Padres Press Clips Tuesday, December 12, 2017
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Padres Press Clips Tuesday, December 12, 2017 Article Source Author Page Padres move on to other needs after being turned down by SD Union Tribune Lin 2 Shohei Ohtani Padres roster review: Allen Cordoba SD Union Tribune Sanders 4 Padres offseason leagues: Gabriel Arias flexing muscles SD Union Tribune Sanders 6 in Australia After years of coming up short, Alan Trammell is a shoo-in SD Union Tribune Lin 8 for Hall of Fame Preller moves forward after missing on Ohtani MLB.com Cassavell 10 Could Cozart be a fit for Padres at shortstop? MLB.com Cassavell 12 MLB Winter Meetings Rumors: Padres Remain Bleacher Report Chiari 14 'Strongly in Mix' for Eric Hosmer 1 Padres move on to other needs after being turned down by Shohei Ohtani Dennis Lin For reasons that remain ambiguous, Shohei Ohtani chose the Los Angeles Angels over six other clubs that now must face a reality without a potential two-way star. People continued to wonder Monday as the winter meetings officially opened and the runners-up trained their attention on alternative plans. Ohtani has provided little explanation aside from the “connection” he felt with the Angels. The Padres, whose front office contains a noticeable Japanese presence, made one of the most concerted bids for Ohtani. A presentation last week in Los Angeles involved at least a dozen team officials. General Manager A.J. Preller spoke with the Japanese star in the latter’s native language. “Disappointment at first,” Preller said of his reaction to Ohtani’s choice. “But pretty quickly, there’s understanding we have a lot of work in front of us. … We were prepared for a lot of different scenarios and pretty quickly moved on to the next options. “We put a lot of time and effort into it, and I think we just tried to show him why San Diego was a great fit. Ultimately, that’s all you can do: put your best foot forward, see where it goes. You’re never 100 percent certain why guys choose certain places. But I was really proud of our group and the work that we did.” It could take years to judge the work the Padres do this offseason. To date, San Diego’s flirtations with Ohtani and free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer have supplied the headlines. But any discussion could wind up being critical, particularly for a franchise that hasn’t played a postseason game since 2006. The Padres have been monitoring the market for Zack Cozart, the top free agent among shortstops and a potential cure for the franchise’s longest-running weakness. As in most other cases, it is not an ideal answer; Cozart, who is coming off a career season with Cincinnati, will turn 33 next year. Other options that have been linked to San Diego include free agent Alcides Escobar and Philadelphia’s Freddy Galvis. What should the Padres commit to an acquisition, knowing that prospects Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Urias loom on the horizon? (Urias, a second baseman, has shown he can handle shortstop in stretches.) “The question we keep wrestling with as a group is how much resources we want to put into a stop-gap filler guy,” Preller said. “If there’s a guy we think has a little bit more value for us, that definitely makes sense. But I think we have some internal options that we’re excited about. 2 Down the road, we’re very excited about the shortstop depth we have in the system. It’s taken a few years to build that up, but hopefully this is one of the last years we’re talking about that.” The Padres remain intrigued by Hosmer, Escobar’s longtime Royals teammate, whom they hosted for a visit Thursday in San Diego. Their interest stems from Hosmer’s relative youth, left- handed offense and leadership ability. Multiple reports have connected them to another free- agent first baseman, 31-year-old Carlos Santana. In this instance, however, present signs point toward due diligence. As for Hosmer, the Padres would face a couple of obstacles in any attempt to sign the 28-year- old. One: Agent Scott Boras is seeking a nine-figure contract. San Diego’s record is an $83 million extension for Wil Myers. “Ron (Fowler) and Peter (Seidler), they’re well-versed in terms of the options that are out there and how that affects us payroll-wise over the course of the next few years,” Preller said of the team’s lead owners. “We want to be smart and intelligent about our decisions and make sure our process is good, but also their support is, they want to put a winning product on the field and understand that that’s going to involve investment. We’ve invested a lot in the (farm) system over the last few years, and as an organization we understand that there’s going to be an investment to the big-league club here. I think they’re not just open to it but excited about it.” The other hurdle: Myers plays first base, which has looked like a better fit than the outfield. Recently approached about a potential move to a corner-outfield position, the team’s highest- paid player said he would be willing to accommodate an addition of Hosmer’s caliber. “He’s athletic and he’s got some versatility,” Preller said. “I think we look at it as a plus, and if we get a chance to upgrade elsewhere and we think that makes us a better club in the short- and long-term, he’s open to talking about going back to the outfield. … The only thing he’s really told me is ‘I just want to win. I’d rather win at any position than lose at one locked-in position.’ That’s a credit to him. It’s good when you have a player that that’s the way he sees it.” Notable • Outfield prospect Franchy Cordero, who hit .228 in a brief major league sample last season, ranks second in the Dominican Winter League with a .907 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. While Jose Pirela is the in-house leader in left field, evaluators think Cordero, a 23-year-old with a rare combination of power and speed, could make a strong push. “He’s got to get more consistent with his game and the strike zone,” Preller said. “But I think his winter-ball experience just continues to show ultimately what his ceiling can be and that he’s a major league player.” • The Padres have been in “fairly constant” communication with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin’s agent, Peter Greenberg, Preller said. Chacin is a free agent after going 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA last season in San Diego. • The Padres’ 40-man roster is full, meaning they will have to make a move if they want to participate in the Rule 5 draft Thursday. San Diego was the most active team in that draft each of the last two Decembers. 3 Padres roster review: Allen Cordoba Jeff Sanders ALLEN CORDOBA • Position: Outfielder • 2018 Opening Day age: 22 • Bats/throws: R/R • Height/weight: 6-foot-1 / 175 pounds • Acquired: Rule 5 draft in December 2017 • Contract status: Earned $535,000 in 2017; won’t be arbitration-eligible until 2020 at the earliest • Key stats: .208 avg., .282 OBP, .297 SLG, 4 HRs, 15 RBIs, 17 runs, 2 steals, 18 BBs, 54 Ks (100 games, 227 plate appearances) STAT TO NOTE • 56 – Plate appearances after the All-Star break, down from 171 through the first half of the season. Cordoba’s OPS dropped from .616 before the All-Star game to .459 the final three months of the season. TRENDING • Idle – The Panama native had never played a game above rookie ball when the Padres selected him with the third overall selection in the Rule 5 draft. St. Louis’ front office doubted that such an inexperienced player could stick all year in the majors, but the Padres – early in this rebuild project – didn’t find it all that hard. They gave him starts in left field (24), shortstop (15), center field (2) and right (1) and plate appearances off the bench (29) in blowout losses. His highs include a pinch-hit homer off Jaime Garcia for the first of his career, a pair of three-hit games, a .308 May and the strides he showed defensively in left field, where he was praised by Padres manager Andy Green as a potential plus defender down the road. The lows? He hit .095 against left-handed pitching, .148 in June and received only two starts over the final two months of the season. 2018 OUTLOOK • Cordoba’s sparse playing time down the stretch could be a predictor of his 2018 role. The Padres, because of the Rule 5 rules, had to keep him on the active roster last year to keep him in the organization. Now, they can stash him in the minors to continue his development and an assignment to Double-A San Antonio – likely as an outfielder – 4 could be on the table if Cordoba doesn’t wow the staff in camp. If that’s the case, a 22- year-old in the Texas League is not the least bit out of place. PADRES POWER RANKINGS (Currently 40 players on 40-man roster) 1. Carlos Asuaje 2. Carter Capps 3. Colten Brewer 4. Buddy Baumann 5. Jabari Blash 6. Jose Castillo 7. Allen Cordoba 5 Padres offseason leagues: Gabriel Arias flexing muscles in Australia Jeff Sanders Fernando Tatis Jr.’s breakthrough 2017 campaign saw him become the top prospect in the Padres organization, if not one of the best in baseball.