An Early Padres’ Trade Deadline Preview
Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America
With the rebuild fully underway, the San Diego Padres are in the midst of yet another noncompetitive season.
Despite the overall record at this point, the 25 man roster does still have several guys turning in solid performances who could be had by teams in the playoff hunt come the July 31st trade deadline. We’ll take a look at those names and some potential trade partners that could arise over the next two months.
The most obvious candidates to be traded are those on expiring deals.
The Padres will have little use for these players over the second half of the season, as they won’t be pushing for a playoff spot and we can expect them to be bringing up more of the next wave of prospects as the calendar turns over to August and September. Since these players will most likely be leaving for more lucrative deals on the free agent market this winter, the team might as well get something for them now as none are likely to receive a qualifying offer that would entitle the Padres to a compensatory draft pick should the player decline.
Galvis was brought in as the latest in a long line of veteran stop-gaps to man shortstop for the Padres over the last several seasons. So far he’s been exactly as advertised; despite the hot start in April his bat quickly cooled off and his offensive numbers now sit in line with his career averages, but the defense has consistently wowed fans. In December, the Padres sent minor league pitcher Enyel De Los Santos to the Phillies for just the one year of Galvis. At the time the move was heavily criticized by some writers as one that was unnecessary and counterproductive for a team not expected to compete in 2018. De Los Santos’ solid season so far in the minors has only served to prove their point. In any deal for Galvis the Padres are unlikely to get much at surface value, so they would need to rely on their scouting department to find an ideal piece at the lower levels of a club’s system much like they did with Fernando Tatis Jr. Galvis has played at second a bit in his career, so that versatility will add some value to him.
Potential fits: NYM, CLE, PIT
After a lost 2016 and a disastrous 2017, Ross has looked much like the staff ace that Padres fans remember during his previous stint with the team. He’s regained his control of a devastating slider following surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and has put together the best campaign so far of any of the team’s consistent starters to start the season. Although a clear number one in this rotation, on most competing teams he would still slot in as a number two or three starter. Down the stretch, such a pitcher could fetch a nice return. Even for just half a season. There’s been some mention that the Padres might choose to hold onto Ross and even extend him past this season to be a veteran anchor over the next few years. However, Ross can still be resigned in free agency this winter after spending the second half of the season elsewhere. Preller has held on to veterans on expiring deals at the deadline in the past (see: Justin Upton), but the right team, if hungry enough for starting pitching, may be pushed to pony up and pay the price for Ross.
Potential fits: NYY, PIT, LAA, SEA
Lyles has worked as a bit of a swingman for the Padres’ pitching staff up to this point in the season with great showings out of the bullpen but mixed results in his four starts. He’s collectively had better numbers across the board compared to his career averages, and much of that can be owed to the success of his curveball, which he’s shown far better command of than in past seasons. His highlight of the campaign came on May 15th against his former organization, the Colorado Rockies, when he struck out 10 in 7 ⅓ perfect innings before allowing a walk and a base hit and being removed from the game. In his two starts since, Lyles has given up nine runs in 10 ⅓ innings. With Lockett coming up from El Paso to start tomorrow’s game, Lyles seems to have lost his fill in spot in the rotation for now and can hopefully regain his early season dominance in some shorter appearances out of the pen. He’s signed through the end of this season but there is a team option on his contract for 2019, making him more than just a rental for any teams looking for extra bullpen help.
Potential fits: CLE, SEA, LAA, ATL
As usual, the big bright spot for the team has been the performance of the bullpen. Thanks to an offseason extension of Brad Hand, the late innings are locked down by guys who are under multiple years of club control which will be very appealing to competitive teams. Darren Balsley has consistently shown how great he is at revitalizing pitcher’s careers and these three are no exception.
Brad Hand: Hand came over as a waiver claim from Miami where he bounced between the rotation and bullpen, never showing sustained success in either roll. Since arriving in San Diego, Hand has been one of the most dominant LH relievers in all of baseball, taking on the closer during the 2017 season but also showing versatility while being used in high leverage situations earlier in games as well. His strikeout out numbers have been phenomenal, at one point he held the record as the fastest pitcher in franchise history to 100 K’s, and he’s seemed to have improved with his ERA+ rising from 136, to 198, to 201 in each of his three seasons here. Hand is currently under contract through 2020 at a total $19.75 million with a team option for 2021.
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Growing up in Dodgers country, Bradley would proudly display his Padres fandom through the roughest years of non competitiveness and rebuilding. With the Padres on the verge of contending, he’s excited to get the opportunity to cover them on a regular basis along with their minor league system.
We aren’t serious contenders. No need to try and make a playoff run just to say “we tried.” That would set us back again. We didn’t trade Chacin or Upton and got nothing in return the last couple of years.
Brad Hand, Yates packaged w Tyson Ross should be able to get us Clint Frazier and Chance Adams
Or Preston Tucker/Forrest Whitley from the Astros.
Package as many players as we can for the best prospects. We don’t need anymore depth. Just the best prospects we can get.
We needed to stack the farm system to be legit. Now that it’s been done, you can see AJ is starting to spend ( Hoz ). I can’t see him moving anyone unless he gets a solid haul back or a proven mlb ready player to shore up this team for the NOW.
This is a good article because it highlights the dilemma of the franchise – fans want to see stability and a good product on the field while at the same time not willing to give up good prospects to get them because they are only prospects.
Assuming we have impact arms in the minors (and most baseball experts agree that we do in Gore, Baez, and possibly Espinoza, Quantril and Morejon) where are the impact hitters? In the higher minors there is only one, Tatis, unless you really believe Urias is equal to a Pedroia or Altuve (sorry, I don’t) and the only hitter without significant flaws on the current roster is Hosmer. Since we are not going to sign Machado or Harper, we need to land probably 2 impact hitters to be competitive and hope others we currently have or are in the lower minors progress more quickly. That’s where the trades, probably pieces of the bullpen and current starting pitching (along with minor league “surplus” pitching comes in. Do I give up a Quantrill, Lucchesi or even a Morejon if I have Lamet, Paddock and Patino behind them?
Is Kyle Lewis or Jo Adell they guy? What about Keston Hiura or Kyle Tucker? Look at the top hitters in the top minor league prospects and I’d be homing in on several of those going forward to mold that team that will be extremely competitive in 2019 and beyond.
The Padres do one thing really well – transform unsuccessful pitchers into successful pitchers (there are exceptions), but what they do poorly is identify great hitters. Therefore, we should know the targets and be aware that we are on the right path and that day will soon come.
Whoever Bradley Garland is, he hasn’t been watching the Padres play lately. So what if the NL West is weak ? This is where your team can make the playoffs with a little stability. We have some great performances going on right now. Yes, Preller does make some bad moves (too many to list here), but pulling the plug on this team that is starting to gel now, would be his worse.
Remember 2010 ? The NL West was weak, the Padres were in 1st most of the year, and we had a fraction of the talent that we have now. If he could somehow convince a team to take Myers for a solid pitcher, we might be playing October baseball.
Like Mark, I too am tired of trading established players for prospects/suspects. But I don’t trust AJ Preller to make the right deals. Has he shown the best judgment on trades and contracts? NO. Yeah, he’s made some decent trades but overall, who cares anymore about always restocking our farm system? I want to start winning NOW. That’s why unless someone “way over pays” for Tyson Ross, Brad Hand and Freddy Galvis, I want those players to remain Padres.
What is Preller going to do with the glut of outfielders we have? How much longer do we continue to experiment with lineups and players? We all know “who” should be out there now; Jankowski, Renfroe and maybe Margot.
LET THEM PLAY EVERY DAY! Send Reyes and Cordero back down to El Paso. The revolving door in our outfield has to stop.
Wouldn’t surprise me if AJ Ellis was traded. He’s having a career season, and a lot of teams could probably use catching help near the deadline. Plus, it appears that Raffy Lopez is having better luck with the pitchers, due to his framing skills.
Whether Brad Hand gets traded depends on whether another team is willing to pay the price, which is most likely two top 100 prospects.
Couple of points, if we’re in such a Gosh Darn hurry to dump Galvis, only 66 games into the season, why in heaven’s name did we trade de los Santos for him? Secondly, I see the writer indicates that Galvis is a good fit in Cleveland. Really? Lindor is going to be benched?
I don’t want any more prospects for good players, I want to see a freaking product on the field. End this crud of getting someone down the road that MIGHT work out. Evidently this draft is not expected to yield signees at the same rate as previous drafts. So the need for prospects seems to have evened out a bit. Now, if they are willing to give away the farm, we have to listen. But the time is now to begin the transition into a winner. 2019 will be the sixth year of ownership, and the 4th season of a complete restock of players.
The question really is, how do the Padres transition from this team to the team they expect in 2019? Who exactly is going to be on that team? Is there anyone on this team worth keeping? Will the division soften up (indications are that the Dodgers and Giants have missed their windows)….I’m really freaking tired of trusting the process. Show me something now.
I don’t care about the standings, the Padres need to trade players especially their one year deal people. This remains a rebuilding season and while the team is showing some nice progress in terms of development and success from players (e.g. Cordero pre injury, Renfroe making a few strides, Reyes looking good, Villanueva of course), the only reason they’re not 10-15GB is because the NL west sucks.
AJP needs to re-open the shopping mall and they have the players to make some real trades. I can’t imagine Hand’s trade value is going to get any higher than it is right now and should bring back a Top 50 prospects or maybe two Top 100s. Yates/Stanmen will be of value and there won’t be a glut of relievers this trade deadline.
Have you checked the standings lately or watched us play at all in the month of May? 4.5 games out sure seems competitive to me? This club is playing good baseball right now. I’m all for a trade if it brings an influx of talent, but I think we need to let this play out a little and see what happens with the current kids. If Myers can come back healthy and perform to his capabilities you never know what might happen.
I’m thinking Preller might actually add a pitcher and see what we can do to make a run.
Thank you Tom ..Finally somebody reasonable on this thread…I swear I get why San Diego fans get a bad wrap because of some off the stuff I read just in this comment section.. like did I hear somebody send down Cordero and franmil????? Lmao and saying AJP doesn’t make any good trades or signees?? Lmaooo When was the last time we had a player like hosmer on our team?? Or had a SS like Tatis in our system but AJP doesn’t have a clue of what his doing right? GTFOH