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Offseason In Review: San Diego Padres

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series. The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.

While the rebuilding Padres still owe a ton of money to high-priced veterans Matt Kemp and James Shields, who were traded away last season, the players on the current team will make approximately $30MM in 2017. That’s less than the salary of Clayton Kershaw, who they’ll face off against on Opening Day and likely several more times during the season. It’s no surprise that they’re the favorite to land the No. 1 pick in the 2018 Amateur Draft, but that’s all part of the plan.

Major League Signings

Notable Minor League Signings

Trades And Claims

Rule 5 Draft

Extensions

  • 1B Wil Myers: Six years, $83MM, plus $20MM club option in 2023 ($1MM buyout)
  • 2B/3B Yangervis Solarte: Two years, $7.5MM, plus $5.5MM club option in 2019 ($750K buyout) and $8MM club option in 2020 ($750K buyout)

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

Despite having one of the best farm systems in baseball, the Padres are light on pitching prospects who are ready to contribute at the Major League level in 2017. With a talented (if largely unproven) core of young position players, led by first baseman Wil Myers, and a strong bullpen, the top priority of this offseason was to fill out the starting rotation with inexpensive veterans who can eat innings and possibly pitch well enough to draw trade interest.

At a cost of just over $8MM, they were able to fill four rotation spots for the upcoming season by signing free agents Trevor Cahill, Jhoulys Chacin, Clayton Richard and Jered Weaver to one-year deals. This rotation won’t make them a contender or even a .500 team. But each has experienced a good level of Major League success and should be able to keep games from getting out of hand on a consistent basis. At least that’s what the Padres are hoping for.

Cahill was once on his way to being one of the better young pitchers in baseball—he finished 9th in the AL Cy Young race in 2010—but his career quickly went south. He bounced back in 2016 with a terrific season out of the ’pen for the World Champion Cubs and now the Padres are giving the 29-year-old a chance to prove he can maintain that success while returning to a starting role. Chacin, also 29 years old and a once-promising pitching star for the Rockies, is trying to resurrect his career with a return to the NL West. He had a strong finish to the 2016 season (0.75 ERA over last four starts) and has a strong track record against the Padres’ division opponents. Richard signed with the Padres late last season after being released by the Cubs and impressed with a 2.52 ERA over 53.2 innings. He has not started more than nine games in a season since 2013, the last year of a four-season stint with the Padres. In Weaver, the Padres brought in a former ace who is trying to succeed with a low-80’s fastball.

Luis Perdomo, a Rule 5 success story in 2016, will be the No. 5 starter, although he’ll likely have an innings limit after logging less than 150 innings as a rookie. Former prospects Jarred Cosart, Tyrell Jenkins and Zach Lee could also work their way into the mix at some point, as will rookies Dinelson Lamet and Walker Lockett. The Padres’ pair of elite pitching prospects, Anderson Espinoza and Cal Quantril, are likely slated for High-A and won’t reach San Diego anytime soon.

The team’s highly suspect rotation will likely be one of, if not the worst, in baseball. But when they do hand a lead over to the bullpen, as rare as that might be, the Padres should be able to hold on for the win on most occasions. If Carter Capps can return to his pre-injury form—he had a 1.16 ERA, 2.0 BB/9 and 16.8 K/9 in 31 innings in 2015 before an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery—the Padres could have themselves quite an effective group of late-inning arms. Along with Capps, who is expected to start the season on the DL, closer Brandon Maurer and lefty setup men Ryan Buchter and Brad Hand will all be highly-coveted by playoff contenders and could prove to be valuable trade chips in July. Veteran Craig Stammen, signed to a Minor League contract in the offseason, could also end up attracting trade interest if his spring performance (11.2 IP, ER, 12 K) is any indication of a return to form.

While the Padres are mostly sticking with their young position players, they did make one notable offseason addition in veteran Erick Aybar, who came to camp on a Minor League deal and ended up beating out Luis Sardiñas for the starting shortstop job. He’ll be yet another one-year stop-gap—Clint Barmes and Alexei Ramirez were the team’s Opening Day shortstops in 2015 and 2016, respectively—as Preller continues his search for the team’s shortstop of the future.

Aybar’s double-play partner will be Yangervis Solarte, who is shifting over from third base, while Ryan Schimpf (.533 slugging percentage in 330 MLB plate appearances) and former 1st Round draft pick Cory Spangenberg are competing for time at the hot corner. Top prospects and NL Rookie of the Year candidates Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe, who each had late-season MLB auditions in 2016, are expected to step into regular roles in the Padres’ outfield with Jabari Blash, Alex Dickerson—once he returns from the disabled list—and Travis Jankowski each getting plenty of opportunities to prove that they should be a part of the team’s future.

Behind the plate, Padres fans will finally get to see Austin Hedges, one of the most highly-touted defensive catching prospects in recent memory, on a regular basis. After spending 2015 as Derek Norris’ backup and most of last season in the minors, he’ll get the bulk of playing time in 2017 with Norris out of the picture, Christian Bethancourt splitting time between the bench and the bullpen, and 20-year-old Rule 5 draftee Luis Torrens expected to mostly watch and learn, having never played a game above Low-A ball.

More analysis after the break …

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Notable Roster Decisions: Friday

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As Spring Training draws to a close, the final determinations about each team’s roster will be continue to come into focus. Here are some of the day’s more notable roster decisions…

  • Prized righty Tyler Glasnow will take the final spot in the Pirates rotation, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. He had been competing with Trevor Williams, who’ll head to the bullpen, Adam Berry of MLB.com adds on Twitter. With southpaw Wade LeBlanc also taking a job, that seems to set the stage for Rule 5 pick Tyler Webb to hit the waiver wire.
  • The Giants have nailed down their bench and rotation, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Aaron Hill and Chris Marrero will round out the bench. The veteran Hill figures to share the infield reserve duties with Conor Gillaspie, while Marrero will surprisingly open the season as a part of a left field platoon with the left-handed-hitting Jarrett Parker. Meanwhile, Matt Cain will keep a rotation spot, though Ty Blach will also make the club as a reliever — where he could often spell Cain in lengthier outings.
  • With injuries and young arms entering the picture, the Rockies’ pitching plans were interesting to watch this spring. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets, the team will roll with lefty Kyle Freeland and righties Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez to fill out their starting staff. It seems likely that the former two will open the year in the rotation, with Marquez heading to the pen and staying on hand if a need arises.

Click to read earlier updates …

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Reds Release Desmond Jennings

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The Reds have released veteran outfielder Desmond Jennings, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Twitter. It was already clear that Jennings wouldn’t head north with the MLB club.

Jennings, 30, had signed a minors deal that would have paid him $1.5MM had he cracked the roster. But he didn’t do enough in the Cactus League to induce the team to clear a 40-man spot to keep him. Jennings hit .195/.300/.415 with two home runs and two steals in his 18 games of action.

Once a solid regular with the Rays, Jennings has battled injuries over the past two seasons and hasn’t been effective when he has been able to take the field. From 2011 through 2014, though, he slashed .249/.327/.402, hit 47 homers, and swiped 86 bags while playing a solid center field in Tampa Bay.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/31/17

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the game:

  • Utilityman Munenori Kawasaki is heading back to Japan after inking a deal with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, his former NPB club, as Nikkan Sports reports (Japanese language link). The 35-year-old has enjoyed an interesting stint in North America, drawing plenty of attention for his clown prince role in the dugout. But he hasn’t played all that much, particularly over the past two seasons. If this is it for Kawasaki stateside, he’ll stand on a .237/.320/.289 slash line with one single dinger over 738 plate appearances.
  • Righty Mark Montgomery has landed a minor-league deal with the Cardinals after being released by the Yankees, Josh Norris of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). The 26-year-old has battled control problems at times, but has also shown his share of promise. Last year, over 45 2/3 innings in the upper minors, he worked to a 2.56 ERA with 12.4 /9 against 4.3 BB/9 while allowing only 31 hits.
  • The Indians released slugger Wily Mo Pena, the team announced. The 35-year-old hasn’t played in the majors since 2011, but had been quite productive during a stint in Japan. Over four years with three different NPB clubs, he slashed .264/.355/.460 with 71 long balls. Pena did not play last year and didn’t get much of a look this spring; it’s not clear at this point what his future intentions are.
  • Plenty of other players have also been set free by organizations that do not have anywhere to put them. Among them, the Braves have released first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. He has put up big numbers at times, most recently in the Venezuelan winter league, but has yet to receive a shot at the majors. Also hitting the open market, after spending camp with the Rangers, is righty Anthony Carter. (Also per Steve, via Twitter.) The 30-year-old, who’s also looking to stamp a ticket to the majors for the first time, did at least show that he’s back to health. And seven-year MLB veteran southpaw James Russell followed Pena out the door. He was cut loose today by the Indians, per a club announcement.

Giants Release Jimmy Rollins

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The Giants have released veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). The decision was reached after the organization consulted with the veteran, who had already been told he would not make the Opening Day roster.

It’s not clear what’ll be next for the 38-year-old, who struggled at the plate during camp. He will “take a little time” to weigh whether to continue playing, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

Rollins, a 17-year MLB veteran, had already posted two straight seasons with middling offensive production, and wasn’t able to find a home last year after being released in mid-season by the White Sox. That said, perhaps another organization will end up with a need at an opportune moment. Rollins would surely represent a respect veteran addition to any roster, having compiled over 10,000 career plate appearances and 49 fWAR/46 rWAR since he first cracked the bigs way back in 2000.

Nationals Outright Clint Robinson

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MARCH 31: Robinson has accepted an assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers, the club announced.

MARCH 28: The Nationals have placed first baseman Clint Robinson on outright waivers, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. That opens a 40-man spot and also seemingly resolves the competition between Robinson and recent signee Adam Lind, who’ll presumably back up Ryan Zimmerman at first base, function as a lefty bench bat, and perhaps even see some time in the corner outfield.

This had long seemed the likely result, as the Nats have little use for both Robinson and Lind, the latter of whom had secured a guaranteed contract over the winter and has a much longer track record of MLB success. Whether or not the organization will end up with an opportunity to hold onto Robinson in the upper minors remains to be seen, but for now the team will allow a more versatile player to take the final bench role. It seems that outfielder Michael Taylor and infielder Wilmer Difo are battling for the final job.

Robinson, 32, had gone to the major league plate just 14 times before he joined the Nats in 2015. But he won a job in camp and ended up playing a significant role for the club. Over 352 plate appearances that year, he slashed a robust .272/.358/.424 with ten home runs while recording only 52 strikeouts against 37 walks. But Robinson produced more soft contact and less line drives last year, slumping to a .235/.305/.332 slash that just wasn’t enough, particularly given his lack of value on the bases and in the field.

Opening Day Roster Tracker 2017

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Having a difficult time keeping up with all of the recent roster-related news as teams look to set their Opening Day rosters?  Roster Resource has got you covered.

Below, I’ve linked to depth charts, which include an Opening Day projection, for each of the 30 teams. Unsettled rosters spots are listed in parentheses. “Bench” or “Bullpen” means that there are likely 1-2 spots that are still open. “ROSTER SET” means that a team has settled on the 25-man roster, barring any last-minute injuries or transactions.

Braves Outright Kevin Chapman

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The Braves have outrighted lefty Kevin Chapman off the 40-man roster, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to report on Twitter. He had been fighting for a pen spot after being claimed recently off waivers.

With Chapman’s departure from the roster picture, it seems that the final call comes down to out-of-options Chaz Roe and just-signed veteran David Hernandez. Atlanta could carry either or both of those righties to open the season.

Though he’s obviously seen as an intriguing talent, Chapman has long struggled with his control, having never finished a season as a pro with less than four walks per nine innings. And though he has compensated for that with a healthy strikeout rate in the upper minors, that hasn’t carried through in his 55 total MLB frames. Chapman also struggled last year at Triple-A, compiling a 4.87 ERA in 61 innings.

White Sox Outright Rymer Liriano, Giovanni Soto

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The White Sox have outrighted outfielder Rymer Liriano and lefty Giovanni Soto, the team announced (via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, on Twitter). Both players cleared waivers and were assigned to Triple-A.

With four open spots on the 40-man roster, the club has the room needed to add non-roster invitees Cody Asche, Anthony Swarzak, and Geovany Soto (not to be confused with the similarly named reliever), Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago tweets. If those three make the active roster, as expected, the organization could have another spot to play with as teams around the league tweak their own rosters.

Drew Smyly Out Six To Eight Weeks With Flexor Strain

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Mariners left-hander Drew Smyly has been diagnosed with a flexor strain in his left arm and will miss the first six to eight weeks of the regular season, tweets Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. In his place, left-hander Ariel Miranda will step into the Seattle rotation and start the team’s fourth game of the year, Dutton adds.

Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times notes that Seattle doesn’t think surgery will ultimately be necessary for Smyly, but the left-hander will head out for second and third opinions on the injury from different doctors in order to be sure (Twitter links).

The loss is, obviously, a dreadful blow for the Mariners to suffer so close to Opening Day. Smyly was utterly dominant when pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and was expected to play a significant role in the Mariners’ rotation in 2017.

While he’s coming off a dismal 4.88 ERA in 175 1/3 innings with the Rays last season, Smyly averaged 8.6 strikeouts and just 2.5 walks per nine innings pitched in that time as well. He’s demonstrated improved strikeout and walk rates with Tampa Bay over the past two seasons and, as an extreme fly-ball pitcher moving to the spacious Safeco Field with what looks to be a terrific outfield defense, was viewed by many (myself included) as a potential breakout candidate this year.

With Smyly on the shelf, the Mariners’ rotation will consist of Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, James Paxton, Miranda and offseason acquisition Yovani Gallardo (who, like Smyly, is hoping for a rebound campaign in his new environs). Seattle picked up Miranda in the trade that sent Wade Miley to the Orioles last season, and Miranda enjoyed success down the stretch with the M’s (3.88 ERA in 58 innings — albeit with less-encourgaing peripheral stats). As such, they won’t be plugging a complete unknown into the starting five, but Miranda is nonetheless a step down in terms of what can be reasonably expected out of that rotation slot.

Miranda is hardly the only depth option the Mariners have, however. On the contrary, GM Jerry Dipoto made a point of adding a number of starters with big league experience to the 40-man roster this winter, picking up Dillon Overton, Rob Whalen and Chris Heston on the trade market. Should Miranda falter, or should another starter fall to an injury, any of that bunch could conceivably step into the Seattle rotation as well.

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