San Diego Padres Trade for Shortstop

Friars send pitching prospect to Phillies for Gold Glove Finalist

The Padres have had a revolving door at shortstop since ... well since general manager A.J. Preller traded Trea Turner to the Nationals. But before that Khalil Greene was the last day-in-day-out guy at short and he left after the 2008 season (there was the wild Everth Cabrera era but I think it’s best we forget all about that).

They have a couple of potential franchise SS in the system so Preller is buying time until Luis Urias and Fernando Tatis Jr. are ready. On Friday the Friars landed their latest stopgap but it’s a pretty good one.

San Diego acquired Freddy Galvis from the Phillies for AA starting pitcher Enyel De Los Santos. Galvis is not bad with the bat, hitting .255 with 12 HR and 61 RBI. But he’s one of the most reliable defenders in the game. In 2017 Galvis led MLB shortstops in fielding percentage while playing in all 162 games (156 starts). He was a Gold Glove Award finalist the last two seasons.

Galvis was Philadelphia’s nominee for the MLB Heart & Hustle Award, given to the player that demonstrates passion for the game so he’s regarded as a good clubhouse guy.

He’s also a free agent after this season so odds are this is a one-year rental for the kids to get closer to being MLB-ready.

This is the third straight season that Preller has brought in a short-term shortstop. In 2016 it was Alexei Ramirez and last year Erick Aybar, both on one-year deals. Galvis, 28, is much younger than either of those veterans and should be a big upgrade in the field.

De Los Santos turns 22 years old on Christmas Day. He showed promise at San Antonio with a good fastball but was not regarded as one of the Padres’ Top 5 pitching prospects.

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