Quote from Randy Manese on December 20, 2021, 6:11 pm

Max Fried.  We know that name very well.  Drafted in 2012, he never was rated at the same level as Gore and did not have the minor league success in his 2 years with the Padres that Gore had prior to 2020 before Fried had TJ surgery and was traded to the Braves.   7 years later, at age 25 (2019), Fried finally tasted success with Atlanta and no, in 2022, is possibly in consideration for a Cy Young.

Are we looking at the same scenario?  Padres got Justin Upton for Fried (and others) in that failed build up of the 2015 team; he had a decent year for the Padres, then lost him to free agency.  Hudson Potts in the 1st round was their compensation and it looks like Potts has topped out at AA.  So, overall Braves got the better of that deal although for several years it seemed like Fried would not get on the mound for any substantial period of time.

Therefore, I'm with Fenn in hanging on to Gore and having him develop as we still expect, HOWEVER, I also said in a post a year or so ago that I would trade Gore for Adell or Jasson Dominguez  and now I still say I would trade Gore for Adell or Kelencic, if Seattle is involved.  The reason being that highly rated hitting prospects typically have a better chance to succeed than pitchers, who are notoriously fragile.  I believe there are far more highly rated pitchers that go bust than highly rated hitters, so for me, it is just a matter of percentages.

In the 2017 draft, you had pitchers go 2-4, Hunter Greene, Gore, Brendan McKay and Kyle Wright.  None of these 4 has made an impact and the latter two are already 26 years old.  So, if we still can get an Adell or a Kelencic for Gore then I believe the ceiling for these two hitters (who were/are both rated higher and are more major league ready than Hassell) and their everyday contributions will make it worthwhile to trade a prospect like Gore while he still has value, unlike a Garrett Whitley of the Astros, who you couldn't get anything for after ranking at the top of the minor league pitching prospect ratings for years.   It doesn't have to be Adell or Kelencic but certainly someone with the same kind of ceiling, particularly if that someone is an outfielder who is not a klutz on defense.

Quote from fenn68 on December 21, 2021, 3:30 am

Agree on the value of elite hitter prospects … so yes in theory but the “other” team probably has the same view and would not make the deal plus prospect for prospect deals are just hard to pull off since neither side wants to be on the wrong side of the deal.

It should be interesting to see how Gore is impacted by the new pitching coach and where the Padres place him to start 2022. Given the pitching environment in EP vs SA … might want him to start in SA just to get him back in the groove before promoting him to AAA.

Quote from BoosterSD on December 21, 2021, 9:23 am

Quote from fenn68 on December 21, 2021, 3:30 am

Agree on the value of elite hitter prospects … so yes in theory but the “other” team probably has the same view and would not make the deal plus prospect for prospect deals are just hard to pull off since neither side wants to be on the wrong side of the deal.

It should be interesting to see how Gore is impacted by the new pitching coach and where the Padres place him to start 2022. Given the pitching environment in EP vs SA … might want him to start in SA just to get him back in the groove before promoting him to AAA.

Would not be surprised if Gore skipped El Paso altogether with a great performance in SA to start the season.

Quote from fenn68 on December 21, 2021, 10:24 am

I could see that happening given the injury histories / performance questions in the likely current SP candidates.

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 21, 2021, 11:32 am

No need for Gore to go to AAA.

Nothing good can come from pitching there and a HUGE blow to his confidence would come from a bad start to the season playing in that league.

I stick to my contention that our top pitching prospects should never throw a pitch in that league.

 

Quote from Randy Manese on December 21, 2021, 12:55 pm

Because El Paso is such a tough place to pitch, I'm glad the Padres got back in San Antonio in AA and away from Amarillo, which may be even a much worse place to pitch.   However, for the very same reasons you have to respect what Adrian Martinez did at both sites.

Martinez got blasted in his first start in El Paso but got better and better with each outing.  He showed the mental toughness that injury and adversity in his prior 7 years in the system gave him and because of that I think we may have underestimated his value to the 2022 major league roster.  It might be just the long man in middle relief but I think there is something there that I want to see more of.  Same with Steven Wilson - got to love his grit and perseverance.  So despite the injury history and concerns, I expect to see some arms  to "blossom" under the new pitching tutelage the Padres have brought in and provide that depth as well as front-line performance we need to go far in 2022.  If healthy, I believe Paddack and Morejon have the underdeveloped skills that will most benefit by changes in the coaching staff and make trading guys like Darvish or Snell much easier as the 2022 season goes on.

 

Quote from LynchMob on March 14, 2022, 3:21 pm

Good news is better than bad news or no news 🙂

https://madfriars.com/2022/03/12/spring-training-notes-april-11/

Quote from LynchMob on March 25, 2022, 8:26 am

I've not seen him pitch yet ... have you?

The results are encouraging!

Quote from Randy Manese on March 25, 2022, 8:52 am

Saw him several times at Lake Elsinore in 2019 and saw both of his outings this spring on mlb.com.  I'm not a pitching expert like some of the posters on this board, but it seemed his mechanics are a lot more simple from windup to delivery.  Getting great location with all his pitches and his fastball seems faster from the 2019 days.  The confidence he showed is back and you can tell that by the way he attacks the zone.

Nick Martinez goes today for the Padres but given the short spring training I'd piggy back him with Martinez in the regular season until both build up the innings.  I believe this is what the Padres did early in 2020 and it was very successful.  Don't want to send him down to El Paso where pitchers go to die and he's earned the right not to go down to San Antonio - just keep him healthy and I believe he'll make a contribution this year.