San Diego Padres SS Freddy Galvis Needs To Return In 2019

A free agent at the end of the season, San Diego Padres shortstop Freddy Galvis deserves to return in 2019.

The recent promotions of Trey Wingenter, Brett Kennedy, and Jacob Nix have injected a bit of fun and intrigue into the dog days of San Diego Padres August baseball. Overall, this team ranks at or near the bottom of the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, and runs scored. There haven’t been many bright spots out on the field, except for Freddy Galvis.

MLBTradeRumors recently ran this piece, highlighting 20 of the top August trade candidates. Number 11 on that list was shortstop Freddy Galvis. My initial response to the article was, yes. Galvis is as reliable as they come and will be in serious contention for a Gold Glove Award, once again (defensive metrics be damned). There has to be a contending team out there that would love to have his glove to secure their defense, heading into the playoffs.

If the Padres could work a deal for Galvis, they can acquire another much-needed piece (or pieces) and then re-sign him in the offseason. With San Diego out of the playoff race, the rest of the season could be used to give at-bats to Cory Spangenberg and Carlos Asuaje, as they fill in for Galvis and show whether or not they deserve a spot on this team, moving forward (as utility players).

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But then I thought about this for a few more minutes and changed my mind. The San Diego Padres need to re-sign Freddy Galvis, as soon as possible. Outside of the Houston Astros, none of the contending teams have a real need for Freddy Galvis and as long as Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve don’t have any lingering effects from their recent injuries, the Astros won’t have a need either.

His batting average is the lowest it’s been since he has become a full-time starter in the majors. His WAR (currently at 0.3) grades him as an ever-so-slightly, above-replacement level major leaguer, yet his value to this team is outside of those statistics. I’m a hardcore believe in advanced metrics and despite what Jayson Werth and others like him want to believe, I think this statistical revolution brings a lot of positives to the game of baseball. However, ignore the advanced defensive metrics on Galvis.

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1017638895616430080

https://twitter.com/Padres/status/1027026741095686144

Plays like these are why you re-sign Freddy Galvis, now. The confidence he can help instill in this young pitching staff isn’t measurable. Also, Fernando Tatis Jr is not coming up to the major leagues next season, accept it. The Padres are also not going to win many games next year, meaning there’s no reason to have Tatis up in the majors.

No one on this roster has been more fun to watch this season than Freddy Galvis. Bring him back for one more year and let’s continue to enjoy the defense. I’m sure this pitching staff will.