Padres reportedly offered Adam Wainwright a contract
Credit: USA Today Sports
The Padres are reportedly currently speaking to free-agent right-handed pitcher Adam Wainright.
A.J. Preller is tenacious and relentless when it comes to improving the San Diego Padres.
Right when you believe you have the young general manager figured out, he does the unexpected.
The San Diego Padres arguably possess one of the deepest starting pitching staffs in all of Major League Baseball.
The additions of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell provide the Padres with pitching depth and relieve some of the pressure off young pitchers like Adrian Morejon, Ryan Weathers, and MacKenzie Gore. The rookie trio of left-handers are capable of major league action, but there will be no requirements for the coming season. The Padres are deep at this position.
Looking at the Padres on paper, there is no obvious need in the pitching department to begin games. But that will not stop A.J. Preller.
Late Wednesday, a report out of St. Louis indicates that the Padres have a current offer on the table to Adam Wainright.
Updates galore:
-Wainwright has several competitive offers, including one from #Padres, per source.
-Molina off to Caribbean Series with #Cardinals offer waiting on him.
–#stlcards have not actively sought reunion with Wong.
-And more on CMart… https://t.co/8i4ddrlHe0
— Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) January 28, 2021
The Padres linked to the 39-year-old pitcher seems very odd, but Preller does what Preller does. Wainwright pitched his whole 15-year major league career in St. Louis, recording a 3.38 ERA and 1.225 WHIP in over 2,100 innings. He threw 65 innings last year, going 5-3 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.051 WHIP. There is still life in the arm.
The 6-foot-7 hurler pitched very well at the end of the year and in the Cardinals’ playoff run of 2020. He could be valuable on a championship-caliber team simply because of his experience. The Padres may choose to utilize a six-man rotation, and A.J. Preller even mentioned this recently while discussing his team. Wainwright may not be capable of carrying a pitching staff, but the veteran brings plenty of grit and fire to the clubhouse.
The Padres may also choose to run the veteran out there out of the bullpen. In 2006, Wainwright was dominant for the Cardinals in their World Series run. He is capable out of the pen. The Padres currently have a need at the end of the game, and the curveball specialist is a great change of pace from the current Padres’ bullpen and all the power pitchers within it.
This report also brings whispers that the Padres are still in contact with catcher Yadier Molina, who is a free agent. The Padres currently have Austin Nola, Victor Caratini, and Luis Campusano behind the dish, so Molina’s need is not evident. At this point, the Padres are simply going through every scenario in building this team for the future. Stay tuned. A.J. Preller and his staff are not done tinkering with the San Diego Padres roster.
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.
Preller might be the first person to disprove the adage, “You can never have enough pitching.”
Perhaps the way this could be “disproved” is by having too many pitchers to fit on the roster (lesser ones/older ones like AW), thus forcing the right/better pitchers off (e.g. Gore; Morejon).
Or he is building into the roster the high likelihood of injuries.
Most likeley, however, he knows Lamet won’t make it, or strongly doubts his health.
If he signs Molina then I give up. On the other hand, why would Molina come to the Padres, or what does this say about Preller’s view of Nola?
And the Padres are disproving every parent’s assertion that money doesn’t grow on trees. Apparently the ownership has more than one such tree.
If the government is just printing money (and giving it away), why can’t the Padres?
In fact, that helps all of this make sense, if the ownership knows there will be hyper inflation soon, then $30 million will be like $1 million in 6 to 12 months. So why not go crazy in spending, especially when other teams are not? This is actually very shrewd on their part. So why not just sign Bauer for 35 to 40 mil? The dollar will be increasingly worthless in the next year to 4 years.