Brewer’s Banter: Rymer is NOT Bryce Harper, Calm Down Padres fans!

Rymer Liriano (Not Bryce Harper) Traded to the Brewers
In the biggest Padre news of the week, Rymer Liriano was designated for assignment and later traded to the Milwaukee Brewers to clear a 40-man roster spot for new Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez.

In return the Padres got a left-handed reliever named Trevor Seidenberger, perhaps of some consequence down the line. While the trade made plenty of sense on the surface, the move was met with quite a bit of backlash across social media. If I didn’t know any better, Liriano is a top ten prospect on his way to being the next Bryce Harper or Mike Trout. However, that is hardly the case.

With how much depth the Padres have in their outfield currently, Liriano and his 24% strikeout rate at Triple A last year were just expendable. He may go on to have a good career in Milwaukee, but that should be of no consequence to the Padres organization or fan base. Liriano has had his time to develop, and it was the right time for the organization to move on and let him try to succeed elsewhere.

What on Earth are the Colorado Rockies Doing?
I don’t think anyone really knows what the Colorado Rockies are doing at this point. I don’t think their own owner or general manager knows what they are doing. On Thursday the Rockies acquired reliever Jake McGee from the Tampa Bay Rays, and gave up Corey Dickerson in the process.

Yes, a non-contending team traded for a semi-elite reliever, a luxury, and gave up a good young player who has yet to prove himself with twice the amount of team control as said reliever. Really just a nonsensical move all-around. At this point, the Padres front office, and more importantly Padre fans, can take solace in knowing that no matter what adversity they face, they are still better off than the Rockies at current.

Tim Lincecum of Interest?
As was noted earlier in the week, Tim Lincecum is nearly ready to participate in a showcase for some major league teams, and the Padres appear interested. Lincecum has obviously had great success throughout his career against the Padres, and at Petco Park, so potentially signing him should be of huge interest for the Padres.

Despite having a lot of options throughout their rotation, Lincecum could be a great bounce back candidate at the back-end of the rotation if he can prove himself healthy at his showcase. At least, the Padres will definitely be at the showcase to see what he still has left in the tank. Whether the Padres sign him or not remains to be seen, but the interest is certainly present.

Dodgers Bring Back Howie Kendrick
In another somewhat surprising NL West transaction, the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with free agent second baseman Howie Kendrick to bring him back to town. Despite re-signing Chase Utley, and appearing content with a platoon of Utley and Enrique Hernandez, the Dodgers decided to bring back Kendrick to shore up the defense.

While the Dodgers appear to have too many options at second base, Hernandez serves as a great utility player with his ability to play multiple infield positions as well as the outfield. With the signing, Hernandez will likely be pushed back into that role for next season. Beyond that, this also provides more insurance should Corey Seager struggle, or should Justin Turner suffer through any more injury concerns. It is a surprising move, but still a smart move given the cheap price the Dodgers paid.

What’s Next?
With the signing of Alexei Ramirez and the trade of Rymer Liriano, the Padres 40-man roster is all set with 40 players. However, the signing of Fernando Rodney has still yet to be made official, meaning at least one player still needs to be moved. This means another trade or DFA is likely coming in the next days or weeks once that signing becomes finalized. The Padres weren’t expected to be done, but it seems pretty clear now that there are still some moves to be made before the start of Spring Training in the next few weeks. Things may seem quiet now, but some moves should still be coming.

Valuing the Remaining Players on the Market
With the signing of Howie Kendrick, most of the biggest name players have signed contracts for next season. The offseason is dwindling down to an end, and yet a few big names still remain available, including Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler, Yovani Gallardo, Tyler Clippard, among a few others. Given that these players are still on the market, it seems rather difficult to put a good value measure on any of them. Three of the four have qualifying offers attached to them, which has affected their value significantly. All four have some concerns associated with them, which has dragged out their market to this late date. All these players will find homes, but it may not be for the prices originally sought, or originally assumed to be attainable. This has certainly been one of the more interesting offseasons in recent memory.

Patrick Brewer

Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.