Former Padres’ players Juan Lagares, Kyle Barraclough, & Seth Frankoff elect for free agency
Credit: Padres
In preparation for the 2020 season, the Padres made a few roster moves on Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon the Padres announced that outfielder Juan Lagares along with right-handed pitchers’ Kyle Barraclough and Seth Frankoff elected for free agency.
https://twitter.com/Padres/status/1283148729546010624?s=20
Juan Lagares, 31, was brought into Spring Training, earlier this year, on a minor league contract.
As a career Met, he profiled as a defense-first center fielder. In 2019, he posted a career-low 60 wRC+, along with a 26.3% strikeout rate, which is also a career-high. The Padres added him to provide depth shortly after trading away Manuel Margot to the Tampa Bay Rays this winter.
In Spring Training, he was going to compete for a roster spot and playing time against Franchy Cordero and Trent Grisham. Both players have stronger bats while playing adequate defense to boot. This made it highly unlikely for Lagares to earn serious playing time for the Padres moving forward. An indication of this possible move came a month ago when the Padres did not add Lagares to their 60-man roster for the shorted 2020 season.
Kyle Barraclough, 30, was signed to a minor-league deal with a chance to compete for a spot on in the loaded Padres bullpen.
Coming off of his worst career season with the Nationals and Giants, in which he recorded career highs in ERA (5.61), WHIP (1.75), batting average against (.273) and -0.7 fWAR. This trend continued in Spring Training for Barraclough. In three appearances, he gave up four runs and walked two batters. Ultimately the Padres’ decision-makers felt that they had enough bullpen depth to leave Barraclough off of their 60-man roster.
Seth Frankoff, 31, has spent nearly all of his career in the minor leagues aside from two years in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).
The Padres signed him to a minor-league deal after his two years in the KBO. In 2019 with the Bears (KBO) he posted 3.61 ERA with an 8.51 K/9 and a 2.3 B/9. In Spring Training, he was given the daunting task of competing for a spot on the Padres’ loaded bullpen.
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.