THE SAN DIEGO PADRES ARE FINALLY SELLING!
Well…kind of. On Tuesday night, they dealt outfielder Will Venable to the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers have acquired OF Will Venable from San Diego for catcher-OF Marcus Greene and a player to be named later. Michael Choice DFA.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) August 19, 2015
Venable is a free agent after the season, so this is clearly just a rental by the Rangers in an attempt to crash the AL playoffs this season.
The 32-year old is hitting .258/.318/.378 this season with six homers and 11 steals. He can play all three outfield positions, and holds his own in all three as well.
Venable shines against right-handers, and is hitting .266/.330/.397 in 252 plate appearances against them this year compared to a .194/.219/.226 line against southpaws. All but one of his extra base hits have come against righties this season.
The Rangers haven’t gotten much production from their outfield all year, despite the presence of Shin-Shoo Choo and Josh Hamilton. Leonys Martin struggled all year and was demoted to AAA earlier this month. Hamilton has homered six times for the team, but has played in just 38 games while dealing with his usual crop of injuries. Choo has been better, and healthier, this season than last, but is still just hitting .245/.336/.434 with 15 homers.
Hell, the club has been so desperate for production that they called up 27-year old career minor leaguer Ryan Strausborger earlier this month to fill a gap. Venable will be a welcome addition to the squad.
