What can the Padres do with Wil Myers?
(Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
Wil Myers, who was once considered the face of the franchise and the future of the San Diego Padres, has looked horrendous at the plate in recent years. He has no trade value at the moment and has lost his starting position on the team. With a hefty contract due over the next three seasons, Myers will be a tough player to move.
What can the San Diego Padres do with Wil Myers?
The team is concerned with his production at the plate. The emergence of Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes complicate the situation, as each provides plenty of right-handed power to the Padres. Myers, Renfroe, and Reyes are all corner outfielders, but the Padres continue to find ways to get all three in the lineup in an effort to maximize the offensive output.
Myers was turned into a third baseman briefly last year, and he has played the majority of the time this year in center field, but he is not able to play those positions at the major league level. The Padres are just taking advantage of Myers’ physicality as they plug him all around the diamond.
If Wil Myers was left alone at first base or a corner outfield position, he should be a productive player. By stressing an already emotional player, the Padres have continually asked for the unattainable. Myers has started at five different positions for the club since he arrived before the 2015 season. You have to wonder what kind of numbers he would put up if the team gave him a consistent defensive position.
There is no doubt about his defensive versatility, but Wil Myers has not grown with the bat. This is troubling. For the Padres to find a potential trade partner, he must get back to or near his 2016 MLB All-Star form. His current strikeout rate is abysmal. Myers has struck out 103 times in 253 at-bats this year or roughly 41 percent of the time. His OPS has dropped in four consecutive seasons to a .718 mark this season. There is still time for Myers to dig himself out of the hole he is currently in, but now there is little to no opportunity for him to get consistent at-bats. It will be an uphill battle for Myers to gain relevancy in the league. At this point, a fresh start could be best for him to reach his ultimate ability with the bat.
Starting in 2020, the outfielder is due $68.5 million for three years (including a buyout). $22.5 million per season is a hefty sum. Any team paying that rate will demand results. At 28, Myers is not an aged veteran. There is the thought that he could or should break out at any moment. That adds to the frustration the fan base, and the front office currently has with the slugger.
If the Padres want to move Myers, there are only three real possible scenarios-
Package him with prospects
By dealing from the talent pool the Padres currently possess in the minor leagues, they could conceivably move Myers and get a useful player in return. The key will be finding a team that is willing to take a chance on Myers. The Padres need to be careful in this scenario as they could look foolish by moving him with prospects who could breakout. His $68.5 million anchor will require relevant top 30 type prospects too. The likelihood of a breakout is high. At this point, this does not seem like an option for the Padres. It is too soon to start mortgaging the future.
Trade him for another “bad contract”
Multiple players around the league are viewed as “bad contract’ guys. The Padres could take a look at a few of these options and possibly consummate a deal. Yu Darvish, Ian Desmond, Chris Davis, Wei-Yen Chen, Johnny Cueto, Shin Soo-Choo all fit the mold but are not appealing players. At this point, Myers seems to have more upside than any of these players. Darvish is an interesting option, but he is due $81 million for the next four seasons. He also has arm issues. Not a great combination to get a deal done. The Padres will explore this idea, but ultimately they are invested in Myers too much just to trade him for another teams’ headache.
Trade him and “eat” the majority of the salary
This seems like the most likely scenario if something is done relatively soon. The Padres might have to eat 50-75 % of the remaining three years of his contract to get anything substantial in return, but they have proven in recent years that they are not afraid to spend some money. Myers at a $10-15 million per season could be enticing for a team looking for a potential all-star type player. He has youth on his side, and that could benefit the Padres when it is all said and done. A perfect scenario would need to happen for the Padres to eat a significant portion of this contract in the next four weeks. The trade deadline is approaching.
The verdict
The San Diego Padres are playing well, but are probably not in the position to go “all in” when it comes to the 2019 season. They have so much invested in the future, that they cannot get too caught up in the possibility of now. Wil Myers’ value is arguably at its all-time low. A.J. Preller is not one to move a player when their value is down. He gave Myers the contract extension and will surely exercise patience when it comes to making a move. If Myers is of interest to a team via trade, the Padres will explore all options. But a deal will only be made if it benefits the Padres. Expect the team to try and boost the value of Myers through the rest of the 2019 season. This winter, a Myers trade could be a little more beneficial to the Padres. Championship type teams have depth. Myers provides that for the team currently. Hopefully, in time, he will regain some of the form that made him an exciting player to watch daily.
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.
Green ruined a good ball player. He was at his best when he was 1st base, them Hosmer came along. At that point Myers was at 1st, then 3rd, then center, then rt then lf. He needed a place at that time to keep his moral up instead of moving him around. It was said he would go to left field if they could get Hosmer, what would you expect him to say “heck no, I am staying on 1st” He was really pleased to be on first and was doing a good job. Since than, Green has had him everywhere. He didn’t have a position on the field where he could have played and build up chances to do a good job. Then Machado came along……Bad thing. He and Hosmer kinda took over and left Myers in the dust. To this day Myers is better than either one of them. Add up all their playing stats….not so good. Hosmer was 0 for 0 in the last series. Machado 0-1. Hosmer has 13 errors for the season, Machado either 12 to 13. Nothing is said about their earnings and their capeabalities. They strike out, leave the field grinning, they get paid, why worry. Give Wil a position to play and keep him on it and it will surprise everyone what will happen, doesn’t matter which he can play most of them if given the chance. I have watched Wil since he first started with the Rays and knew then he was a good ball player, I watch his evWil game as we speak.I know there are a lot of nay sayers about him, all he needs now is a chance. We raised 3 boys all sports minded and I know what I am talking about. I am 85 yo and grew up with it. I do wish Wil would go to a team on the East so I wouldn’t have to pay MLB X-tra innings to watch him. Close to $200 a season, this retired little ole lady is on a budget, nice to have a son who pays it for me. Go Wil, what ever happens to you will be a good thing.
It is time to move Myers. It seems it is his attitude. He just doesn’t seem to be motivated. He only had the one good year Rookie of the Year. I don’t know what the answer is , but it is not here in San Diego.
The Padres should have traded him after he bad mouthed the coaches and the organization on line while playing video games in the club house last year.
POTENTIAL at some point simply becomes DISAPPOINTMENT or FAILURE. I can’t tell you how many times these last 2 years we’ve all seen Myers come up to the plate after the previous batter walks on 4 or 5 pitches, only to see Myers swing at the 1st pitch, and ground into a double play! Baseball is mostly a game that is MENTAL. Myers just doesn’t meet the standard of a player who makes his athletic ability work by being better prepared and mentally tough. In my book, he’s a hot dog player.
That being said, it’s going to take a young prospect in low level A ball (maybe 2 players), and probably $12 million per year $36 million total), for the Padres to encourage someone to take his Bad Attitude off their hands.
Wil Myers needs a golf lesson. The main lesson is to keep your eye on the ball and let the club (bat) swing through it. The way to ensure solid contact is to keep looking at where the ball was when struck, while the club (bat) continues to swing through.
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Tiger Woods all keep looking at where the ball was at impact while the club has passed beyond it. Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Tony Gwynn did the same thing. They didn’t look up from that point of contact until their swing was nearly complete.
Wil Myers stops looking at the ball just before it reaches the strike zone, and swings through a spot where he thinks it will be, and looks up as soon as the bat has crossed over the plate. If you have a recorder with slo-mo/stop-action, record a Padres game and watch what Myers does, and compare with Tatis jr.
If Myers can stop his guessing and just follow the ball to impact, and continue to look at that point while he finishes his swing, he’s salvageable. If he can’t, he’s wasted his talent.
I watch a ton of Phillies games and Bryce Harper does the exact same thing while swinging as hard as he possibly can. I don’t get it, there’s no way they have always been doing that. Phillies need a new hitting coach really bad.
Signing Wil to the extension one season too early has been AJ largest misstep of his tenure. With that said, this has Jerry Dipoto written all over it. If not Jerry than Dayton Moore. They just need to find their price. Whether it’s cash or prospects they just need to do it. Too bad Wil wasn’t represented by Van Wagenen and he was already taken.
Don’t the Padres annually pay $20 million to players to not play for them? Wil easily fulfills that slot for them. In 3 years it will be Hosmer. Preller has them set up nicely for the next several years. Genius!!!!
Apparently there is some hidden law in MLB, the Padres have to pay millions to players to not play for the Padres. After Hosmer it will Machado.
Talking to Padre fans at Petco Park, and everywhere else, to a person they all point to Wil Myers as the weak link on the Padres team. As a hitter, he barely surpasses Austin Hedges. As a defender, he surpasses…nobody! If he were a relief pitcher, he would fit right in our inconsistent bullpen. It’s so sad that he cannot harness his obvious talent. Right now, he is the 25th man – an expensive right handed pinch hitter off the bench.
Let’s calm down. No fan of Myers, but his wRC+ is 92. Hedges’ is 47. That’s the difference between a decent MLBer (within 1 standard deviation of the mean) and a guy who would suck even if he was back in AAA.
With the glove he’s a better fielder than Reyes or Naylor in the OF, or Hosmer at 1B. It’s not his fault he’s forced to play out of position, and in CF no less.
At the beginning of the year Fangraphs predicted him to be an average LF, which would make him an okay player. And that’s what he is. He should still be traded to free up at least some money, and a roster spot for a younger player with more potential, but he’s not a blackhole. Even with his awful year his OBP is better than Renfroe’s or Reyes’. And Myers’ strike out problem can probably be corrected, whereas Renfroe’s approach can not.
Myers is NOT a better fielder than Hosmer at 1B. Did you forget about 2017?
The only OF he is better at the plate then, is Naylor.
What issues does Renfroe have at the plate?
Take the Rose Colored glasses off if you think Myers play is fixable. STOP MAKING EXCUSES.
Just trade him and be done with it. Save whatever portion of his salary you can and move on.
Cue Padres2019ha/The Dude saying we should trade him for Stroman or Kluber
What you described is HOPE. The Royals had it when they drafted him and a year or so later, they lost ALL HOPE and traded him to the Rays. Who changed his position, this guy is so athletic he should be able to play anywhere, RIGHT? Many players in MLB these days play multiple positions. Half season in 2013, some HOPE realized as Myers had the best 3 months of his career and won AL ROY.
One year later, ALL HOPE LOST, Rays dumped him in 3 team trade with Padres. He was moved from a corner OF spot to CF, he has great speed tool, EPIC poor results forced him to his 4th position in 3 years at 1B. Everyone can hide a BAT ONLY prospect at 1B, even if he is RH. That worked for the next season, his bat reached another level in JUNE 2016, and was an All-Star.
Then that great bat took the rest of the year off, turned what had been decent start, into a very average season, but heck, he was in the HR DERBY. Then his above average defense went the way of his BAT, SOUTH in 2017. He struck out allot, hit 30 HR’s, he needed to move again. Back to the OF, then he got hurt, when he came back, other players had passed him on the depth chart. The Padres had a Huge Hole at 3B, so what the heck, try Myers there. EPIC FAIL AGAIN.
Then in 2019, the moving positions was over, he would return to what was now felt his best, LF. Of course his bat would return, he was healthy, no longer needed as the Straw that Stirs the Drink, as the Padres spent $450 Million to put quality ML Hitters in the Lineup, the pressure of being a TEAM LEADER was gone. WIL COULD JUST BE WIL.
Well, two weeks in that HOPE looked good, then the season went south again in a TRUE MYERSESQUE FASHION. A month later ALL HOPE LOST AGAIN, he was regulated to CF again, to HOPE HE COULD DO BETTER. The same players that played better in 2018 were having even better 2019 seasons. That also failed as his bat went further south.
He got benched for 10 days, came back hit a pinch HR, got a start again, and everyone got reminded why MYERS CAN’T PLAY CF, as he cost his team a game with a terrible attempt he made on a easy fly ball. This was his Home Ballpark, he had been working hard on his defensive skills before games.
My question, when all of you HOPE for MYERS folks going to realize, this is
WIL JUST BEING WIL!!!!