10:59am: The Friars have a surprising plan in place for one aspect of their early-season roster maneuvering. They’ll promote young lefty Nick Margevicius to start Saturday’s game, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter).
Margevicius, a 2017 seventh-round draft pick, has not pitched above the High-A level.
10:37am: As expected, the Padres announced today that they have selected the contract of top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. To open roster space, the club designated righty Bryan Mitchell for assignment.
While the Tatis promotion was already known, the decision to drop Mitchell is rather fascinating. The righty had seemed in line for a rotation spot despite an ugly spring showing. Instead, the Friars will carry six outfielders on their initial roster after claiming Socrates Brito yesterday.
Clearly, something has to give. It seems that the organization is opening with an unbalanced roster alignment in order to hang onto resources. Some early-season transactions seem all but inevitable; whether that’ll involve an outside acquisition or internal promotion remains to be seen.
It seems likely that Mitchell will end up clearing waivers and remaining in the organization, so this may not be the end of the line for him. But the move still represents an acknowledgement that things haven’t worked out as hoped. The San Diego organization effectively purchased his rights in a swap last winter from the Yankees, but Mitchell coughed up 44 earned runs and carried a brutal 38:43 K/BB ratio in 73 MLB frames in 2018.
Cashman is prellar’s dad
Ya what a fleecing that was…
Yeah. Blash didn’t play for the yankees
Yanks never expected Blash to play. All about the Benjamin’s baby
Yep. Jabari Blash was a non-factor in that trade. The only reason the Yankees acquired him was because the rules said they had to get something in return. They couldn’t just give the Padres Bryan Mitchell and Chase Headley for nothing.
I don’t get why the claimed Brito, I think they already had plenty of OF help on the team.
From his first season, Preller has had a history of poor – almost stupid – roster management.
You are going to like Baltimore Mr. Mitchell.
tell that to every waiver pitcher they passed on over the winter.
I wonder if they’re looking at James Shields. He already lives in San Diego. How ironic would it be for Shields and Tatis both to be on the active roster together after the trade several years ago?
Don’t forget Myers already has ties to Shields.
youtu.be/O57ReCGisds
He wasn’t in line with a rotation a lot
He was in line for a bullpen spot but there are better options with options
Wow. Those “top prospects” Logan Allen and Cal Quantrill couldn’t lock down the rotation spot, so they go with Margevicius?!?! This is a head scratcher. He’s a college pitcher, so he’s not exactly raw. But jumping him from high A ball to the majors?? Shows a real lack of confidence in Allen/Quantrill….
Service time be damned!!! I’m sure Margevicius will be sent down at some point this year to gain the extra year of control, but sending Tatis Jr. down unless he is totally bombing, will be very difficult.
Margevicius isn’t ranked among the Padres’ top 30 prospects. If they weren’t worried about the extra year on leaguewide top 100 prospects like Manuel Margot, Chris Paddack and Fernando Tatis Jr they obviously won’t worry about it on Margevicius.
Yeah, if you’re not worrying about Tatis then someone off the top 30 isn’t even going to make him blink. I think preller has to be careful with calling these guys who aren’t rule 5 eligible up too early though. When you have the most stacked system in the minors you have to protect as many guys as you can. It won’t be a consideration until the offseason but they have a number of guys they’ll need to add for sure and inevitably you’ll find a couple guys who pop up this year that they’d probably want to keep. He’s been fortunate in the past no one has scooped up guys like Reyes who were left off the 40 man.
Preller doesn’t seem interested in service time manipulation but he definitely takes the Rule 5 thing into account. Everyone called up after the trade deadline last year was going to be Rule 5 eligible. I’m thinking with the exception of Margevicius it will be the same this year.
Well that’s good I figure he doesn’t have too many additional slots to burn on guys who aren’t eligible. Assuming he wants to add some sort of major league talent to this roster next year.
Or he finally clears out some of that logjam in the OF. I can’t believe he’s going with 6 guys to start the season. That’s crazy.
No crazier than 4 catchers to start the season a few years back.
With the way contracts are moving to everyone signing extensions early and the next CBA likely to eliminate most of the service time loop holes, it’s likely to become less and less an issue
They gotta trade Myers. Reyes and Renfroe both need at bats. Brito makes sense if you’re gonna season cordero at triple a.
Pirela needs to go and let garcia and kinsler be the super utility guys once urias is back up.
Glad Mitchell’s gone but pirela and Perdomo need to be next.
Pirela has been sent to the minors
Still holds a 40 man spot.
Correct. I was just referring to the majors roster for that “super utility” spot you mentioned
Has a minor league option and the Padres have guys who can be moved to the 60-day IL to clear space on the 40-man roster if they need it. They’re not going to DFA Pirela just yet, much as I don’t like him.
Lets enjoy this first month. I was really impressed Margevicius! Poise. He adjusted in his starts, threw quality pitches. Watch him really surprise people!
I hope you’re right about Margevicius. He hasn’t pitched above A ball, and development matters. Does Preller miss having a Rule 5 guy on the team? Hopefully, the kid surprises the heck out of us.
Was a combination of things. Padres needed a fifth starter, Preller chose to give a chance to the young in-house guys rather than overpay in cash or prospects to acquire a veteran from outside the org and everyone who was ahead of Margevicius for that last spot is either injured (Lamet, Nix) or tanked in Spring Training (Allen, Quantrill).
Yeah, Renfroe is never going to get a real chance as long as Myers is there.
Renfroe’s gone. He’s not a “Preller guy” as much as Margot IS a “Preller guy.”
And it sucks. Renfroe will be .250-ish, 30HR guy with a great arm in RF for somebody. But it won’t be us.
Hedges and Reyes aren’t “Preller guys”
From day one, Preller has been loading the org wih catchers – from the draft, to Rule 5, to trading an All-Star closer and young reliever for yet another one.
Outfielders? You may have noticed our roster … You may have also noticed how Margot has been handled from the day he was called up … You may also remember that Preller acquired Myers specifically to play CF (just like he appointed Mitchell to the rotation).
Yeah, there are arguments to be made on either side.
Has nothing to do with my comment
Myers is going to have a great year. I predict Renfroe will be the first to go. He is worse version of Reyes
That you boot?
I agree dvm. I think Myers has a superstar waiting to break out. I certainly hope so. And many baseball analysts today seem to think Reyes is on the verge of a breakout. Some have even suggested he may lead the league in homeruns. It is too bad that Renfroe’s trade value is probably the lowest it can get right now. I know we need pitching, but here is my pitch. Trade Margot, Renfroe, and a catcher (Hedges/Mejia) for Byron Buxton. I want him out there in center. And I think he is about to really break out. I doubt the Twins would do it, even for that package, but man….
Would make way more sense to stick with Margot tbh.
And Myers probably is what he is at this point.
I’d take Buxton for Margot and Hedges/Mejia. But I don’t think the Twins would want Renfroe. Their OF would be set with Margot. Maybe, though. It would remove some clutter and we would have the best CF in all of baseball (defensively), which would be quite useful at Petco. Twins wouldn’t do it though. And anything beyond this would be too much to give up for a players that still hasn’t proven himself consistently. Call up Preller and put the idea in his head. Maybe his subconscious will force him into it.
Twins already gave up on one CF too early. They aren’t doing it again. Castro/Garver isn’t a bad catching tandem either.
No one is taking Myers. Can’t trade what no one wants
Bryan Mitchell was a waste of an MLB roster spot anyway.
So as of now:
Lauer
Lucchesi
Margevicius
Strahm
Paddack
(Very L heavy, which leads me to believe that we will be trading one of these guys later for a bonefish RH SP)
OD against Bumgarner:
Kinsler
Hosmer
Machado
Reyes
Myers
Tatis
Margot
Hedges
Lauer
Bench:
Renfroe (has good numbers against Madbum)
Pirela or Garcia? Or both??
Mejia
Cordero or Brito?? Or both??
The pen I feel like should be:
Warren
Solis
Erlin
Maton
Stock
Wingenter
Stammen
Yates
I really hope they don’t bat tatis that low in the lineup…. but knowing the Padres, they will. That’s terrible for him, as he has a tendency to chase and strikeout, and why would he get a lot of good pitches to hit with bats like Margot and hedges to protect him? I hate it….
He should be at the top of the lineup, where he has been having success his entire career.
Why would he get a lot of good pitches to hit if the pitcher knows he will chase the bad ones, regardless of who is batting behind him?
Well, you missed this one. Batted sixth and got two hits.
That’s a rough rotation. But they are seeing all the young guys. Can’t deny that.
I wonder if preller is backing himself into a future 40 man jam with all these call ups. Margevicius wouldn’t have been rule 5 eligible for 2 more years. Tatis too but obviously you’re not going to keep him down for very long regardless. They had to move a number of guys this offseason due to the 40 man crunch. Don’t know if this was necessarily the smartest move to do it now. 3 guys on the 60 day who will eventually have a spot in Richards, Lamet, and Castillo. Then you’ll need to add Allen, Naylor, and Quantrill as well. That’s just off the top of my head.
Tatis would have been Rule 5 eligible after this season. Signed in 2015.
Loup signed a major league deal. He will be in the bullpen.
i’m only here to laugh in @cuckburns/outinLF/padsfans/websoulsurfer’s face because the assssss eating mitchell is unemployed. dollar says cuckburns will flag this comment because he’s salty AF. that kid is a dummy
Haha. Burns. I know he is here. Took you long enough to block me.
It’s Koamalu now. Get with the program!
I’ve always said Mitchell would make a much better reliever than he would a starter. Doesn’t have the repertoire to go through the lineup 3 or more times. But still think he could be an effective reliever if he can end up with a team that will use him that way.
Did you watch his starts? The first inning was the one that gave him the most trouble. I doubt whether only seeing him once would make a difference.
#Wetfloor
It’s baseball time!
Padres are like a pitching prospect.
Talented player, but stuff is raw and wind-up has a lot of moving parts. Tears through lineups when all his pitches are working though the switch can easily be flipped due to spotty control. Full season of work in the big leagues this year will depend on how well the stuff plays and how often it is executed properly, as opposed to when it doesn’t meet the strike zone.
Romper Room just got a little more crowded.
Padre fans , always entertaining.
Crap! I am going Saturday and really wanted to see Paddack. Now I have to see Margevicious.
I’m sorry! I love Saturday games at 5:40 but I waited until they announced when Paddack was pitching to buy tickets.
Super excited for the season.
Representing from Temecula.
Go Padres
Allen and Quantrill were given a chance to sieze that last rotation spot and they both failed. Next up was Nick Visious, he was thought to get a start in ST to expose him to the Show, then send him down. He looked solid all spring long. The bottom line us he earned the shot. He will surprise many average baseball fans but is an example of just how deep our farm system is. AVILLA is next up, IMO.
He never pitched above A ball. 12 Spring Training innings and you’re ready to hand him a rotation spot? Nah. I want him to succeed, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near ready. Hopefully, he makes me eat my words.
Agree for the most part but if not him, who?
You’re saying we have no other starting pitchers above A ball in the organization. Not biting on that bait.
No, I’m asking who you think should have gotten the fifth rotation spot.
No, you’re dive bombing into the world of fallacy, because one has nothing to with the other.
Remember this: “If we fire Bud Black, who’s going to replace him?”
How do they have nothing to do with each other? Unless you like running a four man rotation or bullpenning every fifth day?
Logic. You are essentially arguing that Margevicius is the only possible choice. He’s not.
I would have gone with Mitchell or Erlin but the FO didn’t want to do that. I wanted to get an extended look at Jacob Nix this season but now he needs Tommy John. And Allen and Quantrill aren’t ready.
Then despite Preller being incessantly linked to guys like Kluber, Bauer and Thor during the offseason, neither side seemed willing to budge on their bid/ask. Now that the season has started I don’t see them being traded for anything.
There are/were some pretty good pitchers who signed minor league deals.
I would have gone with Erlin. Mitchell is where he belongs. Of course, he will probably go unclaimed and return to soil our mound in the future, but …