For a little more than 24 hours we had been hearing that a trade that would send outfielder Wil Myers from the Tampa Bay Rays to the San Diego Padres was “close,” now we have been told the deal has been consummated (ESPN’s Jim Bowden confirms). The deal also involves the Washington Nationals and includes a whopping 11 players. The trade is contingent on everyone passing their physicals.
The main piece of the deal is Myers heading to San Diego. The Padres have been in a years-long search for offense at the corner outfield spots, and within a few weeks have Matt Kemp and Myers to fill that gap. The Padres will also receive 18-year-old lefty Jose Castillo, catcher Ryan Hanigan and 21-year-old righty Gerardo Reyes.
To complete the deal the Padres will send first baseman Jake Bauers, righty Burch Smith and catcher Rene Rivera to the Rays, and righty Joe Ross, and shortstop (and 2014 first-round pick) Trea Turner to the Nationals. The Rays will also receive lefty Travis Ott and outfielder Steven Souza from Washington.
While the Padres gave up some very nice pieces to get Myers, they avoided parting with any of their top prospects to do so. Catcher Austin Hedges, pitchers Max Fried and Matt Wisler and outfielder Hunter Renfroe are all still in the system. In return they get the 24-year-old Myers, who won American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2013. He played in just 88 games as a rookie, but hit 13 home runs, drove in 53 runs, had 23 doubles and 98 hits, while posting a .293 batting average and an OPS of .832.
Myers struggled with a sophomore slump in 2014 and his season was cut short thanks to a fracture in his wrist. He hit .222 with just six home runs and 35 RBI last season. But many view that as a hiccup.
New Padres general manager A.J. Preller has been by far the most active executive in baseball this offseason. The fact that he has managed to land Myers and Matt Kemp in the past two weeks without losing any of his top four prospects is pretty unbelievable.
It is certainly the dawn of a new era for baseball in San Diego.