San Diego Padres: Three Non-Tendered Players To Target

Mike Fiers rebounded well from a rough 2017 and could help the San Diego Padres.

Patrick Corbin is with the Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox have now brought back Nathan Eovaldi, taking two of the top free agent pitchers off the market and leaving the San Diego Padres looking elsewhere for rotation help.

The Padres haven’t been connected to Mike Fiers, but should he be a target for AJ Preller? Fiers is coming off one of his best seasons as a major league pitcher, going 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA and an impressive 1.18 WHIP across 30 starts with the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. For the first time in his career, Fiers gave us less than 2 BB/9 IP.

If Fiers had such a successful 2018 season, why did Oakland decide to non-tender the starter, especially when they need starting pitching and also non-tendered Kendall Graveman? Per Julian McWilliams of The Athletic (subscription required), the relationship between Fiers and the A’s broke down after Oakland insisted on using their opener strategy to close out the season.

Other reasons for not receiving a contract from Oakland could include his expected 2019 salary of just under $10 million through arbitration and the difficulty in evaluating his effectiveness. While his ERA sat at 3.56, Fiers ended the year with a 4.75 FIP. Fangraphs credited him with a 1.4 WAR, however, Baseball Reference said he was worth 3.7 wins above replacement, showing the difficulty in evaluating Fiers.

At 33, Fiers can help bridge the gap and bring a veteran right-handed presence to the rotation, something this current San Diego team is missing. If it helps, he seems to love pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 4-1 in five career starts, including a shutout, 10-strikeout performance back in 2015. He struck out 8 and limited the Dodgers to one run on four hits in a start this past season.

Could Jonathan Schoop resurrect his career in San Diego?

**Update: Since the drafting and publishing of this article, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has reported that Schoop is on the verge of signing with the Minnesota Twins for one-year/$7 million.**

The Baltimore Orioles seemed to have had most of the pieces put together to make a playoff run back in 2016-2017. Their pitching staff left a lot to be desired, however, Manny Machado was hitting like Manny Machado, Adam Jones began to show more patience at the plate, and they had a star emerging at second base named Jonathan Schoop.

After playing in all 162 games and hitting 25 home runs in 2016, Schoop emerged as one of the bigger offensive threats in the American League in 2017. Hitting .293 with a .338 OBP, 32 home runs, and 35 doubles, Schoop was an All-Star and earned a few Most Valuable Player votes to end the year.

It all came crashing down in 2018, exactly like the rest of the Baltimore Orioles’ season. Schoop was just one of many veterans traded away, finding a brief home with the Milwaukee Brewers but unable to find his 2017 groove. Schoop hit just .233 with an abysmal .266 OBP.

Having watched Jonathan Schoop since his days in High-A with the Frederick Keys and been lucky enough to have discussions with the young man, I firmly believe 2018 was a fluke. Baltimore was a wasteland in 2018 and not only did Schoop feel the effects of a poor atmosphere, an outgoing manager, but he was also separated from the franchise that drafted and raised him and from his best friend, Machado.

Ken Rosenthal recently reported that Schoop is looking for a one-year deal at around $10 million, after being non-tendered by the Brewers last week. He hasn’t played third base since 2014 with the Orioles, but with a little work in the hot corner, Schoop could rotate between third, second, and shortstop with the Padres, who are currently without a shortstop and have a big question mark at third base (unless Fernando Tatis Jr.forces San Diego to give him a roster spot out of spring).

Is Luis Avilan too good to be true?

The 2018 San Diego Padres offense was one of the worst in franchise history, the starting rotation finished with an ERA over 5.00, but the bullpen was fantastic. Led by veterans Craig Stammen and Kirby Yates and backed by young fireballers in Robert Stock, Trey Wingenter, and others, the Padres bullpen was fascinating to watch and one of the only bright spots of 2018.

Stammen has one year left on his contract, while fellow right-handed reliever and current closer Kirby Yates has been involved in numerous trade rumors after his best season in the majors. Even without these two arms, the Padres still have plenty of right-handed bullpen talent.

More from Friars on Base

• Padres fighting with hated rival to sign quality veteran relief pitcher
• 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

Matt Strahm has begun his transformation to the starting rotation, leaving Jose Castillo and Brad Wieck as the only left-handed options, at the moment. Enter Luis Avilan.

The 29-year-old reliever has had a solid major league career since making his MLB debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2012. In seven pro seasons, Avilan has appeared in 399 games, pitching to a 3.09 career ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and has given up 0.4 HR/9 IP.

The Philadelphia Phillies decided to non-tender Avilan last week after logging just 5.2 innings after being traded from the Chicago White Sox on August 22nd.

Could there be injury concerns that lead the Phillies to use him sparingly and then non-tender him? Avilan’s fastball velocity dipped more than two MPH (down to 90.6 mph) and he used it a career-low 34% of the time (48% changeup, 18% curveball). If there is an issue here, there hasn’t been any reports.

Should the Padres target Avilan, it would be mainly to pitch against left-handed hitters, his typical role throughout his career. Just last year, lefties put up a slash line of .217/.304/.341 versus righties who posted a slash of .277/.346/.387. Avilan struck out 26% of both RHH and LHH.

I don’t anticipate the Padres heavily pursuing bullpen help but they will surely sign at least one, if not two, arms to come in and compete during spring training. At an estimated $3 million salary in 2019, Avilan would be worth money.