Padres Claim Zach Lee off Waivers
The San Diego Padres have claimed right-handed pitcher Zach Lee off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. Lee, a former 2010 first round draft pick (28th pick overall) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, will try to compete for a starting spot in the Friars’ rotation.
The Padres claimed RHP Zach Lee off waivers from Seattle. Former Dodgers first-rounder was drafted by Padres exec Logan White.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) December 13, 2016
The Texas native had one brief stint in the majors, posting a 13.50 ERA in 4.2 innings pitched. Lee has spent the last two years bouncing between the Oklahoma City Dodgers and the Tacoma Rainiers.
The odds of Lee making the rotation will be long and he is more likely to be a long reliever. He is an excellent project for Padres’ pitching coach Darren Balsley. The 6’3″ 195 pound hurler has not pitched successfully higher than Double-A for any significant amount of time. The signing of Lee has some Padres’ fans discontented with the lack of big-name free agent signings thus far.
@Padres claim righty Zach Lee another questionable Pitcher! In 2016, Lee scuffled to a 6.14 ERA.
— TheCowboysFan (@PadresCowboys) December 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/lhagfors33/status/808755480277323776
Zach Lee may earn a spot on the 40-man roster barring any further signings. It is still early and A.J. Preller is surely still kicking tires on veteran starting pitchers to add to the 2017 rotation. Stay tuned.
John is a Metrologist that currently lives in Murrieta CA. Originally from National City, He grew up an avid San Diego sports fan. John spends his free time coaching baseball and loves to watch his kids play sports.
If any Padre fans are waiting for “a big name free agent signing”, this is going to be one very disappointing Holiday season. The Padres will not, sorry should not, be signing any big money contracts right now. They are into a rebuild and the last thing they need is a big money signing to drag them down when they turn the corner. The Cubs tried that with Edwin Jackson and he ended up on the Padres roster at the end of that deal. The Padres should go young, I hate to say this, and hope for the #1 overall pick next year, coupled with a competitive balance pick at the end of the 1st round, (not 2nd as usual), and the Padre system will only get deeper. This is what this team needs, not an over priced flashy free agent signing that won’t help them make the playoffs.
As for Lee, the Padres had some luck with former 1st round picks in Pomeranz and Friedrich last year, so maybe they can get some decent innings out of Lee at some point this upcoming season.
Totally agree. The crazy thing is how our lower system looks right now and we are pretty much guaranteed a top 5 pick the next 3 years. They need to draft college bats next year.
I feel they need to draft “best player available” over these next few important drafts. SS you say, the Padres will most likely have top 5 picks in the next few drafts, so hitting on these picks is crucial. No sports draft is a sure thing, but baseballs seems to be the biggest crap shoot of them all. The Padres have a ton of pitching at the lower levels of the farm, but if they could get a guy in the Strasburg mold, minus the injuries, they would have to jump at him. At the same time, if a can’t miss bat is available, how do you pass him up? Any way you look at it, we have to trust Preller and Co. to make the right decisions. Don’t get me wrong, I am tickled pink that the Padres system is looking better than it ever has, but as they say, “prospects are prospects”, so hopefully this new regime can get some of these prospects to the Majors and have them deliver. These next few years will be interesting for us Padre fans, “hoping/expecting” failure at the big league level, all the while basking in a farm system that has improved by leaps and bounds and only looks to get better.
You hit the nail right on the head! Hopefully Lee finds success here and we shouldn’t expect any big name free agent signings until this team is ready to compete. My guess would be around 2019.