Say hey, baseball: Wil Myers is probably getting traded

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The Rays traded their ace, David Price, over the summer. They lost general manager Andrew Friedman, the man who helped turn the franchise around last decade, to the Dodgers. Joe Maddon, the only successful manager they’ve ever had, bailed so he could be one of the faces of the new Cubs. Given all that, there’s a chance the 2015 season could be a little rough, but also a chance the Rays thrive against the odds, as they tend to do. We see them hedging on that a bit, flipping players where they can to bring in value that, if not helpful in 2015, should work out for them soon after. The first move was to send outfielder Matt Joyce to the Angels for reliever Kevin Jepsen, but that was just a prelude to the big swap of December: former Rookie of the Year Wil Myers is probably going to be on the Padres soon, and thanks to a deal that has a chance at being huge.

There is significant optimism for a deal to get done, according to Jeff Passan, and he also believes there is a chance this is akin to a three-team trade, where some of the major pieces get flipped elsewhere almost immediately, a la Andrew Heaney and Howie Kendrick during the meetings. Jim Bowden has heard prospect Austin Hedges’ name in talks, while every other report seems to focus on the young pitching that the Padres have in their system: either scenario would make sense for the Rays, who focus heavily on catcher defense but also continually bring in other clubs’ starting pitching prospects rather than sign established, expensive pieces that they can’t afford.

Why would the Rays trade Myers? He’ll only be 24 years old in 2015, and hasn’t been around long enough to get expensive through arbitration. He struggled in 2014, yes, but he also showed tremendous promise as a middle-of-the-order threat in his rookie campaign, in which he batted .293/.354/.478 despite a pitcher-friendly home park. Let’s not forget he hurt his wrist midseason, too, which takes some time to recover from statistically. Buster Olney says the Rays think he is too inconsistent, which is likely code for problems with his work ethic. Myers has publicly admitted the misplaced bravado his rookie success gave him was an issue in the spring, though, once he was humbled by his sophomore effort. For someone like the Padres, who have trouble signing major offensive pieces, it’s easily worth the risk to see if Myers’ contrition is a real thing.