Padres’ Wil Myers Just Wants to Play
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Wherever he is needed, Wil Myers is ready for the San Diego Padres. He just wants to play.
The San Diego Padres are at a point where they are at a crossroads with Wil Myers.
Once deemed the face of the franchise, he has struggled to show any consistency in the past two seasons. Myers currently sits with a -0.3 WAR and a .720 OPS in 109 games and 304 at-bats for the Padres in 2019.
The franchise expects more from the right-handed hitter. His contract is about to get very hefty as Myers is due to make $22.5 million for the next three years. Including a potential $1 million buyout after the third year, the value of his remaining deal is $68.5 million. Not exactly a bargain for the Padres.
Myers contract is a concern, but the right-handed hitter still believes he can justify the pay. The Padres do too as they chose to keep the outfielder instead of dealing him for pennies on the dollar.
There is a different look to this current Padres team. Myers talked about the changes in the group and what it takes to be successful. “Yea, it’s definitely a lot different. You look around this clubhouse and see the names. We have a younger team here now but with some veterans too which is really cool,” Myers said.
He elaborated by talking about what he thinks it takes in the game of baseball to be victorious. “In today’s game, it takes that mix to win. I feel like we have that right now. It is a pretty cool clubhouse and a really good organization to be in right now. We are trending up,” Myers states confidently. Though he is struggling, he appreciates the group of men that are in the clubhouse and the support they show for him.
Andy Green and his future with the team is under deep evaluation. There are certain expectations with this youthful Padres team, and they have failed to deliver. Myers speaks about his manager and how he has grown over the years. “He has been great. It has been good to be around him for these years. It has been a wild ride, but he is a great baseball mind. He knows a lot about the game and brings a ton of value,” Myers states about his young manager. Green has over-evaluated certain things this season, and that has been an issue. Myers admires Green for his preparation. “There are not may more managers that are more prepared than him. We have an advantage there every game. He is a good guy to play for,” Myers said.
Wil Myers has played five different positions for the Padres since he was acquired from Tampa Bay in December of 2014. “It is what it is. In today’s game, it’s nice to have some value and be able to play multiple positions. For me, it helps bring value to this team. I can play center, left, first. Wherever they need me to play,” Myers said. He admits it would be nice to play one single position, but does enjoy being able to be useful. “It brings versatility to the team and makes us better. Staying in one spot would be nice, but it is nice bringing value in different places,” Myers explained.
When speaking about the lineup and preference in the batting order, Myers also indicates a “team-first” attitude. “It is one of those things where you can find comfort in having a set spot in the lineup. At the end of the day, I have to do what they say and what is best for the team,” Myers said. “They may feel leadoff is good for me that day or the seventh spot, or anything in between,” the slugging outfielder said with a smile. He insisted that he cannot control where and when he plays. The right-handed hitter does try to remain similar with his stance and swing no matter where he hits in the lineup. “You definitely want to keep the same approach wherever you are in the lineup,” Myers states.
There are certain aspects of the game of baseball that are slowly dying. Bunting and stealing bases are things that Myers does pretty well. He will steal a base when needed and is also very capable of surprising a team by laying down a bunt for a base hit. “It’s just nice to have in your back pocket. In executed those things, it comes with confidence. Those two things do come with confidence,” Myers said. He explains that he takes pride in both aspects of the game. The 28-year-old works very hard on trying to be well-rounded.
Myers’ swing is not where he wants it to be. He has struck out 121 times so far this season. “I am working on not being too mechanical. That’s really what I am doing. I am simplifying things and working on getting the barrel to the ball,” Myers explains. There is no excuse. He is not getting the job done. But there is no quit in Wil Myers. He wants to play every day and he has the aura about him of a player who could be a late-bloomer in the game of baseball. The Padres are invested in him, and he will be given every opportunity in the near future to become a more consistent player.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
No fan of Myers, the extension was an epic blunder. But he is not the reason the team sucks. No one player is, that blame belongs to Preller for the weak roster and Green for the worst handling of a staff in recent memory. It’s laughable when articles laud Green as so smart, so prepared, blah, blah, blah. All of that is useless if the manager just sits like a frozen monkey and lets his pitchers get strafed night after night. Replacing him might be the single biggest move the club could make to improve itself.
If one had to choose a player to blame, Hosmer is more of an underperformer. Their WARs are almost identical, but Myers can run and isn’t a platoon blackhole. And remember, this is Myers’ worst season and Hosmer’s bounce back year, and they are still tied in value. If Myers regresses towards his mean a bit, and Hosmer just puts up this year’s numbers in 2020, Myers will have twice the WAR.
Trading Reyes was probably more of a Cleveland choice than a San Diego choice, although Reyes is bad in the field, horribly slow and already overweight at age 24. Note to fans, we are not a DH-league team, therefore it makes sense they traded the worst fielder.
Dude….if you think Meyers isn’t negatively affecting this team, you better open your eyes.
Also, great logic you’ve got on justifying the Reyes trade.
If the logic is “trade your worst defender” then why play Mejia as your catcher over Hedges????? It’s called more offense!!!
Save the novice “fan”’comments for yourself.
Didn’t say Myers isn’t hurting the team with his bad year, but at least let’s admit he’s not the only one.
We can’t know why they traded Reyes, except that they preferred Trammel over him. Probably the way to understand the trade is simply that the club viewed him as a long term gamble due to his defense, and weight and conditioning issues. And with Myers being close to untradeable, and Renfroe an in-house replacement in RF, the choice became easier. Reyes is a better hitter than Renfroe, but Renfroe offers twice the WAR because of better defense and baserunning.
Of the players on the team playing at their best position (not Myers in CF or Naylor in the OF) Reyes had the second worst defense, better only than Hosmer. As a rule you won’t find many players like this on a playoff team.
We are in agreement on this not being a playoff team.
I think your overlooking catcher ERA for Mejia vs Hedges though.
Its a full run differential (maybe more). So…….Fransisco would have to knock in 100+ runs to make up for that short coming. He is not Mike Piazza!
I think the padres searching for offense was better suited to keeping guys like Reyes and late inning sub for defense than plugging in a catcher that can’t present a good strike zone, block balls in the dirt or control the flow of the game.
Would rather see Hedges (and ask him if he understands he can use the whole field when hitting) and get more offense else where (i.e. KEEP Reyes).
It’s no coincidence this team has struggled to win games since Mejia is the full time catcher.
This guy is the Engima!
The Padres front office bought into the hype when they traded for him initially and then rewarded him with a huge contract after showing ONE good HALF season. Counting his time with the Rays, that would be 2 good half seasons in his career………..Yikes!!!!
He either has a low baseball IQ, or doesn’t care (both??). The dude seems bored most of the time.
Look at his play in the field…..and I don’t want to hear the multiple position excuse (doesn’t seem to bother most of the Dodger or Cub players doing it).
Trust me, I would love to see Will put it all together make everyone (myself included) eat crow.
But, lets face it, this guy has a career worth of low-lites this season alone (consistent bad decisions in the field, dropped balls x 3, poor base running, strikes out a bunch +40% of the time).
He is a guess hitter that is boom or bust. No strategy at the plate….just swigging! <—That works in a softball beer league I guess.
Now, I get today's baseball has become LESS of a TEAM game and more of a ME game (no hit and run, always swing for the fences, never go the other way when the defense is giving you a hit)!
Still…..would it hurt to go the other way with a pitch now and then??? Especially when your scuffling along like Myers?
Not gonna lie, I am not a fan of the last trade in any way shape or form. Losing Franmil is colossal blunder for team chemistry (that cannot be understated…..oh yeah there is the 40+ homes year too)!
To add salt to the wound….we did it to make room for Will Myers and his precious playing time.
Talk about rewarding bad behavior. Or in this case, really bad performance…… What happened to earning your way along and forcing a decision to be made? That certainly wasn't the case here.
It is time to end this mistake and move on. I don't care if he is the next triple crown player after he leaves. Its clear it ain't happening here.
Padres are a train wreck and Wil has negatively contributed to that more than any other Padre. He has a natural athletic ability which tend to make most fans believe his problems are a lack of mental intelligence.
Unfortunately this year he has not earned that right to play. His lackadaisical play and not being focused has hurt us just like yesterday’s loss.