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Padres Free Agent Profile: David Freese

By Daryll Dorman

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While the Padres continue to weigh options for their 2016 club, starting with a manager, the free agency period will provide some interesting choices for them as well. Over the next month or so, we here at FriarsOnBase will look at some potential free agency contributors for the Padres. Glaring needs for the Padres include shortstop, pitching and likely left field, but it doesn’t mean that the Padres can’t look across other positions like third base or even ideas like trading Jedd Gyorko if they can find the right suitor which would open other possibilities for the club. One option worth a look is free agent David Freese.

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David Freese was originally drafted by the Padres in 2006 before being traded for Jim Edmonds in 2007. He debuted for the Cardinals in 2009 and came to national prominicence for his post-season heroics in the 2011 World Series. who can forget his home run in Game 6?

While Freese has spent the last two seasons with the Angels and made $6M, he would be another veteran on the team with post-season experience. He hit .257 last season with 14 HR in 120 games missing about 40 games due to injury. The question of course is whether he would be worth the money? Thanks to Pablo Sandoval and likely Daniel Murphy‘s own impending free agency – we know that teams can put a good deal of value on post-season experience. That said, while in 2011 Freese won both the NLCS and World Series MVP – he hasn’t done too much in the post-season since. In fact he has only gotten 11 hits in his last 20 games played in the post-season dating back to 2013 with just 2 HR and 5 RBI.

On top of that the Padres do have both Yangervis Solarte appearing ready to handle the position everyday and if Will Middlebrooks can find his stroke once again in AAA he would be another alternative for the team. Solarte of course is under team control for a couple more seasons so much cheaper than Freese would be. Also, Solarte’s 2015 numbers are pretty consistent with what Freese both did in 2015 and has done the past couple of seasons. Granted the power numbers were similar in 40 fewer games than Solarte, but I’ll take health consistency over power in limited numbers (see Carlos Quentin) anyday.

In conclusion, barring a trade or something else, I do not see the Padres pursuing this former Padres prospect in the off-season.

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