Will San Diego Padres be able to trade James Shields in August?
By Tim Haberin
San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller made a risky bet on his team by standing idle at the trade deadline. Many expected the Friars to be major sellers before July 31 and unload at least a few of their main pieces. However, Preller reportedly felt confident that his club could still make a late-season surge into the playoffs. That plan hasn’t exactly been coming together, as the Padres currently hold a 52-60 record, 10.5 games out of the NL West and 11 games behind for the second Wild Card spot.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Fortunately for the Padres, they still have the opportunity to make a waiver deal or two in August to better set themselves up for next season. One of the most-discussed players in San Diego on the eve of the deadline was starting pitcher James Shields. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Shields has cleared waivers, making him available to be traded to any other club.
Shields’ sizable contract surely helped him go unclaimed on waivers, but it could also prove a potential obstacle to any deal getting done by the end of the month. San Diego signed Shields to a four-year, $75 million pact back in February, but the deal is significantly back-loaded. While the right-hander is making $10 million this season, he is due to receive $21 million per year from 2016-2018.
He can opt out after next season, but right now that seems like a massive long shot considering the money he will be owed. Would he really get $21 million on the open market ahead of his age 35 season? Barring some drastic unforeseen development, probably not. Shields also has a 2019 team option that can be bought out for $2 million.
If the Padres want to get something in return for Shields, they will need to make it worth their trade partner’s while and pick up a significant portion of the tab on his remaining salary. That might be easier said than done, but they should at least explore the possibility.
“Big Game” James has been turning in an overall solid performance in his first season wearing a Padres uniform. He got off to a fast 7-0 start, and though San Diego’s struggles as a team have limited him to a 1-4 record since then, he has remained relatively consistent. He sports a 3.75 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 146.1 innings. Shields is also working the highest strikeout rate of his career to date at 9.8 K/9.
He is on the other side of 30, though, and other teams might question just how effective he will be moving forward into the latter years of his deal. Despite his widely-known moniker, Shields has not always been the unquestioned frontline ace that some make him out to be. His best season came in 2011 with the Rays when he tossed a league-high 11 complete games, posted a 134 ERA+ (eighth in the AL) and finished third in the Cy Young race. He likely won’t scale those kinds of peaks again.
There are certainly plenty of contenders that could still use starting pitching, however, so Shields remains an appealing option. But will any of those teams be willing to take on the required commitment, in money and years? The Yankees were speculated as a potential Shields suitor before the deadline, but Jack Curry of the YES Network says they are not interested in making that kind of investment in him. Other clubs might feel the same and prefer to look elsewhere for their pitching needs.
The Padres could have made things much easier on themselves by opening for business in July, but the best they can do now is see what deals they might be able to push through waivers. James Shields is a distinct possibility, but some of the other players previously identified as trade candidates (i.e. Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Craig Kimbrel) could be different stories. Though the non-waiver trade deadline generates most of the press, there is still intrigue to be had in August, and San Diego will hope that some of it can benefit them by the end of the month.