Meet the Padres New First Baseman…Wil Myers

It appears that the first baseman for the San Diego Padres in 2016 will be Wil Myers in the wake of the Yonder Alonso trade. While this may not be the splashy Chris Davis signing or trade for Freddie Freeman some speculated about, it does pave the way for an outfielder acquisition during next week’s Winter Meetings.

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According to Corey Brock, Myers absolutely loved playing first base last season even though he had only played 5 games prior to 2014.

“I enjoy first base the most. If I had a preference, it would be first. I’ve told them that…I had never played first base at the professional level until last year but I enjoyed it. I think I can play first base really well.”

For the Padres, they do have Brett Wallace signed to another year who might be able to occasionally supplant Myers at first base, and of course the biggest plus to the move is that it might help Myers stay healthier throughout the season. He has battled wrist injuries the last two seasons and only played 60 games in 2015.

The Padres of course now open up another position where they need help to start 2016. At this point, it appears that Melvin Upton Jr.will start center field with Travis Jankowski a chance to win the job in spring training. Certainly not ideal for anyone who watched Upton in a full time role with the Braves the previous couple of seasons.

Left field is now still wide open, with possible options ranging from Rymer Liriano or Alex Dickerson. Matt Kemp is stable in right field but with the Winter Meetings starting up, outfield is once again a primary concern for the Padres. A shortstop too of course.

Preller had this to say about moving Myers: “It’s definitely an attractive option getting Wil locked in at first base; part of the move in moving Yonder was getting Wil locked into a spot.”

Moving Myers to first base significantly helps in that search – as acknowledging that his full time status will not be in the outfield opens up a lot more possibilities for acquisition. Can we just squash this Chris Davis talk now? I get the 50 home runs is tantalizing, but I can only see acquiring him as a disaster. There is a fine line between hitting .220 with 50 home runs and .220 with 20 home runs. The amount of money Davis will require to be signed will not justify if he ends up closer to the 20 home run line than the 50.