The San Diego Padres are currently in the dead period during the rebuilding process. They spent some money this offseason by signing former World Champion first baseman Eric Hosmer for eight-year/$144 million contract. In any other offseason that contract would seem like a bargain, but looks bloated in such a ho-hum, lukewarm stove offseason.
The Padres needed to acquire a front-of-the-rotation starter this offseason. They failed and now find themselves with one of the worst starting rotations in the National League.
Will any of the Padres young hitters develop into someone that can help protect Wil Myers in the lineup?
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the San Diego Padres.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 71-91
Key Additions: 1B Eric Hosmer, SP Tyson Ross, 3B Freddy Galvis, 3B Chase Headley, RP Kazuhisa Makita, RP Rowan Wick, OF Forrestt Allday, OF Allen Craig, C A.J. Ellis, OF Cole Gillespie, C Raffy Lopez & RP Tom Wilhelmsen
Key Losses: 3B Yangervis Solarte, SP Jhoulys Chacin, SS Erick Aybar, 2B Ryan Schimpf, OF Jabari Blash, C Hector Sanchez, RP Kevin Quackenbush, RP Jose Valdez, RP Travis Wood & RP Jarred Cosart
Interleague Schedule: AL West
Projected Starters: Austin Hedges, Eric Hosmer, Carlos Asuaje, Chase Headley, Freddy Galvis, Jose Pirela, Manuel Margot & Wil Myers
Projected Starting Rotation: Clayton Richard, Tyson Ross, Bryan Mitchell, Dinelson Lamet & Luis Perdomo
Closer: Brad Hand
Fantasy Sleeper: SP Dinelson Lamet – I would put Lamet in the category of ‘could do much better than where he will be drafted.’ I understand that the Padres will not be good and Wins will be hard to come by for starting pitchers, but Lamet has swing-and-miss stuff. He could end up with a K/9 greater than 10. His WHIP may be a bit scary due to walks, but he would be a nice source for strikeouts.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: SP Eric Lauer – The Padres farm system isn’t very deep and most of their top prospects are a couple years away from a call-up. Lauer made it to Double-A last season. He could receive some starts for the Padres after the September call-ups. His ceiling is probably a fourth or fifth starter, but is arguably the most MLB-ready starter they have in their farm system.
Team Analysis: The current Padres roster fails the eyeball test. They also play in one of the toughest divisions. They have some good players like newly-signed Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers, but they aren’t deep and their farm system is trash. I’m not sure what the next move is for them.
The biggest issue for the Padres is the lack of talent in their starting rotation. If you’re #1 starter is Clayton Richard, your team is already behind the eight-ball. They have two interesting pitchers at the back-end with Dinelson Lamet and Luis Perdomo. They both have high upsides, but they are currently inexperienced and a tad wild. It’s good they are getting them innings against Major League hitters.
I’m not sure if adding Freddy Galvis and re-acquiring Chase Headley were smart moves. I understand that their farm system is bad and they don’t have guys to call-up to play that side of the infield, but they could have been smarter with their money. I don’t see the Padres being more than a 69-win team this season.
2018Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 72.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 69-93 (5th in NL West)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.