Taking stock of the rumor mill that is churning Grandal's name and looking at whether a possible trade is best for the club.
There are some rumblings about a Yasmani Grandal trade this offseason. Jon Heyman reports that he is one of the guys where the Padres will listen to offers. Ken Rosenthal notes the same. Perhaps a bit of incestuous reporting since Heyman cites Rosenthal as at least a partial source. Dennis Lin of the Union Tribune made a case for trading one of the Padres' catchers. The argument for Grandal being that he could net the most in return.
Lin added some fuel to this hot stove quoting Padres GM A.J. Preller on the young switch-hitting catcher:
AJ Preller on potential trade candidate Yasmani Grandal: "You've got a catcher who swings the bat from the L side, takes walks... (1/2)
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) November 19, 2014...can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Not too many of those guys in the game." (2/2)
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) November 19, 2014Preller is expressing the value of Grandal. One could see this as simply liking one of the players he currently has or perhaps building up the value for Grandal for a potential trade. The latter could obviously be an intended or unintended byproduct of the first.
Should the Padres be taking offers? I don't see how it could hurt. There seems to be a fair amount of interest in catchers this offseason (highlighted by the big contract the Blue Jays gave Russell Martin), so hearing how others are valuing an asset you have at the position is useful information gathering. Perhaps someone blows you away with an offer. Perhaps knowing his value in a trade helps you put together a blockbuster multi-player deal that helps the club.
Actually moving Grandal seems like it a bad idea. While the Padres have a prospect in Austin Hedges and a seemingly now established Rene Rivera, the position is hardly a strength. Rivera's year could be a career year and Hedges seems to have stalled for now in AA. One more look at Grandal seems like the best way to go. Neither Rivera or Hedges are going anywhere or have salaries that force a move. Even Grandal is very affordable. While there may be an opportunity to diversify the team's resources, there is also the opportunity to see how good Grandal could be going into a year fully healthy and parts of 3 seasons of major league experience under his belt.