San Diego Padres: Jered Weaver Is Reportedly on the Radar

After a difficult 2016 campaign, veteran starting pitcher Jered Weaver has reportedly been offered a one-year deal by the San Diego Padres.

It hasn’t been an incredibly active offseason for the San Diego Padres, as many would expect with the team in the middle of the rebuild. Still, general manager A.J. Preller has been able to make some shrewd moves.

Perhaps the biggest transaction of the winter was locking up first baseman Wil Myers for the foreseeable future. Signing the 26-year-old gives the fanbase a solid face for a franchise that does not have much proven talent at the moment. Preller was also able to agree to a contract extension with third baseman Yangervis Solarte, who was one of the more underrated players at his position last season.

Outside of these two contract extensions, the Padres have been extremely active in hunting for bargain starting pitching. The team started the winter by agreeing to one-year deals with low-end starters Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard. The latter was surprisingly solid in 2016, finishing with a 2.52 ERA over nine starts. However, the 33-year-old doesn’t have the best track record, but should be able to survive in the Padres’ pitcher-friendly ballpark. Chacin had some decent moments after he was traded to the Angels, but his numbers over the years do not signal a pitcher that should have a firm hold on a rotation spot.

In addition, the Padres will also attempt to convert Trevor Cahill back into a starting pitching after the 28-year-old posted consecutive productive seasons coming out of the Chicago Cubs bullpen. Cahill’s contract is only for one season so there is little risk involved, but there is a reason why he shifted to the pen in the first place. However, his most successful starting campaigns came when he was in Oakland, and the Padres can offer similar luxuries to starting pitchers during their home games.

Even after adding three new faces to the starting pitching competition, the Padres have reportedly not stopped looking for low-risk starters on the free agent market. According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the team has made a one-year offer to longtime Los Angeles Angels ace Jered Weaver. However, he has not accepted the contract as of today.

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Heyman notes that the contract would be worth “more than the $1.75 million deals signed by Chacin, Richard and Cahill,” so it seems that the Padres still have the urge to add to their uncertain starting staff.

Weaver, 34, has never been your typical front-of-the-line starter. He’s managed to produce quality numbers without a dominant fastball, instead relying on a deceptive delivery and nasty off-speed pitches. But unfortunately for Weaver, it doesn’t look like this strategy is aging well.

This past season, the veteran was unable to even throw his heater in the mid-80s. According to FanGraphs, Weaver averaged 84 mph on his fastball in 2016. This represents an over five-mph decline since 2011. His fastball usage rate has also dropped by over 10 percent since 2011, which means that Weaver is using his curveball, slider and changeup at a much higher rate than when he was in his prime.

This all added up to career-high ERAs in each of the last two seasons with his strikeout rate also dropping into the 5.0 K/9 range for the first time in his 11-year career.

A switch to the National League could help Weaver improve in 2017, but a change of scenery may not even matter with his stuff falling off the way it has. On the plus side, Weaver has remained relatively healthy entering his mid-30s, so at the very least he could eat some innings, which is all the Padres may be looking for at this point.

Next: Jays Sign Saltalamacchia

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