What Is Freddy Galvis’ Future With the Padres?
Twitter just about exploded last week when the San Diego Padres announced the acquisition of Freddy Galvis from the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Friars had finally landed a shortstop, but instead of being happy about it, fans were immediately angry.
I have to admit, I did not see the signing right away. After a few hours away from it all, I picked up my phone and saw the Padres obtained Galvis. It was not a huge surprise, as the team had been eyeing the infielder and kicked the tires a few times on him. The surprise, and what angered a lot of fans, was that the Padres moved a prospect to get Galvis.
Enyel De Los Santos has progressed well, and after learning he was the player in the dealt, I could understand why fans were a bit perturbed.
The Padres had moved one of their top-30 prospects for a one-year rental. Galvis is only under contract for 2018 and then is a free agent. He may walk away from San Diego, while De Los Santos is under control for the next five or six years minimum. That is a not a good thing. Something that is the exact opposite of the long-term plan that was supposed to be in place. I can certainly comprehend people’s anger, but was the trade really that bad?
Yes, Galvis is average at best at shortstop. BUT, the Padres have longed for an “average” player at the position since the days of Khalil Greene. Galvis will not be a player to build around, but at least for 2018, the Friars have their man. One could argue that Alcides Escobar (available on the free agent market) could be had for half the monetary value and he would not cost you a prospect either. While that is true, Escobar comes with many question marks and would just be a rental.
Isn’t a one-year rental exactly what Galvis is? Not necessarily.
A.J. Preller has already stated that an extension with Galvis in not out of the question. The Padres would not want to get too heavily invested in Galvis with many young shortstops in the system, but they could have some interest beyond 2018. The Venezuelan is capable of playing multiple positions, and with his switch hitting bat, could be an awesome utility player for the Padres down the road. It would really come down to dollars and cents on an extension. Galvis on the open market would probably land a two or three-year deal with ease. That really depends on his upcoming (contract year) season, which could either hurt his value or increase it.
Freddy Galvis is an established veteran major league player that is well-respected among his peers. The clubhouse presence he provides is reportedly off the charts. He is bilingual and has worked well with younger players in the past. Stuff like that cannot be recognized on a stat cheat, but it certainly has a lot to do with wins and losses. Galvis will certainly help the Padres in 2018, but what about De Los Santos? Will his trade end up being a Corey Kluber situation?
Enyel De Los Santos is an excellent young prospect, but he has some issues that are definitely troubling. Presently, he gets a lot of movement on his fastball and is able to crank it up to the mid 90’s, but there are some real concerns about his short stride and “all arm” motion. He shot-puts the ball up to the plate with his mechanics, and that leads many to question if he will have future arm woes. I am not trying to be negative, just stating the scouting report on the right-handed hurler.
There are also questions about his secondary pitches. His change is currently ahead of the curve ball, but neither pitch is above average at the moment. He is only 21 (just about to turn 22), so he could easily refine his secondary pitches with time. Early indications are that he could end up in the bullpen instead of the rotation. That remains to be seen, though.
As you dissect the Padres’ minor league system, you realize that the majority of their depth comes from starting pitchers. De Los Santos had value, but with players like Cal Quantrill, Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Jacob Nix, and Jerry Keel performing at his current level and pitchers like Michel Baez, Adrian Morejon, Logan Allen, Anderson Espinoza, Pedro Avila, and Reggie Lawson coming up right behind him, he had no set place on the team. The Padres have depth. And that is a good thing. Why not hand-pick a prospect whom you are willing to part with to improve your team now?
Of course losing a pitcher like De Los Santos hurts, but just look at the names that are there to replace him and the loss is well worth the gamble. Another key thing to factor in the trade is that the Padres selected many collegiate pitchers last June in the draft. Nick Margevicius, Elliot Ashbeck, Aaron Cunningham, and Aaron Leasher are all developing and could very easily supplant the loss of Enyel.
In the end, losing De Los Santos hurts. But Freddy Galvis provides an established player at a position that has been a thorn in the side of Padres fans for a long time. The Padres can either talk a reasonable extension with the shortstop sometime during the season, or they can possibly move him in July for prospects. Who knows what they can acquire for him then? Preller has already shown the ability to turn one team’s trash into reasonable prospects. Freddy Galvis is not flashy, nor is he going to push the Padres’ 2018 team to the promised land. But he could very well be a piece to the long-term plan in San Diego.
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.
He may be “average at best as a hitter.” But not close to “average at best at SS.” 2 gold gloves buddy.
Since I consider shortstop a defense-first position I’m pleased with the acquisition. Yes we gave up a decent prospect, but our pitching depth in the minors makes that possible.
The Padres have been an absolute disaster on defense and that has to change. This gives Tatis Jr. sufficient time to develop, plus Galvis can play multiple positions.
I love how you talked about the other pitchers and options the padres have for pitching so it sounds like we won this trade.
Galvis is fine in and of himself. However, no other team really needed a shortstop. The Phillies wanted to trade Galvis. The Padres had all the leverage, yet still managed to give up value, far too much value given the circumstances. It also goes along with the horrible trade for Headley. The Yankees wanted, if not needed, to get rid of his contract. So, again, the Padres had all the leverage. They would be doing a huge favor to the Yankees, but still got very, VERY little value compared to taking on a 13 million dollar contract/player that no one else is willing to take. That is what few are willing to acknowledge here. So we have two trades, both heavily skewed in the other teams favor, all at a time where the Padres do not need to make trades. Now they are spending over 20 million next year on a SS and 3B. That is more than half of what it took to get 3 years of a HIGH quality, all-star SS (Cozart)! Yet many still praise and worship AJ?
The nature is these trades also reveal a strong possibility that Preller’s abilities to make moves is tainted and hindered by his past.
We need to remember that prospects are just that – unproven talent that may or may not translate into ability at the big league level. What we get back is a known commodity, with a proven track record, a solid clubhouse guy, with the ability to hold down one of the premium positions in baseball. We also need to remember that Tatis, while the heir apparent, is traditionally a third baseman that moved over to short, that needs more time to develop. If he pushes Galavis out, good for us, if he needs more seasoning, we might have the option to hold on to Freddy… and of course – Tatis could always come up and play 3rd pushing has been Headley out of the way.
This was a smart move by AJ folks. I know we are tired of waiting, but we need to trust the process. I’d love nothing more than for us to break .500 this year, but our window is yet to open. Our SP depth is at least a year away, and then, of course, we need to let them take their lumps as the league adjusts to them. Santos was a good give, we’ve got more depth and better talent then I can recall us having in the 30+ years I’ve watched this team. The “glory days” of the late ’90’s will pale in comparison to what AJ is building. Keep the Faith Padre fans!
The Friars have tons of stronger SP options ahead of Santos. Beyond that we all know A.J. will add a couple solid SP options to compete in the rotation, when we really start to compete in a year or two. Bottom line, no guarantees that Tatis is ready to roll in a year and this gives A.J. a better than decent player at a position of need who can also audition for an extension as a SS next year or a Super U?
Galvis could be a good mentor and role model for the Spanish-speaking players, especially Gabriel Arias, who is also Venezulan, and has a similar skill set as Galvis.
If Villanueva gets a lot of play at 3B, that would be a massive upgrade in the Padres’ infield defense, which I believe was the worst in the MLB last year.
Not a similar skill set. Arias is faster, taller and projects to have a much stronger bat.
Galvis is better than “average at best” as a SS. Why am I seeing this assessment in so many comments & now this article?! The guy nearly won a gold glove last year. He was the 1st choice & there are dozens of pitchers with similar upside in our system. Fans need to stop & think for a few moments … Is it so unbelievable that a percentage of those prospects were accumulated specifically to collect assets to be used in trades? C’mon you guys, there’s 5 rotation spots and dozens of legit prospects.
He is average at best. Look at his wRC and his WAR. He may be a plus defender, but he has issues with the bat.
Clark is def smokin’ something. He is not “average at best at SS.” He is much better that average at SS. Either Clark is way off , or need to learn to write more clearly.
He’s smokin’ reality. Look it up.
Galvis has NOT won 2 Gold Gloves. He may be above average defensively but, like I stated, he has issues with his bat.