Padres Reportedly “Aggressively” Shopping Yangervis Solarte

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Credit: AP Photo
Credit: AP Photo

Fresh off yet another sub-par season, and clearly all the way in on a rebuilding phase, the San Diego Padres have once again made it clear that no one on the roster is off-limits.

After the trades of Drew Pomeranz, Fernando Rodney, Andrew Cashner, Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton, and a few others during the season, the Padres added Derek Norris to the list of departed Padres late last week.

If recent reports are true, the Padres could be adding yet another player to the “Former Padre” list.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Padres are said to be “aggressively” shopping infielder Yangervis Solarte. Fresh off the heels of the trade of Derek Norris and the non-tender of Tyson Ross, Solarte appears to be the last viable trade candidate that the Padres seem interested in moving this offseason.

With Justin Turner and not much else in the free agent infield market, it’s clear Solarte has some real tangible value. Not only can Solarte play third base, but he also has pretty extensive experience at second base on top of that, a fact that many teams would be interested in.

With the Winter Meetings just underway, it still remains unclear who the Padres have talked to about Solarte. There are a number of teams who should have interest, including a team within the division who has reportedly demonstrated a good amount of interest.

As painful as the thought is for Padres fans, the Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly been in talks with the Padres on Solarte. While it would hurt to see the Padres trade a beloved player to a division rival, it seems clear that A.J. Preller would only do so if the return was quite substantial. Just under two years have passed since the Matt Kemp trade, so it appears the Padres would not want to make that same mistake again. Outside of the Dodgers, teams like the New York Mets or Los Angeles Angels could be interested given their lack of strong depth in the infield.

In terms of value, Solarte’s value should be at a pretty high point right now given a variety of factors. First off, Solarte is coming off of two seasons of strong play, including a .286/.341/.467 slash line in a 2.8 fWAR 2016 season, a season in which he played in only 109 games. Beyond that, Solarte has positional versatility at both second and third, and also comes with three years remaining of team control and a modest $2.7 million projected arbitration salary for 2017. Add to that his improved defense and baserunning from 2016, and it’s clear Solarte has a good amount of value this offseason.

It’s hard to really put anything past A.J. Preller at this point. Although it may hurt, trading Yangervis Solarte may be the Padres best option going forward this offseason. The value is there and there are plenty of teams who should have interest. With the Padres still at least a few more years away from competing, it’s unclear whether Solarte will be a part of the next great Padres team. Trading him might just get the Padres someone who will be a part of that team.

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