This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.
The Padres stunned the baseball world with a franchise-record free-agent signing for a second straight offseason as they look to emerge from an arduous rebuilding process.
Major League Signings
- Manny Machado, 3B: ten years, $300MM (opt-out clause after the 2023 season)
- Garrett Richards, RHP: two years, $15.5MM
- Ian Kinsler, 2B/3B: two years, $8MM (includes $500K buyout of 2021 club option)
- Adam Warren, RHP: one year, $2.5MM (includes $500K buyout of 2020 club option)
- Aaron Loup, LHP: one year, $1.4MM (includes $200K buyout of 2020 club option)
- Total spend: $327.4M
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Claimed SS/2B Greg Garcia off waivers from the Cardinals
- Traded LHP Clayton Richard and cash to the Blue Jays in exchange for OF Connor Panas
- Claimed OF Socrates Brito off waivers from the Diamondbacks and traded him to the Blue Jays in exchange for outfielder Rodrigo Orozco
- Traded C Raffy Lopez to the Braves in exchange for cash
- Traded RHP Colten Brewer to the Red Sox in exchange for 2B Esteban Quiroz
- Traded RHP Walker Lockett to the Indians in exchange for RHP Ignacio Feliz
- Traded RHP Rowan Wick to the Cubs in exchange for 3B Jason Vosler
Notable Minor League Signings
- Chris Stewart, Sammy Solis, Alex Dickerson, Allen Craig, Dietrich Enns, Carlos Torres, Boog Powell, Eric Stout, Paco Rodriguez
Notable Losses
- Clayton Richard, A.J. Ellis, Freddy Galvis, Christian Villanueva, Cory Spangenberg, Carlos Asuaje, Kazuhisa Makita, Colin Rea
If the Padres’ signing of Eric Hosmer to an eight-year, $144MM deal a year ago raised eyebrows around the baseball world, then this offseason’s decision to sign Manny Machado to what was then the third-largest contract in MLB history prompted jaws to hit the floor. The move made some sense on paper even before the Padres were linked to Machado in earnest. But it’s one thing to observe that an on-the-rise team lacks a clear heir apparent at third base at a time when a 26-year-old marquee player at that position hits the market; it’s another thing entirely to legitimately expect the Padres, who have topped a $100MM Opening Day payroll exactly once, to take the $300MM plunge and alter the very fiber of their organization to this extent.
It sounds odd to call the deal a bargain for San Diego, but the market for Machado never developed to the point where the Padres had steep enough competition to bow out of the bidding. The Phillies were linked to Machado all winter but seemingly preferred Bryce Harper (whom the Friars also explored to at least some extent). The White Sox talked a big game early in the winter but only came through with an offer that no one would’ve expected to be competitive prior to the onset of free agency and, in the end, was two years and $50MM in guaranteed money shy of the Padres’ offer. The Yankees wined and dined Machado back in December, but it doesn’t seem that they were even keen on reaching the White Sox’ level of interest.
Machado has been worth 22 to 23 wins above replacement over the past four seasons, depending on one’s preferred version of the metric, and at just 26 years old, there’s little reason to expect imminent decline. It’s possible that Machado’s best offensive year(s) has yet to come, in fact, and a move back to third base could give him an even higher ceiling in terms of WAR given his superlative defense there (as compared to his glovework at short, which was met with mixed reviews). Penciling Machado in for 25 wins over the first half of his contract wouldn’t be particularly aggressive. Even if his output halved from that point forth, the Padres would still be paying just about $8MM per win over the life of the deal.
A simple dollars-per-WAR argument is perhaps too rudimentary a means of evaluating a contract of this magnitude. But, the fact that the Padres bought a huge portion of a star player’s prime while only paying him through his age-35 season (as opposed to the Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera-style deals that began on the tail end of their primes and run into the players’ early 40s) is a win in and of itself. From a bigger-picture level, it’s refreshing to see a team act in a win-now capacity. Granted, the Padres are as guilty as anyone when it comes to trotting out half-hearted rosters in the name of “rebuilding” toward a “sustained window of contention” — popular terms in today’s game but concepts that yield inherently diminished returns when a third of the league is acting in such a capacity — but they’ve made good on their promise to invest when their core is on the cusp of the Majors.
The Machado addition was far from the only blockbuster move the Padres tried to orchestrate this winter. San Diego was tied to ace-caliber arms like Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Noah Syndergaard on the trade market. They were reported to be a legitimate player for All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto before Miami flipped him to Philadelphia. They also explored a plethora of trades involving their glut of outfielders The Padres, as previously noted, at least internally discussed the possibility of adding Harper even after signing Machado, and they did have a face-to-face meeting with him at one point.
Ultimately, however, the remainder of the team’s offseason moves amounted to tinkering around the edges of the roster. The Padres know that for better or worse, they’re stuck with the contracts given to Hosmer and Wil Myers, and they entered the winter with a farm system teeming with near-MLB-ready options at a number of other key spots. Kinsler was brought in largely to serve as a leader who’ll function as a reserve player. General manager A.J. Preller knows the well-respected former All-Star from the pair’s days together in the Rangers organization. Preller & Co. also added a pair of affordable relief arms, Adam Warren and Aaron Loup, who can be controlled through 2020 via reasonable club options.
San Diego became the latest club to jump on the trend of guaranteed two-year deals for pitchers rehabbing from Tommy John surgery as well. However, their $15.5MM promise to Garrett Richards doesn’t leave that much space for the team to consider the signing a bargain. Richards won’t pitch in 2019, meaning they’re essentially banking on the oft-injured righty to be a $15MM+ pitcher in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. It’s a tall order, although Richards has admittedly been that type of pitcher since 2014 … when healthy.
Questions Remaining
The biggest question surrounding the Padres may not even be whether Machado can prove their $300MM investment to be sound when all is said and done. Rather, the more immediate question was created by the organization itself with last week’s announcement that wunderkind Fernando Tatis Jr. would break camp as the Opening Day shortstop.
Tatis is a lauded young talent who is generally regarded as one of baseball’s three best overall prospects. He’ll eventually team with another well-regarded young talent, Luis Urias, though Kinsler will fill out the initial double-play tandem. The Padres are confident that the Tatis-Urias duo will ultimately form an elite middle-infield pairing, but the sudden nature of Tatis’ promotion to the Majors only puts him in a larger spotlight. If he’s ready for a starring role right off the bat, the organization’s timeline to contention will be considerably accelerated.
It might be misleading to call the aforementioned bulk of outfielders on the Padres’ roster a “logjam” or a “surplus.” While the Padres have a large group — Myers, Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe, Franchy Cordero, Franmil Reyes and the currently injured Travis Jankowski — none is a lock to be all that productive. Myers certainly has a track record of hitting for power and stealing bases, but his glovework is questionable and his strikeout tendencies limit his on-base percentage.
None of the other four have established themselves yet as everyday Major Leaguers. It seems that something will have to give eventually, especially once Jankowski is back this summer. Perhaps it’ll sort itself out if some combination of Reyes, Margot, Cordero and Renfroe performs poorly enough to be optioned back to Triple-A, but a trade between now and July 31 also seems quite plausible.
The 2019 season could also serve as a proving year for the Padres’ catching corps. Austin Hedges, at this point, seems unlikely ever to be much of an on-base threat. His power and premium defense make that a reasonable trade-off, though. What to expect from Francisco Mejia will be the greater question with regard to this pairing. Mejia’s bat has long made him one of baseball’s most highly ranked prospects, but his defense isn’t as advanced. If he can cement himself as a viable option, the Padres could either look to deal Hedges or simply relish in a strong pairing that can be manipulated to focus either on defense or run production depending on the day’s opponent.
The other significant question facing the Padres this year is which of their touted young pitchers will take the next step and stake claims to long-term rotation spots. Joey Lucchesi looks to have done so with a solid rookie campaign in 2018, and there are extraordinarily high hopes for top prospect and Spring Training showstopper Chris Paddack, whose dominant Cactus League efforts put him under the microscope. Eric Lauer and Nick Margevicius are getting early opportunities, as is 27-year-old Matt Strahm (now that the former Royal is healthy). Waiting in the wings are Logan Allen, Cal Quantrill and Michel Baez, among many others.
The success of that group will determine how aggressively the Padres pursue rotation options. San Diego figures once again to discuss the possible acquisition of a high-end arm with multiple years of club control remaining in the coming summer or in the 2019-20 offseason to follow. The team would surely be more motivated to strike a deal if its collection of young arms struggles or suffers numerous injuries. (Jacob Nix is already sidelined by a partial UCL tear.) Looking ahead to the winter, Gerrit Cole leads a crop of free-agent pitchers that also includes 30-or-younger arms such as Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Alex Wood, Michael Wacha, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda.
The argument can certainly be made that the Padres should make a more immediate upgrade to the pitching staff right now by signing either Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel. Adding either would bolster the team’s 2019 outlook and possibly deepen the pitching staff in 2020 and beyond. Whether the organization wants to take on that kind of financial obligation when either pitcher might not be in a big league game before May is anyone’s guess, but there’s been very little in the way of recent connections between the Padres and either of those former All-Star pitchers.
Suffice it to say, there will be options for the organization to pursue if in-house options falter. But with Richards, Lucchesi and a host of young arms headlined by Paddack, the Padres hope that most of the answers are already pitching somewhere in the system.
2019 Season Outlook
The Padres might have more variance in their range of possible outcomes than any team in the game. Their heavy reliance on high-ceiling but unproven talents such as Tatis, Urias, Paddack, Mejia and whichever babyfaced pitchers get their first extended auditions could bring about huge yields if a few young players break out into immediate stardom. They’re a long shot to contend in a National League that is rife with strong clubs, but there’s enough upside permeating the roster to take a never-say-never approach.
More likely, however, the 2019 season will be one final year for the Padres to bide their time and evaluate a young core before relaunching into all-out “win-now” mode with regard to every spot on the roster.
How would you grade the Padres’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors app users.)
Pads desperately need someone to anchor that young rotation, I’ll give em an A-
Well, there are 157 who gave them C,D,F. So 157 people who voted who didn’t pay attention to Padres. I’m a Cubs fine and I give them an A+.
There are still baseball “fans” who comment that the Padres owners are cheap. They don’t even know John Moores sold the team seven years ago.
LOL. A+ just because they signed Machado? One player does not make a team and you cannot win without pitching.
One HUGE free agent signing does not merit an A, no matter how surprising it was. The rest of their offseason moves ranged from meaningless to stupid (Garrett Richards, Ian Kinsler). I gave a C.
They only need an anchor if they’re competing for the postseason NOW. This year, a wild card is only a remote possibility, so they don’t need an anchor, they need the young pitchers to step up and perform, because there are more on the way.
Those young pitchers need the innings this year, because Garrett Richards and Dinelson Lamet will be back from TJ next year, and another crop of top pitching prospects will be waiting.
The Padres have ten of the top 100 prospects and seven are starting pitchers.
There’s another 6-8 in the next 100, and the top prospects aren’t ready yet. When you have that many top starting prospects ready over the next 3-4 years in addition to the five on the major league club, there’s not enough innings to give to a veteran anchor on a team with only an outside chance of playing in October.
Richards is returning from TJ surgery. There is a 1 in 5 shot that he doesn’t return at all. There is an 8 in 10 chance that he is not as good as the player he was before the surgery in his first season back. So you are counting on the 20% happening.
Lamet was a back of the rotation starter before the surgery. 4.57 ERA. Just 2 pitches he could throw for strikes. He is not a savior for that staff. He could be a back of the rotation starter again. Maybe even a middle of the rotation starter if he learns a 3rd pitch. He could also not make it back at all. There is an 80% chance that he never is as good as he was before the surgery. Rea, Erlin, and others are good examples of that.
2 in 10 Top 100 prospects stick in the majors as an above average player. Think about that for a moment. Of those 10 prospects you are obviously counting on helping the team, only 2 will be average in the majors. That means maybe two Padres pitching prospects, including Lucchesi, Lauer, Strahm, Paddack, and Margevicius, stick as a starter and a couple make it as relievers.
To compete for playoff spots, the Padres need a top of the rotation starter that can be an example for the young starting staff, be a stopper, and that can eat innings. The bullpen will already be taxed by having to take up the innings that guys like Paddack, Strahm, and Margevicius cannot pitch because of innings and pitch count limits. Without an innings eater or two, the bullpen will not be able to be as effective as they were last year because of overuse.
So not only do the Padres have pitchers that are not as good as a guy like Kuechel or Gonzalez in the 4 and 5 slots in the starting rotation, but through overuse, they are killing the bullpen’s effectiveness.
Getting lit up as often as they pitch well with no veteran around that has experience with getting through those times to talk to about it will also have a negative effect on those young starting pitchers trusting their stuff.
It is a not recipe for long term or short term success.
So 20% chance that Richards and Lamet don’t return at all and 80% chance that they return but aren’t as good?
Dang, tough room.
It’s pretty much reality.
It’s pretty much reality that they have a 0% chance of coming back and being at least as good as they were before the injury?
20% of starting pitchers that have Tommy John surgery never return. That is the reality of tearing your UCL. Of starting pitchers that have Tomy John surgery, 80% are not as effective after they do return. Again, that is the reality of that injury.
So then 0% return and are as good or better than before? Chris Paddack should be getting game any time now.
fame*
No.
20% don’t return at all. That leaves 80% of them that do return after Tommy John.
Of the 80% that do return, 80% of those are not as good as before the surgery.
Is simple math like that really that hard to understand?
That’s not what you said. You said 20% don’t come back at all and then 80% aren’t as good as they were before Tommy John.
Is being clear in your comments really that hard to understand?
Come on Ryan. You are supposedly an insurance actuarial. You should know math better than most.
Lol this incel
Nobody said “0%” chance.
@Pads Fans –
I caught Ryan in that lie a long time ago by asking him about a commonly used statistical coefficient: he was oblivious to it.
Psychoooooooooo
Well, that didn’t take long!
I give them a b.
They didn’t get a front line starter and a veteran starter to anchor the rotation.
If they acquired that, then it would have been an A
agree 100%
I have to go with a C. The machado move is awesome for the team, the city, and for baseball. Love that move. But essentially, that’s all they did. They paid Richards a good chunk of money for what will hopefully be a healthy year next year…. josh Johnson anyone? Ok maybe not that bad…. but Richards has a lengthy history of injuries, this isn’t a one-time thing. They didn’t address the outfield logjam, and that is now relegating Renfroe, Cordero, Reyes, etc… to the bench for four out of five days. Would’ve liked to see them move hedges or Mejía…. or leave Mejía in the minors… not very often you call up a top hitting prospect at their position (Mejía-catcher) and a top 3-4 prospect in your system, top 30 prospect in baseball…. and relegate him to 2 games in the first 6. You call up your top prospects to play, regularly. Yes, catchers get more days off than others. But sit three games, play one, sit two, play one, sit two, etc… that’s just not good for a highly rated prospect. Makes much more sense for him to be working in the minors.
Summary: love the machado move. Dislike lack of additions to our rotation. Dislike lack of moves to solve what have been logjams positions for a couple years now. Hopefully they make those moves to clear room during the year…
This has been your best post . I agree with everything you just said . They needed to clear that outfield via a trade for a starter even if they had to give up a good prospect
I guess I was due for one eventually…. although I’m sure the usuals will be bringing some fire to my post here shortly haha
If they do try to bring some fire, they’ll look sillier than usual. You nailed this one. I don’t see how a rational argument can be made against your post.
I don’t know how you decide who to keep in the outfield and who to trade away. Nobody has proven themselves to be a really good player in the outfield. Forget trying to get rid of Myers cause nobody will take his contract. Plus, he’s a strike out machine.
Just because you sign one player at 30 mil doesn’t change your whole roster. Good for morale? Yeah I’d agree. But in terms of a baseball team? No, not for a small market team like the Pads. Keep in mind it says offseason, so we’re not talking about the top prospects, which I agree are good, but aren’t actually part of the offseason moves. I feel like the Padres intentionally blurred the two to make the offseason seem like a big splash even though it wasnt that big.. Manny Machado is good,but we definitely needed started pitching, even 1 would have been okay by me. Someone was telling me give the rookies a shot since we’re techincally still rebuilding, which makes sense, but at the same time, if we compete next year there’s probably going to be a lot of tension to sign multiple SP’s at the same time. Instead we could have signed 1 and see how they fair this year. I do agree though on not signing keuchel because he’s still asking for too much.
The Padres deserve an Incomplete. If this is the start of an era of higher spending, then this is an A. But if they want to keep the payroll they’ve had for the past two decades, spending in the bottom half of the league, then that Machado deal will absolutely cripple them.
Ownership changed seven years ago, after a failed sale to Jeff Moorad, the penny pincher who tried to buy the team on the installment plan. Two decades ago is another era.
How you grade the Padres’ off-season really depends on how much you buy in to AJ Preller’s strategy of acquiring high ceiling talent and letting it show what it can do at the major league level.
That will probably work for position players, but throwing inexperienced starters out there to sink or swim at the highest level of pro ball doesn’t inspire confidence. Those who think AJ should pick up veterans may be ignoring the wealth of inexperienced pitching talent that’s on the cusp of arriving at Petco.
The current rotation includes Lucchesi, Lauer, Margevicius, and Paddack, all under age 25, and the article noted Logan Allen and Cal Quantrill waiting in the wings. Baez was mentioned but he had an off-year and is more likely to be arriving late this year or next year, along with Morejon. The following year AJ will have Pedro Avila and Espinoza ready, and the year after that Gore, Patino, and maybe Weathers.
There are probably a few others only a scout would know, but the bottom line is that AJ has to play as many pitching prospects as possible now to find out what they can do, because there’s a steady stream of talent coming up for their screen test. That means acquiring a veteran pitcher for just one year, let alone a multi-year contract, just takes innings away from the pitchers Preller needs to evaluate now.
With that in mind, I’d give Preller an A for intelligently working with the huge talent pool he acquired, and resisting the quick fix of short term veterans at higher cost. The process may cost a few wins this year, but sets up the club for longer term success by identifying the keepers by the best method of all: major league competition.
Totally agree. Pitching depth is our strength. We aren’t a big market club, so sustainability is key. We need to test the depth that appears to be ready now, because there will be waves coming up, instead of signing free agent pitchers to large contracts, or dealing multiple high end prospects for an ace with only a few years of control.
“Depth” is not the same thing as “quality.” It takes a starting pitcher an average of two years in the big leagues to figure it out and reach their potential.
OK MLBTR, why are my posts “Awaiting Moderation”. Nothing to moderate in there.
Same irrational defense of Preller’s pitching staffs that we’ve been hearing for a long time. There is no way around the fact that we need some decent veteran pitching to grow and succeed.
Baez had a better year than Margevicius did last season. If that is an offseason for him, then I cannot wait to see his best.
Allen and Quantrill showed in those last two starts of spring that they are not ready for the show. Maybe they get a shot once the young pitchers on the staff today start to fail or someone gets hits the DL.
The Padres young pitching is going to get lit up and that is already beginning as the other teams get more of a look at them. Please do not think that 1 start is any indication of what the year is going to look like for these kids. They are going to take their lumps as they learn and that means the team will lose.
Several of them are on innings limits and pitch counts. That means other young starters will have to get some starts out of necessity. That is not a good thing. The Padres are now forced to play guys like Quantrill and Allen that are not ready.
This is a season where the Padres are expected to win and not getting 1-2 proven starters that can both show the kids the way and eat innings will keep that from happening consistently. It will also limit or reverse the progress of those kids. Getting lit up as often as not will make them question their stuff.
I give Preller an F on pitching, but a B overall because of signing a great defensive 2B and Machado who excels on both offense and defense.
This is the post that was awaiting moderation. One word changed and it was not an insult or a swear word. You really need to fix your filters MLBTR.
Signing Machado made their off-season. I like that the Padres are still finding the balance of taking the next step forward but also letting the young players play. They could have signed someone like Gio Gonzalez for example, but Is he any better than Nick Margevicious? He used to be, but is he now? Padres are answering questions like that now.
That’s a good point. A lot of fans are looking at these pitchers as if they’re still in their rime, when they’re over 30 and on the downslope of their careers, with deteriorating peripherals. Keuchel is still a solid number three starter, but wants to be paid like an ace – and would cost a draft pick in a very rich draft – while most of the others are #4-#5 pitchers, a performance the rookie pitchers could probably achieve, while gaining experience.
Gonzalez pitched as well in the majors last season as Margevicius did in A+ ball last season. So yes, Gonzalez would have been a better option.
Not that he makes any difference, but Makita is still in the system in Amarillo. Not a notable loss
Makita is no loss other than he’s probably the highest-paid AA player at $1.9 million.
Can’t call the Padres offseason an A because their pitching is so suspect. 5 starters with less than 1 year of service time, 2 rookies and no innings eaters. That staff is going to get lit up. See Lauer, Eric last night. See Strahm, Matt the night before.
26 HR in 400 AB with an .805 ops didn’t cement Renfroe as a major league player? SMH. Nothing questionable about Myers defense in LF, which you would know if you watched a few games. He has been very good there. The problem was putting him in CF and at 3B.
If the Padres felt even one of those OF was not solid MLB material then he should have been moved for pitching.
Season outlook? 77-78 wins. A new manager at the All-Star break when they are 4-5 games under .500 and 15 games out of 1st place in the NL West. The owners did not commit a half billion in 2 years to lose and when they are still losing someone has to take the fall.
^ agree with pretty much everything…. aside from their record by the all-star break. I think this team will be MUCH further behind .500 than 4-5 games… unfortunately
Thanks PF
Who?
Me. Pads Fans is PF. Ryan thinks he is smart and cute. He is neither.
What’s hilarious is that you think bringing your alt accounts into an argument helps your argument.
By the way “actuarial” is an adjective, not a noun. The word you were looking for was “actuary.”
Oh he thinks you’re Ryan also? And I’m you? And we are rooster. And so on and so on? Love it! This will make a thrilling novel
Padresfanaticfan=red rooster=WCR. Simple equation. I don’t buy anything else and I don’t know why you need to change your profile name. You can’t fight your nature to argue about the same things. It’s blatantly obvious those 3 accounts are from the same individual. I don’t hate you like guys around here but it’s not really necessary to change the username when you sound exactly the same. You may intend to be different with each account but it’s pretty clear it’s the same guy though I don’t expect an admission of that from you.
I don’t see you getting all bent out of shape over Pads Fans using multiple accounts (Koamalu, outinleftfield, websoulsurfer, WatermelonMtnScout, etc)
I don’t know why any of you do it. You sit here and argue over it constantly yet you all seem to do it. Not sure why, maybe it’s a padres fan thing to do. It’d be a lot easier to just be honest and stick with the 1. Rather than seeing you guys bicker over multiple usernames. It’s beyond stupid.
I completely agree.
Wait…. I’m just seeing this… so now you think I am WCR, red rooster, PF, AND this current name?? I won’t reply to your next reply…. but this is just too funny.
Jeez … here we go again.
C. Only move I liked was signing Machado. People got really excited from that first series against the Giants but that is a bad team. The rotation is likely what will keep them from contending this year.
Minor Leagues start tomorrow.
FW (Weathers) at Lansing
Lake Elsinore (Cosgrove) at Inland Empire
Amarillo (Morejon) at Corpus Christi
Las Vegas at El Paso (Keel)
I will be heading down to San Bernardino for that game. A bit surprised that Cosgrove is the opening day starter with Gore and Patino on the roster.
Hey Carl, what years did you work for the Padres? Met a guy at Sycuan a few weeks back that said he worked for the Padres for 15 or 17 years on the Pad Squad, Wondering if you knew him.
PF; Yes. A long time ago … 1982 to 1992. .
I seriously hate that this is the only place I can see your updates now spack. What do I do if there’s no new MLBTR news?!?! Look up the information for myself?!?! No. Absolutely not. You need to post everyday, like on the Padres forum, regardless of what team the mlbtr post is talking about haha. Just interrupt everyone’s conversation and give up the Padres info spack!
Best offseason ever (in SD history)
I gave it an A because for the first time since Cammy Padres have a true 3b in his prime for years to come, Pads finally have some hitters that resemble an MBL roster, infield defense is top notch, now they need starting pitching to come trough. Machado is a piece of the puzzle that brings instant credibility to the organization just as when the Nationals signed Jason Werth, sometime you have to overpay to get your first building block, lets now enjoy the growth of this team, I know I am tired of the loosing looking forward to better days ahead. Keep the faith.
Why have we not already seen ALL of the off-season review articles already? We are a week in to the season! Off season is now OLD NEWS save Dallas, and Kimbrel.And you are NOWHERE near done with those articles! Can’t wait to read about the Reds off season sometime around the All-star break. I understand that content is important, but so is timing. Your timing for the rest of these articles is so far off I have no desire to read them. You can say all the nice flowery things you want about any of the remaining teams. If they’re already in the toilet by the time you release the article the buzz you were trying to create is gone!
With Cordero’s elbow acting up, maybe Dickerson will get a chance to provide a left handed bat. Anbody know how Lamet is coming along?