Giants: Five more potential “bad contract” trade ideas

San Diego Padres: OF Wil Myers

Wil Myers has been one of the biggest ticking time bomb contracts in baseball over the past couple seasons. Much like the Marlins when they signed Giancarlo Stanton to his mammoth extension, the Padres signed Wil Myers to a six-year, $83 million extension with a massive escalating scale.

Myers made just $8 million in base salary over the past three seasons, but starting in 2020, his base salary jumps to $20 million a year for the next three seasons.

As such, the Padres are motivated to move him as they continue to push toward contention:

With one of the best farm systems in baseball, San Diego has the prospects to attach to Myers to get a team like the Giants to take him. They just have to be willing to pay a premium in assets.

Myers is still only 29, plays passable defense in the outfield, and walks at a decent clip, but he has simply been unable to develop into the player many thought he would become.  After a 30-homer season in 2017, Myers has hit just 29 home runs in the two seasons since and he has been roughly a league-average hitter in the process.

Much like Reddick, Myers projects somewhere around a 1 WAR player as a full-time player. Even a fairly favorable projection for Myers still leaves his contract nearly $45 million underwater.

According to FanGraphs’ prospect valuation system, the Padres would need to attach one of the 20 best prospects in baseball to Myers to offset that value.

That’s not going to happen.

If they were willing to move someone like Luis Patino or MacKenzie Gore, someone would have already acquired them. Still, even after moving Xavier Edwards and Luis Urias in trades, San Diego has enough pieces to entice the Giants while still trading from system depth.

Giants brass would jump all over the chance to acquire infielders Hudson Potts and CJ Abrams. If the Giants offered San Diego reliever Tony Watson and their pick of Andrew Suarez or Dereck Rodriguez, I’m inclined to think the Padres might pull the trigger.

Abrams was selected with the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 and he already ranks among the top 50 prospects in baseball. He has 80-grade speed with potential plus raw-power. Currently a shortstop, his future may be in center field.

Potts is a consensus top 10 prospect in the Padres system. He’s a powerful big-bodied corner bat that has the ceiling to be an above-average everyday third baseman. Questions surrounding his hit tool and athleticism give him some Quad-A risk, but there’s enough room for upside. He’s blocked by Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer at the infield corners.

Abrams has star potential, but he’s probably at least three seasons away from reaching the majors. Furthermore, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Taylor Trammell seem to rank ahead of him up the middle. If San Diego wants to compete now, unloading Myers’ contract would allow them more flexibility on the free-agent market.

While both teams may be hesitant to make a move with a division foe, the Giants may be the only team willing to take on Myers’ massive commitment.