Despaigne Dropped Out of Race for Padres’ Roster Spot

It seems like there are as many pitchers on the San Diego Padres’ roster as there are people running for President of the United States. It seems like everyone wants to be either the Commander-in-Chief or a member of the Padres’ staff. But as the political primaries pass and the weeks leading up to Opening Day draw nearer, the final pictures will start to become clearer.

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Just as we see people dropping out of the political race, so too will we see players being removed from the race to staff the Padres’ starting rotation and bullpen. In the political realm, this week saw Mike Huckabee and Martin O’Malley drop out of the race for the presidency. And in the Padres’ front office, a decision was made to reduce the number of candidates for the pitching staff.

Odrisamer Despaigne will no longer be a member of the Padres, as the team traded the veteran swingman to the Baltimore Orioles today for pitcher Jean Cosme.

Despaigne, the Cuban hurler with seemingly 100 different pitches and speeds, disappointed last season, putting up a 5-9 record and a sky-high 5.80 ERA after a promising rookie season in American baseball in 2014.

The 19-year old Cosme is not a candidate for this year’s Padres’ team, as the 6-foot-2-inch, 155-pounder is currently in the low levels of the minor leagues.

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The young righthander was picked by the Orioles in the 17^th round of the 2014 draft. After throwing 15.1 innings in nine games of rookie ball that season, he moved up to low-A ball last year, and put up a 3-5 record with a 4.74 ERA in 57 innings, all as a starter. He has struck out 70 hitters in 72.1 innings overall. While it’s still very early in his career, Baseball Prospectus projects him as an organizational level player, based on a one-game eyewitness scouting.

Despaigne filled a valuable position for the Padres last season, filling in as a starter when Brandon Morrow went down to injury, and serving as the long reliever when not working as a starter. Unfortunately, he was not nearly as effective as he was the previous season, when he put up a 3.36 ERA in 16 starts. And with the Padres currently considering over 20 pitchers for this year’s 12-13 spots, it appears that A.J. Preller wasn’t impressed enough with O.D to keep him around for a Spring Training tryout.

Hey, Baltimore is less than 40 miles from Washington, D.C. Maybe Despaigne should run for office.