Will sign with Nippon Baseball

The San Diego Padres have given outfielder Oscar Gonzalez his unconditional release to allow him to pursue a job in Japan with the Nippon Professional Baseball organization, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

With the designation of Yuli Gurriel, the trade of Connor Joe to the Reds and the release of Gonzalez, the Padres have 37 players on their 40-man roster.

Gonzalez provided 61 plate appearances while hitting .220/.246/.237 with the Padres during the absence of both Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge to injury. His 52% chase rate and 27% whiff rate along with his 21% K rate made it unlikely he would see time with the Padres again except in case of injury.

The team is now even thinner in left field options and almost certainly will need to trade for, or sign a free agent, for more depth for the outfield. It is also likely they will entertain the prospect of replacing Jason Heyward and his sub-par offense for the regular left field job. There is plenty of roster space to add the needed help.

Padres Encouraged to Add Outfielder, Starting Pitcher to ‘Make Noise’ In Playoffs

The battle to crown the winner of the NL West this season will be one of most exciting things to watch for the remainder of the year. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres all have an excellent shot of winning the division. San Diego in particular, has been encouraged by Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly to go out and trade for an outfielder and starting pitcher prior to the trade deadline. Kelly believes that those two moves could be what ultimately moves the needle to propel the Padres to the top of the division. “Still, it

might make sense to add another arm capable of making a postseason start,” Kelly wrote. “Ideally, it would be someone who isn’t a rental since King and Cease can both become free agents after this season.” The return of Yu Darvish to the Padres rotation is still looming and it is entirely possible that general manager AJ Preller decides no move is needed to upgrade the rotation. That’s really not the way Preller works, though, and it is much more likely he goes out and tries to make a big-time move and add to the San Diego pitching staff. Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Mitch Keller are all names that make sense, and the Padres should be able to put together a package to acquire one of those three. “Whether they’ll be able to beat out the Dodgers for the NL West title or not, the Padres have a chance to make noise in the playoffs,” Kelly wrote. “San Diego could win (its) first World Series title if (the Padres) hit on adding an outfielder and another front-line starter.” The outfield addition may not be as important, as the Padres rank sixth in Wins Above Average from their outfielders. Outside of Luis Robert, it is unclear as to which outfielders will be available on the trade market when the deadline comes around. It feels that the addition of a starting pitcher to help shut down the high-powered offenses in the National league may be more of what San Diego should focus on headed toward the trade deadline and summer months.

Padres rumors: San Diego to make major splash before trade deadline

The Padres are chasing the Dodgers in the NL West and as the trade deadline approaches, they could look to upgrade in left field.

The San Diego Padres enter play on Monday only a game back of the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. With more than two months to go before the trade deadline, it’s safe to say the team is in position to be buyers, and one insider expects them to make a big move to upgrade their outfield.

The Padres have primarily gone with Jason Heyward and Brandon Lockridge in left field, and San Diego players are only hitting .190 with a .504 OPS at the position. Given that the Padres have weapons up and down the order, it’s not the end of the world to not have much production in left — but Padres GM AJ Preller is known to be aggressive and this is a clear area of need.