Quote from fenn68 on September 9, 2024, 3:09 am

After a very hot SF series, Arraez is now hitting .315 making him the NL BA leader with a good lead over Ozuna (.306). Hopefully he can hold that lead and become the first player to hold 3 consecutive batting titles with  3 different teams (MINN, MIA, SD).

Also, even without walking very much, Arraez OBP is at .349 siting him #10 in the NL and a good fit in the lead-off slot.

He is making his case for a very good ARB #3 salary increase this winter (he is at $10MM now) and it will be interesting to see how he fares as a FA after 2025 given his skill set (no defense, no SLG) is not favored by the teams that are more stats oriented. Will be interesting to see how aggressive the Padres will be in trying to re-sign Arraez given this winter Kim, Profar, Scott, and Higashioka are FA and next Arraez is a FA with Cease, King plus Suarez is likely to opt out. Going to be a challenge to keep all these players given payroll constraints but pressure to do so with little near term coming up in the system to replace them.

Quote from fenn68 on September 9, 2024, 3:18 am

Along the same lines of Arraez, re-signing Profar after this season will be an interesting watch. Career year sitting #2 in the NL in OBP (.380) and #6 in wRC+ (139) and critical to the team success in 2024 at a bargain $2.5MM after making all the incentives.

What kind of market will Profar see? Good chance he will be very eager to return to SD but is not going to give away his potential pay in what is likely his last (best) shot at a quality contract.

Quote from fenn68 on September 9, 2024, 3:28 am

Yesterday reports stretched out some doubts on the timing of Kim's return ... throwing full strength from SS is still a problem. Now some "speculation" that the Padres might move Bogaerts to SS (apparently he is not eager to make that change) ... Croney to 2B ... Arraez to 1B ... Solano / Peralta to DH platoon.

McCoy's bat is not cutting it (defense is fine) for a stretch run. Just the fact that this is being speculated along with the much longer recovery time for Kim makes me worry that Kim may not return soon (or ever considering he is a FA after 2024). HIs "down" 2024 combined with this injury could lower his FA value but push against that a lot of teams need upgrade at SS that Kim could provide.

Quote from Randy Manese on September 15, 2024, 6:21 pm

Vasquez and Waldron both had their best games of the season with/at El Paso in back to back Chihuahuas wins.  Provides a little depth to Padres starters/long relief, if needed, and if want to rest some pitchers after clinching a playoff spot.  EP season ends next Sunday.

Quote from Randy Manese on September 18, 2024, 9:36 pm

After a very slow start in El Paso, Campusano seems to have shaken off the rest and is swinging a good bat again.  Today, he is 4 for 4 with maybe one more AB.  He's also driven in 4 runs, all with 2 outs - 2 singles and a 2 run HR.  As of this minute his is batting 400 with a 1055 OPS.  Has played mostly catcher but also DH.  I still believe in his bat but after his first injury this season, he didn't seem to have the same bounce and lateral movement when he returned and it only worsened as the season wore on despite catching Cease's no-hitter.  Lack of consistent playing time certainly hurt his hitting skills but with Diaz likely going elsewhere (and not hitting at all for SD), Campy will almost surely be in the catching corps for the Padres in 2025.

Quote from fenn68 on September 19, 2024, 3:37 am

Quote from Randy Manese on September 18, 2024, 9:36 pm

After a very slow start in El Paso, Campusano seems to have shaken off the rest and is swinging a good bat again.  Today, he is 4 for 4 with maybe one more AB.  He's also driven in 4 runs, all with 2 outs - 2 singles and a 2 run HR.  As of this minute his is batting 400 with a 1055 OPS.  Has played mostly catcher but also DH.  I still believe in his bat but after his first injury this season, he didn't seem to have the same bounce and lateral movement when he returned and it only worsened as the season wore on despite catching Cease's no-hitter.  Lack of consistent playing time certainly hurt his hitting skills but with Diaz likely going elsewhere (and not hitting at all for SD), Campy will almost surely be in the catching corps for the Padres in 2025.

With Higashioka and Diaz both FA after the season and it is unlikely the Padres re-sign both … Campusano who will only 26 and cost only about $1MM (first ARB) is a pretty safe bet to be part of the 2025 catching rotation.

Agree his 2024 injury has impacted his performance … but a bit concerned that Campusano gets injured often and that may limit his games in 2025 making re-signing Higashioka (or Diaz) a priority.

Plus, Campusano was rated as one of the worst defensive catchers in MLB … injury may be part of it but he was never considered a good defense catcher. If the Padres value defense, he may not get that #1 catcher role. If the bat does play in the ML … maybe he gets more playing time as DH/1B going forward … he is controlled for a few years with Salas eventually assuming the #1 catching role.

2025 should be another playoff run given who is (and potentially) returning … so maybe the resigning of Higashioka AND Diaz become a priority (if the money is there). Both are older and should sign shorter term deals.

Quote from MrPadre19 on September 19, 2024, 11:06 am

I'd like to see us re-sign Higgy,Solano and Profar

Let Scott,Kim,and Diaz go.

 

 

Quote from fenn68 on September 19, 2024, 1:44 pm

Quote from MrPadre19 on September 19, 2024, 11:06 am

I'd like to see us re-sign Higgy,Solano and Profar

Let Scott,Kim,and Diaz go.

 

 

I would also try to re-sign David Peralta and the LHH complement to the RHH Solano.

Both should be easy, low cost signs since both will be 37 next season … days a regulars are well behind both and both had to take minor league deals in 2024 before getting added to the Padres roster (on what I think were $1MM annualized deals). Don’t see a stampede by other teams to bid up the price and, at their stage might want to be on a legit pennant contender in 2025. Remember that if they are not signed a league minimum alternative would still get around $750K … so the increment to add the proven veteran is not that much.

Peralta (217 AB) … 267/335/410 (745 OPS)

Solano (262 AB) … 286/340/412 (752 OPS)

Both delivered above MLB average OPS … not bad for bench options. Plus at what should be low cost 1 year deals … if they fade … not a big payroll hit.

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Agree on Higashioka, the best defensive option of the lot, and he will be 35 without much offense (except for HR) should also not get a big contract (or long term) and was only at $2.2MM this year.

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Profar (who will be 32) will be most critical to sign … and maybe the hardest to figure out what is a completive contract but likely to get done by Preller.

Yeh, the rest can walk and Preller can beat the bushes for a few minor league signings (as were Solano, Peralta) for 2025 as insurance / mid-season adds.

Quote from Randy Manese on September 20, 2024, 7:41 am

It's hard to get a true read on the extent of Kim's injury, but it appears he is having trouble making the long throw across the diamond from SS with full force.  If he is able to throw at all and we want his defensive chops in the playoffs, would like to see him get some actual game time both ABs and in the field to get back his rhythm.  So, why not put him back at 2b and return Croney to 1b in the White Sox series (rotate Croney with Solano).  Certainly a lot less pressure to perform and McCoy is not doing anything anyway, so can be sent down without hurting the depth of the team.

If he can't even make the throw from 2b, then we might have seen the last of Ha-Seong Kim in San Diego.  I really want him to stay but baseball is also a business and San Diego, unlike LA or NY, does not have unlimited resources.  Let's see what happens in this series but we need to sweep and not be swinging for the fences and not taking these guys seriously.