a 13.1% walk rate in that small sample size in the majors, continuing the control problems that have been a thorn in his side for much of his minor league career (in the Cubs and Padres organizations).

On the plus side, Norwood’s strikeout totals have been on the rise over the last few years, and he has an impressive 34.2% strikeout rate over 120 innings at the Triple-A level.  That’s a number that could get another team’s attention on the waiver wire, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Norwood claimed before his DFA period is up.

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Boston Red Sox San Diego Padres Transactions James Norwood Kyle Tyler

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Padres Sign Trayce Thompson, Brandon Dixon To Minors Deals

By Anthony Franco and Mark Polishuk | March 26, 2022 at 8:26am CDT

The Padres recently signed outfielder Trayce Thompson and corner infielder/outfielder Brandon Dixon to minor league contracts, according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. It’s the first season in the organization for both players, who each have a few years of big league experience.

Thompson has played in a little more than 200 MLB games between four teams. He broke in with the White Sox in 2015, posting an excellent small-sample showing as a rookie. He was traded to the Dodgers as part of a three-team deal that offseason — one which, coincidentally, saw Los Angeles send Dixon to Cincinnati. He tallied a career-high 262 plate appearances with Los Angeles that season, hitting .225/.302/.436, but he saw only sporadic action over the next couple years.

After appearing in 27 games with L.A. in 2017, he bounced from the Yankees to the A’s and back to the White Sox via waivers and minor trade the following year. He spent the next couple seasons at Triple-A before resurfacing in the big leagues with the Cubs last September. Thompson only tallied 35 plate appearances with the North Siders last season, but he popped four homers and had a solid .233/.344/.492 showing in 88 games with Triple-A Iowa, where he played all three outfield positions.

Dixon has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues. He debuted with the Reds in 2018, a few years after they acquired him in the aforementioned deal with Los Angeles. Cincinnati waived him that winter, and he landed with the Tigers, receiving a good chunk of MLB playing time during the 2019 season. Dixon hit .248/.290/.435 with 15 homers over 420 PA and 117 games with Detroit that year, but then appeared in only five big-league contests in 2020.

The next step was a move outside of North American ball entirely, as Dixon headed to Japan in 2021 to play with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Dixon roughly split his time between the Eagles and their top minor league affiliate, and struggled to only a .167/.268/.324 slash line in 123 PA for the Sendai-based team.

The two minor league deals give the Padres some additional depth options to choose from during Spring Training. While rumors continue to swirl about how San Diego could upgrade their outfield, Jurickson Profar remains the top option for left field at-bats, and Thompson has more defensive flexibility than another non-roster invitee in Nomar Mazara. Dixon has also spent a lot of his time as a corner outfielder, and brings added versatility due to his experience at first, second, and third base.

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San Diego Padres Transactions Brandon Dixon Trayce Thompson

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Latest On Willson Contreras

By Anthony Franco | March 21, 2022 at 7:44pm CDT

The Cubs have overhauled a good portion of their roster this winter. Among the most impactful moves was bringing in veteran backstop Yan Gomes — the top catcher in this year’s free agent crop — on a two-year deal prior to the lockout.

That has naturally led to some trade speculation regarding incumbent catcher Willson Contreras, who’s entering his final year of club control. There hasn’t been much firm indication the Cubs have shopped the 29-year-old this winter, but they’d also yet to open talks regarding a possible long-term extension with his representatives as of last week.

Speaking with Bruce Levine of 670 The Score over the weekend, an emotional Contreras acknowledged the possibility he could either be dealt or depart the organization via free agency next winter. “This is something that is really tough for me,” the two-time All-Star said. “Personally, the relationships I have with the team, players and fans, (leaving would) be something that will be really tough to take. This is something very emotional for me, knowing all that I have had to go through to get to this point. It’s going to be really tough and very emotional.”

Levine reports that the Yankees and Padres are among the teams that have checked in with the Cubs to gauge Contreras’ availability, although it’s not clear if any discussions are currently ongoing. Chicago certainly doesn’t have to trade the right-handed backstop, as the implementation of the universal designated hitter could allow manager David Ross to pencil both him and Gomes into the lineup on a regular basis. The Cubs’ fairly active offseason suggests they’re not punting the 2022 campaign entirely, and keeping both players would give the team enviable depth behind the dish and the opportunity to lengthen the overall lineup.

That said, one could argue that having Contreras and Gomes as a 1A/1B tandem between catcher and designated hitter isn’t an optimal deployment of those players. Both are good hitters for catchers, but neither has the kind of offensive track record that’d make them great fits as regular options at the DH spot. Contreras is the better offensive player of the duo, but even he falls a bit shy of the typical output expected from the bat-only position.

Contreras has been an above-average hitter by measure of wRC+ in each of his six career seasons. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a .239/.345/.429 line, numbers that check in nine percentage points above the league average. That’s markedly better than the .230/.307/.392 figure put up by catchers around the league, but it’s not elite middle-of-the-order output overall. Most American League teams have increasingly preferred to cycle various regulars through the DH spot as quasi-rest days unless they have an excellent bat-only player to plug in. Just seven hitters tallied 300+ plate appearances as a DH last year; of that group, only Miguel Cabrera didn’t outhit Contreras.

While he might not be a great fit for semi-regular DH time, Contreras should hold plenty of appeal to catching-needy teams. The Yankees make an unsurprising possibility after trading away Gary Sánchez. New York is presently slated to roll with Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt behind the dish. That duo figures to be capable defensively but doesn’t seem likely to come close to Contreras’ production at the plate.

The Padres making a run would be more surprising, as San Diego already has something of a logjam at catcher. Contreras’ price tag could also prove problematic for the Friars. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.7MM salary in his final year of arbitration. That’d come with a matching luxury tax hit, and the Padres already have around $224MM in CBT commitments, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Acquiring Contreras would push the Friars right up against or perhaps past the $230MM base tax threshold, and Dennis Lin of the Athletic wrote last week the club would prefer to not surpass the CBT marker for the second straight season.

Aside from Contreras, there don’t seem to be many options for teams looking to upgrade behind the plate before the start of the season. Almost all the free agent options at the position have been signed, and there aren’t any other teams who seem likely to make regulars available in trade. The A’s might entertain the possibility of moving Sean Murphy, but that seems unlikely since he has yet to even reach arbitration eligibility. The trade market may just consist of depth types like Reese McGuire and Jorge Alfaro if the Cubs elect to hold onto Contreras.

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Chicago Cubs New York Yankees San Diego Padres Willson Contreras

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Padres, Thomas Eshelman Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | March 21, 2022 at 11:44am CDT

The Padres and righty Thomas Eshelman have agreed to a minor league deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the 27-year-old, who grew up just north of San Diego in Carlsbad. Eshelman, a client of the Ballengee Group, will vie a roster spot in camp and give the Friars some upper-level pitching depth if he doesn’t make the squad.

A second-round pick by the Astros out of Cal State Fullerton back in 2015, Eshelman went from Houston to Philadelphia as part of a trade package for Ken Giles in 2015. The Phillies flipped him to the Orioles in a 2019 deal that sent international bonus allotments back to Philadelphia.

Eshelman made his big league debut with the O’s in 2019, and he’s appeared in each of the past three seasons with Baltimore. While he’s picked up 98 1/3 innings of experience in the Majors, the righty has yet to find much success, pitching to a 5.77 ERA with an 11.3% strikeout rate, a 6.9% walk rate and a 34.1% ground-ball rate. Eshelman does have a more palatable 4.43 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons (355 2/3 innings), where he’s logged a 16.7% strikeout rate and a 4.8% walk rate.

The Padres are loaded with rotation options, with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Mike Clevinger, Blake Snell, Nick Martinez, Chris Paddack, Ryan Weathers, Reiss Knehr, Pedro Avila, MacKenzie Gore and Adrian Martinez all on the 40-man roster. Given that depth, it’ll likely be tough for Eshelman to work his way onto the roster in the limited time remaining in camp, but he can still give San Diego some extra depth in Triple-A El Paso.

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San Diego Padres Transactions Tom Eshelman

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Mets No Longer Looking To Trade Smith, McNeil, Davis?

By Mark Polishuk | March 19, 2022 at 4:40pm CDT

Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, and J.D. Davis have all been mentioned as possible or even likely trade candidates due to the Mets’ new influx of position players, yet it now seems as though the club is leaning against a deal.  According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the trio are now “expected to stay” in New York, with a trade of Smith or McNeil in particular looking like a “long shot.”

Of course, there could be some gamesmanship at play here for the Mets.  Publicly, the club has always expressed an interest in keeping the players, with manager Buck Showalter saying earlier this week that he saw McNeil as the team’s regular second baseman.  Saying the same thing privately could simply be a way of trying to entice more of a trade return from interested teams, as one would imagine the Mets would indeed deal any of the three players if another club made a big enough offer.

On the face of it, however, it also makes sense why the Mets would want to retain any or all of the three.  Several members of New York’s veteran roster have battled injury problems either in past seasons or as recently as 2021, plus Robinson Cano is an x-factor in his return from a season-long PED suspension.  Having Davis, McNeil, and Smith on hand as depth would be a big help for the Mets in the event of more injury problems, and the introduction of the DH spot also provides more opportunity to rotate bats in and out of the lineup, so everyone can theoretically stay fresh.

Health issues impacted each of Davis, McNeil, and Smith last season, resulting in only 73 games played for Davis, and both missed time and subpar performance for McNeil and Smith.  It’s safe to assume that these injuries factored into trade talks, as rival teams were likely unwilling to pay a premium for anyone coming off a checkered season, while the Mets likely aren’t keen on selling low on any of the three players.

In Smith’s case, the first baseman played virtually the entire season hurt, as he recently told SI.com’s Pat Ragazzo.  In trying to compensate for a wrist strain suffered in Spring Training, Smith then developed a partial tear in his right labrum in late May or early June.  Labrum surgery wasn’t required, but between the shoulder and wrist problems and a groin injury, Smith hit only .244/.304/.363 with 11 home runs over 493 plate appearances.

After a lot of offseason work to heal and rehab, Smith told Ragazzo that “Nothing hurts right now.  Trust me, if something hurts, everybody will know.  I won’t be out there playing if I’m hurt.  That’s something that’s going to change from the past.”  In regards to his shoulder, Smith felt it had healed but “it’s good enough to go” for the season.  “You still take some swings and feel stuff, and that’s just a part of it.  But….it’s a lot better than last year, I will say that.”

Martino reports that the Padres are one of the teams who have interest in McNeil and Smith, and that interest in Smith has continued even in the wake of San Diego’s acquisition of first baseman Luke Voit.  With Voit now adding to an already crowded first base/DH situation for the Padres, presumably any Smith deal would hinge on the Padres being able to fulfill their aim of trading Eric Hosmer, though Smith can also play left field.  The versatile McNeil could play second base, third base, or either corner outfield spot for San Diego, which would give the Padres some flexibility as they try to fill the void left by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s wrist surgery.

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New York Mets San Diego Padres Dominic Smith J.D. Davis Jeff McNeil

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Padres Sign Ian Krol To Minor League Deal

By Sean Bavazzano | March 18, 2022 at 8:42pm CDT

The Padres announced this afternoon that they’ve signed left-handed pitcher Ian Krol to a minor league contract. The deal includes an invite to Major League Spring Training.

Krol, 30, joined the free agent market last November following the Tigers’ decision to outright him from their 40-man roster. After scattering usable results throughout his career and his inclusion in a few notable trades over the years, the former 7th-rounder is now set to join his ninth organization in San Diego. This comes on the heels of an 18-plus-inning run out of Detroit’s bullpen where Krol contributed a useful 4.34 ERA, albeit with opposing hitters batting .303/.365/.474 off him in that limited showing.

The Padres will look to coax a sharper performance out of Krol in the next few weeks at Major League camp. Given the left-hander’s general excellence in the minors it’s not out of the question that he can build off of last year’s performance. It would certainly behoove San Diego if he did, as the team is currently projected (per RosterResource) to start the season with only one healthy, established lefty in the bullpen— Tim Hill.

Krol hasn’t exactly mystified left-handed hitters in his career, but their collective OPS is more than 70 points lower than right-handed hitters’ OPS against the pitcher. If the veteran can crack the club’s Opening Day roster it will provide manager Bob Melvin a wider variety of tools to use out of a bullpen that was a top-5 run prevention unit last season.

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San Diego Padres Transactions Ian Krol

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Yankees Trade Luke Voit To Padres

By Steve Adams | March 18, 2022 at 11:10am CDT

After months of speculation, Luke Voit’s time with the Yankees organization drew to a close Friday. The Yankees and Padres agreed to a trade sending the slugging first baseman to San Diego in exchange for minor league right-hander Justin Lange, according to announcements from both clubs. The Padres moved right-hander Michel Baez to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster Voit.

Luke Voit | Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The writing for Voit has been on the wall at least since New York re-signed Anthony Rizzo — and quite arguably longer than that. The Yanks acquired Rizzo last summer while Voit was on the injured list for the third time that year alone, and since the 2021 season ended they’ve been connected to Rizzo, Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson as they made no secret about pursuing alternative options to the incumbent Voit.

Voit’s trade marks the culmination of a swift shift in the organization’s stance on him. Just one year ago, Voit was heading into Spring Training as the clear everyday first baseman, having just led the Majors with 22 home runs during the truncated 2020 season. However, a knee injury in camp led to meniscus surgery that kept Voit out of action for the season’s first six weeks. Voit returned in early May, but just two weeks later he headed back to the 10-day IL due to an oblique strain. That issue kept Voit out another three-plus weeks, and he lasted only a month before going back on the IL in mid-July due to lingering inflammation in his surgically repaired left knee.

All told, Voit was limited to just 68 games and 211 plate appearances in 2021. When he was on the field, Voit remained somewhat productive, slashing .239/.328/.427 (111 wRC+), but his offensive output was nowhere near its peak levels. Looking beyond leading the Majors in long balls during the brief 2020 season, Voit had raked from the moment the Yankees acquired him from the Cardinals in exchange for relievers Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos.

Largely blocked from regular playing time in St. Louis, Voit immediately proved to be a hidden gem unearthed by the Yankees. He belted 14 home runs in less than two months down the stretch in 2018, and in 892 trips to the plate as a Yankee from ’18-’20, he batted .279/.372/.543 with 57 home runs, 31 doubles, a triple and an 11.5% walk rate against a 26.3% strikeout rate. Even adding in his “down” year this past season, Voit’s time with the Yankees will draw to a close with a stout .271/.363/.520 batting line in 1133 plate appearances.

That type of production would be a boost to any lineup, and the Padres in particular could use some thump of that nature at first base and/or designated hitter. San Diego first basemen, led by Eric Hosmer, hit a combined .275/.337/.412. That’s not terrible production by any means, but the resulting 106 wRC+ ranked 20th in the Majors. Of more concern was that the Padres, as a team, hit just .241/.324/.380 against left-handed pitching (94 wRC+, 24th in MLB). Voit, a career .264/.344/.516 hitter against left-handed pitching, ought to be particularly helpful with regard to that deficiency — though it’s important to note that he shouldn’t be regarded as a platoon player. To the contrary, Voit actually has slightly better career numbers against right-handed pitching.

Productive as he’s been at the plate throughout his Yankees tenure, Voit is a below-average defender at first base. The Yankees have made improving the defense a clear priority of late, evidenced not only by bringing Rizzo back but also moving Gleyber Torres to second base, acquiring Isiah Kiner-Falefa to take the reins at shortstop and moving Gary Sanchez to the Twins in favor of what currently projects to be a glove-first pairing of Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt (acquired in that deal with the Twins).

Voit now heads to the Padres not only for the 2022 season but perhaps all the way through 2024. He’s still arbitration eligible, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.4MM in 2022 before earning a pair of raises on top of that sum. It’s an eminently reasonable price to pay for a hitter of Voit’s caliber, particularly if he can boost his production away from his 2021 output and closer to its 2018-20 levels.

As for the Yankees’ return, they’ll acquire a 20-year-old righty who can reach triple digits with his fastball but has drawn questions from scouts about his command. The 6’4″, 220-pound Lange was the No. 34 overall pick in the 2020 draft and made his pro debut with the Padres’ Rookie-ball club in 2021. There, he pitched 22 innings with a 6.95 ERA, a 28.4% strikeout rate and a bloated 14.7% walk rate. When ranking Lange 13th among San Diego farmhands, The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote that the righty has “huge stuff and a workhorse build” but questionable command in addition to a recent knee issue.

Lange adds a power arm to the lower levels of the Yankees’ system, albeit a high-risk one who’ll be a bit of a project for their development staff. Trading Voit drops the Yankees’ projected 2022 payroll a bit south of $240MM, although in terms of luxury-tax obligations, they’re still a bit over $253MM, which places them squarely in the new new CBA’s second tier of penalization.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Padres’ interest in Voit. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported that Voit had been traded to the Padres (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the return (Twitter link).

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New York Yankees Newsstand San Diego Padres Transactions Justin Lange Luke Voit Michel Baez

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