San Diego Padres Trade Ryan Schimpf To The Tampa Bay Rays

On the heels of trading for Chase Headly and Bryan Mitchell, the San Diego Padres made their second deal of the day, moving infielder Ryan Schimpf to the Tampa Bay Rays for infielder Deion Tansel.

Schimpf has appeared in 142 games with the Padres, hitting .195 with 34 homeruns and 76 RBIs. While the power was clearly there, he was never able to be a consistent hitter. With the team acquiring Headley, there was no room in the infield for Schimpf.

Tansel has yet to make it above low A, however he has played every position on the infield besides first base. In 85 minor league games he has hit .280 with four home runs, 33 RBIs and seven stolen bases.

Tansel may not have the upside of an impact prospect, but he appears to have the speed and overall ability to hit towards the top of the lineup. While he doesn’t have the power that Schimpf does, he seems to be a better all-around hitter and have the ability to be a menace on the base paths.

Mat Germain of Drays Bay had this to say about Tansel earlier this year:

"We don’t have much of a sample size to work with when it comes to Tansel, but what we’ve seen so far has to be very encouraging. The lack of strikeouts and ability to make contact stand out over everything else. And that’s not just something he did as a pro in 2016, he also hit .327/.402/.408 in College while with Toledo, striking out only 9 times in 265 PA."

Over his last 60 AB, Tansel showed off that capability some more by only striking out only 5 times, walking 5 times, and hitting .300 with 2 doubles and 2 HR. That end to the season is what makes his hitting ability at the plate most intriguing.

"What Tansel won’t do is hit for much power or steal many bases. It just doesn’t seem to be part of the package, even if he did add a few HRs last season. The best ISO he managed in College was .081 in 2016, the only year he managed to hit HRs (2) there. Still, as Omar Vizquel proved for many years, hitting well enough and playing outstanding SS defensively can make you a very productive shortstop.Tansel doesn’t have enough track record to dig into the splits and to examine the defensive play. What we do know is that he shows great range and should continue to get playing time as he attempts to meet the next challenge in A ball. If he’s’ able to continue to put the ball in play and turn himself into an above-average defensive SS, he could surprise many."

Overall, this seems to be a trade to clear up space in the infield for Headley while also adding a spot on the 40-man roster. Deion Tansel may not have the most appeal to his name, but he could be an under-the-radar for Padres’ fans to keep an eye on.

Clearly A.J. Preller is taking the Winter Meetings seriously and doing whatever he can to improve the San Diego Padres in 2018 and going forward.

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