The Padres have spoken to Tim Lincecum’s agent and will have scouts in attendance to see the righty throw in a showcase scheduled for later in February, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Rick Thurman, Lincecum’s agent, said he’d talked to the Padres “a number of times” but had also been in contact with “quite a few other teams” as well, with at least 20 teams requesting Lincecum’s medical information. There seems to be enough interest that, provided Lincecum’s showcase goes well, he should be able to land his desired Major League contract. If such a deal is found with San Diego, the Padres could line Lincecum up as their fourth or fifth starter and move one of their many other back-of-the-rotation candidates into the bullpen. Here’s some more from around the NL West…
- Johnny Cueto’s extra workload from the Royals’ postseason run will slightly impact how the Giants treat him in camp, pitching coach Dave Righetti tells Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s been through some playoff situations, but when you go to the World Series you go the extra mile,” Righetti said. “We know it takes stuff out of guys regardless of how young and strong they are….So, absolutely, you would monitor him anyway. Being that he pitched an extra month, you’re darn right.”
- Conor Gillaspie has regrets over his first stint with the Giants, telling reporters (including Schulman) that “obviously, I was young and probably not mentally or physically or socially where I needed to be” when he broke in with San Francisco as a rookie. Now back with the team on a minor league deal, Gillaspie feels he’s matured and is thankful to the Giants for giving him a chance.
- Matt Cain has gone from a cornerstone to an x-factor with the Giants, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes, as both the team and the pitcher are hopeful but measured about what Cain can deliver in 2016. Injuries played a role in Cain’s rough last two seasons, though beyond health, his sudden propensity for allowing homers didn’t help Cain’s faith in himself.
- Julio Urias is facing a lot of pressure as both arguably the game’s top pitching prospect and maybe even “the next Fernando Valenzuela,” though Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown relates how the 19-year-old Dodgers phenom is trying to take his development step by step.
The next Fernando Valenzuela? A lot of people around here are probably not old enough to remember the original “Fernando-mania”, but I do. Expecting this kid, or anyone, to duplicate that feat is just asking for him to fail to live up to the hype and be a disappointment even if he is good. Fernando was a once in a generation type rookie, there is a Urias or two every season. Urias could surprise and be a once in a generation type rookie as well, but expecting it is just ridiculous at this point.
There is not an 18-19 year old that dominates AA-ball every season. It’s pretty rare.
He had 13 starts there and went 3-4 with a 2.77 ERA. That’s good, very good if you consider the peripherals in fact, but not exactly dominating.
So if the Padres were to sign Lincecum, who gets the fifth spot? I could see Rea in AAA to start season as I believe he has options. But then you have Morrow, Pomeranz, and Mauer for that one spot. Morrow may be a AAA candidate himself, though I wouldn’t oppose him starting if healthy of course. I would much rather Mauer get the closer role for some reason. And with Pomeranz being a lefty at least you would have some variety. Who knows though, just glad baseball season is starting up strong.
Morrow would go to the pen before AAA, and I think that’s what will happen if they do indeed sign Lincecum.
Yeah probably, wonder if any of the Rule 5 arms get kept at this point or if they’re all gonna be shipped back.
The kid they seem the highest about is Luis Perdomo. The plan seems to get him innings as the long/mop up guy and not over expose him, then when the year ends and he becomes our property to put him in AAA to start 2017 and allow him to develop as a starter. You got to figure if we sign lincecum the 5 man rotation would be Ross, Shields, Cashner, Mauer, Lincecum. Then your looking at an 8 man bullpen with 6 locks being Morrow, Villanaueva, Pomeranz, Quackenbush, Jannsen & Rodney. Stick Perdomo in the long role as the 7th man in the pen and then it’s a completion for the 8th spot with the other two rule 5 guys Smith & Martin, Buddy Baumann, Nick Vincent, John Edwards & Cesar Vargas. Colin Rea, Robbie Erlin & Philip Humber look to be the top 3 starters to begin the season with AAA.
I think you can say tyson ross will be moved at the trade deadline
If he is having a dominant year and the club is way out of contention of yeah you better believe it. He would still have another year and a half of club control so while the Padres might not get back what the Braves got for Shelby Miller or what the Padres got for Kimbrel, they would still get back a pretty nice haul for him. Cashner is the one to keep and eye on, he is in his walk year so he will almost be dealt guaranteed if this year turns out to be a dud. From the early reports in spring training, he gained 15-20 positive pounds in the offseason and Andy Green found that he stopped rocking back in his delivery a few years ago which caused for his change up not dropping as much as it once did. So hopefully with these changes “no pun intended”, he can have a career year and the Padres can reap the benefit of it at the trade deadline.
If Ross is traded, I can see the cubs making a package for him if they need another pitcher.
Yes, Ross and Cashner are both candidates to be moved at the deadline this year. If Cashner does have a bounceback year, I’m kind of hoping they quickly give him to whoever offers the best package. With Ross, I think Preller will wait a long as he can so he can get close to a Miller-type return.
There is no “competition for the 8th spot” with Nick Vincent. He is out of options. And Brandon Morrow is a minor league signing who will only get called up if he proves he is healthy and will certainly be used as a starter.
Brandon Morrow is on a minor league deal. If he gets called up to the Majors, it will be as a starter.
valenzuela won his first 9 starts before the Cub beat him on national tv. i believe he ended his career in stl. the man was awesome
Lincecum is looking at signing with another NL West club? Man, if I were him I would be wanting to get as far away from Paul Goldschmidt as possible…