The Padres have announced their Opening Day roster, and, in an example of unusual roster management, it includes three Rule 5 Draft picks. Those three were the first three selections in the draft — the Padres got the No. 1 pick, righty Miguel Diaz, in a trade with the Twins, and the No. 2 pick, catcher Luis Torrens, in a deal with the Reds. They also took shortstop Allen Cordoba with their own pick, the third overall selection.
Diaz headed into the Rule 5 Draft as a member of the Brewers organization, while Torrens was with the Yankees and Cordoba with the Cardinals. Obviously, the Padres have no immediate plans to clear any of the three from the roster, meaning they won’t be offered back to their previous organizations anytime soon. The three will join a young Padres 25-man that includes four other players who haven’t yet turned 24: top outfield prospect Manuel Margot, infielder Luis Sardinas, righty Luis Perdomo and lefty Jose Torres.
[Related: Updated San Diego Padres Depth Chart]
Diaz will take a spot in the bullpen. Torrens will be one of four catchers listed on the roster, along with Austin Hedges, Hector Sanchez (whose contract the Padres selected today) and Christian Bethancourt. (Bethancourt can also pitch out of the bullpen.)
The Padres have also optioned infielder Cory Spangenberg to Triple-A El Paso. The idea is for him to play every day, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets, and Spangenberg missed most of the 2016 due to a quad injury. It’s perhaps worth noting, though, that Spangenberg would have given the Padres a more experienced infield option than Cordoba, who played in the short-season Appalachian League in 2016 and posted a .179/.247/.194 line in camp. Both he and Torrens stand out as highly sub-optimal roster choices for the Padres’ immediate needs. But the team’s inclusion of three Rule 5 picks suggests the Padres are more interested in protecting potential long-term assets than winning games in 2017, which perhaps should come as no surprise — the Padres don’t project to contend this season, given the weakness in their rotation and elsewhere on their roster.
To clear space on the 40-man roster for Sanchez, the Padres designated lefty Keith Hessler for assignment. The 28-year-old pitched 18 2/3 innings of relief with San Diego after arriving from Arizona via a waiver claim, and posted a 3.38 ERA, albeit with 11 walks and just nine strikeouts. The Padres also announced that they placed lefties Christian Friedrich and Buddy Baumann, righty Carter Capps and outfielder Alex Dickerson on the 10-day disabled list.
myaccount
Enjoy the season, Padres fans. I’m sorry.
statmaster96
100 losses easy
Tasman
Yet another AJ screw up!!!!!!!!
lowtalker1
You’re not a padres fan
If you were you would know the team needs a complete tear down and rebuild
Which is what they’re doing
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Exactly. This team has been in need of an actual rebuild for a while, and now they’re finally going to be doing it the right way.
dvm1
Don’t worry about us. Worry about your own team. We’re more excited about the youth vs. the MLB team. We knew this was gonna happen.
halos101
baseball version of the sixers as far as all out tanking
bernbabybern
The Padres are going to keep a 20 year old A ball catcher? Seriously? Did Cashman sleep with Preller’s gf or something?
casualatlfan
They might as well see what he’s capable of, since this season’s going to be a bad one for them anyway. Obviously won’t make for an exciting team to watch, but gives them another option for catching depth if they keep him on for the entire season. It’s not really something to overreact over.
Ilikesox
Name one High A ball player posting those numbers and required to be kept in MLB. It’s definitely something to question.. wake up
wil1447
Jose Fernandez did it when he was in the minors went straight from high a to the pros
teufelshunde4
ah no jose Fernandez did not go from high school ball to mlb without pitching at any levels of the minor leagues. Jose did have only 32 games & 162 ip in minor leagues which is crazy low.
Bob Feller is the only pitcher ik of that bypassed minor league at age of 17 debuted for Tribe.
disgruntledreader 2
That’s a brilliant and insightful observation, Teufel. It’s a shame it had nothing to do with what was being discussed…
lesterdnightfly
Joe Nuxhall was 15.
JKB 2
Burt Hooton too I believe. And Bob Horner?
stl_cards16 2
It is something to overreact over because it’s severely hurting the development of legitimate prospects. This is really unfortunate for those players.
sammysosa
what legitimate prospects are you referring to? we’re keep these guys because they believe they are the legitimate prospects
davidcoonce74
I think that was the point. Torrens is going to lose a year of development at a crucial time in his career because he’s not going to see much game action.
disgruntledreader 2
It didn’t kill Hedges.
davidcoonce74
We don’t know that, obviously.
Polish Hammer
A catcher that didn’t exactly light up Rookie and A ball pitchers nonetheless… :/
outinleftfield
Torrens is Hedges light. He was a top prospect in the Yankees system prior to the injury that cost him the 2015 system. He may already be Hedges equal defensively. He needs to learn to hit, but if he does he is a starting catcher somewhere. I don’t see any reason they would not hold on to him.
disgruntledreader 2
No. He’s a barely adequate receiver right now.
JKB 2
Yes bernbaby the Padres will do that since its the smart move! You have no idea why since you do not understand the Rule 5 draft and rebuilding.
GuruK
San Diego’s sports franchises have taken a beating recently. Good think the weather is great.
A'sfaninUK
Recently? Talk about a cursed city.
Baseball Legend
Absolutely no idea what they are doing whatsoever.
halos101
rebuilding..
LADreamin
They can’t win so they might as well lose. A rebuilding teams only objective is to accumulate assets, that’s it. That’s what they’re doing. It’s not rocket science. They’re doing what the cubs did 5 years ago. Fire sale, tank, draft blue chip prospects, go all in on the international market, rinse and repeat. It will pay off better than hovering around .500 every year, having to go up against two juggernauts in the division.
JKB 2
As the White Sox learned
Travis’ Wood
Lol @baseball legend, they know exactly what they’re doing. Keeping 3 rule 5 guys when you have zero chance on contending is smart. Preller has stockpiled an insane amount of assets in the last two years bringing their farm system from bottom 10 to top 5.
Tasman
Yeah, so he can trade them away!
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Not really.
The only players Preller will trade are those whom he knows are not part of the team’s long term future. For example, any of the projected staring rotation or the bullpen are fair game, but guys like Quantrill and Espinoza are definitely not.
davidcoonce74
Except, for some reason, he extended a 30-year old who can’t play defense just this offseason. So who knows what he’s thinking.
beersy
The deal Solarte signed actually makes him a better trade candidate.
thebighurt619
You make it sound like solarte is the worst defensive 3B in the league. He’s not. He plays passable defense. Not gonna be a good or elite defender, but its passable.
Also, I think the Solarte deal with partially influenced by the loss of his wife, which is fine with me. Give the guy a little stability and reward him for his hard work for the club.
It was a win win deal for the padres. Also, you seem to have this notion 30 is somehow a bad number in baseball. You do realize baseball players are still prime in their 32 33 seasons right? This isn’t football where 30 is end of career for RBs.
JKB 2
Then again it was bottom ten because of Preller
grandplatinum
I like what the padres are doing, might as well see what you can get from 3 prospects that they got for pretty much free then give money to old free agents past there prime on 1 year deals just to fill roster space.
Brixton
Cordoba hit .352 over his last 100 rookie ball games or so, Torrens is supposed to be a great defensive catcher, and Diaz throws really hard. All of them are really raw, but the upside is there, even if it takes 2-3 years to get them there.
davidcoonce74
That was, of course, Cordoba’s 4th year in rookie ball. I’m sure there are players wh have gone on to major league careers after spending four years in rookie ball, but I bet the list is pretty short.
Here’s a funny comparison: in the four years it’s taken Cordoba to leave rookie ball, Kris Bryant has won: college player of the year, minor league player of the year, rookie of the year and NL MVP.
thebighurt619
So you’re saying no minor leaguer ever should think about playing baseball anymore cause they don’t live up to what kris bryant has done in 4 years? That’s pretty stupid to compare anyone to Kris Bryant. Kris Bryant is an elite talent like Mike Trout and most teams dont fill rosters with elite talent like that.
Who cares if its took him 4 years. Hes still only 2o meaning he started in rookie ball at 17 and was probably one of the youngest players in rookie ball and him struggling is somehow bad to be struggling at 17 and 18? If he was 23 or 24 still in rookie ball even A ball struggling you’d have a point, but 20. You’re grasping for straws to tear the kid down for no legitimate reason and its pathetic. TWENTY.
You know how many people are older than 20 in Tri City? 14
You know how many people are older than 20 in Fort Wayne? 18
You know how many people are older than 20 in Lake Elsenore? Over 20
You know how many on the AZL roster? 14 and rest are 20 19 18…….DSL roster? 7 over 20 and the rest are 20, 19, 18
Cordoba is right around where he should be in terms of development at 20, maybe slightly behind. But 20 going to a ball as you can see padres have plenty of players over 20 in a ball
A'sfaninUK
lmao “hit .352 in 100 rookie ball ABs”
Brixton
rookie ball games, rather, which is a much larger sample size lol. It’s atleast optimistic.
davidcoonce74
In his fourth year in rookie ball By then he’d better have something figured out.
stl_cards16 2
I like Cordoba, but completely punting a year of development on him is unfortunate. I hope this is just leverage for them to work out a trade so they can option him to the minors.
outinleftfield
He’ll play in San Diego. I can’t think of a better way to learn than to be around big league players.
lesterdnightfly
“Playing in San Diego” and “being around big-league players” is a contradiction in terms.
davidcoonce74
Yeah, I’m sure he’ll learn a ton being around a bunch of other rule 5 guys and marginal major-league players who are just trying to make their half-million and avoid being sent to the minors.
I Believe We Can Win
Actually learning from Eric Aybar, who has been successful in this league for many years, actually does have some value.
In case you forgot, fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4082&posit… Aybar had some really good seasons for the Angels. While he may not be what he use to, it doesn’t mean a player like Cordoba won’t learn something from Aybar.
Also you have hard workers in Schimpf and Solarte who blossomed late in their respective careers, but do have some stuff to teach Cordoba.
Cordoba may not be learning from someone like Cano or Kinsler, but veterans on the roster do have stuff to pass along
Comment Section Mod
The rule five guys will lead them to the postseason
lesterdnightfly
The LLWS?
Hey, Williamsport is nice in the late summer.
Comment Section Mod
They’ll get them there but I doubt they would win
A'sfaninUK
They are all Roberto Clemente.
jaysfan77
If there is one team in baseball who deserves a winning season with some playoffs, it’s gotta be San Diego. Even in the Tony Gwynn days some of those teams weren’t all that great.
lowtalker1
Or Montreal, which ever is easier
pplama
Now that’s how you Tank For Beer.
No messin’ around.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Why would you carry 4 catchers?
The Ghost of Bobby Bonilla
Because Preller. This is an obvious tank job – he must see someone he really wants with the #1 overall pick in 2018.
stl_cards16 2
Well they are all probably better at pitching than 3/5ths of their rotation
bleacherbum
Mainly because 2 out of the 4 aren’t going to catch, Bethancourt is going to pitch, play utility infield and outfield and catch only in emergency situations. While Torrens will be used even sparingly, he minus well have a clipboard like a backup QB. He will only play in extra innings of late games, etc.
davidcoonce74
That use of Torrens sounds like the exact wrong way to develop a player into something useful.
outinleftfield
Torrens will get at least a start a week. 40 starts would be a good projection. Look at how they used him in spring training for an indication of how he will be used in regular season.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
Because Preller is chomping at the bit for that first overall pick.
outinleftfield
They aren’t. Bethancourt will be a reliever only. With their starting rotation you can see why they would keep 8. Why they would be willing to lose Hessler is an interesting question. He looked good.
marinest21 2
It’s crazy how radically Preller has changed the Padres in a mere matter of months:
1) 2015 – sell off the farm/shell out a ton of money to “upgrade” the MLB roster and win now.
After that predictably backfired:
2) 2015 trade deadline-present – Trade off anyone who has value to rejuvenate the farm system, pay the MLB-piper nearly $40 million in taxes from overspending in the International Pool., and most recently, keeping THREE Rule 5 picks on the MLB roster, all of whom have never played above A ball, and one never playing above rookie ball.
It’s definitely entertaining, but oh boy are we going to be bad for the next couple of years. Here’s hoping it pans out.
halos101
my guess is that he probably did the 2015 trades knowing that he wanted to build his own farm system
padreforlife
I
beersy
Exactly. He came in, kept the few prospects he liked and dealt everyone else. Us Padre fans have to hope his eye for talent is as advertised. 2019 can’t come soon enough.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Should have kept Trea Turner
padreforlife
Only Padres would keep disaster of a GM Preller
lowtalker1
Best gm the padres have had in a long time
First time a complete rebuild has happened
So suck it up buttercups
padreforlife
Ha that’s good one! Trea Turner, Grandal, 80 mil owed to players not on team. Max Fried, Jedd Gyorko. Wasting $ on Josh Johnson and now Cahill and Weaver ok kid
lowtalker1
He didn’t waste any money on Johnson
Cahill really? Go walk into in coming traffic
Weaver… yeah questionable but he is banking on him coming in strong
Grandal? Padre players didn’t like him
Trea turner only bad suspect that got away
A lot of that roster stuff was mike dees call
Prellar calling is international scouting and drafting
Go home kid you’re drunk
Comment Section Mod
When you use jedd gyorko and giving peanuts to pitchers as examples, it doesn’t help your case. Peeler has done a fine job and has made one of the top farm systems in the entire league which will lead to future success.
lowtalker1
Exactly
Jay was their number one summer trade to make until geo came in too close and broke his hand. Just bad luck of draw. Jay would have gotten some nice pieces
davidcoonce74
Preller spent 11 million dollars on Josh Johnson, btw.
lowtalker1
Wrong, Prellar spent 1 mil on Josh Johnson
He was signed during the winter of 13′ prior to Prellar for 8 mil and he came in august of 14
lesterdnightfly
Peeler?
Anthony Peeler is running the Padres? Aren’t the San Diego Clippers around?
SixFlagsMagicPadres
That was Josh Byrnes who spent a bunch of money on Josh Johnson to have surgery. And the Padres will not regret getting rid of Gyorko. Preller wants to rebuild the team from the ground up, and is doing things his way (using money smartly to fill out the rotation for cheap in a throw-away year). Hence, the emphasis on the International market and the build-up of the farm system.
There’s a reason Mike Dee was shown the door, while Preller is still here.
beersy
I just hope ownership lets Prellervand Co. spend some more money on Luis Robert.
davidcoonce74
Okay, my mistake. The Padres spent almost 10 million dollars on Josh Johnson, who never threw a pitch for them Is that better?
lowtalker1
If is he declared the period
Which he should be
The best place for him to go is sd. With the Latin/Cuban influence they have now… it’s a win/win for both sides
halos101
trea turner was a big mistake. The salaries that weaver and cahill have aren’t “wasn’t money”. gyorko and fried are not great and josh johnson was before preller. Only valid point was trea turner mistake
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
We’ve already established that Preller’s only BIG mistakes were trading away Trea Turner, trading for Matt Kemp, signing James Shields to what was at the time the biggest contract in franchise history only to pay half his contract to get rid of him a little over a year later and failing to trade his pending free agents at the 2015 trade deadline.
davidcoonce74
I understand this, but then why extend a 30-year old infielder who can’t field?
halos101
so true, padres need what he’s doing. Be patient pads fans
disgruntledreader 2
Jed Hoyer would like a word with you.
gopackgo
I guess they want the #1 pick in the MLB draft
lesterdnightfly
….for at least two years.
beersy
Hunter Greene and Seth Beer would look awfully nice in what ever colours the Padres are wearing in 5 years.
halos101
i cannot see greene not being a top 2 pick but your right padres would love to have him
beersy
A high school right hander 1st overall, I guess it has to happen some time, but a 1st year GM doing it would be a little surprising.
oceansnake84
4 catchers wow why do you need Hector Sanchez, when is he going to play? Oh maybe the Spanish translator is sick. Oh and as a side note lets option one of your best left handed hitters, who was a oh yeah first round pick?
kingtopher
Sanche will be the main backup catcher and first baseman.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Yeah were I Preller I would have not called up Sanchez and given that last spot to either one of Blash or Spangenberg.
SamFuldsFive
Padres fans should find a new team to root for. This one clearly doesn’t give a damn about you. Willing to throw away 162 games for someone that could end up being a Tim Beckham.
Comment Section Mod
Or Carlos Correa
lowtalker1
Or Matt bush
oceansnake84
Rather have Matt Bush than Weaver on the team
lowtalker1
Really? Only took him 12 years to get to the big leagues as a reliever and a prison stint
oceansnake84
No doubt he spent time in jail and lots of off the field issues but looking back at the draft I think he has more value now than alot of those guys he’s basically Texas’s setup man and is really good.
lowtalker1
He got lucky he got a 3rd chance. Wasted first pick should have gone number1. That was the old ownership not willing to spend so they took this guy. A guy that right after he got drafted went to dt sd and got drunk, beat the day lights out of a guy, and yelling I’m Matt fkn bush
lowtalker1
Shouldn’t
SamFuldsFive
Or Mark Appel. Would you be happy spending a year of your life watching your team lose 110 games so that you can draft a guy who sucks, while guys picked a few picks later end up MVPs? The MLB draft isn’t like the NBA. The Padres should just forfeit all their games this year.
oceansnake84
Yeah exactly and it’s not like teams needed the first pick of the draft last year to get Jason Groome who probably had the most raw tools, no point in trying to get the first pick in MLB when your going to get a top 10 anyways.
lowtalker1
They would have gotten him. Padres had a deal with him, but the bosox took him. so, the padres moved on, and the Bosox almost didn’t sign him.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Just because the Astros picked Mark Appel over Kris Bryant doesn’t mean they couldn’t have picked Kris Bryant. If they had gone with Bryant over Appel there would have been nothing the Cubs could do about it. If the Padres pick 1st, they won’t be in that situation. They will get whoever they want with no one having priority over them.
In some alternate universe where the Cubs drafted 1st and the Astros drafted 2nd, the Cubs still would have taken Bryant and the Astros still would have taken Appel and the Cubs would still be the reigning World Series champs.
davidcoonce74
Thankfully this is supposed to be a fairly deep draft, and it seems like San Diego won’t try to go cheap, like they did the last time they had the first overall pick. Certainly one reason why the Padres system got so bad over the years was their cheapness in the draft and their overall draft strategy. Of course, the one time they did spend money it was for Donovan Tate, who never made it out of A-ball, so maybe they’re a little gun-shy
thebighurt619
Yeah, thats not exactly true. Draft position affects how much money youre allowed to spend in the draft.
1st overall comes with the most allowed money while 10th comes with some percentage less than the 1st overall. Not sure exactly how they calculate how much each slot is worth, but nonetheless, having the 1st overall pick means you get 1st shot every round and get the most money instead of “hoping” your guy falls to you.
But, I do think trading 1st 10 round picks should be legal in baseball in trades made but capping the number at like no more than 20 picks in the 1st 10 rounds or something.
SixFlagsMagicPadres
This same exact strategy has happened in the past with teams like the Cubs and Astros. I’d much rather see them go through this proper rebuild than try to jimmy-rig mediocre “contending” rosters like they did for so many years.
padreforlife
Cubs are big market team who could sign a John Lester and run by HOF GM who helped swindle Padres for Rizzo.
lowtalker1
But the gm and the president came through the padres organization. They had both.. back in 05,06,07
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
There was no swindling involved. Hoyer was the Cubs’ GM then and he was just doing his job. There is only ONE person you should blame for the Rizzo trade and that person’s name is Josh Byrnes.
sammysosa
throwing it away? what chance did we have in the first place? even if they hadn’t done all the international spending they did this year and went after a bunch of free agents they still would be nowhere near as good as the Dodgers or Giants. then preller would be getting the “preller was stupid for going all in”comments again. can’t make everyone happy I guess
sammysosa
padres should just skip there pick and keep the money then cuz anyone of them could be Tim beckham right? what u talkin bout willis
mrpadre19
So if they didn’t keep these Rule 5 guys they would use the roster spots for who?
Who would take those spots?
And after you answer this please tell us how many more wins the Padres would have with those players.
Thanks
I’ll be waiting…..
thebighurt619
I like how noone has answered this question LOL.
Seriously, the padres are going to stink this year. Thus, 3 things need to happen
1. Keep the rule 5 guys. Might as well, easy way to get a prospect already somewhat developed.
2. Give guys like Solarte, Schimpf, Aybar, the entire pitching staff chances to build value and be traded off.
3. Play for the # 1 pick.
lowtalker1
No dfa for sardines ? Boooo
lesterdnightfly
“Sardines” ?
He’s trade … bait.
lowtalker1
How is he trade bait if he cannot hit nor make defensive plays
Errors throwing and fielding
halos101
i think he was making a sardine joke that actually wasn’t that bad lol
lowtalker1
Gotca
sammysosa
it was a joke because you spelled his name like his was fish food. learn how to spell their last names before you give me a breakdown of how bad he is
lowtalker1
I know how to spell his name. He plays like sardines smell.
So… your play corked bat
top dog 2
Seriously? That is the best you can come up with?
lesterdnightfly
Yes it is his best, and hardly his worst name-calling.
Keep your expectations very low in his case.
bbatardo
I’m a Padres fan and like this year better than last year. They committed to rebuild and we get to see young players developed and give their all. Might not win many but should be interesting.
MiserablePadreFan
I love what Preller is doing. I’m ready for a long summer, but I’m used to it.
padreforlife
Love it
halos101
i’m not even a padres fan but completely agree with you. I would much rather have full blown rebuild than not.
padreforlife
So the guy who buried team is one to rebuild ok
halos101
he did those trades cause he obviously didn’t value the farm system he had IMO. So yes, he’s rebuilding it the way he wants
bbgods
MLB should create a Tanking Policy. Any team determined to be intentionally losing should forfeit their first round draft pick. Padres should not be allowed to use that roster.
Comment Section Mod
It’s a good strategy though. Some teams don’t have the resources to just spend an outrageous amount of money like the Red Sox, Giants, Dodgers can so they need to find other ways to have long term success. A rebuild is the best and most effective way to do that
lowtalker1
Then the astros and cubs would not have what the have
No Correa no Bryant
beersy
Amen to that!
beersy
MLB should have instituted that rule before the Cubs tanked for years and then won the WS. Why when certain teams do a tear down it’s OK, but when others do it, it’s despicable?
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
And you should go away
sammysosa
it’s easy to make fun of the Padres this year. obviously this isn’t the optimal way to develop prospects but you have to give them credit for finding outside the box ways to aquire young prospects they like. even if they don’t “develop” normally a full year traveling with the team in the bigs and learning the ins and outs of Major League Baseball has to be worth something. say what you want about preller a shadyness last year but the guy is certainly creative and has been unwavering in the rebuilding process since the end of ’15
mrpadre19
All those years we “should” have done this and didn’t we’re the years I was unhappy to be a Padre fan.
Bringing in guys like Maddux,Piazza,Vinny Castilla etc…only to still finish 4th and draft in the teens.
THIS is how you rebuild a team that will win for a long time.
davidcoonce74
Ha! Vinny Castilla! Forgot that one. Remember when they signed Brad hawpe too? Like, apparently, nobody in San Diego understood park effects, especially in the original Mile High stadium the Rockies played in. Piazza and Maddux were actually fairly useful during their brief Padres careers.
lowtalker1
Or Jorge cantu
bleacherbum
Marcus Giles and Miguel Tejada
bleacherbum
Oh and don’t forget about Mike Cameron
davidcoonce74
Cameron was fantastic in San Diego, actually. He put up a 4.5 and 3.2 WAR season in his two years with the Padres. For comparison, Wil Myers’ 2016 was also a 3.2 WAR season.
amendoza1539
Or O-Dog!
davidcoonce74
I hate burying young guys on a bench. That delays their ability to learn. All these guys are going to be set back a year. The Padres are operating under a sort-of flawed notion – basically, all these journeyman pitchers are going to pitch well enough to trade at the deadline. First, if all of them are pitching well, the Padres might actually have a decent record, so it would be sort of odd to trade off their players. Plus, San Diego doesn’t have ten starting pitchers on their 40-man roster. If they manage to deal away their entire rotation, somebody still has to pitch. Even if you’re tanking the rules require you to have a pitcher.
matteoscher
Is it possible that one of the three Rule 5 picks is actually is able to help them this year? They took Evereth Cabrera one year from single A and he stole 25 bases and produced 2 war. Maybe Diaz can give them 70 innings with an under 4.00 Era?
kingtopher
Diaz looked pretty good this spring. The Perdomo experiment worked out really well, so if he can start in mopup duty and work with Balsley and the pitching staff hopefully he can have similar results.
thebighurt619
Might as well.
Give diaz mop up duty and try him out in the rotation like perdomo last season if bullpen isnt working.
Make torrens hedges backup and give sanchez 1B duties to spell myers.
Cordoba spells solarte.
Long season but give them chances.
Trade as much as you can come the deadline and give the people in triple A the 2nd half to prove their worth.
tannedt
What a depressing dumpster fire of a roster. 4 catchers, 6 infielders and 3 outfielders. Just bone-headed. One thing we know about Preller, he doesn’t give a damn about defense. Don’t forget they were going to play Renfroe in center this year. Two years after playing Myers in center. Just pathetic.
Send down Spangenberg, who can actually field and hit at the mlb level, and keep Torrens, Cordoba and Sardinas? Preller is just being stubborn, trying to keep all their rule 5 picks. People must be falling out of their chairs with laughter over the 4 catcher thing. And the rotation? Weaver is done, Richard and Chacin sucked this spring. 50-50 all 3 are off the roster by June. A transparent attempt to pull another Pomeranz out of the hat. Sigh, wake me when it’s July and they get rid of the 6-7 total turkeys on this roster.
thebighurt619
1. Bethancourt isn’t going to catch- he is playing a hybrid role of pitcher and OF more so than he will be actually catching, thus giving you your 4th OF
2. They were testing Sardinas in the outfield during spring. He is a super utility guy being able to fill in the outfield or in field. Thus giving you a 5th OF option
3. Spangenberg can’t stay healthy and giving schimpf and solarte opportunities to build value to trade them as both probably aren’t in the plans for the future beyond 2018 or 2019 needs to be done to maximize their value in trades.
tannedt
Bethancourt is no better than an emergency OF. Sardinas has never been able to hit and so is not really a MLB-er. I do agree with both Schimpf and Solarte being traded sometime soon.
But the Bethancourt thing is a gimmick, and Sardinas, Torrens and Cordoba are all wastes of roster spaces. Would be better to give those spots to players who are conceivably ready to play at the MLB level.
My guess is that when Dickerson is healthy he’s the 4th OF and at least one of Sardinas-Torrens-Cordoba is traded, or offered back to their prior reams after the 40 man rosters are set. Then those teams will pass due to space concerns and SD restores those players to their proper A and AA ball levels.
dvm1
This is hilarious. Everyone so worried about us poor Padres fans. We’re good with what Preller is doing.
In response to the 3 rule 5 guys, who else are they going to play that is preferable? Maybe Spangy? He needs ABs and he wasn’t going to get consistent playing time. Why not send him to AAA for 30=60 days, get his feet under him?
Blash hit some bombs and walks a fair amount, but damn, he’s the next Mark Reynolds. He would have required a 40 man spot. Let him play in AAA too.
As Padres fans, we’re good. We like what Preller is doing to build for the future. Now if we can only sign Luis Robert and really hit on the next 2-3 drafts, we should be set up for the long haul.