San Diego Padres Spring Training Notebook: Boom Goes The Dynamite

For San Diego Padres fans, spring training just became a lot more interesting. Let’s take a trip around the bases in today’s spring training primer.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the San Diego Padres finally secured their main offseason target. Announced late last night (around 9 pm PT/midnight EST), news broke that Eric Hosmer had agreed to an eight-year deal with the Friars worth $144 million. What makes the deal more bearable for those “anti-Hosmer” folks is that after five years and $100 million, an opt-out kicks in.

Our co-editor, Nick Stevens, posted his initial thoughts about the Hosmer signing late last night, you can check out his reaction here.

What makes this signing even more interesting is the number of moves that will need to be made as a result. Wil Myers is now an outfielder, meaning there are simply too many to keep on the 25-man roster.

Jose Pirela may have a new position for the San Diego Padres if he remains.

Jose Pirela, who has now lost his starting left-field job, will begin working out at second base for the Padres. Anything Pirela can do to add to his versatility is a must at this point.

However, this does raise an interesting question. Can Pirela beat out Asuaje for the starting second base job? I doubt it. Unfortunately, I believe Pirela will be one of the next players to be traded during spring training.

We may have an idea of who will pitch Friday’s spring training opener.

Believe it or not, the San Diego Padres play their first spring training game on Friday. They will take on the Seattle Mariners, the team they share the Peoria Sports Complex with.

More from Friars on Base

• Jurickson Profar free agency update likely rules out Padres reunion
• Fernando Tatis Jr. may not take to outfield move after Xander Bogaerts addition
• Padres News: Fernando Tatis Jr. trade rumors, Seth Lugo chase, Manny Machado
• Padres barely missed out on high-end veteran starting pitcher
• This veteran DH target seems ideal for contending Padres roster

Full squad workouts aren’t scheduled to begin until Monday, leaving the Padres with just four practices before competition begins. As mentioned by AJ Cassavell yesterday, based on who threw bullpen sessions yesterday, we have an idea of who Andy Green plans to throw in game one.

Look for Miguel Diaz to start Friday against the Mariners. Diaz, 23, made his major league debut last season with the Padres, appearing in 31 games, starting three of those. He posted a 7.34 ERA and walked 25 batters in 41 innings.

Those numbers were after making a huge leap from rookie ball to the majors (with a 7 inning stint in High-A in between). He’s in camp this spring as a starter and will look to show off his improvements right out of the gate.

Also throwing a bullpen session yesterday was my new favorite Friar, Maki. Here’s his delivery, slowed down, to admire in all its beauty.

Next: Eric Hosmer Signs With the Padres!

That’s it for today. Get ready for a lot of big news out of Padres’ camp over the next few weeks as the roster begins to shake out. I think we all will be in for a lot of big surprises.