Padres Announce 25-Man Roster

Source: Cliff McBride/Getty Images North America

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Credit: Ralph Freso/Getty Images North America

With Opening Day just over 48 hours away, and fanfest already underway, manager Andy Green and the San Diego Padres have made their final roster decisions. Although the roster looks a lot like what many have predicted, there are quite a few surprises. Not only are the Padres keeping all three of their December Rule-5 selections, but they are also going into the season with four catchers and only three outfielders.

In the infield, the Padres will be carrying the aforementioned four catchers; starter Austin Hedges, backup Hector Sanchez, Rule-5 pick Luis Torrens, and pitcher-catcher-outfielder hybrid Christian Bethancourt, as well as Wil Myers, Ryan Schimpf, Erick Aybar, and Yangervis Solarte as the starters, and Allen Cordoba and Luis Sardinas making the team as backup options. This was perhaps the most surprising roster decision of all, as the Padres chose to send infielder Cory Spangenberg down to Triple-A in order to keep both Sardinas and Cordoba, as Sardinas would have to be put through waivers if he didn’t make the roster and Cordoba needs to remain on the 25-man all year in order to remain with the Padres.

In the outfield, the Padres end up with only three outfielders on their Opening Day roster, with Travis Jankowski, Manuel Margot, and Hunter Renfroe making up one of the youngest Opening Day outfields in all of baseball. Given that the trio of Cordoba, Sardinas, and Bethancourt, as well as Schimpf, have dabbled in the outfield in the past, the Padres feel fairly confident in allowing some combination of those guys to operate in that capacity as needed. However, at least for the beginning of the season, the three young guys will get a majority of the playing time in the outfield.

In terms of the pitching staff, the Padres final rotation will look like this: Jhoulys Chacin, Clayton Richard, Trevor Cahill, Jered Weaver, and Luis Perdomo. Having just missed out on being a member of the rotation, Jarred Cosart will start the year in the bullpen alongside returning Padres Brandon Maurer, Brad Hand, Ryan Buchter, and new additions Craig Stammen, rule 5 pick Miguel Diaz, top-30 prospect Jose Torres, and the aforementioned Christian Bethancourt operating in a hybrid role.

On top of that, Alex Dickerson, Christian Friedrich, Buddy Baumann, and Carter Capps will all start the season on the newly instituted 10-day disabled list. Given this, the Padres final Opening Day roster may change very quickly once those players are ready to come off the disabled list. Dickerson will probably slot into the outfield rotation and Capps will most certainly be eased into the late innings. The other two pitchers will likely be kept in the minor leagues as further pitching depth. This leaves the Padres withĀ even more decisions to make when that time comes.Ā The Padres also designated pitcher Keith Hessler for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

So in total, the Padres have made quite a few, somewhat puzzling decisions, the biggest of which are their decision to carry four catchers and their choice to start Cory Spangenberg in the minor leagues to start the season. However, for fans upset about these decisions, this roster is far from a finished product, as some changes will likely be made when the likes of Capps and Dickerson are ready to come off the disabled list. It remains to be seen which players get sent down to make room, but with so many Rule-5 selections and players out of options, it may be hard for the Padres to find the room for so many players.

6 thoughts on “Padres Announce 25-Man Roster

  1. Spangenberg is def’ in their long term plans. Personally, I think sending him down was more about optics and ticket selling, than anything else..

    Margot, “Freddie”and Renfroe, make an exciting OF..and fans know this. Not keeping Spangy on the OD roster is not an indictment on him…if Margot or Schimpf or Renfroe, start spiraling, they get sent down (I’m not sure if Schimpf, has options left) and Spangy is brought back..

    Or maybe something else happens, player wise, to make way for Spangys return. There are many variables with this situation…no need to freak out.

    Bottom line, you can’t demote Schimpf, who hit 20 hrs in 15 min, last season..you can’t do the same to Solarte, either..he’s making too much money to bench…and Spangy can’t play SS, which would kick Aybar/Sardinas, to the curb.

    So believe it or not, Spangy (who missed an entire season, nearly) really was the odd man out.

  2. Not sure why you’re emphasizing them having 4 catchers when Bethancourt will see most, if not all, of his time as a pitcher. It’s already been stated as such.

    1. Because at the end of the day Bethancourt is still a catcher. Clearly they won’t use him in that capacity much, but even having three catchers on a roster is odd.

  3. Rediculous to leave spangy off was havin a better spring that schimpf who strikes out to much with terrible average and ob percentage sardinas is terrible at the plate so either him or torrens who is never gunna amout to anything with the bat

    1. Spangy had a good spring but can’t play SS. Although SardiƱas had a rough spring was very serviceable at the plate last year when with the Padres and can play SS (well) .. Cordoba isn’t on the roster to play all that much. If Schimpf continues his OBP exploits, look for him to be on the trading block at the deadline, making room for Spangy. I believe you’re being short sighted with Torrens’ offensive game .. he’s only 20, anybody that expects the kid to be able to hit big league pitching is dillusional. Preller will look to work a deal to send as many of the rule 5 guys down to AAA as possible and if he can’t, they will need to show improvement or he will send them back. You gotta remember, he’s accumulating assets and every move that’s made right now is for that purpose. Stop expecting AJ to make moves for this season and you’ll stop feeling confused and disappointed.

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