The Padres played their most forgettable game of the season Wednesday at Petco Park.
The Oakland A’s drilled back-to-back home runs in consecutive innings. Their hosts committed two throwing errors on one play. Joey Lucchesi’s return from the disabled list lasted all of five outs. Cory Spangenberg made his second appearance as a pitcher. And San Diego suffered a 12-4 defeat that felt reminiscent of 2017, when blowout losses were a regular thing.
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The Padres have shown noticeable improvement since a 10-20 start, but the overall record suggests there is room for much more. Through their first 76 games last season, they were 31-45. Today, they are 34-42.
Of course, being closer to full strength would help. Wil Myers will be activated this week in San Francisco. Austin Hedges isn’t far behind. But questions about how much longer this roster remains intact will intensify over the upcoming weeks. That is reality for a 34-42 club.
Let’s address a few of those questions in a near-midseason mailbag. If you have anything else on your mind, feel free to reach out on Twitter or in the comments section below.
Is the asking price on relievers as high as we all expect it to be? Do they actually expect someone to meet it? —Mark A.
People on other teams agree that general manager A.J. Preller has some of the higher asking prices in the game. That approach seems to make sense in the context of the relief market. Clubs are always in need of bullpen help, sometimes desperately so. Since the Padres’ rebuild began in late 2015, Preller has made the following trades involving well-known relievers:
- Joaquin Benoit for Enyel De Los Santos and Nelson Ward (De Los Santos was later traded for Freddy Galvis)
- Craig Kimbrel for Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje, Javy Guerra and Logan Allen
- Fernando Rodney for Chris Paddack
- Ryan Buchter, Brandon Maurer and Trevor Cahill for Esteury Ruiz, Matt Strahm and Travis Wood
As you can see, the returns in these deals generally have been good. And the Padres’ current back-end trade assets — Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen — are all on affordable contracts and performing at career-best levels. Preller would be justified in affixing healthy asking prices to each of these three.
Whether anyone meets those prices remains to be seen, but the Padres should be operating from a position of strength. They don’t have to make a trade. Hand is under contract for $6.5 million in 2019 and $7 million in 2020, with a $10 million club option for 2021. Stammen is making $2.25 million this year and next. Yates won’t be eligible for free agency until 2021. If the Padres hope to make any kind of noise in 2019, a reliable bullpen is required.
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But should the Padres part with at least one of the relievers? Objectively, the answer is a yes. Stammen is 34. Yates is 31. Hand is 28, but as with the other two, his value may never be higher. Then there’s the fact that all three pitchers were acquired for cheap; Hand and Yates were waiver claims, and Stammen originally joined the organization on a minor-league deal. The Padres, throughout their history, have turned discarded relievers into valuable commodities.
What the front office elects to do with the bullpen leading up to the trade deadline should be quite interesting. Hand will again be one of the most-discussed names. As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported, he has solidified his status as one of the elite left-handed relievers in either league.
Will the 40-man roster influence the trading of Hand, Tyson Ross and Kirby Yates? I could see it being a major issue in two years. —Alexander S.
I wrote a bit about this here. The Padres do have a lot of roster decisions to make before this December’s Rule 5 draft. They should have even more draft-eligible prospects in 2019. The forthcoming roster crunch, though, has more implications for players on the bubble.
Decisions to trade or hold the likes of Hand and Yates, two of the organization’s most valuable assets, will not depend on the need to clear roster spots several months from now. There are plenty of other areas in which the Padres can choose to deliberately trim their numbers.
Mainly because he is on a one-year deal, Ross is a leading candidate to be dealt. Acquiring a decent prospect or two in return is preferable to seeing him walk at the end of the season for nothing.
Any chance we sign Tyson Ross to an extension like Clayton Richard last year instead of trading him? Unless a team is willing to part with a solid prospect for rental, seems like an extension could be an equally good move since he provides innings and veteran leadership. —@MattNewsInfo
The Padres should be able to get a solid prospect for Ross relatively easily. He’ll be one of the top starters available at the deadline. His contract is inexpensive and incentive-laden. He could re-sign with San Diego next year, regardless of where he is after July.
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Ross may no longer throw mid-90s heat, but his slider is as good as ever and he’s using it as often as ever. “No one can hit a breaking ball anymore,” one scout said recently. He was only half-joking.
Given how well he showed as a starter in short stints, shouldn’t the Padres send Matt Strahm down to stretch him out to be the next man up if they lose another starter to trade or injury? —@PadresOnABagel
If Strahm is going to be fully stretched out, it won’t happen this year. This being his first season back from knee surgery, the Padres want to limit his workload. Five- or six-inning appearances aren’t in the immediate future.
But, should a need arise in the rotation, Strahm continues to be an option as the “starter” in bullpen games. We’ve already seen him do well in that role, which has allowed the Padres to continue using him in shorter bursts. He’s been up to three innings and 46 pitches. If the bullpen games return, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he could be a four-inning weapon as soon as this season.
Can the Padres provide Hunter Renfroe the same latitude and opportunity to succeed as Manuel Margot? (Or do “Preller’s guys” get preferential treatment?) —Mike D.
It’s only natural for a front office to favor players acquired under its watch. (Why else would teams acquire players?) It’d also be foolish for an organization not to take stock of pre-existing inventory. In the last year, we’ve seen the Padres provide significant opportunities to Dinelson Lamet, Franchy Cordero and Franmil Reyes. All three players were signed out of the Dominican Republic by former Padres executive Randy Smith, who was let go following the 2016 season.
But yes, sometimes teams tend to believe more strongly in their own acquisitions. Take Bryan Mitchell, who has stuck on the roster despite ghastly numbers. In other cases, such as Margot’s, the organization’s faith is perhaps not as stubborn.
The Padres have a few reasons for their commitment to Margot. He’s 23, a potential two-way standout and an eminently coachable player. It was telling that he avoided a temporary demotion to Triple A even as he sought to make adjustments on offense.
Renfroe, to his credit, has made adjustments of his own, most notably opening his stance against right-handers. But he’s also a few years older than Margot and was drafted under a different regime. He has less time to figure things out.
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I do think it would behoove the Padres, if they don’t move Renfroe before the deadline, to use the rest of the season to continue evaluating Renfroe. The risk that he blossoms elsewhere might not be substantial, but there’s still that chance. With Cordero likely out for the rest of the year with a bone spur in his elbow, Renfroe should continue receiving a fair amount of opportunity.
What’s the holdup on Ryan Weathers signing? —@porkapooloza
I’m not quite sure, Pork, but it would be a shock if this winds up being a repeat of Karsten Whitson.
What I have been told is the two sides haven’t gotten down to serious negotiations yet. Plenty of time remains — teams have until July 6 to sign their draft picks — and there was at least a basic understanding on June 4. Nowadays, organizations don’t select players this high unless they have reasonable assurances.
For medical treatments/exams how much is decided by the club and how much by the player? —@GrandMoffPadre
Assuming you’re referring to more than a minor injury, the player is often in the driver’s seat. Cordero is a good example. He’s currently weighing immediate surgery against an attempt to resume playing after a month or so of rest. (If he goes the latter route, he’ll probably still go for surgery at some point.)
“Those kind of decisions, you offer advice but they’re players’ choices,” Padres manager Andy Green said Wednesday. “Either one of those courses of action are recommended, and it’s just going to be based on his feel, which one he’d like to do. We’re going to support him in either one he chooses.”
What is Buddy Reed doing differently this year? —Shane M.
He’s incorporated more of his lower half, shortened his swing and choked up with two strikes. The physical tools have always been superb; now Reed is putting them to good use. The strikeout-to-walk ratio is still suboptimal, and some evaluators are skeptical about sustainability, but there’s no denying Reed has been a force in the California League. I’d expect a second-half promotion to Double A.
(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
