Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling were all but officially headed from the Dodgers to the Angels in a trade that branched off from the original Dodgers/Red Sox/Twins three-team swap that would have sent Mookie Betts and David Price to Los Angeles. While that initial three-team trade broke down and was revived as two separate deals, however, the Dodgers and Angels broke off the planned swap that would have sent Pederson, Stripling, and prospect Andy Pages to Anaheim for a package that included infield prospect Luis Rengifo.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman kept Pederson and Stripling up to date as talks progressed, though since no trade developed, both players are still in Dodger blue. The end result is a situation Pederson admitted was “a little awkward” as Spring Training begins, though he told media (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that he is “excited to be here, ready to win a World Series.” Stripling concurred, saying that while the opportunity to be a full-time starting pitcher for the Angels was intriguing, he is happy to remain with what he described as “a first-class organization all the way through.” As to almost being traded, Stripling “didn’t choose to take it personally,” noting “I understand the business side of it…we had a chance to get Mookie Betts and David Price. If that means getting rid of Ross Stripling, then that’s part of it.”
More from around the NL West…
- Wil Myers also isn’t any stranger to the Mookie Betts trade saga, as he was reportedly part of a Padres offer headed to Boston in exchange for the star outfielder. “It seemed extremely real at that given moment,” Myers told the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee and other reporters, though he noted that “I’ve been traded twice. I’ve been in trade rumors a long time. I’ve figured out how to deal with it. I have no hard feelings toward anybody…I understand the business side.” The proposed Betts trade was far from Myers’ only inclusion in the offseason rumor mill, as the Padres have reportedly been trying to unload the former AL Rookie Of The Year (and at least some of the $61MM remaining on Myers’ contract) for much of the winter. If a trade doesn’t happen, Myers is looking forward to a new season and a fresh start with a new coaching staff, as he admitted to a bit of tension with former manager Andy Green. “Listen, it goes both ways. There are times you’re with a guy for four years and certain things happen,” Myers said. “Nobody hates Andy. It was a situation that happens. At the highest level, emotions run high.”
- While the Padres haven’t shut the door on using Jurickson Profar at other positions during the season, Profar’s Spring Training work will be focused around second base, manager Jayce Tingler told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell and other reporters. “Right now, where we’re trying to get his progression on the throwing, we find it best to just stay concentrated at second base,” Tingler said. “But, again, being a switch-hitter and being able to play six or seven different positions, we view that as a positive.” Acquired in a trade with the Athletics in December, Profar is still looking to fully establish himself as an everyday player after dealing with multiple injuries and overall inconsistent performance, and he has still played in only 491 MLB games since the start of the 2012 season. Profar has spent the bulk of his time at the big league level as a second baseman (1536 2/3 of 3590 2/3 career innings), though after also spending a lot of time as a shortstop, third baseman, first baseman, and left fielder, it could be that stabilizing at one position will be what helps Profar not just improve defensively, but also get his bat on track.
- Pablo Sandoval is excited to be back with the Giants, telling Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters that though he received offers from other teams this winter, “I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made before” in signing somewhere other than San Francisco. (i.e. signing with the Red Sox after the 2014 season.) It seems as if the Giants also had their eye on re-signing the Kung Fu Panda, as manager Gabe Kapler invited Sandoval along to a December lunch with pitchers Andrew Suarez and Shaun Anderson in Miami. “I think we envisioned [Sandoval] being a Giant,” Kapler said. It will still be a few months before Sandoval officially dons the orange-and-black in a regular season game, as the veteran is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Jurickson Profailure
No way! Preller’s a genius! Profar will be an All-Star and NL MVP!
(Ugh. I gagged on my own sarcasm).
Profar is a good player and he has a lot more room for improvement
There is no evidence of this
Says everyone about him ever year. But when is it going to show? Never may be the answer
Sounds like Wil Myers. Preller seems more attracted to the hope of unrealized potential than actual big league talent.
Profar is a decent LF/1B, quit trying to get rid of his middle infield yips, the guy just isn’t good at throwing but is still athletic enough to play LF. SD are dumb for not playing him in LF.
Well the Padres have Pham in left and Grisham in right so it does make sense that they are trying to play him at 2nd.
When did Grisham become an established ML-caliber starting outfielder? Talk about “blue sky!”
When Preller traded for him, his .250 minor league career and .230 major average became non-factors and he became a star in the making. He did hit .380 in AAA in 150 at bats. It’s like Pomeranz….Pads fans are betting that a very small sample size last year is more itelling than the rest of their careers.
And that rarely ends well.
@nypadre66 … No, not all Pads fans. Some of us can look at things objectively. At best, Grisham projects as a 4th or 5th outfielder. Even after being a first round pick in 2015, he was never a highly regarded prospect. I still think it was a stupid trade.
Pomeranz has a 107 ERA+ for his career, no small sample. Unspectacular, sure, but still better than average.
You never know until you play Grisham, glad you’re so positive NOT
I hear that from you on all trades, glad your not our GM, see ya
I would give anything for a mute or block button on this site…I have largely stopped viewing comments on here because of that guy alone.
Anthing that doesn’t fit your narrative or match your opinion you just shut your eyes and cover your ears? What a pathetic way to go through life: inflated sense of self and no coping skills.
@Wolverines2 Start with nowheretogobutup, Tipsy Mcstagger, PK, JohnnyBets67, Commonsenseslapsyou, WereAllJustGuestsHere, Koamalu (plus alts), Padres2019ha, padreforlife, JoeBrady, padreshave32yrstobestdodger1stwswin and Javia.
Profar is a DH who can’t hit.
And the Giants seriously need to just turn the page on Sandoval already.
Why? Sandoval had a good season last year and is a cheap, fan favorite backup
Seems perfect for a rebuilding team
@ABStract What’s more important: winning or sentimentality?
I don’t think the giants have gotten to the rebuild point as yet. Still in teardown mode. Trying to rid themselves of some serious over priced infield parties.
It is SF if that gives a clue to the answer jimthegoat.
For the Giants? Sentimentality 100% of the way while they wait for bad contracts to come off the books, prospects to develop, and farm to rebuild.
Giants should be shooting for 1st to 3rd overall next 3-4 years.
Seeing as they probably won’t be competitive next season, sentimentality.
Ryno, on his 15th account, is still on his Sandoval kick. Although the Giants play with a 26 man roster and have no decent prospect to take Sandoval’s place—Our Goat pal is sure that is the issue!
Sure they are… They traded half of their bullpen at the deadline, let Bum and Smith go, traded for first-round pick Wilson, didn’t pursue much in free agency and clearly look to be building up their farm.
It’s hard to trade overpaid veterans with trade clauses that nobody wants.
jimthegoat:
If the Sandoval signing is sentimentality, who were the Giants suppose to sign that would have turned them into a winner?
So we’re clear. You are saying that signing Sandoval was not about sentimentality?
Giants are picked for last place in the West, they have some work to do
You should put money against that. We were 3rd in the NLW last year. And this year’s team does not look considerably worse than the 2019 one.
Strike four is Profars agent
Yeahhh I think Myers is full of it. He definitely appears to take stuff personally, and he kind of inadvertently revealed that in his statement about Andy Green. As a Dads fan I still want to believe he will finally break out, but his mopey attitude makes me doubt it.
I was done with Myers when he stated publicly that he wasn’t interested in taking on a leadership role with the club after signing that fat contract with the team.
He has ability, but he reminds me of an OB surfer who spends a little too much time hanging around the pot shops.
The OB surfing community is owed an apology… We rip a lot harder than William on both fronts!!! Hope to see you in the water Dr. Dan
Heard that he has shown up baked quite a few times at the park.
After 5 full years, we’re still hoping Myers will “break out?” Not too likely. Especially with his attitude.
Yeah, Myers is clearly a slot machine SD has pumped tens of millions into without even one small payout. Nobody else wants him or that contract, so the only question remaining is at what point do the Pads eat the rest of it and release him?
Come on if Myers hits 20 bombs and 80 RBI’s in 2020 do you still want to release him? I’d would say platoon him with one of our other OF’s, he hits about .300 with LH pitchers so he’s not a lost cause regardless of what his salary is his AAV comes to $13M a year, sure his signing was not a smart move but since he’s here I hope Tingler can get the most out of him.
If … if … if … if … if … if.
And if not?
Wouldn’t be surprised if Pederson and Stripling are traded to another team soon
Can’t rule it out, but taking on money in the maeda deal pretty much ruled out getting under the cbt for 2020, so might as well keep joc and Ross and go all in this year. If they do trade them, I think it would be for someone that can help in 2020.
Pederson is so perfect for the A’s and is from the Bay Area, A’s brass likes those (Semien, Canha, Piscotty). A’s have tons of tweener MI prospects like Mateo, Barreto and Neuse who would be a better match for LA.
Kapler is well-known for holding his players to a strict diet. Good luck with that, Sandoval.
Panda’s joy at staying with the Giants is nothing compared to the joy of restaurant owners in San Francisco.
Lololol!!!
Whoa Nelly, coffee spat lol +1
You can always depend on some turd pulling out a fat joke in every Sandoval article. It’s so overwhelmingly predictable and boring that’s it almost not even mean anymore. It must really make a lot of folks salty to watch fat people succeed, despite all the derision and hatred of shallow, insecure people.
True that x, I may be a bean pole, but I don’t get the fat jokes with Sandoval
It’d be one thing if he didn’t show that he could still play, but he put up good numbers last year, especially for a backup
You misspelled xtraflabby.
Fat works as long as you do the job you were given big money for. ;whomever did pandas contract in Boston should’ve done an escape clause.
@xtraflamy Yeah, how dare a pro athlete who makes millions be bothered to eat right and exercise.
Fat lives matter bruh!
Anyone can lose weight, especially someone who makes millions and can hire a personal trainer and nutritionist. Pablo is just fat and lazy. It’s gotten to the point where we’re all supposed to glorify these slobs like Sandoval and Colon to appease the liberal thinkers.
He doesn’t need liberal thinkers to glorify him. He’s a great athlete, and a good person.
Who knows why he struggles with his weight? He has put in the effort. He has put in the work. He has worked with many special trainers and nutritionists. His weight issues were/are well documented with the Giants.
If it was so simple then why is dieting/weight management a multi-billion dollar industry? It’s not as simple to just say he is being lazy.
Kapler is also a really bad coach. Diet aside, learn to run a bullpen properly
Don’t worry Wil, theres no way in this universe you were being traded for Mookie Betts.
Wil Meyers is proof that the Rays are the smartest team and the Padres are the dumbest team. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Padres have to eat the Myers contract in a trade when he ruins the young club house culture.
If they were so smart they’d have kept Trea Turner rather than flipping him for Steve Souza
It was 3-team deal. There was no “flipping.”
@SDHotDawg Call it what you want. There was no reason the Nats should have been involved in that trade.
But they were. And Preller got taken. Then, he doubled down by giving Myers that awful extension.
Neander also got taken
Silly goat! Neander gave up Myers and got Souza. Then traded Souza and got Colin Poche, Nick Solak, Anthony Banda, and Sam McWilliams. Seems okay.
I know you like to be captain hindsight but that’s not a bad final outcome.
Would be a better final outcome if they had kept Turner and not let the Nats get involved in that trade. Whoever thought Steve Souza was worth a recently drafted 1st rounder?
Billie Goat IF your smart you’d stop living in the past like four yrs now and get with the times of today
Friedman sure tells a good story. In reality, there were individuals in that near-trade who first heard about it like the rest of us and did not get a call from the Dodgers FO until the day after that story broke.
Source?
Your mom
That was sweet of you to compliment Cam’s mom like that insinuating that she’s a baseball insider. You could start a whole new segment of “yo mama” jokes. Like, “You’re mama’s so kind she leaves out a cold 6 pack of coca cola by the curb on trash day when it’s hot”
Agentx. Is it my turn to make up nonsense?
I don’t understand how the Giants expect Panda to contribute to the 2020 season much, if at all unless it is merely as a pinch hitter. He had TJ surgery in Sept 2019 and they usually like you to wait 12 months before throwing again. Maybe he can do it in 10 months, but that means July. Would they carry him on their roster just as a pinch hitter?
They sell too much Panda swag not to have him on the roster. It’s clear that Sandoval cannot control his weight. Bochy is not around to nag him about it, so expect him to be at about 3 bills…
Gabe will never put up with that scenario.
Yeah if Pablo thought Bochy was on him too much about his conditioning, Kapler is on another level. Don’t imagine Sandoval will be available until they’ve already been eliminated.
Which will be the first week
Do you really believe it was just Bochy that had Sandoval on a weight regimen? Baseball orgs don’t work that way. It’s an institutional thing involving the training staff as a major factor, and others as well. SF has had control over Sandoval’s weight since his struggles in. 2010. Just because the RS were naive about Sandoval and his weight doesn’t mean the Giants are.
Sandoval looked huge at batting practice. Still has a couple of months to shed 20-30 pounds, but he needs to get a move on it.
Like to see the cards and Padres pair up on a trade of bad contracts. Say myers(who has extreme negative value) and kirby yates for fowler(negative value but not near as bad as myers), brett cecil( negative value) and maybe a lotto prospect. Padres save 20 mil, get a serviceable outfielder, a prospect and cecil who may not pitch at all. Cards take on 20 extra mil, get myers who may be a sunk cost but also pick up a dominant closer?
Why not just keep Wil, pray he starts hitting, he won’t, and then trade him for a lottery ticket if he does. No reason to trade the best closer in baseball right now just to get rid of a headache. Just take some Advil u til it goes away.
In this case Myers is causing cramps so it’d be appropriate for Midal.
Unbelievable that anyone thought Myers for Betts without Tatis, Gore or Price would happen.
It would never happen. The Padres need to just cut him n soak it up.
I bet Will Myers goes at least 20/20 this year. Take shots while you can, I doubt you will be able to next year.
As a Padres fan, I would love to be proven wrong about Wil Myers. But I doubt it will happen at this point. Trade him to the Mariners or the Pirates.
20/20 means nothing.
It is something a total of 9 players in mlb did last year. It means he has at least above average power and well above average speed.
120 players hit 20 or more home runs in 2019. Including names like Freddy Galvis and Jason Heyward. Big whup. And speed doesn’t mean anything if you can’t get on base.
20 players stole 20 or more bases last year. Myers came in 29th in SB last year. So it seems he has been getting on base.
Javia are you just willingly being an idiot?
On Base Percentage is a statistic that they calculate for you. There’s no reason to wonder.
@Javia he had a .321 OBP. 125th out of 169 players with at least 450 PA’s.
I was replying to jimthegoat. If you just want to take statements out of context and criticize the result then fine, enjoy yourself. I’m sure your ego needs the boost. Everyone on Earth knows that Myers OBP sucks.
Speed means nothing if you can’t get on base. Yet Myers came in 29th out of 169 players in SB. So it seems his speed had more of an effect than 140 of the other 169 players who qualified. There. Did I explain it slow enough for you jimthegoat and jbigz12 to understand? Or should I ask my kindergarten nephew to help me explain it to you?
@Javia…
“Myers came in 29th in SB last year. So it seems he has been getting on base.”
“Everyone on Earth knows that Myers OBP sucks.”
Which one is it?
He gets on base enough to steal more bases than 140 of 169 players.
My nephew is asleep. I cannot dumb it down any more for you tonight.
And yet you still admit that his OBP sucks. OBP is the only stat that matters in that department.
Well… that and his 34% strikeout rate (1st among players with at least 450 PA’s in 2019)
Myers hit .239 and stole 16 bases last year. His OPS+ was 95. That’s 5% below average. In seven years, he has hit 20+ HRs exactly twice, and he’s a K-machine.
Yes he is a strikeout machine. Yes he has a bad OBP. But he does have the ability to put up good numbers. Not world beating numbers, but good numbers. And yes SDHotDawg, he has only 2 years with 20-HR. Those 2 years he had 28 and 30 HR. Those also happen to be his only 2 years with at least 500AB. There might be a connection there, considering he had between 225-435 AB, and only 1 of those years did he get more than 335-so barely over half a season.
He is not a good player. But he has the ability to put up pretty good numbers.
@javia Jason Heyward and Freddy Galvis hit more than 20 home runs apiece in 2020
Yes, he’s bad. And, he’s a china doll.
And, guess what? Probably about 85% of the players on a major league roster have the “ability” to put up “pretty good numbers.”
Bottom line is that we’re stuck with his sorry tail.
20/20/200. 20 homers, 20 steals and 200 k’s. If the Padres outfield is so bad that Myers can get another 20/20, it means they’ll be fighting for the basement again. Same place they’ve been since they acquired this lazy cancer.
I hope Gabe can keep that non compliant slacker on path. I am sure Panda thinks he can get away with everything in SF, hope Gabe takes him to task.
I hope Panda becomes the first player ever to hit .300 and weigh 300 in the same season
The Babe had to be close to 3 bills.
Ruth was nowhere close to being as fat as Panda.
I looked it up. Ruth was 6’2″ 215 lbs.
Prince Fielder and Dmitri Young possibly weighed 300 and hit 300. Young hit .320 and was listed at 295, whereas Panda is listed at 268.
Irony would have it that Myers has a breakout year, better than Verdugo, and the best trades from the Padres perspective are the ones that never happened.
If that does happen they would be smart to trade him for what they can get before he comes crashing back down to Earth
Or that he even appears in more games than Verdugo and has a positive WAR. Strangee things have happened
Or that he even appears in more games than Verdugo and has a positive WAR. Stranger things have happened
Jim, I’m glad that you’re a Padres fan and quite knowledgeable and passionate but holy goat dude the extreme consistency and tenacity of your pessimism is wearing me down, man. I just wanna’ read comments on MLBTR that don’t make me hate my team and every decision they make. Seriously dude, please, lighten up. Life isn’t that bad.
@CheeseHeadPadre I’m not even a Padres fan bub.
Goat head I see your comments on many other sites do you work for a living? I doubt it, your the most negative person I’ve seen on these sites in many years, take a chill pill and get over yourself. I take it your not even a baseball fan just someone who likes to criticize what a waste of a life
@nowheretogobutup I’m definitely a baseball fan and based on your comments you clearly have never done anything important in your own life. Somewhere out there, there is tree working overtime to produce the oxygen you are wasting. Now go apologize to it.
If Jayce Tingler can turn around Wil Myers, it will be the best weird-first-name pairing since Heckle and Jeckle.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Shaggy and Scooby
Man o man Myers, Hosmer and Machado. Padres could have done so much more with that money.
Time will tell about the three you mentioned, but if the Padres blow through the .500 barrier this year and I believe they will, 2021 will be playoff time.
Does anyone else think that the Padres should have left Myers at 1B and never signed Hosmer? I hear all the Wil hate, but the two years he played 1B he was a near 30-30 (2016) and was a 30-20 guy (2017). It wasn’t til them moved him back to the outfield that he kept getting hurt again. I’ll take a 30-20 guy all day. The problem wasn’t Wil, the problems been outfield Wil.
Nope. He was a terrible first baseman.