Signing Stephen Strasburg would be a mistake

Stephen Strasburg is a deep rooted San Diegan. He grew up in East County, played at San Diego State and was a massive Padre fan. His mentor was Tony Gwynn. When it’s all said and done, he’ll probably be spotted at games from time to time.

Now, here’s the part that’s going to irritate people. I realize we’re pretty good at that these days by the way.

The Padres absolutely should NOT sign Stephen Strasburg.

As exciting as the World Series run was in addition to the dominance he showed, he’s still too high risk. The type of money he rightfully commands limits them team from making other impactful moves. That’s exactly why Kevin Acee reported the team is likely priced out of negotiations. It’s not that they can’t, it’s that they shouldn’t.

Although he had a career year in 2019, he’s made all scheduled starts just 2 times in his career. He’s also thrown over 200 innings 2 times, 2014 and 2019. Strasburg has been in the league for 10 years. He missed 38 starts between 2015-2018. That’s not exactly the workhorse a team pays 30 Million a year for.

Now let’s be clear. When Strasburg pitches, he’s one of the best in the game. The problem is he’s always had trouble staying healthy. We have a guy on the plus side of 30 that has an injury history looking for the payday of his life. He’s right to do it because a team WILL pay. It just doesn’t make sense for a team like the Padres to make that kind of bet.

I understand the emotional side. World Series hero and local kid comes home to save the team from the depths of the NL West. It’d be a great story.

Unfortunately, this story can’t and won’t have a happy ending. The Padres will return to glory, but it won’t be with Stephen Strasburg.