San Diego Padres: should the team re-sign Freddy Galvis?

While there’s not a lot to play for in 2018, the San Diego Padres have things to look ahead to in 2019, including a decision on the left side of the infield.

The San Diego Padres have a few options when it comes to the 2019 season. One of those options is the left side of the infield.

The shortstop position is currently held by Freddy Galvis. Galvis was acquired by the Padres this offseason from the Philadelphia Phillies and he has played in every single game this season over at short.

However, the smooth-fielding Venezuelan is set to hit the open market this offseason and many teams will be lining up to acquire his services because of the lack of quality shortstops in the league.

There has been rumblings all year, mostly from fans, that perhaps the Padres would extend Galvis for another year or two and either move top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr over to third base or let him develop another year down in AAA.

With the injury that Tatis sustained in July, extending Galvis makes all the more sense for some Padres fans. Although, the Padres should not let Freddy Galvis stand in the way of perhaps a future superstar in Fernando Tatis Jr.

If they were to extend Galvis it should only be for just another year. Tatis will likely start the 2019 season in AAA El Paso and if he starts the year off hot and is earning a spot on the major league roster there is no reason to keep him down and hinder his development.

That begs the question, where would Tatis play if Galvis was on the team in 2019? Currently the Padres are trying out an experiment of Wil Myers at third base. Tatis moving over to third base was an option, a quite popular one at that, before the Padres wanted to see how much versatility they had in Wil Myers.

If the Padres see Myers as a third baseman next season, the Freddy Galvis and Fernando Tatis dilemma will be a much larger one. Personally, I believe that if Myers was still at third base, Galvis was signed to a one year extension, and Tatis needed to be called up to San Diego, the Padres would move Myers back to the outfield, push the worst hitting outfielder out of the lineup, and put Tatis at third base for the remainder of the 2019 season.

AJ Preller, the rest of the Padres front office, and Andy Green all see Tatis as an everyday shortstop so it seems like the longterm idea is that Tatis will ultimately be the everyday shortstop for the Padres for years to come.

Re-signing Freddy Galvis would also take away a crucial 40-man-roster spot. The Padres have a lot of prospects that must be put on to the 40-man-roster or they will be subject to the Rule 5 Draft. The 40-man will see much turnover this offseason.

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Keeping Freddy Galvis on the 40-man this offseason will take away a spot for a young prospect that is perhaps more worthy of a spot because they are potentially a part of the future. Freddy Galvis is practically just a stop-gap until Tatis reaches the majors.

The 2019 and maybe even the 2020 season seem to be losing one’s so why use a roster spot and pay millions of dollars for a veteran in a losing season? If the Padres were planning on competing in the 2019 season then it would be different but that is just not the case.

The Padres are better off letting Javy Guerra play shortstop until Tatis is ready. They do not need to waste valuable resources on a player that would ultimately play six weeks before riding the bench.

To re-sign Freddy Galvis would be a mistake and the Padres will likely make the correct decision in letting him walk this offseason.