The Padres Have Money To Spend, But How Will They Spend It?
There is no doubt that the San Diego Padres have money to spend for the 2018 season.
How and where they will spend that money is what is currently up for debate. Of course the team will sign some players, but they must do so with investments that are low-risk. In my opinion, they should not offer very many multi-year deals at this point, but must instead find undervalued players and hopefully sign and flip them when it is appropriate. That is the winning game plan.
The payroll is presently at around $53.7 million, but it will climb. Wil Myers ($7.5 million), Yangervis Solarte ($4 million), Clayton Richard ($4 million), Brad Hand ($3.8 million), Cory Spangenberg ($2 million), Carter Capps ($1.3 million), and Kirby Yates ($1.1 million) make up the majority of the current payroll. That’s a little over $23 million for those seven players.
The Padres owe Jedd Gyorko ($2.5 million), Hector Olivera ($6.5 million), and James Shields ($11 million) for the 2018 season. Sadly, that’s $20 million in total invested into that trio. The Royals are paying $5.95 million to the Padres towards Travis Wood‘s contract ($6.5 million) for 2018, so that is a positive. Matt Kemp is off the books, but Oliveras’ contract will be a burden for the next three seasons. This is thankfully the last year of the Shields commitment, but the team will need to pay $3 million towards Jedd Gyorko‘s salary for the 2019 season.
The team has payroll flexibility at the moment and in the future, but you have to wonder how gun-shy they would be about making a big investment. Even though the signing of James Shields resulted in the acquisition of Fernando Tatis Jr., the deal was bad from the start. Shields immediately regressed with his skill and the Padres were left holding the bag. More often than not when signing a free agent, you pay for what they have done, not what they will do. That’s the sad truth in this modern era of the game dominated by players opting out and agents demanding more money. Thankfully, A.J. Preller was able to turn a negative into a positive (in the Shields deal) with the young Tatis addition, but in reality the Padres were very lucky.
The Eric Hosmer rumors are still swirling. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the Padres are indeed looking into Hosmer, though they have yet to make a formal offer to the slugger. Hosmer is looking for someone around the $150-170 million mark in a contract, and that seems excessive. He is a good player, but paying him as if he is a great player could be hazardous for a team looking to rebuild for the future. Especially if signing him comes at the cost of a top draft pick.
Zack Cozart is another interesting option on the open market. The Padres need a shortstop in the worst way. They have the money to spend, but is Cozart worth a $30-40 million investment? He is coming off a career year and seems unlikely to reproduce his offensive numbers in a less favorable ball park. Again, the team should stay away from long-term investments until they are ready to compete for a World Title. The time for long-term deals and big-time investments will come.
The 2019 free agent class is gonna be huge. The Padres could save up and make a run at Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, or Josh Donaldson. They could also potentially bring in Dallas Keuchel, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Jones, or Charlie Blackmon. All are free agents, but we are talking about 12 months from now. With money to spend now, do we automatically assume that they will spend immediately? Not so fast.
In cultivating a winning way and formulating a team to survive for the long-term, you must make sacrifices. You cannot just throw money around on players that will only make your team average. Finishing in the middle of the overall final standing only assures you of a middle-tier draft pick. The Astros and Cubs only gained relevancy after losing 100 games a year for a couple of seasons. They needed those high selections to stockpile high draft picks.
Unlike those two franchises, the Padres are not built to lose 100 games for a few seasons. The 2017 season is about as bad as it should get here for a while and the end result was a 71-91 team. The 2018 team could lose a few more games in the long run (because you never know in the game of baseball), but the Padres are definitely a franchise trending upwards. Earning top-five draft picks will not, and is not, a goal of this team. They already rebuilt their farm system through trades and international signings. The $80 million the Friars spent during the 2016-17 market brought them Adrian Morejon, Michel Baez, Jorge Ona, Luis Almanzar, and countless others. The way the Padres staggered the prized youngsters in terms of their skill and age provided the team with instant high-tiered prospects.
If Shohei Otani decides to come to San Diego, the window might open sooner than expected. The Padres are built for the long run and he recognizes that fact. With his addition to the top of the rotation, the Padres could be in an area where they attempt to compete sooner than expected. As soon as 2018, perhaps? That would be exciting and a lot of things would need to take place for this to happen, but it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Not with A.J. Preller at the helm.
The Padres have money to spend, but they can go in many different ways. Not even those that pull the strings know exactly what will take place at this moment. They could be very active in the next few months as the team is structured for 2018. If a miracle takes place and the Padres are able to secure the services of Shohei Ohtani, then expect the team to be very active in securing talent to play around him. Whether that means taking on players via trade or dipping into the free agent pool, they will be active. No matter what happens, the Padres and A.J. Preller will surely have the city of San Diego talking about their Padres. Kudos to the franchise for securing the G.M. for three addition seasons. He and his staff have done well to turn the sleepy baseball town into one of MLB relevancy.
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.
First base is the EASIEST position to fill … and it is ALREADY FILLED … by the HIGHEST PAID PLAYER on the roster.
If you want to turn around and give out an EVEN HIGHER (and ABSURD) salary to the EASIEST position to fill, and BLOCK a highly touted prospect, and DISPLACE the so-called “face of the franchise” (who sits in that same position), then there is NO HOPE for you.
Hosmer is a fine player, but if the Padres sign at even close to his asking price + years of the length of the contract, this will set the Padres back about 5 years, that is how D – U – M (dumb) this signing would be. It would immediately be an untradable contract (unless they paid for much/most of it, just like with Shields and Kemp). Who signs that kind of contract? (ok, we know the answer to that question) I am all for the Padres making a big signing, but not this one. Of all the positional needs, they do not need a 1b!!!! Why not wait a year or two to make a big splash?
Ohtani changes everything, IMO. If the Padres get him then you add Hosmer at 1B with LH bat, good clubhouse leader who has won before. You strongly consider Cozart also. I don’t know why everyone thinks that once you bring someone in that if you have a prospect who takes his job, that you then can’t move the player that gets replaced for something of value. The fact that ALL 3 of those moves does not touch any of our Top 30 prospects adds to reasons why this year and not next. I believe in testing things out and not just base all decisions on projections but actual play. We could use Dickerson to spell Meyers or Renfroe against some top RH pitchers. Of course Ohtani would also help, on his way to getting 300 AB’s. We could mix Perella early and Urias in by mid-season in a platoon at 2B with one of our LH 2B. We could use Villanueva at either corner IF spot off the bench from the right side. Keep Hand and add to the bullpen in true Padres fashion. As far as the rotation goes, it would be a developing year, we have Richards for sure with Lamet and Perdoma and plenty of ML options to start the year and mid-season options from the farm system. If we are in the mix by All-Star break then you have some decisions to make. But with this plan you could answer allot of questions and really get a full view of what else is needed for full run at a WS Title in 2019. Contending in September in 2018 will do wonders to get our young players ready for the future.
Here’s hoping for a Nippon miracle! After that, turn AJ loose.
The best thing with otani is the dough isn’t the biggest factor.. that obviously is huge with the cap restrictions and you have to believe it’s true best where in the lucky 7!