Quote from 84padres on December 23, 2019, 9:35 am

Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a four-year, $80 million contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN's Jeff Passan

Another big name to the American League. I hope Donaldson and all of the remaining free agents go there as well

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 23, 2019, 11:18 am

Oh I know who he is.

But Padre fans have been seeing “rumors” of Bryant,Lindor,Clevinger etc....then Kinsler graciously retires and gives us an open spot.

Which is promptly filled with a AAA relief pitcher who had to go to Asia to prove he could still pitch.

I realize he could be a “diamond in the rough”....but can still be a bit disappointed.

 

I’m Ok with the offseason so far and also realize there’s a long way to go......just pointing out this wasn’t what most were hoping for.

Quote from BoosterSD on December 23, 2019, 11:43 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 23, 2019, 11:18 am

Oh I know who he is.

But Padre fans have been seeing “rumors” of Bryant,Lindor,Clevinger etc....then Kinsler graciously retires and gives us an open spot.

Totally understand your thinking. However, you and I both know that while a great player, Lindor makes little sense for our team, unless you are sold on Tatis being our CFer. Bryant does not have a fielding position available in SD either. The only player that makes sense for SD is Clevinger. And you know as well as I, that if that happens, we are going to lose at least one man off our 25/40 roster, and that opens the spot for Clevinger at that time.

 

Quote from JasonE135 on December 23, 2019, 12:02 pm

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 23, 2019, 11:18 am

Oh I know who he is.

But Padre fans have been seeing “rumors” of Bryant,Lindor,Clevinger etc....then Kinsler graciously retires and gives us an open spot.

Which is promptly filled with a AAA relief pitcher who had to go to Asia to prove he could still pitch.

I realize he could be a “diamond in the rough”....but can still be a bit disappointed.

 

I’m Ok with the offseason so far and also realize there’s a long way to go......just pointing out this wasn’t what most were hoping for.

I definitely agree it was a disappointment. I think this might just be a part of how the Padres build a team now. I thought our bullpen was great after signing Pomerantz. I mean Yates, Munoz, Pomerantz, Castillo and Strahm... That is a bullpen everyone can envy. Especially with a guys like Baez and Quantrill also looking dominant out of the BP.

But we have had huge luck turning nobodies into dominant relievers. We got Hand off of waivers, didn’t we? He was nobody. Now he is one of the best and we were able to trade him for a top 20 spec. Kirby Yates was nobody, then this year he was the best reliever in baseball. If we can keep doing this it can give us a nice supply of dominant relievers to trade at the deadline to get what we need. Plus, if guys like Pierce, Barraclough and Kim can be effective out of the pen for us, that allows us to give young guys like Quantrill and Baez every chance to prove themselves as starters and maximize their value.

Quote from fenn68 on December 23, 2019, 12:43 pm

Improve wherever and whenever you can and this upgrades the 8th spot in the pen ... it is good.

Pretty sure the Padres are committed to have Baez, Morejon, and Bolanos in the minors working as SP ... probably having Reyes, Bednar, Wingenter in AAA as call-up options (all have options available). Not sure any of those three are better than Johnson.

Baring injuries or a trade ... I see either Lucchesi or Quantrill getting the 5th SP slot then Lucchesi / Quantrill (the non-starter) battling Perdomo and Guerra (out of options) for the last two RP slots. Outside chance they send down Castillo and go with 2 LHRP which could alter the mix.

With most of the players with minor league options and over the course of a season injuries and strategic rest will require call-ups ... better to have decent options on the express from EP to SD.

Remember they still have Margevicius to DFA if needed.

Quote from Brian Connelly on December 23, 2019, 3:59 pm

You guys are massively under-rating the Pierce Johnson signing.  Johnson, 29 in May, spent the 2019 season pitching for the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he posted otherworldly numbers. In 58 2/3 innings of relief, he posted a 1.38 ERA with a 91-to-13 K/BB ratio (14.0 K/9, 2.0 BB/9).   Despite being selected by the Cubs with the No. 43 overall pick in 2012 and at one point ranking among the game’s top 100 prospects...

They're not paying him 5 MM for 2+ years to be the "8th guy in the bullpen"; they're replacing Craig Stammen for 1.5 MM less over 2+ years (Stammen maxed out incentives last 2 yrs @ 1 MM /per; total earned 2/6.5 MM) for a guy who's 7 years younger....

... if he can deliver 75% of what he did last year in Japan:  10 K/ 9 range, 2.5 BB/9 range, sub 3 ERA... Pads are getting a STEAL!

Think he's the 7th inning guy initially until Munoz or Jose Castillo build some real consistency & wrest that spot away from him.  LOVE the move.    Takes Kinsler's roster spot (& guessing; $), improves team, builds bullpen depth, and doesn't preclude any other "big" moves.

Quote from Henry Silvestre on December 23, 2019, 4:20 pm

Quote from Brian Connelly on December 23, 2019, 3:59 pm

You guys are massively under-rating the Pierce Johnson signing.  Johnson, 29 in May, spent the 2019 season pitching for the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he posted otherworldly numbers. In 58 2/3 innings of relief, he posted a 1.38 ERA with a 91-to-13 K/BB ratio (14.0 K/9, 2.0 BB/9).   Despite being selected by the Cubs with the No. 43 overall pick in 2012 and at one point ranking among the game’s top 100 prospects...

They're not paying him 5 MM for 2+ years to be the "8th guy in the bullpen"; they're replacing Craig Stammen for 1.5 MM less over 2+ years (Stammen maxed out incentives last 2 yrs @ 1 MM /per; total earned 2/6.5 MM) for a guy who's 7 years younger....

... if he can deliver 75% of what he did last year in Japan:  10 K/ 9 range, 2.5 BB/9 range, sub 3 ERA... Pads are getting a STEAL!

Think he's the 7th inning guy initially until Munoz or Jose Castillo build some real consistency & wrest that spot away from him.  LOVE the move.    Takes Kinsler's roster spot (& guessing; $), improves team, builds bullpen depth, and doesn't preclude any other "big" moves.

100% agree.. He is coming in as #3 or #4 out of the Pen.. Yates/Pomz/(Johnson/Strahm) or vice versa

Quote from fenn68 on December 23, 2019, 5:05 pm

From Cassavell:

Johnson won't be expected to fill a high-leverage role, at least at the start. Kirby Yates will anchor the 'pen as the closer, with newly signed lefty Drew Pomeranz and flame-throwing righty Andres Munoz serving as the primary setup men.

Lefties Matt Strahm and José Castillo will also pitch late in games. And if everything goes according to plan, Johnson might serve as a right-handed complement to those two.

====

If that is the initial plan ... it strengthens the middle of the pen and the bottom of the pen by pushing down the pecking order Perdomo and Guerra and bumps out Reyes, Wingenter, and Bednar (or whomever was ticketed for #8 in the pen).

Hopefully Johnson's new found higher spin rate on his FB and more aggressive approach (leading to better control) translates from Japan to the ML and he is even better than the initial plan. That would be a bonus, but if just  the initial plan works ... that is clearly worth $2.5MM per year.

Quote from MrPadre19 on December 23, 2019, 7:28 pm

Could his sudden increase in spin rate be the different baseball they use in Japan?

Look I said I understood the signing but we’ve been talking about HUGE moves still happening.

The rumor mill has us still in on major upgrades.

Almost everyone here agrees we still need one more bat......not a 4th or 5th BP arm.

That’s all I was referencing.