Padres receive Freddy Galvis in trade with Phillies

Padres fans, the season of the shortstop search is over. The team has agreed to a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies to acquire 28-year-old shortstop Freddy Galvis. The deal has yet to be finalized, but early reports say that it’s a one-for-one swap with Padres minor league pitcher Enyel de los Santos.

Galvis has been the starting shortstop in Philadelphia for the last three years, over which time he’s hit .253/.295/.375 while providing some of the best defense in the league. 2018 will be his sixth year in the majors, and his final season before entering free agency. Galvis will bring a premium glove and a bat that has shown steady improvement to San Diego. He has registered double-digit homers and stolen bases each of the last two years, and it is worth noting that his hitting coach last year in Philadelphia was Matt Stairs, who is now the Padres hitting coach.

In return for Galvis, the Padres are sending Enyel de los Santos, a righty starter who spent all of 2017 with the AA San Antonio Missions. Acquired in November 2015 from Seattle in trade for Joaquin Benoit, de los Santos was listed as the Padres #13 prospect per MLB Pipeline.

The addition of Freddy Galvis solves the biggest hole in the Padres roster for 2018. He is on track to be a free agent after this season, so the Padres will need to take future action to prevent being in this same position this time next year. Galvis may be a candidate for a contract extension, or he might be supplanted by a youngster like Luis Urias or Fernando Tatis, Jr. Either way, for the first time in recent memory, the Padres will have a young, athletic, premium defender at shortstop. Somewhere, groundballers Clayton Richard and Luis Perdomo are smiling right now.

UPDATE: The trade has been announced by both teams, and a corresponding roster move has been made. Jose Ruiz has been designated for assignment. A former catcher converted to reliever, Ruiz spent most of last year in advanced single-A Lake Elsinore and made one appearance with the Padres as an emergency roster addition following the Trevor Cahill/Brandon Maurer/Ryan Buchter trade with the Royals last year. Ruiz has a high-90’s fastball but has struggled with command. He is likely to pass through waivers at which time he may be assigned to a minor league club.