Summarizing Wil Myers’ 2021 season

Wil Myers and Eric Hosmer seem like the two main players that fans want and/or expect to be traded this offseason. The main reasons for both possibly being traded is so that the Padres can get out of some of their contracts, which would give A.J. Preller more payroll flexibility. However, it feels like fans wouldn’t lose as much sleep if Hosmer was traded as opposed to Myers because of some of Hosmer’s off the field beliefs and the fact that he hasn’t played anywhere near the level his contract would suggest he should be playing at.

With that said, Myers is easier to trade not because he’s making less money (Hosmer and Myers are both making $20 million next year) but he’s going to be in the final year of his contract, as 2023 is a club option.

I personally don’t want to see Myers go. He was here in 2015 after the failed offseason splurge. He was here in 2019 when Andy Green got fired in September. And he was here this past season for the latest collapse. All of these struggles would only make it more special for Myers if the Padres were able to make it deep into the postseason in 2022 or 2023 (if San Diego were to pick up his option).

That’s a topic for another day, though. Let’s briefly talk about Myers’ 2021 season. He didn’t really deflate his trade value, which is good for the Padres. After finishing 16th in the 2020 NL MVP voting, Myers was able to stay healthy, as he played in 146 games.

The 30-year-old finished with a 0.8 WAR, hitting 17 home runs and driving in more than 60 runs on the year. Myers played in 28 games off of the bench and didn’t homer a single time in those games so you could make the argument he would’ve been more successful if Jayce Tingler and the Padres would’ve kept him in the lineup on a more regular basis, even when Fernando Tatis Jr. was taking up an outfield spot.

If this was the last season for Myers in a Padres uniform, it was a fun ride. Here was one of his monstrous home runs that he hit in 2021: