San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
STRIDES MADE, MORE TO COME
This was what they were talking about. And this is just the beginning.
That is clearly the Padres’ intention, that the buzz they generated not just in San Diego but in being recognized across the game as one of baseball’s exciting teams has sustainable roots.
It seems like far longer, but it was just back in February that Padres General Partner Peter Seidler said, “This is our decade.”
And when they remade the roster in August, General Manager A.J. Preller was adamant the radical moves were not just to help in the team’s pursuit of a World Series in 2020 “but really the next couple years.” (For clarification, Preller often uses “couple” interchangeably with “few” or even “several.”)
Right fielder Wil Myers, who served as a one-man personification of the Padres’ turnaround and now just might be around for the
next couple years, spent a few minutes ref lecting on the season after he watched the Dodgers celebrate their 12-3 victory in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
He was disappointed. He will be for some time.
But he knows the difference between running into a wall and a bump in the road.
“That’s the one thing every organization has to do in a rebuild process,” he said. “They don’t go from bad to winning a World Series. It takes steps. This was a big step for us. It was a step in the right direction for us, for the organization, for the players, for the development. I think it was a great step for us all. There’s a lot to be proud of. There’s a lot to be excited about in the years to come, especially with what we were able to accomplish this year. There’s a lot of optimism here. I know it didn’t end on the best note, but those things happen in the game. We turned a big corner. That’s really the big thing here. We were able to really figure out how to win ballgames and turn the organization around.”
And in the aftermath of this year’s quest ending in the wee hours of Friday morning, the team’s brightest star and its spark was looking forward to some time on the beach in his native Dominican Republic but also to the seasons to come.
“We were talking about it,” shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “This is a special group and we know what we’re going to be capable of the next six or seven years. Let’s see what happens.” Yes, let’s.
Before we settle into the offseason, let’s talk about what to watch for in the winter as the Padres work toward their next step. There are more questions than answers; the season ended three days ago.
But there also aren’t that many questions. At least not that many big questions.
Health of two starters?
The biggest question centers around arguably the biggest reason the Padres’ playoff run didn’t last longer. Clevinger, according to multiple people familiar with his injury, is likely headed for nothing more invasive than arthroscopic surgery. A full recovery in time for 2021 is expected.
There is less being said about Lamet, who clearly was at least behind Clevinger in his recovery from a biceps/elbow issue that shut him down Sept. 25. But he was cleared to continue throwing in order to attempt a comeback in the postseason.
Who is in rotation?
Best-case scenario has a whole bunch of top prospects fighting for one spot in spring training.
That would mean Clevinger and Lamet are healthy and Chris Paddack fixed whatever mechanical hitch there was in his giddyup and Zach Davies is throwing those five to six dependable innings he did almost every start this season.
It would seem Joey Lucchesi isn’t in the plans anymore. If Clevinger and Lamet are OK, Garrett Richards will surely find a more lucrative offer elsewhere than the Padres would be compelled to provide.
Adrian Morejon and Luis Patiño are next in line. Michel Baez is another potential starter.
The wild card could be Mackenzie Gore, about whom the Padres were coy all season. Depending on who is talking, the organization’s top prospect has a command issue or delivery issue or release point issue or confidence issue or a combination of all of it and to varying degrees. There seems little doubt he will be in spring training again and have a chance to make the rotation.
It should be remembered Patiño will be 21 when next season begins while Morejón and Gore will be 22.
Speaking of young, soonto-be 21-year-old Ryan Weathers likely secured himself a big shot to make the 25man roster next spring with not only his 11⁄3 scoreless innings in the National League Division Series but what he did during the season at the alternate site.
Yates or Rosenthal?
What about neither? (Or, less likely, both?) The ultimate course of these courtships will be market based, and no one can say for sure what the free agent market for either will look like.
Both will be seeking a fairly lucrative long-term deal in a time in which team owners say they’re facing massive losses this year and next.
Yates, who will 34 in March, is returning from arthroscopic elbow surgery.
Rosenthal, who will turn 31 in May, was a godsend when acquired at the trade deadline. He did not allow an earned run in 10 innings in the regular season and fit in the clubhouse seamlessly.
But it seems unlikely the Padres will pay him $8 million a year for three years if that is what the market dictates.
Is Profar retainable?
The Padres love him.
Love. Love. Love. Coaches, teammates, everyone.
He is a free agent for the first time and set himself up well by hitting .278 with a .343 on-base percentage.
It is entirely possible another team that needs a 28year-old who gets on base while playing multiple spots in the outfield and infield price him out of the logical market for a team that already has Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham and Myers.
Speaking of Myers …
The belief is the longest tenured Padre showed this wasn’t just a 60-game fix.
That doesn’t mean the Padres think he will have a .959 OPS every year. Nor does it mean his name won’t show up in trade rumors again.
But the expectation is he will be reporting to Peoria, Ariz., in February.
Who are catchers?
Austin Nola, who started 15 games and hit .222/.324/ .381 while playing through an unspecified malady, is the likely regular starter.
Jason Castro was the only virtually certain rental among the eight major leaguers acquired in the Padres’ trading binge. (First baseman/designated hitter Mitch Moreland has a relatively inexpensive $3 million option the team seemed inclined to pick up when it acquired him.)
The Francisco Mejía experiment may have run its course, depending on whether the Padres find a back-up elsewhere and whether they feel it would be more beneficial for Luis Campusano to get playing time in the minor leagues.
Will Tatis get an extension?
This is perhaps the biggest issue of the winter, though the ones listed above are more pertinent to next season since Tatis won’t even be arbitration eligible for another year.
However, time is money. As in, the more time that passes the more money Tatis is likely going to cost.
The team intends to engage in talks soon. The other side will be listening.
kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com