San Diego Padres outfielder Wil Myers had the best year of his career in 2020. It’s safe to say thoughts of trading him can now be forgotten.
For years, San Diego Padres fans have been livid with Wil Myers‘ underproduction after receiving a six year, $83 million contract. After all, since his Rookie of the Year campaign with the Tampa Bay Rays, he hadn’t posted an OPS over .800.
But in 2020, Myers found something. A key bat on a winning team, Myers had the best year of his career at the plate. He posted a slash line of .288/.353./.606 for an OPS of .959 and an OPS+ of 159.
And the advanced numbers indicate that this is more than just a good season. Myers’ Hard hit rate jumped from 41.4% to 45.8%. His K rate dropped from a whopping 34.2% to 25.2%. His 14.8% barrel rate and 91 mph average exit velocity were the best of his career. And his 13.4 degree average launch angle is a four degree jump from his 2018 average.
So Myers hit the ball harder than he ever has, hit it at a more optimal angle, and struck out drastically less often. These are qualities that could very well carry over into 2021 and beyond.
Of course, that means Myers’ value has never been higher. He established himself as a high quality bat in a shortened season. There’s the possibility he regresses to his usual output, making his contract look as ugly as it did in 2019. That possibility may lead people to think selling high is the right move.
But his 2020 season was clearly worth the $20 million annual value on his contract. And the discussion around Myers has never been “trade him because he isn’t good”. It’s always been “how do we get this money off our books because he isn’t living up to it”. Of course, if he’s living up to the contract, and the Padres are in playoff contention, having his $20 million on the books doesn’t really matter anymore. And you’d be hard pressed to find a Padres fan willing to take anything away from the current roster, which led the team to its first postseason appearance since 2006.
At this point, there’s no reason to trade Myers. The San Diego Padres are finally a winning team and he played a huge role in that this season. After all, he was part of the grand slam brigade that launched the birth of “Slam Diego”. And he’ll need to continue playing a huge role if the Padres are going to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021.
Wil Myers isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.