What did Wil Myers show at third base Monday night?

“He was was out there having fun,” a scout said after watching Myers record nine assists and a putout at his new position.

Can he stay there?

“He’s got the ability to be OK if he sticks with it,” the scout said. “He has better feet than the guy they had there (Carlos Villanueva). When he was at first base, I never saw his feet get tangled up. And when he played first, he was always accurate when he threw to get the lead runner.”


Is it too soon to get excited?

“Give it 35 games,” the scout said. “He’ll have to work on his arm angles.”

Myers and Nevin

The Myers chapter brings to mind the Phil Nevin chapter.

The Padres signed each slugger to a big contract that became problematic.


The team moved Nevin off third base to clear room for top prospect Sean Burroughs. Manager Bruce Bochy tried Nevin at several spots, including left field, first base and catcher.

The comparison stops there, for now.

The Padres tired of Nevin and tried to trade him but needed his consent in several instances due to the no-trade powers he’d gained as part of the contractual negotiations.

He shot down trades with the Reds, Brewers and Orioles.


Finally, during the 2005 season, the late Kevin Towers found a team not covered by Nevin’s no-trade clause.

In a swap of cost-above-performance contracts, Nevin went to Texas and pitcher Chan Ho Park joined the Padres.

The trade worked out for the Padres, who went on to win the NL West. Players and staff said the move cleared up a distraction. Park provided decent pitching and got along with teammates and staff.

Good athlete

Scouts rate Myers, who was drafted as a catcher and has played all three outfield positions for the Padres, a good major league athlete.


Moving him around could allow him to maintain better concentration, a goal that Myers cited after several mental lapses in 2017.

The scout doubts Myers would gripe if the team assigned him a “super-utility” role. “He has fun playing, wherever he is,” he said.

It’s smart of the Padres to try Myers at third now. They have six outfield candidates for next year and Eric Hosmer entrenched at first base.

Ideally, Myers would be a fixture in line with the $67.5 million the team owes him from 2020-22.


The Padres are trying to salvage a questionable contract that quadruples Myers’ salary to $22.5 million in 2020.

Bring Urias up

The scout praised the Myers move and a few other developments, but suggests Luis Urias should be playing second base for the Padres, not their Triple-A club.

“Urias should have been in San Diego three weeks ago,” he said.

The scout’s rationale is that Carlos Asuaje and Jose Pirela aren’t long-term options, and Cory Spangenberg projects as a utility man, at best.


Playing Urias in the big leagues now would prepare him for April, when winning games will be more important than now.

“I guess the Padres have to win the Triple-A pennant this year,” the scout quipped.

Freddy Galvis

The price on Galvis has gone up since the Padres and he agreed to a one-year contract.

“Galvis would have reasonable to good interest,” in free agency this offseason, the scout said.


He recommends the Pads sign Galvis and have Fernando Tatis play third base to start his career next season.

He noted that young pitching is flooding into the rotation. Galvis, he said, would help the young pitchers establish themselves.

He doesn’t like the prospect of pairing young pitchers with a low-experience infield of Myers at third, Tatis at short, and Urias at second.

Of course, if Tatis moves to third that sends Myers to the outfield or the trade block.


My understanding is that Myers didn’t get a no-trade clause when the contract was agreed to.

Austin Hedges

The scout lauded Hedges for getting back to a “middle of the field” approach as a hitter, and suggested that better health has allowed him to use his lead arm to better guide the bat.

He said Hedges was instrumental to pitcher Jacob Nix having a scoreless major league debut last week.

“The Phillies’ hitters kept stepping out of the box,” he said, “and Hedges would call something slow with the next pitch. It was great.”


He said the catcher’s defensive prowess is making him a borderline “very good player,” now.

Tom.Krasovic@SDUnionTribune.com; Twitter: SDUTKrasovic