Mets mulling huge trade with Padres for Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack
The Mets have spent the last week contemplating a move that would put them on the verge of becoming the first $300 million roster.
They have been discussing acquiring Eric Hosmer, reliever Emilio Pagan and Chris Paddack from the Padres for Dominic Smith. The Athletic first reported the potential.
The Mets were considering this move even before Jacob deGrom reported pain in his shoulder and was ultimately found to have a stress reaction on his scapula.
Hosmer has four years at $59 million left on his eight-year, $144 million pact. San Diego would eat about $30 million of that. That would reduce his luxury tax hit down to around $6M per year. Paddack is due $2.25 million and Pagan $2.3 million. Smith is due $3.95 million. All of that would put the Mets at the doorstep of a $300 million projection for luxury tax purposes. The record was the $297.5 million of the Dodgers in 2015.
This is a touchy subject in the immediate aftermath of a new collective bargaining agreement in which the other owners got a new, fourth super-tax threshold level at $290 million with the hope of tethering the Mets, in particular. It quickly has become known as the Steve Cohen Tax.
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Because he has heard complaints from other owners about the $300 million barrier, even Cohen has endured hesitancy about breaking that barrier. The Dodgers also are flirting with that number – according to Fangraphs, they are projected at about $292 million this season after they flipped A.J. Pollock for Craig Kimbrel on Friday.
But for 2022, at least, it has not deterred Cohen.
Instead, much like those 2015 Dodgers who were still in the early years of a new ownership, Cohen is using his money to try to speed up relevance and contention while giving cover to upgrade a minor league feeding system.
The Mets believe entering 2022 that their greatest area of vulnerability is starting pitching depth due, in particular, to age/injury concerns with Carlos Carrasco, deGrom and Max Scherzer. Paddack would join Tylor Megill, David Peterson and – at some point during the year – Joey Lucchesi to provide rotation options beyond the main three, plus Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker. In addition, Bassitt, Carrasco, deGrom and Walker can all be free agents after the 2022 season. Paddack just was arbitration eligible for the first time.
Paddack is no sure thing. He had a strong rookie season in 2019 in which he went 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA. But he had a 4.73 ERA in 12 starts in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. And it was a 5.07 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts) last season for the disappointing Padres. Paddack, who had Tommy John surgery in the minors, was shut down in September with what the team said was a slight sprain of his right elbow. He came to this camp in a battle for the fifth rotation spot with recently signed Nick Martinez.
Paddack, 26, is known for having an inconsistent fastball and excellent changeup. A big question has been if he could ever build consistency with a breaking ball to have a viable third pitch.
Paddack’s 2019 rookie season included a spat with Pete Alonso. Both were placed on the Opening Day rosters that year and had outstanding Aprils. Alonso was named NL Rookie of the Month. Paddack reacted by saying, “I’m coming for him” and noting the goal was Rookie of the Year (which Alonso won), not Rookie of the Month. The two faced each other on May 6. Alonso went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Paddack, who was quite clear in his celebration of the two punchouts.
Afterward, Alonso sprinkled a little gas on the matter by telling reporters, “If he was mad about (not winning NL Rookie of the Month), there’s five other months. … Also, he said something about winning the Rookie of the Year. That would be nice, but I’m trying to win a World Series.”
Because Paddack was brought up to begin the 2019 season, he has exactly three years of service plus three options. So if the Mets send him to the minors for depth for even two-plus weeks this year, he would go from being a free agent after the 2024 season to not until after the 2025 campaign.
Pagan would be another reliever with closer experience going into the Mets pen. He has two years of control until free agency.
Hosmer, 32, now becomes a somewhat more expensive, more limited Smith – a lefty swinger who can move Alonso to designated hitter with some regularity. Unlike Smith, who also played some corner outfield, Hosmer has played 25 career innings in the outfield, none since 2015. That was the year the Royals beat the Mets in the World Series in which the signature play was Hosmer’s dash home to tie Game 5 as first baseman Lucas Duda threw wildly to the plate.
Hosmer signed an eight-year, $144 million free agent deal with San Diego after the 2017 season and his performance has been ordinary as a Padre; perhaps most surprisingly scouts cite how his defense has taken a noticeable step backward. The team has been trying to trade him for at least a year to remove salary to pursue other areas of need, and Hosmer has been upset about how public his availability had become. It is possible the Mets could try to trade him elsewhere, but Hosmer’s contract gives him no trade rights about being traded twice.
The Padres tried this offseason to sign Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario, Kyle Schwarber and Seiya Suzuki and trade with Cincinnati for Jesse Winker. They would still like to add an outfield bat with the saved money from the Hosmer deal.
