Padres acquire outfielder Matt Beaty from Dodgers
Oct 6, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Matt Beaty (45) during the National League Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
The Padres acquired outfielder Matt Beaty from the Dodgers after they had designated him for assignment.
The drum everyone has been banging all offseason is the lack of depth in the outfield. Trent Grisham is entrenched in center field, and Wil Myers will be the Opening Day left fielder as long as he is not traded. That leaves Jurickson Profar to man left field with little to no depth behind any of the three spots.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller finally made a move to address the outfield situation, albeit a small one. Matt Beaty was designated for assignment by the Dodgers last week. The two sides agreed on a trade to send the utility player to the Padres. The Friars sent River Ryan, an 11th-round pick from last year, to L.A.
The Padres landed Matt Beaty in a deal with the Dodgers this morning. A lefty bat capable of playing outfield and pinch-hitting. Beaty was DFA’d by the Dodgers last week. Minor League RHP River Ryan goes to LA to complete the deal.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) March 28, 2022
The #Padres have acquired Matt Beaty from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Details: https://t.co/cHQ4A8cdKm pic.twitter.com/fHLRBWGLiY
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 28, 2022
“He’s a professional at-bat,” Bob Melvin said of Beaty. “He’s got a high on-base percentage, the kind of guy that takes a lot of pitches. Could see him as a pinch-hitter potentially. Can play a little outfield, a little first base, so he’s got some versatility there.”
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) March 28, 2022
Beaty put together a solid season for the Dodgers last year in a reserve role. In 120 games, he batted .270 with a .765 OPS. He posted 0.8 fWAR and a 114 wRC+. Compared to Profar, he is an upgrade in left field.
| 2021 | |
| OPS | |
| Profar | .649 |
| Beaty | .765 |
| fWAR | |
| Profar | -0.7 |
| Beaty | 0.8 |
| wRC+ | |
| Profar | 85 |
| Beaty | 114 |
Beaty offers a left-handed bat with favorable splits against right-handers, with a career .267 average and .779 OPS. He has experience playing four different positions, including 64 career games in left field.
Even if Beaty is only a marginally better option in left than Profar, this move provides depth where it was desperately needed. Now, this frees up manager Bob Melvin to use Jurickson Profar in a platoon role or as a veteran bat off the bench.
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The Padres clearly could not afford one of the big bats in the outfield in free agency and because of their proximity to the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, they had to go cheap. Beaty offers a veteran, versatile bat and glove with playoff experience and was acquired without breaking the bank or losing a prized prospect.
This may be Preller’s final move before Opening Day, giving the Padres at least another option in the outfield.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.
Just about anyone would be a better option than Profar. Another bad signing by AJ that will be an anchor around our necks. Let’s hope Beatty produces enough to not make left field a black hole. I’ll go on to say I hope AJ isn’t done with LF upgrade either.
….and I hope it isn’t lost on the pads, that for the evil blue to trade directly to a division rival, is what amounts to a grand slap in the face…they clearly are not too worried about the pads… How cocky and arrogant can they get…time to knock them down a few pegs…right…?
When Beaty was first DFA’d by the evil blue,I felt he would be a decent pickup… Project out his numbers in 21, over a full season, and the production is not too bad…Plus, wouldn’t it be awesome motivation for Beaty to beat his former team… The pads just need to perform a blood transfusion, to ensure he no longer has nary a drop left, of the evil blue, in his system…