Padres: Looking back at the Jedd Gyorko trade

As a former second-round draft pick, Jedd Gyorko had a promising rookie year with the Padres but failed to materialize into his potential.

2010 was one of the worst drafts in Padres history. After the fallout from drafting Karsten Whitson in the first round, Jedd Gyorko was tabbed as the future second baseman with the 59th overall pick. The West Virginia product was fresh off earning the Brooks Wallace Award, given to NCAA’s best shortstop.

However, the majority of his starts with the Padres came at either second base or third base. He hit a robust .333 with 25 long balls and 114 RBI in his first full year of professional ball spread across High-A and Double-A. And after another year in the minor league system, Gyorko earned the starting second base gig to open the 2013 season.

In 125 games, he posted a .249/.301/.444 slash line with 23 home runs and 63 RBI, finishing sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Was the 2.5 WAR in 2013 a building block or had Gyorko already peaked? It would appear the latter as he logged a -0.5 and 0.6 WARs in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

And after the 2015 season, the Padres traded Gyorko to the St. Louis Cardinals straight up for Jon Jay. Over the following two seasons, Gyorko regained some form of his rookie year, hitting a combined 50 home runs while knocking in 126 runs.

Gyorko would remain with the Cardinals up until the trade deadline last year, finishing out the year in the Dodgers organization. As for Jay, he posted one of his better seasons with a .291/.339/.389 line (98 OPS+). A broken forearm caused him to miss a good chunk of time in the middle of the year.

He returned in September, batting .273 with 21 hits in 22 games. Following the 2016 season, Jay spent time with the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago White Sox.