The Padres took a step towards improving arguably the worst rotation in baseball Saturday.
According to a San Diego Union-Tribune report, the Padres have agreed to sign veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin to a one-year contract. Financial terms are unknown. The team has not yet announced the move.
Source: The Padres have agreed to a one-year major league deal with RHP Jhoulys Chacin, pending a physical.
— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) December 17, 2016
Jhoulys Chacin padres deal is for $1.75M (plus of course a good chance to make rotation)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 18, 2016
Chacin, 28, went 6-8 with a 4.81 ERA in 144 innings across 22 starts and 12 relief appearances for the Braves and Angels in 2016. Sabermetric stats like Fielding Independent Pitching (4.01) and Deserved Run Average (3.94) believe Chacin performed better than his record and ERA indicate.
With Chacin now in the fold, here is San Diego's rotation depth chart with each pitcher's projected 2017 WAR (per Steamer):
- Luis Perdomo (1.9 WAR)
- Jarred Cosart (1.7 WAR)
- Cesar Vargas (1.4 WAR)
- Christian Friedrich (1.0 WAR)
- Zach Lee (0.8 WAR)
- Paul Clemens (0.6 WAR)
- Jhoulys Chacin (0.2 WAR)
That's seven pitchers combining for 7.6 WAR in 898 projected innings. Only two teams, the Angels (5.9 WAR) and Reds (negative-0.5 WAR), received worse work from the starters in 2016. So the additions of Chacin and Lee, who was claimed off waivers earlier this week, make the Padres' rotation look slightly better.
Point is, if you're a free agent pitcher looking for the best possible playing time opportunity, give the Padres a call. They need all the arms they can get right now.
