San Diego Padres: Who’s the odd man out of the outfield picture?

Who’s in and who’s out

The Padres will likely keep five outfielders on the Opening Day roster, which will give them the flexibility to mix-and-match depending on who is on the mound.

Who’s in

Pham, Margot, Grisham, Cordero, and Myers are the five I’m taking right now.

As I already said, Pham starts every day in left. And then you can platoon with Grisham and Margot in center and Cordero and Myers in right.

Against lefties you could roll out Margot in center and Myers in right. And then against righites you could put Grisham in center and Cordero in right.

Who’s out

Naylor, Olivares, Trammell, and Almonte are my odd men out.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Naylor is being pushed in trade talks to American League teams similar to Franmil this past season.

He has a chance to be a good hitter, and maybe if we weren’t locked into Eric Hosmer at first base he could stick around. But Hosmer isn’t going anywhere, and Naylor isn’t an outfielder.

Almonte is strictly Minor League depth in case injuries strike, and he’s not bad depth to have.

Ollivares and Trammell may have a little more to prove in the minors first, but both could break through during the season.

In the end, I think Pham, Grisham, and Myers are your starting outfielders to start the season.

You don’t make that trade for Grishman to let him sit on the bench. And he’s a good OBP guy, which is what the Padres need.

They’re paying Myers too much money, and he can be a productive player, not to give him the first shot out there.

Thinking optimistically, I think this outfield can combine for close to 10 WAR in 2020, which would push for a Top 15 outfield in baseball.

They will certainly improve upon their terrible .308 OBP from last season and could push closer to .325-.330.

Let me know your thoughts on the Padres outfield situation in the comments below.