This shit again?

Bandwagon Beach is back? Also, the San Diego Padres are once again scrambling to fill a starting spot in their lineup.

So, um, hi.

That thing about me moving my writing from here to that other place? I did that and now my time at that place is coming to an end. So, at least temporarily, I’m back to this old place to put down some thoughts.

If you’re new here, Bandwagon Beach has been my on-again and off-again safe space for writing and podcasting since 2020. It has mostly been a home for my sports takes, occasional stories from my life, thoughts on music/movies/TV and (probably too often) my frustrations with the news. It’ll continue being that (plus, at the very least, the new home for Front Row Seat) until I figure out what comes next, if there is anything that comes next.

Welcome!

In the most literal sense of answering the question in the headline, yes. This shit again. I’ll keep it free until I figure out what comes next.

But, also, I’m here right now writing this thing because I have some thoughts that I want to get out about the San Diego Padres and no other logical place for them to go.

Well, not so much thoughts, as a question for A.J. Preller and the Padres front office:

This shit again?!?

I speak, of course, of another offseason spent swinging and missing at filling a starting job.

Last season, the Padres went round-and-round with potential left fielders and landed on some combination of Jason Heyward and Connor Joe as a solution that nobody was happy about (I was higher than most).

The year before that, they scraped the bottom of the barrel for a centerfielder after trading away Trent Grisham and ended up having to hope and pray that Jackson Merrill would swim instead of sink when thrown into a new position and a starting job to start his MLB career.

To say nothing of the starting rotation, it feels like the Padres face an annual money crunch that leaves them relying on backup-backup-backup-emergency plans for at least one spot in the field at the start of every season.

Here’s the list of first basemen that the Padres have been linked to that have since signed with other teams:

• Pete Alonso

• Ryan O’Hearn

• Kazuma Okamoto

Unless the Padres are setting up a big offer to Cody Bellinger, there’s a pretty good chance that any free agents that come in to take the job will be a downgrade from what last year’s team had when the job was being shared by (the aforementioned) Ryan O’Hearn, Luis Arráez and Gavin Sheets.

What comes next?

I’m warning you right now, this is where things are going to get disgusting. I’m going to take a look at the different options in front of the Padres for the hole in the lineup and each of them comes with significant drawbacks.

I’m going to be look at available first basemen as well as designated hitter types, assuming that Sheets can take whichever role is open.

The Jason Heyward Option

Not literally Jason Heyward, mind you. This would be if the Padres take a flier on a cheap, old player that used to be good in hopes of finding some of the magic of yesteryear. I suppose I could’ve called this Nelson Cruz Option, but here we are.

This choice actually gives you a bunch of flexibility, as there are multiple guys that fit the bill. Chief amongst them would be former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt, but Justin Turner and Carlos Santana are semi-viable options (probably more as DHs) as well.

The “Jackson Merrill” Option

Maybe the team just grabs one of its top prospects and gives them a shot at being the team’s starting 1B?

Well, there are really only two options for guys that could play 1B (assuming the Campusano experiment is over) and wouldn’t be jumping from single A (or lower) to the majors.

The first is Tijuana’s favorite son, Tirso Ornelas. He hit .071 in 16 games with the Padres last year and took a small step back in terms of Triple-A production. He’s hasn’t been any better in the Mexican Pacific Winter League, either.

Tirso’s been mostly sticking to the corner outfield spots, which tells me the Padres either don’t think he has enough power to be a first baseman (hard agree) or they don’t think they have enough corner OF depth to be moving him elsewhere.

The other name to toss out here before possibly dismissing it is Yonathan Perlaza. Perlaza was signed out of the KBO last year and was the 2nd best hitter on the El Paso Chihuahuas behind Luis Campusano. His 43 HRs over the last two years should put him amongst the better power threats in the Padres’ higher minor leagues, but his height (5’9”) would make him the shortest 1B in baseball.

Also, as far as I can tell, it would be asking him to play a position he never has in 10 years as a professional.

I’ve been informed that Yonathan signed with a KBO team and will be returning to Korea, so definitely dismiss him as an option here.

The Xander Boagerts Option

This would probably be the Cody Bellinger signing, if I had to make some sort of comparison. Bellinger is a wildly inconsistent player coming off a huge season (playing in a home ballpark built to help left-handed hitters) and heading into probably his biggest opportunity to land a huge deal, there’s a pretty good chance a long-term contract would end up causing consternation for any team that signed him to it.

The Jake Cronenworth Option

This is exactly what it sounds like. This is “move Jake Cronenworth back to 1B" as a plan for what to do about 1B.

There’s only been one season when Jake played more 1B than 2B, that being 2023. That was, unsurprisingly, also his worst season as a pro. Personally, I take that to mean “We tried it and it didn’t work,” but I suppose I could entertain the notion of there were a really great fit at 2B or SS (like Bo Bichette) that wanted to join the club.

This also brings us back to this inevitable conversation….

The Luis Arráez Option

Just imagine A.J. Preller walking into the office of Luis Arráez agent and seeing this:

All things considered, it would be very funny if Thanos actually existed and was just hanging out representing a slap-hitting infielder.

Anyway, Arraez is slashing .214/.214/.214 in 43 postseason plate appearances for the San Diego Padres. Please no.

The Manny Machado Option

I don’t think we’re there quite yet, but the Padres have Manny Machado signed for eight more seasons and he’s just had his two worst defensive seasons by a lot. If the team wants his contract to be anywhere near positive value, they’ll have to move him to first base eventually. Why not do it now when it can solve a real roster problem?

Third base would arguably be easier (or, at least, cheaper) for the Padres to fill on a short-term basis than first base.

Sung-mun Song probably shouldn’t be counted on much in year 1, but he is coming off a Gold Glove season in the KBO at third base. On the free agent market, there are options at the top of the market (Alex Bregman), middle of the market (Eugenio Suárez) and even some potential value towards the bottom (Yoán Moncada).

Hope is not a strategy

The Padres are not just a first baseman short. It’s probably plainer to state it as “the Padres need another middle-of-the-order hitter”. They’re just flexible enough to be able to search through pretty much all infielders and designated hitters in hopes of finding one, but they likely don’t have the capital to compete for any of the names at the top of the market.

What are they going to do? I don’t know. No idea, really. But I really hope it includes adding more hitting talent to the roster and not relying on hope itself to get more from the group that’s already here (or even the same guys that tried and failed in the past).