San Diego Padres

The Padres hoped that a recent three-day rest, followed by a lineup demotion, would untrack their “build-around” position player, Wil Myers.

Myers said he had tried too hard to justify his standing as the face of the franchise. In most games, he is the only established big hitter in the lineup. He went into this week hitting .242 with 21 home runs and 52 RBI. As a first baseman and baserunner, he has had good moments but has had an uneven season.

Owner Ron Fowler has said he doesn’t expect the team to strongly contend for the playoffs until 2020. So Myers, 26, has time to turn it around.

But his six-year contract is heavily back-loaded, averaging a team-friendly $5 million the next two years before soaring to $22.5 million each year from 2020 to 2022.

The decision to keep Brad Hand through the recent trade deadline didn’t preclude trading the reliever this offseason. The team got a sense of Hand’s trade value, and the offseason should expand the number of potential trade partners.

“We need a little presence here. We need a guy who hopefully sparks us and brings some energy. Pablo is able to do that.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy on the promotion of Pablo Sandoval. Signed last month after the Boston Red Sox released him, the third baseman hit .211 with one home run in 38 minor league at-bats.