Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
In one dizzying, transitory 10-month period, pitcher Kirby Yates spent time on the rosters of four Major League Baseball teams.
So, the parts of three seasons he has now spent with the San Diego Padres, where he finally found a flourishing home, practically qualifies as putting down roots.
But the next 24 hours figure to determine whether Yates, the most dominating closer in the game this season, will be on the move yet again.
Wednesday is the new, firm, MLB-mandated trade deadline, and the services of Yates are very much in demand; various reports have him being eyed by Boston and Minnesota, among others.
As teams try to double down on either getting into the playoffs or making a deep run in the postseason when they get there, relief pitchers are a much sought-after commodity. And the big league leader in saves (31) would be a prize pickup for a number of them.
Which figures to leave the Padres, who began this week under .500 and seven games back in pursuit of a National League wild card, with some decisions to make about their future. Not to mention what could be the Kauai High graduate’s place in it.
While Yates could fetch a pretty good price as something more than a one-and-done rental, it would make more sense for the Padres to hold onto their only 2019 all-star for their future. A future that might not be all that far off.
Yates is under contract to San Diego through the 2020 season at the bargain rate of $3.062 million per year, according to Spotrac. The Padres are a young team with a seemingly bright future, thanks to Fernando Tatis Jr., Chris Paddack, etc., and a verdant farm system. With their veterans, including Manny Machado, next year the Padres could be in position to make a leap up the standings.
In that scenario, hanging onto the 32-year-old Yates, who continues to polish his bread-and-butter splitter, makes a lot of long-term sense. Yates has made good on 31 of 33 save opportunities and has a 1.02 earned-run average and an 8:1 ratio of strikeouts to walks.
But, then, the qualities that suggest he is a gem worth holding onto also make Yates attractive to potential trade partners.
In a season in which it seems everybody is hitting home runs in bundles, nobody is clouting them off Yates, who has given up just one in 44 innings. Fact is, with a .173 opponent batting average, not many are hitting him much at all.
Still, you wonder what price tag the Padres will put on Yates, because they haven’t exactly been shy about shedding relief help to secure prospects in recent seasons. For example, Yates got his big chance to take over the closer role last July when San Diego traded his predecessor, all-star Brad Hand, to Cleveland. That enabled them to land catcher Fernando Mejia.
Two years earlier Paddack, an eighth-round 2015 draft pick of Miami and Single-A prospect, came in the deal for reliever Fernando Rodney.
At some point the Padres, who haven’t made the playoffs in 12 seasons, are going to need a lock-down closer to finally get back to the postseason. It would be a shame if he wasn’t there when the opportunity finally presented itself.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
73