Rays & Padres
Submitted by: ShaquilleOatmeal
Rays
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xander Bogaerts | 33 | Majors | SS | 2B | Low | 8 | 122.9 | 203.6 | -80.8 | -96.9 | -80.8 | -64.6 |
| Fernando Tatis, Jr. | 27 | Majors | OF | Very low | 9 | 369.3 | 286 | 83.3 | 66.7 | 83.3 | 100 | |
| Cash | 40 |
Total Value:
42.5
Padres
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yandy Diaz | 34 | Majors | 1B | Medium | 2 | 33.2 | 26 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 7.2 | 8.6 | |
| Ryan Pepiot | 28 | Majors | SP | LRP | Medium | 3 | 43.6 | 18.5 | 25.1 | 20.1 | 25.1 | 30.1 |
Total Value:
32.30
Comments
4
Would never happen, but if the Padres want to hit refresh, and the new Rays owners okay moderate a spending increase, this would be very enticing for the Rays. They don't have a good option at SS for the next few years, and have a bajillion meh outfielders they could throw in to pique the Padres interest. The Rays have already shed Pete's salary, and in this scenario, shed Yandy's as well. Although I don't like the Rays farm, they still have some intriguing young players in the MLB. McClanahan's salary will be deflated from his injuries, and the Rays could probably lock in a super cheap extension. Caminero and Aranda are stars. BLowe hit well in the 1st half, and hopefully regains some of his defensive form. Chandler Simpson could be Luis Arraez with 80 grade speed. Mason Montgomery is a weapon I expect to be among the best relievers in baseball in 2026. The Rays could have a few players take a step forward and suddenly become kings of the AL. For the Padres, Tatis has driven off 3 different coaches, and Bogaerts has the worst contract in sports. If Preller wants to keep his job, he needs to right a ship that sees early exits every year.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
Let’s play this out. If the Padres did a trade like this, wouldn’t they need to receive several potential stars in return, over guys like Yandy (in the twilight of his career) and Pep (just a solid mid-rotation starter)? Also, wouldn’t they need to move Machado to truly right their ship? How are they going to move his contract?
I think all this is moot, as all 3 of Tatis, Bogaerts, Machado have full no trade clauses. In my trade scenario, the Padres shed $500M in guaranteed salary. If they need to shed more than that...sell the fucking team. That ownership group is a mess, and even though there's 7 billion people on this planet, they just hired a shitty relief pitcher with no coaching experience to be head of their multi-billion dollar baseball team. It's as if the Seidlers watched Ted Lasso and thought "great fucking idea!". So for this reason, I think all Padres vets might waive their no trade clause to come to a tax haven like FL or TX, so this isn't completely crazy. In this trade, the Padres could shed $500M and still win roughly the same number of games. Most of Yu Darvish's salary in 2026 will be paid by insurance, so they could send more money along to TB to get back better players back. Here's a possibility https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/200655
Gotcha. Yeah, the Padres went nuts trying to win a WS at the same time as the Dodgers said “to infinity and beyond” on their payroll spending. The Machado extension 2 years ago was nuts. They should have let him opt out if that’s what he wanted. He’s paid like a top 10 player but he produces like a Top 25-50 player and he still has 8 years to go on that contract. What were they thinking giving a 11 year deal to a 31 yo who had already shown signs of slowing down. The Bogaerts contract from day 1 was nuts. Even the Darvish extension ($18MM AAV through his age 42 season) was nuts. Darvish couldn’t believe it himself, considering he had only ever been a solid (but not great) pitcher. Just throwing long term money around like it won’t matter in the future. I suspect their window is closing fast and they will spend a decade in Angels purgatory. Nothing can save them.