Off-Season Outlook by Salary

[SFW]

Gyorko did sign a 5 year $35M contract but he was not making $7M last year and won't be close to that next season either. According to rotoworld he will make $2M in 2015, $4M in 2016, $6M in 2017 before it raises to $9M in 2018 and 2019.

They gambled when they signed him to a contract eliminating a couple of his arbitration years. Hopefully he will improve and catch up to his contract before it gets bigger but right now his cost is still pretty cheap. If not, in a few years he will be making more money than his play warrants. we shall see in a year or two.

[RobH]

I've always liked Kemp and thought he's been a very dangerous hitter in his career. He may slow down a bit more and become even more of a liability in the OF at the end of the contract, but I don't think his bat will slow down that much that he won't be worth the $15 million/year that we'll be paying him. (This includes the money coming back from the Dugs.)

I actually think that Grandal is going to be a hell of a hitter. His knee really affected him last year until the last month when he finally started getting his swish back. However, we've got a lot of catching in our system, and Rivera is a very good catcher in his own right. Also, Cashner and Ross both prefer Rivera, and perhaps others would prefer Rivera, too. If he had kept Grandal, he wouldn't be catching every day as long as Rivera is on the team. So on the off days, does he play first base? He's stated that he would rather not play first and prefers to play catcher. That could cause an attitude problem down the line. Also, rumors are that he asked out of San Diego, and as I stated in another post, he never denied it.

I'm willing to be a lot of money we bring in at least one more bat without giving up any major pitching, and we go into the season with a rotation of Ross, Cashner, Kennedy, Hahn, and Despaigne. We'll have a lot of guys coming off injury waiting in the wings and Wisler waiting to get his shot as well. Our BP is exceptionally strong, so with the addition of Kemp and another bat, and the other guys coming back to their norms, we could very well challenge for a wild card and make splash in the playoffs. It all comes down to health, and we've been so unlucky regarding health, that the pendulum has to swing back to our side at some point.

I like what Preller did in this trade and I think he's got a few more tricks up his sleeve.

It's going to be a fun offseason.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

If he had kept Grandal, he wouldn't be catching every day as long as Rivera is on the team. So on the off days, does he play first base? He's stated that he would rather not play first and prefers to play catcher. That could cause an attitude problem down the line.

I'd have made him the starter at first. My job would have been to persuade him why that is best for his career. If he had issues with management, I could speculate why.

[SFW]

I've always liked Kemp and thought he's been a very dangerous hitter in his career. He may slow down a bit more and become even more of a liability in the OF at the end of the contract, but I don't think his bat will slow down that much that he won't be worth the $15 million/year that we'll be paying him. (This includes the money coming back from the Dugs.)

I actually think that Grandal is going to be a hell of a hitter. His knee really affected him last year until the last month when he finally started getting his swish back. However, we've got a lot of catching in our system, and Rivera is a very good catcher in his own right. Also, Cashner and Ross both prefer Rivera, and perhaps others would prefer Rivera, too. If he had kept Grandal, he wouldn't be catching every day as long as Rivera is on the team. So on the off days, does he play first base? He's stated that he would rather not play first and prefers to play catcher. That could cause an attitude problem down the line. Also, rumors are that he asked out of San Diego, and as I stated in another post, he never denied it.

I'm willing to be a lot of money we bring in at least one more bat without giving up any major pitching, and we go into the season with a rotation of Ross, Cashner, Kennedy, Hahn, and Despaigne. We'll have a lot of guys coming off injury waiting in the wings and Wisler waiting to get his shot as well. Our BP is exceptionally strong, so with the addition of Kemp and another bat, and the other guys coming back to their norms, we could very well challenge for a wild card and make splash in the playoffs. It all comes down to health, and we've been so unlucky regarding health, that the pendulum has to swing back to our side at some point.

I like what Preller did in this trade and I think he's got a few more tricks up his sleeve.

It's going to be a fun offseason.

I agree with a lot of what you said here but how do you see them getting one more bat without giving up one of Ross, Cashner, Kennedy, Hahn? If you look at the remaining free agents out there it is pretty much OF's left for quality bats and I don't really see them adding another OF. I am guessing they will get another bat via trade but I think that will take giving up Kennedy or maybe even Hahn.

[SFW]

Talk is the Padres are now looking for help at either or both of the corner IF spots. Players like Pedro Alvarez or Chris Davis mentioned as potential targets (speculation).

Like I said earlier, I just don't see the Padres signing or trading for another OF player.

[SFW]

The Padres have made a one-year offer to free agent righty Brandon Morrow, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). The offer includes significant incentives.

Other teams, too, have offers on the table for Morrow to weigh. Several teams are pursuing him as a reliever, while others would sign him as a starter, as is his preference.

Morrow, 30, became a free agent when the Blue Jays declined a $10MM option. Once one of the more promising young rotation pieces in the game, Morrow struggled badly with injury and performance over the last two seasons. In total, he managed only 87 2/3 frames of 5.65 ERA ball, with 7.4 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9. But he remains an intriguing talent, and there is apparently a good deal of interest in seeing if he can work past his various arm issues.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/padres-among-teams-with-offers-out-to-brandon-morrow.html