SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres acquired outfielder Wil Myers from the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal said.
Myers was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2013, when he hit .293 with 13 homers with 53 RBIs with Tampa Bay. But he was limited to 87 games last season due to a right wrist injury, and he hit .222 with six homers and 35 RBIs.
There were multiple reports that Washington also was involved in the deal, but the person would not confirm the Nationals’ involvement to The Associated Press. San Diego also receives catcher Ryan Hanigan and minor league pitchers Jose Castillo and Gerardo Reyes in the trade, with catcher Rene Rivera moving from the Padres to Tampa Bay.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.
The deal comes as the Padres, desperate for a power bat to punch up the worst offense in the majors, try to finalize a trade that would send catcher Yasmani Grandal and two pitchers to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Matt Kemp and catcher Tim Federowicz.
The Kemp deal is pending physical exams and the commissioner’s office approving the Dodgers sending $32 million to the Padres to help offset the $107 million remaining on Kemp’s contract.
With Myers coming on board, the Padres now have six outfielders, although two of them, left fielder Carlos Quentin and center fielder Cameron Maybin, have had a hard time staying on the field due to injuries. Kemp likely will play right or left.
The Padres’ best option for dealing an outfielder would appear to be Seth Smith, who hit .266 with 12 homers and 48 RBIs last year.
With a solid pitching staff in place, new general manager A.J. Preller is loading up on offense.
The Padres had a historically awful offense in the first half of 2014 before improving enough to finish third in the NL West. Still, they were at the bottom of the majors with a .226 average, .292 on-base percentage and 535 runs. Their 109 homers were the second-fewest in the bigs.
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