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The MLB playoffs are in full swing, and a World Series champion will be crowned by the end of the month. Shortly thereafter, the offseason will kick into high gear with a daily plateful of trade rumors and possible free agent signings that will fill your baseball appetite through the winter months. Before moving forward, we must look back at the San Diego Padres‘ 2015 season, as there’s still one question that rings out loud all throughout Petco Park: What happened!?
Let’s go back to last December when Padres GM AJ Preller was in the midst of having the perfect offseason. He just completed the Matt Kemp trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and then in no time acquired Justin Upton from the Atlanta Braves. Preller put the finishing touches on revamping his lackluster roster by trading two blue-chip prospects (P Joe Ross and SS Trae Turner) in a complicated three-team deal that sent young slugging outfielder Wil Myers out west.
Was this overkill and maybe one trade too many by Preller?
The message was clear after sending four of the team’s top 10 prospects packing. The Padres’ front office was firmly committed to winning in the short-term rather than focusing on the future. Preller strongly believes minor league prospects are just prospects until they have proven themselves on a major league diamond. We have seen too many MLB wannabees come and go through San Diego with little to show, but Preller might have outsmarted himself by trading two game-changers for an outfielder who has spent a considerable amount of time on the disabled list over the last two seasons.
Ross opened some eyes with the Washington Nationals this summer, showing the poise and a devastating slider that will make him a top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher for many years to come. Turner is one of the pure athletic talents at any level of professional baseball today. His tremendous upside has put him into the conversation for the Nationals’ shortstop position next spring with the pending departure of current starter Ian Desmond via free agency this winter.
These two players could have easily been part of the solution to reconstruct the Padres roster for 2016. Ross would have been an ideal candidate to replace Ian Kennedy in next year’s rotation. The shortstop position has been a revolving door ever since Garry Templeton left town. Let’s see all the failed experiments in 2015. There has been Clint Barmes, Alexi Amarista, Will Middlebrooks, Jedd Gyorko and even Dale Amorosia from the right field seats was given a chance to takeover the position.
You cannot be a serious playoff contender without a reliable shortstop or quality starting pitching. Preller needs Myers to regain the hitting prowess he provided from the leadoff spot before surgery to remove a bone spur in his left wrist effectively ended his season. Myers was hitting for average and regularly getting on base, becoming the ideal table setter for the Padres’ run producers.
With Upton’s expected departure via free agency, the Padres might in the market to acquire a new leadoff hitter, which would allow Myers to be moved down in the batting order. He has been a middle-of-the-lineup hitter for much of his professional career, but is the power potential still there in Myers’ bat? Wrist injuries of this nature tend to sap the home run stroke from accomplished hitters. The Padres must be cautious with putting Myers back into the lineup because if he’s rushed too soon the risk of re-injuring his wrist heightens.
Preller cannot bear to witness another injury-prone season. If that happens, his prized acquisition would have been a colossal mistake.
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