The Padres have agreed to terms with competitive lottery Round B pick Reggie Lawson to a well-above-slot bonus, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports on Twitter. The right-hander will receive a $1.9MM bonus that dwarfs the $905,900 slot allocation that came with the 71st overall selection.
San Diego was always expected to put a creative draft together with five selections before the start of the third round. The Friars saved a major portion of the pool value of the 24th overall choice, Hudson Potts, and have gone about redistributing it since. The Pads also went around $1MM over-slot for another high school righty in Mason Thompson. Among its other top selections, the team has still yet to agree to terms with Florida outfielder Buddy Reed.
Lawson, who hails from California, has shown a big fastball at a young age, though MLB.com’s prospect analysts suggest that his stuff hasn’t yet progressed as scouts hoped. They rated him as the 100th-best draft-eligible prospect, noting the evident upside but also the risk.
Other evaluators were more optimistic. ESPN.com rated him 63rd and Baseball America had him 56th. They pin their hopes on Lawson’s athleticism and quick arm, noting that he’s shown flashes of the kind of ability that’s normally found at the top of the board. San Diego obviously concurred, and paid up to keep Lawson from honoring his commitment to Arizona State University.
The longer I get to see Preller in the GM job, the less sure I am that he has any idea what he is doing. Trading for the highest paid and at the same time worst RF in baseball was a questionable move and they have gotten less and less logical since.
Oh yea 23hrs 100rbis in 2015 sounds about right for worst RF in baseball
You forgot the fact that he makes an out in 3 out of 4 plate appearances and is the worst defensive OF in the Majors.
i’ll take him every day over heyward and win three out of every four.
wow that was a dumb thing to say tycobb016. kemp is nowhere near heyward. no argument
right. Kemp is FAR more productive than Heyward.
Kemp is awful He can’t field his position. He can’t run anymore (zero Sb attempts this season). he gets on base 25% of the time, which is approximately equal to a pitcher batting. He has drawn 5 walks this season. Oh, sure, he hits a home run now and again, but Kemp. Just. Isn’t. Good. But hey, only 75 million dollars more to pay him.
Defense counts in baseball, Lance. A run prevented is as good as a run created (and Kemp isn’t preventing or creating runs anyway).
heyward sucks. he cant/doesnt hit. war is overrated.war is based on pretend, what if, rearranging of actual events. do you watch the game anymore? get your face out of the computer and start watching the game again. my dwad grandmother can still see that kemp is a better player than heyward. defense is nice. hitting is much more important, especially when youre standing in the batters box.
sounds like you are dumping on kemp because the team is a failure. kemp is a professional hitter. i would rather him in the box than a defensive specialist like heyward. as far as a guy like heyward, i compare him to maybe Rusney Castillo, good d, can run a little. but a guy like heyward castillo kiermeier fuld, dime a dozen. when i need a hit im calling kemps name not a defensive specialists name. thank you.
You need a hit, so you’re calling the guy batting 240? Okay.
do you know how to read , davey?? i said i would call on kemp before i would call on a defensive specialist like heyward castillo kiermierer fuld. amd heywards contract way worse than Kemps. dont be a crybaby. padres suck. the gm tried. doesnt always work out but at least he tried. in chicago we are stuck with reinsdorph until he dies. be happy with what you have. at least you dont have Rick Hahn and Robin Ventura. thank you
Davey? Kemp is terrible. Padres are terrible. White Sox are at least in a race for a postseason spot. When I lived in Chicago they won the World Series. Padres are nowhere near that. They are at bare minimum five years away from contending.
Heyward, btw, is way way better than Kemp.
LMAO. You really thnk either of those are a measure of value for a player? Kemp has the worst WAR in RF last season and is 2nd worst this year. His defense is atrocious at best. He is below replacement level in overall value, offense and defense combined, this season meaning that the average AAA RF is worth as much or more to us in wins and losses as Kemp is. He is the worst everyday RF in baseball.
the Pads knew Kemp wasn’t going to win a GG when they made the trade. His job is to drive in runs and he got 100rbi’s last year and if he stays healthy, will drive in 100+ again with 30+ HR’s. He’s NOT Hank Aaron or Roberto Clemente. But good defense with a corner outfielder or corner infielder is just a bonus. You need offence from those positions. You look defense first for positions like catcher and shortstop. Maybe the Cubs figure they carry Heyward’s poor offensive production. That’s for each team to decide. i agree with tycobb about war. there’s only two stats in baseball that count: runs scored and runs allowed. kemp drives in runs—-something sadly lacking for the padres the last few years.
Yes, runs allowed matters. And because of Kemp we have way more runs allowed than we should. He also makes an out in 3 out of every 4 plate appearances.
way more ?? how many is way more?? you should be happy to have a fine hitter like kemp on the team. kemp and myers thats it. would you rather have a defensive wizard like Heyward or Kiermeier?? everyone makes diving catches in todays game. get off the WAR and start watching the game again. if you look up WAR here are some of the words that are used in explaining it- ESTIMATE, INFER, EXTRAPOLATE, ROUGHLY, VARIABLES, ADJUSTMENT, PARK FACT, you are missing a great game.
Yes, I would MUCH rather have Heyward or Kiermeier than Kemp.
I do watch the game and Kemp looks straight up UGLY in RF.
and out of 20 trips to the plate, Kemp makes an out 15 times. a 300 hitter makes an out 14 out of 20 times. He’s also going to drive in 100+ runs..again…for a horrible offensive team. Kemp isn’t playing because of defense—he’s there for power and driving in runs. Success.
Yeah but over the course of a season that’s a lot of extra outs made by Kemp. RBI’s aren’t the end-all-be-all that you’re pretending they are.
Also the worst defensive outfielder in baseball and the next worst guy isn’t even close.
Failure.
Runs and RBI’s are in indeed so important because they mean the most important thing: RUNS SCORED for a team. The Pads problem is, they’re such a bad hitting team. They were shut out 10 times and allowed one or fewer runs 7 times this season. 7 runs in 17 games….UGH. I know some folks in here don’t like Kemp, but he IS one of the few bright spots again in a dismal season. I guess SD can always get Veneble back to improve the defense, though IF defense in a corner outfield position is that important.
Yes, runs scored are important and because of Kemp the opposing team is scoring so many more runs.
Venable is better than Kemp. Yep. Kemp’s defense is so bad that I can honestly say that. Just watch. Whoever trades for Kemp will ONLY play him in the outfield in an emergency.
Let’s see, Venable’s best year with Pads: 22 HR’s and 53 rbi. Kemp in 2015: 23/100. Kemp’s defense cost Pads 47 runs?
Kemp’s current 2016 production: 15/51.
Sure, Venable is my choice too. And all of those teams were wrong this past offseason, when they didn’t give the guy Big Bucks, after he was released by Texas. Heck, what do they know?
Ryan, you like to use superlatives in your comments, such as “he’s the worse” fielder, etc. Can you backup your comments with specific, tangible, facts? Not “metrics” which are good in fantasy ball or video games, but “real” ball games. How many runs per game has Kemp cost the team, which could’ve been prevented by another player?
And, let’s not defer and use the $$$ factor to argue your point. That’s a different issue altogether.
how many runs has kemp given up ?? i have come to the conclusion that you dont know what you are talking about, west coast. venable over kemp.?? come on. what do you have against offense.? kemp is the padre allstar this year. maybe myers too.
You would rather have a 33rbi guy instead of a 100 rbi guy in RF? REALLY? ROFL!
Sigh, some people will just never learn.
It’s pretty obvious what Preller has done. He shipped out the old regimes prospects that did not do enough to produce major league talent at a sufficient enough clip.
He sold high on a lot of guys that really havent proven their worth yet.
Aside from Turner and Ross Preller really gave up nothing of value in trades. Even then Turner and Ross for Wil Myers has seemed to work out in his favor with the offensive production Myers has displayed the past 2 years that comes with couple more years of team control. He could net top prospects for the Padres himself if he is indeed dealt at the deadline or over winter.
Im pretty sure Padres fans are happier having margot, allen, asjuae, guerrera, sanchez, lauer, thompson, lawson, and if they manage to sign bishop or carter with extra money from deals he’s saved on.
24- sanchez under by 1.1912 million.
25- lauer under by 159.9 thousand
114- lucchesi under by 421.2 thousand.
144- bachar under by 40.3 thousand
174- stillman under by 242.2 thousand
234- scheckler under by $21.9 thousand
264- scholtens under 168.9 thousand
Thats 2.2456 million saved on those signings which he put towards above slot deals with quantril thompson and lawson. They cost 2.345845 million. That means with those signings the padres are over by 100,245. They had $13,319,600. 5% of that is 665,980 over slot money without penalty. That leaves preller 565,735 to work with to get guys signed.
He’s doing what he was brought in to do. Accumilate young talent. He’s done so the past 2 drafts and is expected to hit the IFA period hard.
I agree with your assessment….except I doubt they’ll have the money to sign bishop or carter. It would seem Reed and White would command the remain amount of the bonus pool. If they somehow sign Reed and White to well under slot deals they seemingly still would fall short of what they need.
You are forgetting about Cam Maybin, who had a good season with Atlanta last season and is hitting well this season, albeit he hasn’t played a lot after having his hand broken in spring training on a HBP. Maybin is younger than any of the Padres’ starting outfielders and can actually play center, which nobody on the current roster can claim (maybe Jankowski?)
It’s off-topic, but Kemp wasn’t the worst move Preller made. Kemp just isn’t the star of a team, but along with his poor defense will give 25 or so HR, 100 or so RBI’s and .750 OPS. He also hit the first cycle in Padres history so he will always be remembered for that.
They gave up Grandal, Zack Efflin and Joe Weiland. Was glad to see Grandal go and his poor season along with arguing with teammates reiterates that sentiment. Efflin intrigued me, but we’ll see how he does after his rough start. Weiland is already gone so in all the Padres didn’t give up a ton.
Let’s just say it was no Rizzo for Cashner deal which the Padres previous GM blew.
The Kemp trade would be acceptable if Kemp was making as much # as Grandal and Eflin but he’s making $21.5m a year through 2019.
what difference does the amount of money Kemp makes to you? It’s not your money. Kemp IS producing the type of numbers SD should have expected when they signed him.
1. It makes a difference because the money could be better spent on younger, better players.
2. And those numbers he is producing aren’t nearly worth what he is being paid.
1. are you telling me the Padres can’t sign their draft picks because of Kemp’s salary?
2. What “younger, better players” are available in FA’s next fall? Anyone there going to hit 30hr and drive in 100 runs? Bautista? Encarnascion? Cespedes? All will cost more than Kemp and are older. except for Cespedes, who is one year younger.
3. Why did the Pads got Kemp? You know who played RF before Kemp? Will Venable…8-33 .224. Maybe he was better defensively but do you REALLY want those kind of numbers again?
4. “Worth” is relative. Harper may land a contract over $300 million. Would he be “worth” that money? Is Price worth the $$$ he’s getting? Or Grienke? That’s the market at work. Kemp is producing the numbers the Padres should have expected when they traded for him.
5. Is Kemp holding up someone in the minors who can come in and do better? Is it worth it for SD to pay someone else to get rid of him? I live in DFW area and if you want to see somone who ISN’T producing the numbers the Rangers expected, it’s Prince Fielder.
1. They could use the money they’re paying him to sign IFA’s.
2. See above.
3. Venable is a better outfielder than Kemp. Why? Defense.
4. A replacement level player isn’t worth $21m. End of story!
5. Yup. Hunter Renfroe and Alex Dickerson.
All I know is 3 years from now Preller will look like either the biggest genius or biggest idiot on this planet.
Do you think that the players he is drafting today can make much of an impact on the team in just 3 years? We know that few if any of the players in our system can. Maybe Renfroe, maybe Asuaje, maybe Margot. We know that Kemp, Upton, Ramirez and Norris can’t and will all be gone by 2020. Myers will be a free agent in 2020 so if he plays up to his ability we will not be able to keep him. Everyone else we have are utility players and 4th OF. In other words bench players on most contenders. Solarte, Spangenberg, Jankowski, Dickerson, Wallace, Schimpf. Other than Ross, we don’t have anyone approaching Ace status on the team or in the system unless Lawson gains 3-4 mph of velocity. Have I missed anything?
While many of Preller’s trades dont seem to have panned out in the short term, we’ll have to see if he can recoup any value for these players this deadline or offseason. If they happen to trade Melvin Upton and start seeing the yield of the Kimbrel trade, I cant help but think that youll ignore what a success that transaction was.. As far as the draft, players like Lauer and Quantrill could definitely impact the majors within the next three years. Top prospects can move very quickly a la the Cubs and Astros. The Padres weren’t exactly in a great position when Preller took over.
Upton will be traded, jay will be traded, ramierez will be traded, rodney will be traded, villanueva will be traded, norris too. Until we see what Preller gets in deals for those players, plus long term pieces like pomeranz, myers if he trades them hard account for those players in the padres plans when they all could be sold at high value, except norris.
Well three years from now the players drafted this year and signed in the July IFA period will have either made it to the Major League level, developed into legitimate prospects or burned out.
It will probably take 5 or so years, maybe even more, to really see what kind of impact Preller has made on this team. It’s somewhat exciting, but at the same time I’m not getting all my hopes up.
The Rangers have one of the best minor league systems in baseball right now and Preller was a part of that. How much? We can’t know. As you said, it’ll be five years before we can really judge the impact on Preller’s ability to build a top notch minor league system—-something the Pads have never really had. As for getting people like Shields and Kemp, we don’t know what kind of orders Preller was under from the Friars ownership/Folwer to put a competitive team on the field. Obviously, it hasn’t worked so far. But Shields and Kemp weren’t/aren’t the problem. In fact, Shields was their best pitcher and Kemp has been their best hitter. Up to his last start, JS was pitching very well for a poor offensive team. What has happened his last four starts is puzzling. He’s just been terrible and the White Sox may wind up cutting him–and you can’t blame them. And after driving in 100 runs for a poor offensive team last year, Kemp is on target for another 100+RBI season for a team having a great deal of problems offensively. Sadly, the Padres have been one of the worst franchises in MLB since starting play nearly a half century ago. It takes time to rebuild. Ask the Rangers fans.
jeez… Hopefully they can sign Buddy. That was my favorite pick from the Padres’ draft 🙁
Buddy Reed is currently playing in the college world series, he wont sign until that commitment is over.
This is good news. Stay on topic dummies.
There’s a fascinating revisionist history here at work with regards to Preller. Yes, he made one very shrewd trade, getting two legit prospects for Kimbrel (although when he acquired Kimbrel it was not with any intention of trading him, it was to win in 2015). He got one season out of Justin Upton and maybe Hudson Potts turns into something. James Shields was awful and was traded away for nothing, with the Padres paying half the freight. Trea Turner and joe Ross would be starting for the Padres right now. Cam Maybin would be the Padres starting center fielder. Instead, San Diego is trotting out the beyond useless Alexi Ramirez and I don’t know who the #1 starter is. Drew pomeranz, I suppose, which is a nice get although he’s starting to do that thing he’s always done, which is walk everybody in sight.
Jon Jay is a nice fourth outfielder in the last year of his contract and won’t bring back much n a trade. Matt Kemp may be the worst player in baseball when you factor in his contract. He’s untradeable. Melvin Upton Jr. isn’t a bad player but has little value, again, because of his contract. The Padres are still running Alexi Amarista and the execrable Adam Rosales out daily (Rosales was once Andy Green’s roommate, apparently). Busted prospect Brett Wallace is playing almost daily, as is Yangervis Solarte, who can’t really field or hit. Derek Norris has become a useful defensive catcher who can no longer hit.
This is Preller’s team now. An above-average first baseman and then eight guys who should probably be bench players. A pitching staff that features Colin Rea and Christian Friedrich. A team OBP of 296. The fourth worst record in baseball. No farm system. Hell, Preller acquired a free pitcher this spring, Dan Straily, and then immediately released him. Straily is no great shakes but he’d be the second best pitcher on this staff. Tyson Ross isn’t going to pitch again this season, and Preller could have gotten real prospects for him this offseason. Cashner is awful.
I’m a Padres lifer – you never give up on your team, and I was born and raised in San Diego- but man, San Diego has an incredibly bleak outlook for the foreseeable future.
davidcoonce…..you being a lifelong resident of SD, I am very envious. It’s the most beautiful city in the USA. for whatever reason, the pads record has not been very good since beginning as a franchise. shields was hardly “awful”….in fact, he was the Padres best pitcher in his short time in SD. Except for that last start, he was having a pretty good season considering the team wasn’t scoring any runs for him when he pitched. But they’ve been a lousy offensive team—-which leads me to Kemp. He’s not the Padres problem. He’s produced basically what should have been expected of him when the Dodgers signed him to that contract and the Padres traded for him. He’s a good power hitter on his way to a 30Hr, 100rbi season …the second strait 100rbi season for Kemp in SD. If you think he should produce more just because of the money, that’s not realistic. FORGET THE MONEY! It’s not your money. The owners knew the dollar amounts when they made the trade. They knew he wasn’t a gold glove winner. They knew he wasn’t going to win the triple crown. He’s not going to steal bases. Kemp is who he is. Want to see bad, check out Prince Fielder, who is hitting around 200 with only 5HR’s with Texas.
kemp can hit. cheaper than stinky heyward. kemp has made two errors. i dont think he is the padres problem. if you dont like him i can understand. when the sox traded for konerko i hated the dwal and i ragged on him every chance i got. the whole time he was here.
yet, Konerko was just automatic. every year, 30hr, 100rbi. Not flashy or sexy. But steady and consistent which is what the White Sox were paying for. I’ll take that and Kemp’s production. Heyward will awe you with his body, his physical tools and may one day become the type of hitter folks have predicted of him. But right now…he’s a guy who is not going to help a team that much offensively and if you’re counting on your RF just for defense….that’s a helluva price to pay IMO for such little production.
The lack of range and horrible routes Kemp takes to the ball aren’t accounted for by errors. All the lack of errors tell you is that he makes almost every play he gets to, which isn’t many.
May I also point to other hitters in MLB history who were poor defensively and never hit for high average: Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson, Adam Dunn, Dave Kingman, Greg Luzinski, Jose Canseco, Mo Vaughn, Alfonso Soriano. Yet, all were very sought after players. Why? They produced runs!
Well if that’s the case the Padres should have no problem finding a taker for Kemp.
heyward sucks. i would much rather have a guy like kemp, pence, braun. theo and the cub is going to die with heyward batting second. heyward is well known for the wimpy rollers he hits to the second baseman. i have lived in chicago my whole life. i saw them win a pennant in ’59. i compare heyward to odibie mcdowell. he sucked too. i apoligize for saying Davey. i should have said David. kemp is dangerous hitter, love if he were in rf everyday for the sox. maybe if i watched him play every game as you do i would see the defensive shortcomings. hard to believe he is the cause of so many “runs allowed”.
whenever I hear someone say they would rather have Venable as their RF than Kemp then I have to think one of two things: 1. a person with no knowledge of baseball 2. a troll. LOL
Lol you can have Kemp for a signed Chris Sale jersey and a vintage Ozzie Guillen bobblehead.
westcoastryan, dont know how old you are but you are never too old to learn. take your time do it at your own speed. when your team is at bat, you want kemp in the batters box, not venable. dont rely on WAR to guide you. WAR is pretend, make believe fairy tale. watch the players on the field. have fun, be open minded. because kemp is a good player and way better than slugs like venable, heyward. thank you. the defense of kemp rests. over and out.