Robinson Canó is the Newest Padre, and the Oldest

Robinson Canó will get to write down one other chapter to his main league profession. Reduce unfastened by the Mets earlier this month amid a roster crunch, the twice-suspended 39-year-old second baseman is reportedly on the verge of signing with the Padres. Whereas he could not have a lot left within the tank, there’s little or no danger concerned in giving him a glance, and if nothing else, San Diego might use some assist for its bench.

Canó hit simply .195/.233/.268 in 43 plate appearances earlier than being designated for assignment by the Mets on Could 2, the day that rosters had been lowered from 28 gamers to 26, after which launched on Could 8. They parted with Canó regardless of owing him $44.7 million on his contract over this 12 months and subsequent, the ultimate portion of the 10-year, $240 million deal he signed with the Mariners in December 2013 (Seattle nonetheless has a $3.75 million installment to pay the Mets). The Padres will likely be paying him solely the prorated portion of the $700,000 minimal wage, which is noteworthy on condition that they’re lower than $1.2 million beneath the $230 million Aggressive Stability Tax threshold, in keeping with Roster Resource.

Canó was a really productive hitter as just lately as two years in the past, slashing .316/.352/.544 (142 wRC+) with 10 residence runs in 182 PA in the course of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. However on November 18 of that 12 months, Main League Baseball suspended him for the whole lot of the ’21 season following a optimistic check for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug. Canó had already drawn an 80-game suspension in Could 2018 after testing optimistic for the diuretic generally known as Lasix, therefore the year-long ban. The 2 suspensions have carried an enormous price for the eight-time All-Star even past the roughly $36 million in misplaced wage, all however wiping out any hope that he would attain 3,000 hits (he has 2,632), surpass Jeff Kent’s report of 351 residence runs as a second baseman (316 of his 335 have are available in that capability), and acquire entry to the Corridor of Fame, which might have been a lock given his milestones and no. 7 ranking in JAWS.

In his restricted alternatives with the Mets this season, Canó confirmed little signal of hitting just like the Canó of yore. He swung and missed on 15.9% of all pitches and struck out 25.6% of the time, charges which might be each greater than double his profession marks. His chase price was an astronomical 48.9%, over 14 factors above his profession mark, and his swing price was 58.9%, over seven factors above his profession mark. I’ve performed this tune earlier than — since swing charges stabilize earlier than most different stats — however the sample does recommend he was pressing, which is comprehensible given his lengthy layoff and tenuous maintain on a roster spot. Canó’s 85.4% common exit velocity, 6.7% barrel price, and 40% hard-hit price don’t recommend he was mashing the ball; his .359 xSLG is 91 factors forward of his precise mark, however there are more than 100 hitters with bigger differentials on this offense-suppressed season, and his .264 xwOBA remains to be cringeworthy.

The Padres are 20–12, one recreation behind the Dodgers within the NL West race, however that’s extra regardless of their offense than due to it. The workforce’s 4.28 runs per recreation ranks eighth within the league, and its 28 homers are tied for seventh, however its .227 batting common and .364 slugging proportion are twelfth. On a happier observe, San Diego’s .320 on-base proportion is fourth, and its 10.8% stroll price second. Relatedly, right here’s a quirk: 4 of the majors’ high 5 groups in stroll price are within the NL West, led by the Dodgers (10.9%), with the Diamondbacks (10.6%) and Giants (10.0%) the others.

Individually, Manny Machado (.383/.460/.625, 208 wRC+) and Eric Hosmer (nonetheless sizzling at .367/.434/.550 with a 180 wRC+ even after I wrote about him) are carrying the offensive load at unsustainable ranges. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (.200/.326/.388, 113 wRC+) — filling in for the injured Fernando Tatis Jr. — and left fielder Jurickson Profar (.187/.313/.402, 110 wRC+) are the one different regulars producing at a league-average clip, although Jake Cronenworth (.214/.324/.333, 95 wRC+) isn’t far off.

The issue for the Padres is that Canó isn’t any direct assist on the positions the place they’re getting subpar manufacturing, corresponding to heart discipline (57 wRC+, principally from Trent Grisham), proper discipline (25 wRC+, from Wil Myers, the now-injured Matt Beaty, and others), and catcher (66 wRC+ from Austin Nola and Jorge Alfaro). The issue for Canó, a lefty-swinging second baseman who can in all probability spot at first (he performed 14 video games there in 2018), is that each of these positions are manned by competent lefties, at the very least as long as Hosmer continues to hit. Cronenworth does have very restricted expertise within the outfield, primarily as an beginner, however when Tatis went down, supervisor Bob Melvin ruled out attempting him on the market to be able to make room for shortstop prospect C.J. Abrams.

Thus the most definitely path to enjoying time for Canó is as a platoon designated hitter, the place he might share the job with righty-swinging Luke Voit, who has hit .184/.349/.327 (108 wRC+) in 63 PA up to now. That line consists of his two-homer recreation in opposition to the Cubs on Wednesday, his first two photographs of the season in his second recreation since coming back from a 15-game absence as a result of a proper biceps tendon harm.

Canó didn’t do something in his 34 PA in opposition to righties this 12 months that contrasts together with his dismal total numbers. If we incorporate a bigger pattern of his sorta-recent enjoying time, which is to say not solely his 2020 season but in addition his not-so-hot ’19 one, when he hit a modest 256/.307/.428 (94 wRC+), he owns a 114 wRC+ in opposition to righties (.284/.325/.480) in 464 PA in that span, versus an unplayable 81 wRC+ (.231/.288/.373) in 184 PA in opposition to lefties. The Padres as a workforce have hit simply .227/.320/.351 (98 wRC+) in opposition to righties, together with .205/.304/.321 (83 wRC+) out of the DH spot in opposition to them.

However even when the bar for enchancment is relatively low, Canó’s leash could also be quick. Tatis is anticipated again someday subsequent month after present process surgical procedure in mid-March to restore a fracture of the scaphoid bone in his left wrist; whereas he’s working and taking grounders, he has but to swing a bat. It’s potential that Tatis may very well be the one headed to the outfield given final 12 months’s experiment, when he performed 20 video games in proper discipline and 7 in heart, however extra seemingly he returns to shortstop and creates a enjoying time squeeze at second. That stated, it’s not out of the query that the Padres would attempt to maintain Canó round as soon as Tatis returns. The 2 San Pedro de Macoris residents are shut, with Canó serving as a mentor when the pair performed collectively for Estrellas Orientales within the Dominican Winter League underneath Tatis’ padre. And regardless of his latest transgressions, Canó has remained a revered teammate and is well-primed to imagine an elder statesman function. When he was DFA’d, J.D. Davis described the veteran as “a centerpiece on this clubhouse… a frontrunner.”

When it’s all stated and finished, signing Canó is a low-risk, low-impact transfer for the Padres at a time after they have a transparent want. He could not keep lengthy, however it’s cheap to see if he he might help.