San Diego Padres: The Phil Hughes Era comes to an end

Phil Hughes was released by the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. The right-hander is now looking for a new team.

The San Diego Padres have officially released Phil Hughes.

Hughes was acquired by the Padres back in late May. He and the 74th pick in the 2018 MLB draft went to San Diego for cash considerations and young catcher Janigson Villalobos. The entire trade was centered around the 74th overall pick who turned out to be college outfielder, Grant Little.

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Phil Hughes’ time in San Diego did not last long and for good reason. The right-hander was simply awful during his time toeing the rubber in Petco Park. In 20.2 innings of work for the Friars he had an ERA of 6.10, a WHIP of 1.69, an ERA+ of 66, and a FIP of 5.97. Hughes also gave up a total of 7 homeruns in just 16 games.

The Padres knew what they were getting when they acquired Phil Hughes from the Twins. Perhaps they were trying to catch lightning in a bottle and work the Balsley magic on him. However, Hughes pitched exactly how everyone thought he would and that promptly earned him his walking papers.

Like many other washed up pitchers, Hughes is known for his astounding Twitter presence. He fit in perfectly with Padres Twitter. Padres Twitter is by far the best and most interactive Twitter among all the major league ball clubs. It is an environment that Phil Hughes had some fun with to say the least.

He did, in fact, win the inaugural Padres Twitter championship. The former Yankee was asked on a local San Diego Podcast, how does winning the Padres Twitter Championship compare to winning the 2009 World Series. Hughes responded, “They’re kind of right there. I have a ring for winning the World Series but I still haven’t received anything for winning Padres Twitter so I was kind of disappointed in that.”

You can listen to that podcast in its entirety here. Caution, this podcast has some expletives throughout.

Padres fans and Padres Twitter are surely going to miss Phil’s off the field presence. They most definitely will not miss his on field presence. The news of his DFAing sparked uproar among Padres fans but that quickly fizzled out when they remembered how terrible Hughes actually is.

The player that Hughes was basically traded for, Grant Little, has been playing well for the rookie ball affiliate of the Padres, the Tri-City Dust Devils. He has a slashline of .250/.340/.301. Little is currently the 27th ranked prospect in a farm system that is loaded.

With the releasing of Phil Hughes the Padres essentially paid around $7 million to acquire the 74th overall pick. If Little pans out and contribute to the Padres at the major league level it’s a great investment by the Padres. If Little doesn’t pan out and has an unsuccessful career, it’s only $7 million. That is pocket change to a major league team like the Padres. Padres GM, AJ Preller, is known for taking risks and this was definitely one of them.

Phil Hughes has one last remark when he found out he was to be released and it was great.

Good luck to Phil Hughes in all that he does going forward and congratulations to the next team he goes to for getting a Twitter King.