Paul Goldschmidt returns to the Bronx after agreeing to a one-year contract with the Yankees. The Diamondbacks were his only other known suitor for most of the offseason, but it may have come down to New York and San Diego.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post loosely linked the Friars to Goldschmidt last night. Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported that they were indeed in the finals. The Padres want to add another hitter even after agreeing to a $4MM contract with him Miguel Andujar on Wednesday. President of baseball operations AJ Preller said last weekend the front office was trying to add “more bats, that first base, DH, anything coming off the bench” (link via WKYC’s Greg Beacham).
Andujar projects as a designated hitter first. He can spell first baseman Gavin Sheets against left-handed pitching while splitting DH reps with Song of Sung-mun. The KBO signee has a lot of positional flexibility that would allow him to accommodate another type of first base/DH. The bench was a weakness for the Padres last season and it still looks that way. Song holder and backup Luis Campusano a two-site project. That leaves two spots and four more position players on the 40-man roster: Bryce Johnson, Is Wagner, Mason McCoy again Tirso Ornelas.
They are all types of 40 men. Johnson ran out of options and hit .342 over 84 plate appearances last year, but that was driven by a .442 average on balls in play that was nowhere near sustainable. Ornelas was a minor league hitter in Triple-A for over two full seasons and never got a significant MLB appearance before his 26th birthday. McCoy has been a below-average hitter in the minors, while Wagner came out of the mix in Toronto and hit .225/.324/.279 over 55 MLB games last year.
Rhys Hoskins, Wilmer Flores, Justin Turner and an old friend France they are the first unregistered workers. Marcell Ozuna, Mitch Garver again Andrew McCutchen designated hitters are available. Speculation trading opportunities include Ryan Mountcastle, Lenny Sosa again Ezequiel Duran.
San Diego likely also has a move coming on the pitching side. Preller said last week they wanted to add another starter. That’s likely to be a cheap rear end, but they’re kicking the tires on what could have been a huge acquisition. Heyman reports that the Padres were among the teams that participated Framber Valdez before his three-year, $115MM deal with the Tigers. The Padres were able to wait out of the market to stay Nick Pivetta like the takeover in February last year, but Valdez ordered a much larger contract that may not have been in the budget.
Most of the remaining free agents are starting pitchers. Zac Gallen, Max Scherzer, Zack Littell, Justin Verlander, Lucas Giolito and organization favorite Nick Martinez they are not signed. Walker Buehler, Patrick Corbin, Miles Mikolas, German Marquez again Jose Quintana will be limited to modest one-year salaries if he commands even major league contracts.
Signing anyone from that group would be a push JP Sears long relief or the Triple-A rotation. They will open the year with the strong trio of Pivetta, Michael King again Joe Musgrove. The talent level dropped significantly after that. Randy Vásquez has run out of options and seems to have a ticket for one of the last two places. Sears, Kyle Hart again Matt Waldron they are the only other starters on the 40-man roster. Add them Marco Gonzales again Triston McKenzie to minor league deals and invitations to Spring Training.
