Padres contemplating paying hefty price tag for Merrifield
Credit: Getty Images
Reports indicate that the San Diego Padres have aggressively been pursuing Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals. The price tag for the infielder/outfielder is sure to be steep, but the Padres can pay the asking price.
There is no doubt that the San Diego Padres and their young general manager are prepared to make a splash this winter.
The Padres are linked to many players and one name that has popped up a few times in Whit Merrifield. The Royals’ most valuable player is reportedly not available for trade, as indicated by the team several times- but that has not stopped Preller.
Kansas City is in a re-build and is attempting to retain Merrifield to help lead the young players. Preller is well-aware that the Royals desire to keep Merrifield, but he also understands that he has resources that could be extremely valuable to the small market team. Prospects and young cost-controlled talent could very well entice the Royals to rethink their stance on not dealing Merrifield.
At this point, the price tag for Merrifield would be extremely high.
The Royals have made it known that nothing short of a king’s ransom will get them to part with the right-handed hitter. The Padres will need to move a top prospect even to get talks started. Names like Luis Patino and CJ Abrams would most likely be who the Royals ask for to headline a trade.
The Padres have the depth to move talent like Abrams or Patino, but they must be sure of the value they are getting from Merrifield.
The Padres have been trying to deal for Whit Merrifield, per source. The Royals have been very reluctant to deal Merrifield; here’s what Dayton Moore told KC beat writers on Monday. pic.twitter.com/ry6N9fiC1Q
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 10, 2019
There are no guarantees in the game of baseball, and Merrifield comes with some risk. The late-bloomer is 30 now but will be 31 when the season starts in March. He is not a young player by any stretch of the imagination. He is, however, in the prime of his career, and that might be precisely what the Padres seek. He owns a career .296/.344/.445 slash line in his four-year career. In 2019, his first All-Star season, the former 9th-round pick, recorded a .302/.348/.463 batting line with a .811 OPS. He slugged 16 homers and stole 20 bases for the Royals, providing a rare combination of power and speed.
Preller is well aware of what Merrifield brings to the game. He is a top of the order type player who can play all over the diamond. The fact he can play all three outfield positions, as well as first base and second base, is precious to the Padres. He is a plus defender at second and has shown great skill in the outfield as well, though I would not pencil him in centerfield every day.
Merrifield produced a WAR number of 9.5 in the last two seasons. He is due to make $14.5 million in the next three seasons with a chance at making $4 million more in bonuses. He then has a $10.5 million team option for the 2023 season or a $750,000 buyout. That is ridiculously inexpensive, so there is no financial risk involved with Merrifield. If the Padres plan to compete in the coming years, a player like Whit Merrifield will go a long way towards completing the team’s championship aspirations. The asking price will be very high, but the Padres are in no position to argue. You CANNOT play all the prospects, and sooner or later, most will lose their lofty value. It may be time to pay the price for Merrifield.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
So you know what AJ is contemplating? Based on what, Mark Feinsand and Ken Rosenthal? Its their job to speculate deals and dump information into the public. Teams can ask all they want. Fans of other teams only see system 30, Top 100s but mostly Gore and Patino. It says to me they dont know this minor league system at all. There is no Wander Franco, Ronald Acuna, Vlad Jr. This system is top 3 because of depth from top to bottom and the amount of pre 22 yr. old 45FV players they have to develop. Front Offices are aware and know there is plenty of depth past the top 4 everyone wants in every deal, no matter what player it is. Settle down, and be happy AJ is sticking to his word that each player has a known value and he must get that to trade them.
If any of you have an Athletic subscription, Dennis Lin put out a a piece all should read. Merrifield talks arent new and the teams disagree on value. While it could happen, its not likely. Got to believe that’s because what AJ is willing o give up doesnt match what Dayton feels he has to get to move Whit. Houston was able to get Verlander, Cole and Greinke without giving up their top 3 prospects in any deal. It can be done.
Yes, but Whit is no Cole, Verlander, or Grienke. And he is on the wrong side of 30. A couple of non top 10 prospects, perhaps, but KC could get more elsewhere.
Do NOT trade Gore, Patino, Campansano, Abrams, Tatis, Paddack, Lamet or Mejia. These prospects should be untouchable! We want to get to the WS and win the darn thing! Let the kids play and learn! While Merrifield is a very good player, we should not trade any more of our prospects for players whose best years are behind them! We already have Kinsler, Profar and Myers! We needed a pitcher to help the young staff but Preller says he is excited about his starters. Okay. We love the young kids! Now stop, unless you are bring in a true game changer, trading our future for a one year hope to win 81 games in 2020.
I agree with TommyT, etal. This off-season has been a complete disaster. Preller is so desperate to keep his job that he is making bad decisions for the short and long-term. Thanks Fowler for your big mouth.
Just look at the potential lineup…who is hitting clean-up or fifth now that all of our home run hitters have been foolishly traded away. Tatis, Pham, and Machado at the top of the order is great, but thereafter we have absolutely nothing in the way of bats.
The first base situation is not going to change…stop bashing and just accept the bad deal
The second base situation only grows worse by the day. Why in the world did we pick up Profar and now we are going after another 2nd basemen. This is absurd.
Short-stop looks great, let’s see an entire season, not just 80 games.
Third-base is not going to change. I love Machado, but he has to bounce back in his 2nd year
Stop with Hedges bashing…if we are looking to “build” an elite pitching staff with Paddack, Gore, Patino and a host of other “potential” big-leaguers, then why wouldn’t you want the number one defensive catcher in the league behind the plate. Hide him in the 8th position in the lineup and tell Meija to either fix his defense or hit the road.
Let’s give Meyers one more year to prove is worth…he has been screwed with for three years…no wonder he seems left-out. Give the kid a chance to redeem himself.
We have now 3 “potential” Center Fielders…come on make up your mind who is going to play the position.
Right field is going to be Tommy Pham if he stays healthy…lot’s of luck on this one.
All in all, this is not a championship team, but rather a cellar dweller. Preller has to be let go now before he trades away the farm.
The first base situation can and should change. Hosmer should play roughly 50%, or less, and only against RHP’s. If he still stinks then bench him even more.
I would prefer to give them a king’s ransom of expendables than top talent (Which, in theory, they may prefer too).
Something involving 3 or so of: Quant, Naylor, Weathers, Davies, Fuego, Miller, France, Margot
All MLB ready
All with talent+room to improve
All with lots of control
And then throw in hedges since they have catching problems.
If they really need a top end, Trammel. Not Abrams/Patino pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee
If I am the Royals I would take Naylor, Miller and Quantrill or Weathers. If I am the Padres not sure I want to make the deal though.
AJ is in desperation mode. He’s been told by Fowler to win now or lose your job!
So, Preller doesn’t care if he decimates the farm to keep his job. Poor leadership from owners equal poor leadership below. I can see the scenario where AJ overpays with ALL our top prospects for two years of 85 wins. Then, no prospects, no money for salaries and we return to 10 more years of last place rebuilding.
Add the new second baseman of our future, opps I mean two years, then figure out where you’re going to play all the second basemen you already traded for. How much are we paying the one we could have gotten for free a couple days after the trade? Oh yea, 5M for this year!
We can all be proud of the SD leadership though… we won the “best farm in the league” award! That buys you squat! Just like with AJ… we’ve got squat!
Fowler… do what you do best and walk away from baseball decisions! Trade AJ for a 35 year old prospect first!
Yes, you cannot play all the prospects but trading Patino or Abrams for Merrifield would be a terrible move for the Padres.
Trading away Patino and / or Abrams for Merrifield seems consistent with our over payment for each transaction this off season.
Nothing like completely eroding away the talent base for guys past 30 and have 1 – 2 good seasons left (IF we are lucky). It’s ground hog day…..2015 all over again!
Reminder……
We created this hole by trading away Urias for another corner outfielder to begin with (Grisham). <—By the way, wasn't Trammell supposed to be that LH OF guy for the 2020 team??? Oh yeah…..he isn't close to big league ready yet. Makes sense to trade away a 40 HR guy and heart of your team straight up for someone that can't help you for a couple years.
We follow that up by trading away for an injury prone OF (Pham) who is north of 30 and we give the Rays another top notch prospect in Edwards and of course Renfroe (he is going to kill it in the AL East by the way).
The Padres strategy this off season is baffling.
Other examples:
We sign Pomeranz to a massive contract??? And haven't extended Yates???
Reminder…….we created this hole by…………..trading Brad Hand who is an all-star closer for Cleveland, under a reasonable contract (that the Pads signed him to) for a catcher that can't catch (Mejia) and they are now looking to replace.
By the way….we ONLY got Mejia out of that deal. Think about that for a moment. How many dominate LH closer / setup guys are there in the league and think about the return when those type of guys are traded historically (we got a pittance on that trade).
So, are we now acknowledging that trade was a complete and utter failure by going after someone like Contreras??
Awesome!! Might as well package Gore and Campusano for him!!!
I can only assume we have abandoned the waves of talent crashing onto the shores of San Diego strategy and now going ,after the leftovers on other teams? Thus completely dashing any plans for long term, SUSTAINED success.
Stay the dang course man (AJ)!
This SHOULD have been our strategy for 2020:
Add to the rotation a #3 guy, dump Myers, platoon Hosmer against LH's, platoon Margot against RH's, dump Kinsler, augment the bullpen from the farm system, let Paddock, Lament and Lucchesi go deeper into games, cut down on the defensive shifts, bring up Gore in the 2nd half of the season (that's your #1 and Paddock #2), get another 30 – 40 games out of Tatis by managing his innings, cut down on the errors at 1B and SS, platoon C 50 / 50 between Hedges and Mejia.
Those moves alone would be 82 – 84 wins on the season (maybe a little more) and don't cost nearly as much. A major step in the right direction, without any of the other nonsense we have done this off season. It might even drive for a REAL mid season acquisition that would put us over the hump for a playoff birth.
Everything we have done so far, seems more like desperation than sound, logical, measured steps.
Great observations. Preller is a problem creator, not a problem solver, as you pointed out in these patterns. Hence, “Preller-The-Padres-Killer”
And, lest we forget, Preller created most/all of these problems by trading the Padres future all-star shortstop who leads off, gets on base at a high rate, steals a tone of bases, scores runs, leads his team, plays great defense, etc [Trea Turner (plus other value)] for Wil Myers, who he is now trying desperately to get rid of.
Not only that, he compounded that foolish trade by giving him the albatross contract he is now trying to shed, and will have to forfeit even more value/prospects!
Not only that, after some actual success from WM, Preller does the inexplicable, he signs an average-ish first baseman who is on the decline, who is now horrible, who is horrific on defense, who displaced WM needlessly, which caused others to be displaced (and lose value)—and not only did he sign “Preller’s Folly” to a ridiculous contract that is crippling the team now and in the future, NO ONE ELSE WAS BIDDING FOR HIS SERVICES!
So now he is trying to dump WM (when he actually could have value if he was played correctly/normally). And now he traded future second basemen (both were touted as future all-stars, and maybe just that) for a platooning RF who had 200 good at bats in AAA in one year. So now he is trying to sacrifice more of the future for the past (a soon-to-decline second baseman).
And for what, to move the needle how far? To win 78 games instead of 70?
Tommy T….TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!!!!! It’s all true.
The moves now are reactions to past poor decision making, compounding the problems further….making the future outlook very, very, bleak (should this pattern continue).
Got to stay the course to enjoy long term success.
There are 3 players the Padres should not trade to any other team…just my opinion, CJ Abrams, Patino and Gore are absolutely untouchable. All 3 of them are game changers. Of course other teams want them.
If the Padres can obtain a player like Merrifield with any other combination of prospects, then go for it. Preller shouldn’t get desperate. There’s been a long term plan for the last 5 years. It’s about to start playing dividends. Don’t “sell the farm” now.
This is classic Preller. The other team is selling high, and Preller is desperate (and not good at his job).
Yes, the player has been valuable, but he is on the wrong side of 30! And light hitting, yet speedy second basemen, do not age well, and tend to rapidly decline post-30.
Also, if he acquired him 2 weeks ago, or 2 months ago, then that would be one thing, but he just traded for a player to play second base. And if he could get a fair deal and not mortgage the future (which he has been doing) then that would be great, but…..
I am convinced that a platoon of existing players would be as good, if not far better than this.