Padres’ Matt Waldron fallout makes Craig Stammen’s bullpen plan age badly

Matt Waldron was designated for assignment by the Padres, and there’s really no way to separate that move from what Craig Stammen had just said publicly. That’s the awkward part. More than the transaction itself. Stammen had outwardly framed Waldron’s next step as a bullpen move, with the knuckleballer shifting into a length role as the Padres prepared for Lucas Giolito’s arrival. Then, roughly a day later, Waldron was off the roster anyway.

That bullpen plan aged badly. Quickly, too. This was closer to baseball’s version of writing “we have a plan” on a napkin and watching the wind take it before dessert.

The Padres had a clear reason to consider moving on. Waldron had struggled badly, carrying an 8.49 ERA with 22 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings, and his latest bulk outing included six runs, eight hits, three walks and the 13th straight appearance in which he allowed a home run. He was also out of minor league options, which meant San Diego could not simply send him to El Paso without exposing him to waivers.  

AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reported that Stammen said Waldron would move to the bullpen as a length option, even as the Padres knew they would soon need to create room for Giolito. Cassavell also wrote that the move to the bullpen felt like a vote of confidence, with Stammen citing Waldron’s durability and the hope that his knuckleball could play up in relief.  

And then came the turn. Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Waldron’s time with the Padres was ending, at least for now, while noting that he could go unclaimed and wind up back at Triple-A El Paso. The Padres also needed Alek Jacob for short-term bullpen coverage before Giolito’s activation.  

It’s fair to say the public messaging got messy. And when the manager says one thing about a struggling pitcher’s role, only for the roster move to say something very different the next day, we’re allowed to keep the receipt.

The Padres’ Waldron plan sounded temporary before it even disappeared

The problem with the bullpen explanation was that it always felt like a halfway answer.

Waldron as a length option made sense in theory. A knuckleballer who can cover multiple innings has value, especially for a Padres team that has leaned heavily on its bullpen.Only four teams had asked their relievers to cover more innings than San Diego, and Stammen himself acknowledged that the Padres could not keep tearing down their bullpen and expect it to hold up through the season.  

That’s the case for keeping Waldron. It just was not the whole case. Waldron was not pitching well enough to make the decision comfortable. The Padres’ rotation was waiting on Giolito. The bullpen already had several arms that were either too valuable, too effective, or too difficult to move. Waldron’s lack of options put him in the least forgiving part of the roster. 

That is why Stammen’s public confidence looked shaky from the start. It required the Padres to protect a roster spot for a pitcher whose role had already been downgraded and whose performance had already made the conversation uncomfortable.

To Waldron’s credit, there was still some logic behind wanting to keep him around. He has shown before that he can eat innings. His knuckleball gives opponents a different look. And if he clears waivers, the Padres could still preserve him as depth in El Paso, which would make the decision feel less like a hard breakup and more like an organizational reset.

Waldron may still come back through El Paso. But the big league version of the plan didn’t just change. It got exposed.

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