In a surprising preseason swap, the Royals have acquired outfielder Franchy Cordero and right-hander Ronald Bolanos from the Padres for left-handed reliever Tim Hill. Both teams have announced the trade. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the news. To make room for Cordero and Bolanos on their 40-man roster, the Royals will place infielder Kelvin Gutierrez on the 45-day injured list because of a sprained UCL, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets.
In Cordero, the Royals are getting a power-hitting 25-year-old who was once a fairly touted Padres prospect. Cordero debuted in the majors in 2017, but various injuries have largely prevented him from making an impact in the league. He played in only nine games and totaled just 20 plate appearances last season.
Despite the health issues Cordero has dealt with, there’s plenty to be intrigued about from the rebuilding Royals’ point of view. He carries a lifetime .925 OPS in Triple-A 517 plate appearances, for one. Furthermore, as MLBTR’s George Miller explained in May, Cordero has shown off impressive speed and hard-hitting ability during his limited time in the majors. There are flaws, including Cordero’s penchant for striking out (he has done so 38.8 percent of the time in the majors), but he could prove to be a wise long-term investment for the Royals. As things stand, he’s not on track to reach arbitration until after this year or free agency until the end of the 2023 campaign.
Cordero also has a pair of minor league options remaining, but he may have a chance to play a prominent role in Kansas City’s outfield this season.
Bolanos could also get an opportunity to prove himself in KC as early as this season. He’s only 23, but Bolanos did make his debut in San Diego last year with 19 2/3 innings of 5.95 ERA ball and 8.69 K/9 against 5.49 BB/9. While those numbers aren’t impressive, and Bolanos hasn’t dominated in the minors (4.38 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 324 2/3 innings) since signing for $2.25MM out of Cuba in 2016, he’s still regarded as a promising prospect. Baseball America ranked Bolanos as the 13th-best farmhand in the Padres’ deep system, noting he could at least turn into a power reliever in the majors.
The losses of Cordero and Bolanos could sting the Padres if they realize their potential, but this deal’s an attempt for the long-suffering team to draw closer to contention in the near term. Hill’s the oldest player in the deal at 30 years of age, but he’s also the most proven major leaguer of the trio, and there’s plenty of long-term control (Hill won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2021).
Hill debuted in 2018 and has since notched a 4.11 ERA with 8.54 K/9, 2.85 BB/9 and an excellent 59.8 percent groundball rate across 85 1/3 innings, though the sidearmer has been much more vulnerable against right-handed hitters (.326 weighted on-base average) than lefties (.239). That’s notable with the league implementing a three-batter minimum rule this season.
The Padres are hopeful Hill’s acquisition will help make up for the absence of injured lefty Jose Castillo, according to general manager A.J. Preller (via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). It’ll also further deepen a bullpen that was already set to feature the likes of Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan and Craig Stammen in late-game situations.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
KC doesn’t need good relievers, and Padres have 857 OFers. Fun
It’s funny how another baseball site and this one call Cordero a power hitter. 10 homers in 246 MLB at bats and the minors numbers are even worse.
.Funny how people get on here and have no idea what they are talking about. Franchy has a ton of power. Go watch his home run in Arizona in 2018. It left his bat at 116.3 mph which was the hardest hit ball by a Padre since Statcast started in 2015. Then he broke it a few days later with one clocked at 116.5 mph. He hits the ball harder than 100 mph more than a lot of big name “power hitters”. He consistently hits the ball harder than Cody Bellinger.
There is more to hitting homeruns than just exit velocity, but Cordero has raw power for days & if he ever stays healthy and plays the majority of a season he will produce.
Cordero also is injury prone as stated and his K’s at almost 40% is crazy bad, Padres got the best side of this one.
As a royals fan; Hill is a nice supplemental piece but I’d much rather have a a flawed potential starting outfielder and a lottery ticket, especially with where we are right now. Hill is nothing special either, but who knows, the Pads seem to turn every middling reliever into a bullpen anchor.
you’re out of your mind. Preller got PLAYED. TIM HILL IS A BELOW AVERAGE LOOGY you genius!
They also neglect to mention the fact that Cordero is a major defensive liability. Seriously, he’s terrible.
Interesting trade. Hill pitched well last season.
a LOOGY with a 3.6 ERA is pitching well?? LMAO. that’s below average.
oh wow
Means 1 fo 3 things for the Padres.
1. Frees up more ABs for Naylor.
2. Gets more ways to get Mejia and Hedges in the lineup.
3. Jorge Mateo may get reps in CF.
For the Royals means Bubba Starling to bench.
It means either Bubba Starling or Brett Phillips is getting released! Neither of them have any options left.
It means Bubba is getting cut. He brings nothing to the table that’s better than any other OF option currently on the roster.
Bubba may have played his way on to the 30 man with a strong spring and now summer camp. He’s not going anywhere. According to Royals best writer, he’s been the most impressive surprise in camp.
Beat writer
What does Brett Phillips bring to the table that Bubba doesn’t besides a cool name and a weird laugh?
Phillips is the better defender from everything I’ve seen
I think Phillips has the better arm, but Starling was touted for his defense as ML ready as a high school draftee. I wouldn’t say Phillips is much better, but given his arm, he may have a slight edge on Starling.
Not sure if it makes a lot of since from the Royals perspective though. How many toolsy 4th outfielders to you need? If anything this hurts Nicky Lopez’s shot at being an everyday player as the outfield abundance may push Merrifield to 2B full time.
I think Merrifield will play RF and they move Dozier to 3B. You can even platoon Franco and Cordero and have Franco at 3B, Dozier in RF, and Merrifield in CF
That would be a neat trick since they released Dozier earlier this week!
Hunter Dozier is a young stud who is still on KC. Brian Dozier was released by THE ANGELS. Get your facts straight.
Ironically enough, you don’t have yours straight, as Brian Dozier was released by the Padres, not the Angels.
Brian Dozier was let go by Padres not Angels,
my bad
Dozier WASN’T RELEASED!!!!
(Hunter).
Dorothy, Cordero also wasn’t the former shortstop for the Expos or closer for the Nationals just in-case you want to confuse more people for us.
Yes. He. Was
mlbtraderumors.com/2020/07/padres-release-brian-do…
I think this largely means the Padres are moving on from Cordero in favor of Edward Olivares who has looked sharp in big league camp.
Edward Olivares’ ears must have been ringing. He just smoked a homer off Pomeranz in the intrasquad game.
Completely agree though, this move is a result of SD viewing him as passing Cordero up.
I would agree it means the Padres are moving on from Cordero.
Actually they are saying that hector Oliverias is a favorite over naylor
Edward olivares *
this is an Edward Olivares move
I never thought of how this affects Mejia and Hedges. On some day you can have the defensive mastermind in Hedges catch and have Mejia DHing. Mejia has tons of potential with the stick.
Naylor sucks. He’s an absolute butcher in the outfield and isn’t fast. The trade was made because of the hot spring/summer Edward Olivares has had. He will be the teams 4th outfielder behind Pham, Grisham & Myers. Only way Naylor makes the team is if they value his left-handed bat as a pinch hitter and occasional DH. Personally I’d rather have France in that role. At least he can play defense. I think we are going to see Mejia DH a lot to get his bat in the lineup since Hedges is so damn good defensively. Mateo is an intriguing player. Could definitely see some action in CF, but I think he was brought in to a backup middle infielder & as a pinch runner. Could also be insurance in case Profar falls flat on his face.
Totally agree on Naylor. This could be Naylor’s last year as a Padre, No D and he’s not exactly speed on the base path. The only way Naylor sticks this year if his BA stays around .270 to .280 and his OBP is over .320. Trammel is waiting in the wings and Olivares is looking real good thus far. They also have Grisham I’d be surprised if Naylor makes the final 26 player roster.
To be fair to Naylor, he is strictly a 1B/DH type. He has been thrown to the wolves in the OF.
Yeah. Naylor can’t play anything but 1B and DH! The only thing valuable about him is his bat, and since we already have Hosmer playing 1B and no DH in the National League… Oh wait! Didn’t the NL just adopt the DH? Isn’t that coincidentally the perfect place for Naylor?
I’m not a Naylor stan, but I can’t really see the Padres quitting on him so soon.
He’s only 23 and not arb-eligible until 2023 so I could see them rolling the dice on his bat for the timebeing.
there’s nothing valuable about his bat. i saw the dude not only swing at balls 5 feet in front of the plate last year but literally a strike 3 over his head. OVER HIS HEAD. he’s JUNK.
You understand that Naylor came up as a First Baseman, right? The Padres have a habit of trying to put young players in positions they’ve never played at the ML level.
Wish the reds jumped on him but what a pick up by the pads
Cordero is interesting and now has nobody is blocking his playing time
Brett Phillips?
Brett Phillips is 5th string OF right now. He’s not blocking anyone.
Correct. I really don’t see what people see in Phillips. He can’t hit a lick.
I think Phillips gets released.
Yep, Phillips gets released and Starling makes the club. Starling has had a pretty huge spring and now summer camp and Phillips does absolutely nothing on the offensive side. The intrasquad games I caught on MLB tv show me that Phillips is a one-way player and Starling is looking really good. I like that the summer camp is in the home ballparks where you get a little better idea of how a player looks, instead of the (in the Royals case) AZ heat where balls fly further.
Given the Padres outfield choices, he didnt really have anyone blocking him in San Diego. It was more a matter of he was never healthy enough to get a legit chance. Also, Franchy can DH and play some short as well as the three outfield positions.
Franchy at short? Surely you can’t be serious.
I haven’t been a huge fan of Cordero, but I don’t quite get this for the Pads.
In the past year they traded Franmil Reyes, Renfroe, Margot, and Cordero.
All of their outfielders are unproven and all their relief pitchers are studs.
If he never sees the field like he did for the padres, then it’s fine.
Hopefully I’m wrong
TIL that Tommy Pham is unproven.
Okay, maybe not him. But he doesn’t have a long contract with the team. So yes, Pham is great and I’ll love to have him, but elsewhere is a lot of unproveness
Grisham’s defense is proven. And, uh, Pham?
Margots defense was too and they traded him
The Nats love Grisham’s glovework in right.
Bazinga!
It means they’re trying to contend for a change and are tired of their outfielders continued mediocrity.
so they traded someone who’ll be good once he stays healthy and gets at bats for a below average LOOGY. awful
Myers is proven to be overpaid but passable in the outfield. He’s proven. Same with Pham and Grisham. . That’s there starting outfield. Naylor can also see time in the corners. He’s unproven but has a ton of upside.
cordero had upside. not naylor. dude’s lack of pitch recognition makes cordero look like a contact hitter.
Reyes is a DH & when the Padres traded him the NL didn’t have the DH. He’s a butcher in the outfield. Renfroe struck out WAY too much & Margot can’t hit..
Trammell, Oliveras, Head & Hassell are all highly touted prospects in the organization to go along with Grisham. Pham and Myers are the now, but not the future. Both will be gone by the end of 2022 at the latest.
While I think SS CJ Abrams is the future at 2B, there has been talk about him moving to CF. Mateo is also an option at CF too. Bottom line is the Padres have a surplus of outfielders & with Cordero being constantly injured and will turn 26 in about a month and a half, I think the Padres decided it was time to move on.
The only one in the bunch who’s worth his salt is Renfore, good D, but he K’s 30% of the time and his BA at .235 is bad. Reyes would still be here if we had the DH but I still like the guys we got back in return, time to shake things up and get us out of last place, hopefully.
you don’t make awful trades with the excuse of shaking things up. you wait on talent to maybe blossom instead of trading them for TRASH.
The Franchyse will be wearing royal blue.
Nice deal for the Royals, maybe Franchy will break out…
Only if he stays healthy which he hasn’t its a big gamble by the Royals. I hope he makes it but this could be his last year if he can’t stay healthy.
So much for the “Cordero has insane tools” talk. Just another Padres hype piece gone.
When you strike out 40% of the time and your injured 80% of the time its a good trade for the Padres.
no. it’s AWFUL. injuries can end. and 40% of the time with limited playing time in a league where a GOOD hitter strikes out 20% of the time nowadays means nothing. with playing time he could easily be down to 25=28 of the time KO. regardless, you get more for a guy than trading him AND a prospect for a below average specialist at a position of strength.
Padres beat reporter Cassavell wrote earlier this week that Cordero had lost the inside track to be a reserve OF for San Diego to Edward Oliveras. This was kind of a make or break year for Cordero since he’s been on the fringe of SD’s roster for years now, so I guess SD just assumed that if he couldn’t even crack their 30 man opening day roster it was time to cut bait.
SD has a stacked bullpen already, but it seems like the Hill acquisition is directly related to Jose Castillo going down and them only having Strahm and Pomeranz as true LH relievers (Morejon and Gore are starters/prospects).
There’s a lot of upside to this for KC, Cordero has loud tools even if he’s never been able to put it all together for a sustained period of time and Bolanos could end up being a back-end starter. They could also end up doing nothing, but its not like they paid a high price for these two so seems like a decent risk for them to take.
Cordero could help the Royals if he stays healthy but he is so injury prone I am surprised the Royals did the deal, its a BIG gamble for them
what’s the gamble? they’re going nowhere this year and they traded a 30 year old piece of garbage for 2 prospects with talent.
That was unexpected!
Have to assume the 3 batter minimum played a large part into the Royals willingness to part with Hill. Not as much flexibility with him and historically RH have hit him decently. I don’t see much downside for the Royals on this one.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the Padres gave up a lot for a stretch of a piece here. Seems weird they didn’t target a younger, more controllable piece for a guy with a lot of success in the minors
Hill is 30 so while he’s not young, he is actually more controllable than Cordero because he has less service time. The earliest Cordero can be a FA is in 2024 while Hill cannot be a FA until at least 2025. That being said, relievers come and go though, so who knows if a 35 year old Hill will be any good in 2025 anyways.
It does feel like the Padres gave up a lot of upside for someone who is now like their 6th best reliever, but it seems like they are willing to risk potential at this point in order to get closer to winning now.
You are definitely correct with that assessment, but ya, I find it weird that a 30 year old was their target. Frenchy wasn’t a nothing piece, I just feel like they could have brought in young talent that would serve them better in the future than this piece. It’s a strange move.
It’s not just you. Even if those two never pan out, they are basically getting a below replacement level 30 year spot reliever.
Sure, Hill may have more control left, but does it really matter. As a Braves fan I would have definitely moved a 30 yr old AAAA reliever for those two players, even with the 90% chance neither becomes MLB replacement level type.
you literally nailed it. absolutely dumb, mind scratching move.
I’m hoping there is something else coming back to SD as otherwise this is a horrible trade. Who in the heck trades a potential starting outfielder for a non-elite RP and throws in a prospect with it?! Always been a fan of Preller but his trades the last year or so have completely flipped me. Need him out now.
Why, they have a stacked farm system, its the Padres time now to make the playoffs, good trade for the Padres, pitching comes first then hitting.
LMAO. yeah. a 30 year old LOOGY who sucked last year in his best year. you don’t trade 1 good prospect much less 2 for a triple A 30 year old pitcher.
Maybe they added Hill to make him the PTBNL to the A’s.
That won’t happen
The PTBNL is going to be a Single A player to the A’s
Odd trade for the Padres, to me. They must see something in Tim Hill I don’t.
Ground ball pitcher in a pitcher friendly park coming off of a good yr, why not
Yea there’s gotta be something there, lots of ground balls, that makes SD think he’s the real deal. I just never like trading young, everyday players for a reliever. I get Cordero isn’t proven yet but still.
If Cordero breaks out and becomes an above average everyday starter then yes this trade could be a huge loss for SD.
At the same time, Cordero wasn’t even on track to make SD’s team as a backup this year because Olivares passed him up, so at this point its not really trading a “young, everyday player”, its trading a former top prospect who can’t even crack your roster.
I’m not saying that this couldn’t completely blow up in SD’s face, because it could, but its a risk they’re willing to take to improve their pitching now.
He cannot field a position and he strikes out a lot
He is all or none
Depends on when you play but no it’s a more fair park unless the marine layer is coming down thick at night
HE DID NOT HAVE A GOOD YEAR! 3.6 ERA as a specialist is NOT good.
Daaa his average against lefties is only .178 what don’t you see, read the facts man.
You are doing that too much. Try again in 10 minutes.
Cordero has premium speed and power. He has 29.8 ft/sec speed and hit a HR 489 ft for the Padres. If he ever realizes his potential this trade will be a huge loss. Bolanos could be a real loss too. He throws mid 90s, hits 98, his FB moves all over the place and he has pretty good breaking stuff. Besides which starting pitchers have tremendous value There are several teams who have been signing the guys the Padres have already cut (Red Sox). Tim Hill is not a high quality pitcher. The Padres should have been able to get him for just one of those two, if not less.
The Padres really have made a big strength in their outfield into a group that aren’t very prepared to deal with injury. I know Cordero isn’t durable but they’re putting a lot of faith into Naylor, Pham, and Grisham.
That seems like kind of a steep price to pay for a LOOGY who can’t pitch as a LOOGY anymore with the new rules. I mean yes he seems solid enough that he’ll be able to handle the 3-batter minimum but Cordero is largely considered a ML ready potential power bat, and they’re getting a 22 year old SP prospect who more than held his own in the offensively juiced AAA last year. Idk maybe it’ll work out (possibly for both sides) but it just seems like a pretty steep price to pay!
He doesn’t have to pitch to. a three batter minimum. He just has to finish the inning. Tingler will use him to end an inning against a lefty or if there are multiple lefties in a row, a la the Dodgers.
Hey Padre fans haven’t you learned yet? Hows Hosmer Strahm and Will Meyers working out for you? KC got the best of you again. I see you finishing about 17 games behind the Dodgers in a 60 game season.
What are you talking about? Preller dunked on DM with the Strahm trade.
@DougJones Hosmer wasn’t even a trade and while Myers was drafted by KC, he was traded to SD by Tampa (in a trade that SD did admittedly lose to Washington) so neither of those has anything to do with KC getting the best of the Padres.
Plus the return in the Strahm trade did nothing for KC. Brandon Maurer and Cahill both had ERAs over 8 as Royals and then Buchter was only there for half a season. Meanwhile Strahm is a plus reliever with controllable years remaining and Ruiz is still a decent prospect in SD’s system.
let me refraize my statement. once Royals players have certainly snake bitten the Pads. I almost forgot about James Shields. Everytime I hear of a former Royals player ending up in San Diego I laugh and realize thier career has went to sh#t
Eat your heart out KC we’ll be in the wild card this year and you’ll be in LAST
ha ha wildcard!!! We will win another World Series before San Diego wins thier division. Wildcard bahahaha
59-103 or 70-92? Which record is better Doug Jones?
Seems like SD got tired of waiting for Cordero.. but damn does Hill look like a regression candidate back to his 4.5 era days of… 2018
I get the ground ball aspect but feels like they paid handsomely for a 7th inning guy..
Further, given he’s a ground ball pitcher. It’s quite plausibly his H/9 will fluctuate year over year. He relies on contact. That’s the only major improvement he had from 18-19…odd from an outsider prospective. Not Like SD has a lot of *good* OFers
For all the Preller haters, this could be the deal that finally drivers Preller out of SD. Hill gets mashed by RH hitters and with the 3 batter minimum and the NL DH, I just don’t see much value in Hill at all. I remember the last time KC swung a deal for an offensive player with major potential & upside but struck out too much and couldn’t put it all together. That guy was Jorge Soler, who was finally allowed to play in KC and hit 48 HRs for them last season! If Franchy can put it all together in KC, they’ll have a sneaky good team. He has the power/speed skills to be really special.
On top of that, Preller decides to throw in 23 year old Bolanos as part of this deal too? This kid can throw heat and has enough pitch mixes to project as a legit starter in MLB. Sure, he hasn’t put it all together yet either but he has way more upside than the 30 year old left-handed relief sidewinder they received in Hill. If either of these guys break out for KC this season, Preller will have done it again…how much longer can he last? This is a what have you done for me lately business and the Shields/Tatis trade happened a long time ago. If the Padres don’t make the playoffs and one of these kids breaks out, it’s time to send Preller packing!
Preller is the reason they are in contention this year after all of the years of rebuilding. I laugh every time I see a Preller hater. Look what Freidman has done in LA… zero championships. Tommy Pham, Tatis Jr, Machado, Paddack, Gore, Patino, and the second-best bullpen in baseball will make this season memorable. Padres are on the rise because of Preller.
Preller can build a farm, but he can’t build an MLB roster. Some of his trades have been downright horrible, with the occasional gem in his steaming pile of turds. Fire him and rehire him as a scout or minor league coordinator as that’s clearly the best role for him.
I presume you’re “padreshave32yrstobestdodger1stwswin”
Thank you. I’ve read this thread and many similar and cannot understand the Preller hating. This guy knows what he is doing. Yes, he has bought what seems like too high on Hoz and Manny, but they haven’t stepped into the contention window yet and that is when we should really measure Preller.
Remains to be seen. Preller’s Padres haven’t contended a lick so far. And it’s been a long rebuild.
that’s true. but this is a HORRID trade that a 6 year old wouldn’t ok.
Franchy was never as regarded as Soler. that’s just a mediocre comp.
Franchy is Ruben Rivera 2.0 except Rivera was a much better fielder.
Its wild card for the Padres or AJ is gone, simple. Pitching and a good LH relief man is more valuable this year than a guy who K’s 40% of the time. Get with it.
it’s a bad trade. hill sucks even in his best year. 3.6 ERA as a specialist. 40% K rate in a bat every now and then means nothing. dude could easily drop that to 25-28% which is practically league average in 2020
With no AAA stats, 2020 will expose Franchy Cordero for the AAAA player that he is. And that’s IF he stays healthy. Can’t say I’m thrilled with trading Bolaños for a reliever with a lifetime ERA in the 4’s however. Bolaños probably could have done at least that himself.
With Franchy gone, Josh Naylor likely becomes “the guy” at DH for San Diego.
Hill for either one of these two would be a good deal for the Royals. To get both is highway robbery. Even if neither pans out to be anything, just their potential is worth way more than what DM gave up. A+ trade for KC.
Padres are in a W now mode, KC wants to get out of last place and totally rebuilding. that’s the difference, quite simple. There is no way Cordero would have made the Padre 26 man roster,
he doesn’t need to for you to get more for him and a good prospect than a guy i’d cut tomorrow.
Padres must see something in Hill they like and think they can tweak much like they did with Hand and Pomeranz the first time around.
Goal is pretty clear, now and in the future. Use your pen to shorten games. 5 innings from starters 4 innings from the pen
Mateo could be a super utility bat that sees time between 2B and CF. Grisham and Garcia start against righties. Mateo and Profar/France against lefties. Profar has better stats against left handed starters in his career.
For his career Profar has actually hit righties better. Just 2019 it was the other way around.
Hill is a solid reliever to add in a stacked bullpen. Cordero and Bolanos haven’t done anything in the big leagues.
there’s NOTHING solid about hill. a LOOGY specialist with a 3.6 ERA in his best season at 30. he’s out of the league in 2 years. 3 at most.
Well played, Dayton Moore. You added two more high upside pieces to the Royals rebuild. If they don’t pan out, you didn’t give up much. If one of them delivers, you are one piece closer to contending again. If both deliver, you may have dealt a blow to AJ Preller from which he cannot recover.
AJ, I’m actually a fan. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the Pads are receiving a as yet unnamed PTBNL. Presumably a toolsy, younger guy with big upside.
What a horrible, horrible trade for the Padres. Preller needs to go.
A great trade for the Padres this is the year we make the wild card, Cordero is hopeless no loss there two losers go to KC, I don’t think they’ll get out of last place in KC.
I think you’ve had a few too many sips of the coolade good buddy. Padres are going to be third place at best and won’t make the wildcard, as much as I’d love them to.
This is far from a good trade. Sure, Franchy and Bolanos may never pan out, but they’re far more likely to end up better than Hill. Hill is an average at best reliever, who is better suited to being a loogy, which is useless now that we have a 3 batter min. He’s a huge regression candidate. I can see him being dfa’d before the end of the season. Preller is throwing darts at the board blindly and it’s looks uglier and uglier with each throw. I mean, what the heck was the Profar trade? And now Davies is getting shelled in the warm up games. It looks like the desperate last gasp of a desperate man with no clue what he’s doing.
this is an awful trade but Preller has done a very good job. they will have a winning record this year and a good shot at a wild card.
Simply put….the Royals won this trade barring Hill turning into the next Andrew Miller or Josh Hader and I don’t see that happening….
Even if Cordero doesn’t start for the Royals he provides ABs off the bench and he is still young enough to blossom….with Hill there isn’t much upside at all….not to mention the 3 batter minimum now….
Cordero also cant stay off the IL and has shown basically to be an all-or-nothing hitter. fact is he provides a lot of upside but Hill’s floor ia greater. a rebulidng team like KC should make a tradw like that though.
Is Cordero really a “power hitter”? The article references his OPS at triple A, but we all know the PCL is a hitters league and a 925 OPS is average or above average for that league. Overall in the minors he has a 434 slugging.
He’s got a ton of power. Just whiffs too much.
OK, that may be true if he was hitting like 220 in the minors yet still having a decent slugging, but he’s hitting 279 in the minors. So he’s making decent contact despite all the strikeouts, so where’s the power? He has 50 homeruns in the minors in 557 games. 44 at bat’s per home run. Just because he can hit for power in BP doesn’t mean he can do it during a game.
I think people are referring to his average exit velocity. When he does hit the ball, he hits it hard. He can hit the ball a mile…when he hits it.
I get that, but at what point does it not matter how hard he hits the ball if it never translates to hitting home runs and hitting for power in games? We can be obsessed with exit velo and all these other advanced metrics that “suggest” he has a ton of power, but he’s had enough games at the minor league level to suggest he doesn’t have the ability to do it in games.
His MLB sampling is too small, but he’s played enough in the minors. He’s making contact there, getting hits, and getting on base, but where’s the power?
Cordero is long overdue to move on and out
Tim Hill was a decent reliever. Stated out last year couldn’t find the strike zone and was demoted. Called back up and did a decent job. Didn’t realize he was 30 years old. This trade may backfire for DM but giving up a 30 year old situational lefty for 2 young prospects with high upside makes me proud to know that KC is well on the way to another WS. Good job Dayton
sucks for Kelvin. though he could be a very good piece for the Royals.
I can see why the Padres did it, but I think Franchy alone could have gotten this done. I think other GMs know Preller is on the hot seat and are fleecing him.
i dont think so. there was another article from earlier in the offseason saying Hill was receiving trade interest, including from the Yankees but seemingly other teams as well. i think maybe KC was weighing multiple offers here.
I wish they’d take a different one…
anyone who has followed my comments on Cordero on this site would know i think of him as a AAAA player, but honestly i think this trade is fair. Franchy is a boom or bust proepct who didnt really have a clear spot in SD, as was Bolanos who was lost in the shuffle. Bolanos probably doesnt stick as a SP, but could develop into a RP that more than replaces Hill. in Hill the Pads get a more proven option who stands to be useful in situational situations and probably can survive facing a handfull of righties with the new rule. he’s dirt cheap and controllable, and was clearly a popular trade target.
Pretty much that. I don’t think Bolanos’ floor is much lower than Hill’s. And Bolanos is 6.5 years younger and still has starter upside, even though if this rebuild works out he would not have been one of SD’s 5 best starters.
only reason i say Hill’s is higher is Bolanos hasn’t really pitched all that well outside his stint with A+ Lake Elsinore this year. 24 and having hit done well above the A+ level doesnt bode too well, and Hill has shown he can perform in the Majors. Bolanos has time to figure things out but right now we know Hill can at least be passable in the Majors, but we dont know that about Bolanos yet.
Do we know that Hill can be passable in the majors? He’s already on the wrong side of 30 and can’t get righties out, which is going to be a problem with the new 3-batter minimum rule.
Plus Balanos was eating up a 40 man spot, and he really didn’t have a place in our rotation, barring multiple injuries
this too. Bolanos comes from a position of strength and the Pads had clearly been a bit tight on 40 man spots this past offseason. This allows them to cut down a spot that could be useful come this next offseason.
Pretty cool trade.
The Royals have had Hill on the block since November. I know the Yanks were sniffing around. Seems like a pretty solid bullpen arm.
I think they got a pretty good return, too. Looks like they were seeking upside. Cordero is one of those guys dripping with baseball tools. Could turn into an Aaron Hicks. Could turn into a Drew Stubbs.
I vaguely recollect Bolanos coming over from Cuba. Numbers aren’t very impressive. But 13th in the Padres system *is* impressive.
Nice.
Just some regular baseball stuff.
Agree, good move for both teams. Fills needs on both sides. Cordero wasn’t enough for Hill because Cordero struggles so much staying on the field. Although I really loved watching Franchy (most athletic athlete in the SD system-counting Tatis, Pham, Myers, and Abrams) according to other Padres, I was really tired of waiting for him. I will root for him in KC. Bolanos is the part of the deal that really hurts. Fastball command is his issue and it is probably because he has been trying to do something new in attacking hitters. He throws four different fastballs, according to translators. According to statcast, they ranged his fastball two seamers 80-92 and his four seamer 85-101. That is crazy subtracting. Anyhow, he’s ranked much higher in any system as a prospect so that one hurts. I like him more than Weathers…
Weathers has been looking great this preseason. Hitting 97 with his FB with good command.
Royals fans: go watch BP. Cordero fukn crushes the ball. Hope he stays healthy and hits 40 bombs for you. Another Jackass AJ…strikes again. Fowler was gonna “clean house “. This crazy season will cause us to live with this punk for another year. Down with brown! Boycott Petco! It’s working!!!!
@hoostierhysteeria I laugh, Brown is awesome. AJ Preller is still a RockStar GM and the Padres are on the rise. Go Padres!
Get back on your meds
Great trade for AJ, Cordero is a K machine who needs that he would not have made our 30 man roster, besides K 40% of the time he’s injured 65% of the time, good trade and needed for a LH relief pitcher.
Ya Cordero can only hit in BP that’s not going to do much for the Royals, bad trade for KC.
Glad to see all the armchair GMs have logged onto the board. Don’t know how any of you aren’t running an MLB team with your wealth of knowledge…… As someone mentioned. AJ Cassavell wrote that Cordero wasn’t even likely to make the teams initial 30 man roster. Where do you go from there with no minor league season? He’s gonna turn 26 in September so he isn’t some young prospect anymore. The Padres were ready to move on and they found a player they liked to help the team now, so a trade was made.
The Padres have a ton of young arms in the system. Bolanos wasn’t going to crack the starting rotation ever in my opinion. His best bet was a s a reliever where the Padres are also loaded.
Cordero and Bolanos play positions where the Padres have a lot of depth. They could afford to trade them, so they did.
Lanj good observation all these arm chair GMs think they know its like we traded Babe Ruth to the Royals, NOT. Cordero would not have made this team not even the 30 man roster. Badly needed LH relief pitcher is now in the fold.
Why does AJ Preller still have a job with the Padres?! Last year Padres/AJ Preller dumped a young, cheap 30+ home run guy(Franmil Reyes) and top rated young starter(Logan Allen) on the IndIan. Padres got an unproven minor league OF with average stats from the Reds in return in that 3 team deal.?!
This time Padres/AJ Preller gave away 2 promising young players for a dime a dozen reliever that they could have picked up off the waiver wire?!
Padres had the #1 Farm system before making ridiculously bad deals last year.
Now, they are giving away multiples of young talent for garbage returns?!
Padres lost the #1 Farm ranking and are falling as they give away young players at garage sale prices?!
What is the Padres Plan?!
They have no Plan!
AJ Preller can draft players, but his trading and free agent signing is Not up to par.
If you want a trader who will get you the pieces to make the playoffs, then, perhaps, the Padres should consider
Dave Dombrowski.
At least he will get you to the playoffs and World Series
after trading young talent for established veterans etc…
FIRE AJ PRELLER!!!
It should have been done 5 minutes after the Pomeranz debacle.
You mean the one where Preller traded Drew Pomeranz to the Red Sox (who then didn’t miss a start for the Red Sox for the next year and a half) for 2x Tommy John recipient Anderson Espinoza? THAT Pomeranz debacle?
Stop talking about yesterday who cares its over and done with today is a new day and the Padres will make a wild card this year.
Let’s face it this is do or die for AJ why do you think he’s making these trades, he’s getting proven ML players for fringe AAA or AAAA players who may or may not make it in the Bigs. If you don’t gamble as a GM then you might as well be happy with last place each year. Reyes and Renfore didn’t get us out of last place but they did have a terrible K ratio and terrible OBP.
We’ll see how these trades play out but I have a feeling we’ll be above .500 at the end of the season and possibly a wild card. If that doesn’t come to fruition then AJ will be history. Dave D. is waiting in the wings as a GM.
lol
I think trading that much potential value for a 30 year old reliever coming off two decent but not great seasons is a bad plan.
This is going to bite us right in the ass.
this is such an awful trade i can’t even comprehend it possible because a 7 year old wouldn’t make this trade. cordero hits 500 ft bombs. and 40% K rate – so what. limited at bats and everyone K’s 25% of the time nowadays. with regular time he could easily do that. the pitcher we traded in other systems is one of their best prospects. AND…. DRUM ROLL PLEASE… we traded BOTH for a 30 year old LOOGY who just came off his career year… of a 3.6 ERA in a specialist role. that is such a bad trade a senile amoeba wouldn’t make it.