The Padres have outrighted Seth Mejias-Brean and Carl Edwards Jr. to Triple-A, with the latter having already elected free agency after clearing waivers. The club also designated Jacob Nix and Eric Yardley for assignment.
With the day’s moves, the Friars will bid adieu to Edwards after a brief stay in the organization. He was added as a buy-low candidate in a mid-season swap, but struggled in brief action and ended up going down with injury.
Mejias-Brean was fairly productive at all levels but evidently didn’t convince. The 28-year-old infielder earned his first taste of the majors after slashing .316/.371/.455 in 448 Triple-A plate appearances. He managed two doubles and two dingers in his 33 trips to the plate with the big club.
The future remains unclear for Nix and Yardley. The former had a tough MLB debut showing in 2018 and was then diagnosed with a small UCL tear. He was throwing rather well on a rehab assignment but was arrested in a bizarre incident after the end of the season.
Yardley, 29, was effective all year long at both Triple-A and in a brief MLB debut. All told, he allowed only 17 earned runs in 75 1/3 frames. Yardley didn’t get many strikeouts, but drew huge volumes of grounders and was the rare pitcher who proved largely immune to the long ball in 2019.
