Padres Press Clips Wednesday, January 20, 2016
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Padres Press Clips Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Article Source Author Page Rodney agrees to 1-year deal with Padres UT San Diego Lin 2 Padres monitoring market for Cespedes UT San Diego Lin 3 What to know: Fernando Rodney’s career arc UT San Diego Sanders 5 Baseball Prospectus: Margot the top Padres prospect UT San Diego Sanders 7 Minor moves: Jemile Weeks signs, Federowicz to Cubs UT San Diego Sanders 9 Rodney, Padres agree to one-year contract MLB.com Brock 11 Could the Padres swoop in on Yoenis Cespedes? FOXSports.com Pace 12 Report: Padres agree to sign Fernando Rodney CBSsports.com Snyder 13 1 Rodney agrees to 1-year deal with Padres Contract includes incentives, club option for 2017 By Dennis Lin | 8:44 a.m. Jan. 20, 2016 Fernando Rodney has agreed to a one-year, incentive-laden contract with the Padres, who will give the veteran reliever the opportunity to close. The deal is pending a physical. According to a source, Rodney’s base salary for 2016 is $1.6 million. He has a club option for 2017 worth $2 million against a $400,000 buyout. The deal includes $5 million in annual incentives that also escalate the option. If Rodney reaches all his performance bonuses in the first year, the option would become $7 million, with the $5 million in available incentives rolling over. Rodney’s total earnings over two years can go as high as $18.6 million. If the option is declined, he is guaranteed $2 million plus whatever incentives he makes in 2016. Rodney, 38, will join the Padres’ staff as its only member with extensive experience pitching late in games, let alone the ninth inning. Over 13 seasons with the Tigers, Angels, Rays, Mariners and Cubs, he has a 3.71 ERA and 236 saves. He was an American League All-Star in 2012 (with Tampa Bay) and 2014 (with Seattle), saving 48 games both years. His numbers dropped precipitously, however, in 2015. After recording a 5.68 ERA and just 16 saves through 54 appearances, the Mariners designated him for assignment in August and subsequently traded him to the Cubs for cash. Rodney worked in a setup role in Chicago, posting a 0.75 ERA in 14 games. 2 Padres monitoring market for Cespedes San Diego watching situation, but match appears unlikely By Dennis Lin | 9:15 p.m. Jan. 19, 2016 With a month left until spring training, the Padres' offseason has involved few mentions of high-end pursuits. General Manager A.J. Preller said in December his focus would not be on pricey free agents. But now it is Jan. 19, and Yoenis Cespedes remains unsigned. According to a source, the Padres are monitoring the market for Cespedes, though the source also indicated a match is unlikely at the moment. It seems noteworthy that the Padres have at least considered the possibility, however faint. Left field remains a major question mark; the primary in-house options are center fielder Jon Jay (29 home runs over six seasons), prospect Alex Dickerson (eight career at-bats) and Rule 5 pickup Jabari Blash (no big-league experience). The position was vacated by free agent Justin Upton, who Monday agreed to a six- year, $132.75 million deal with the Tigers. Cespedes, 30, is two years older than Upton, but unlike the one-time Padres left fielder, he is not attached to draft-pick compensation. That could lead to a similarly lucrative contract for Cespedes — the Mets and the White Sox reportedly are among the suitors — but it also could factor into the potential appeal for San Diego. The Padres clearly value draft picks, having stockpiled six of June's top 100. Instead of forfeiting a top-30 selection for free-agent shortstop Ian Desmond, they opted for a one-year agreement with Alexei Ramirez. That Ramirez's deal guarantees him only $4 million could be significant. When the signing is announced, likely this week, the Padres will project to have an opening-day payroll of about $100 million. Ownership has indicated they could go as high as $120 million, should they see fit. 3 Spending the difference on Cespedes, who'd effectively replace Upton's power production, could go a long way in a year in which San Diego hosts the All-Star Game. Despite a litany of offseason improvements by NL West opponents, the Padres do not intend to punt on 2016. Then again, the Padres may decide they're better off sitting this one out, especially if the price remains high. Some industry observers think Cespedes can still land at least a five-year contract, and San Diego already has significant financial obligations to Matt Kemp, James Shields and Melvin Upton Jr. Power-hitting outfield prospect Hunter Renfroe, while far from a sure thing, may be ready for the majors by the second half of 2016. 4 What to know: Fernando Rodney's career arc Command issues again surfaced as closer bounced from Mariners to Cubs in 2015 By Jeff Sanders | 10 a.m. Jan. 20, 2016 The National League provided a cushy landing spot when the Mariners had finally had had enough of Fernando Rodney and his ever-inflating ERA and WHIP. Both the Padres and the 38-year-old reliever are banking on some kind of carryover in 2016. Nearly five months after six blown saves and a 5.68 ERA forced Seattle to designated Rodney for assignment and ship him to the Cubs for a player to be named later or cash, he has reportedly agreed to a major league deal to become the closer in the Padres’ uber-green bullpen. Rodney’s arrival figures to sort out at least one role that appeared up for grabs after the Padres traded away Joaquin Benoit and Craig Kimbrel and pegged its top returning reliever – Brandon Maurer – for rotation duty this spring. At least that’s the plan. Whether or not the Padres are forced to call an audible as the Mariners did in 2015 will depend largely on Rodney’s command. He had it in check in Chicago over the summer, walking just four batters in 12 innings while going 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, 15 strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP down the stretch (he allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings in the playoffs) in a showing that apparently breathed new life into quickly-fading career. After all, Rodney led the majors with 48 saves in 2014 only to have the Mariners remove him from the role the following year as his walk rate hit 4.4 per nine innings. A career-worst home run rate (1.4/9) only confounded Rodney’s issues as the Mariners prepared to move on from the reliever they signed to a two-year, $14 million deal after he saved 85 games during his final two years with the Rays, including 48 while fashioning a career-low 0.60 ERA during his first All-Star campaign in 2012. 5 Needless to say, Rodney’s WHIP (0.777), walk rate (1.8/9), hit rate (5.2/9), homer rate (0.2/9) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.1) were all career-bests as he turned in a career-best 2.4 WAR, according to fangraphs.com. Of course, Rodney’s career averages – 1.36 WHIP, 4.4 walks per nine, 8.8 strikeouts per nine, 2.01 strikeouts per walk, 3.71 ERA – leave plenty of reason to doubt another resurgence despite his average fastball velocity sitting above 95.3 mph. Quick hits Rodney signed with the Tigers out of the Dominican Repubic as an undrafted free agent in 1997. He spent the entirety of his career in the American League until the Cubs acquired him last August. Born March 18, 1977, Rodney is nearly four months older than new Padres manager Andy Green (July 7, 1977). Rodney’s 236 career saves rank 37th all-time, two spots ahead of Kimbrel (39th with 225). During his breakthrough 2012 campaign, Rodney finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting (38 points) behind Rays teammate David Price (153 points), Tigers right- hander Justin Verlander (149), Angels right-hander Jered Weaver (70) and Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez (41.0). Rodney also finished 13th in AL MVP voting that year. His bow-and-arrow routine began after saving a 1-0 win over the Red Sox on April 16, 2012. 6 Baseball Prospectus: Margot the top Padres prospect Three shortstops also ranked among Padres' top-10 prospects By Jeff Sanders | 10 a.m. Jan. 19, 2016 Count Baseball Prospectus among the fans of A.J. Preller’s decision to trade Craig Kimbrel for high-end prospects early in the offseason. The top two names in that deal top their annual list of Padres top prospects, headlined by none other than center fielder Manuel Margot: “When the Padres traded for Craig Kimbrel they gave up one of the few impact prospects in the system (Matt Wisler), which is bad. When they traded Kimbrel to the Red Sox, they turned quite the profit, led by Margot, which is good! Margot makes things look simple: His compact swing and ability to control the strike zone give him a chance for a plus hit tool. He shoots line drives to all fields, and his ability to generate leverage with such a short swing is impressive. Some scouts are torn over his power potential, but there’s enough natural strength and loft in his swing to project him up to fringe-average. Even if his raw power is on the lighter side, his plus-plus speed will help him take the extra base whenever available.