Did the Guardians and Padres talk about another Franmil Reyes trade before the lockout?

Let’s dive into a random internet trade rumor we found regarding a potential reunion between Franmil Reyes and the San Diego Padres.

If you’re a fan of unfounded internet rumors, you’ll certainly enjoy this one. And hey, there’s still a lockout going on, so why shouldn’t we be addressing the world of imaginary trade scenarios?

According to, well, someone named Nostradamus, who is a contributor for Friar Talk and the East Village Times, the Guardians and San Diego Padres talked before the lockout about possibly once again swapping Franmil Reyes:

This is, of course, the old “I’ve heard this from a couple people” angle, which is to try and lend a little more credibility to the rumor. But on the off-off-off-off chance both teams did talk about this, what is there to make of it?

In this scenario, San Diego is looking to unload the Wil Myers contract. The 31-year-old outfielder is nearing the end of a six-year, $83 million deal, as he’ll make $22.5 million this season with a club option for 2023 with a $1 million buyout.

Myers has been fairly decent for the Padres, though the team has surely expected more out of that contract. He made the All-Star team in 2016 and has actually had two of the best years of his career the past two seasons. Combining the shortened 2020 season and 2021 (640 total at-bats), Myers hit .266/.340/.488 with 32 home runs, 103 RBIs, 38 doubles, 10 stolen bases and a 128 OPS+. That’s pretty good stuff.

On the flip side, though, Myers had a pretty average run from 2017 to 2019, hitting just .244/.323/.444 with a 105 OPS+.

As for Franmil Reyes, he’s in his arbitration years, due to make somewhere around $4.4 million this season. The Guardians’ designated hitter isn’t a free agent until 2025, which is why the Padres are allegedly willing to move “significant prospect capital.” And, when healthy, the 26-year-old Reyes is a force in the middle of the lineup. With Cleveland, dating back to 2019 when he was acquired in the three-team trade that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds, Reyes has hit .256/.325/.491 with 49 home runs, 38 doubles, and a 117 OPS+ in 802 at-bats.

Reyes really separates himself from Myers when it comes to the advanced metrics. Myers ranks pretty low in a variety of Statcast categories, according to Baseball Savant, while Reyes is putting out elite numbers in areas like exit velocity (of course), barrel rate, xwOBA, xSLG and more.

So unless the Padres are really willing to unload some truly top-of-the-line prospects, this isn’t a deal that makes much sense at all for the Guardians. Sure, San Diego gets Reyes at a much cheaper price with years of control – who wouldn’t take that deal? – but this scenario assumes the Guardians aren’t looking to contend in the next 2-3 years themselves, or that Reyes wouldn’t be open to an extension in Cleveland.

This isn’t the craziest trade scenario one could imagine, though it would be pretty wild for the Padres to bring Reyes back at that cost; if this happened, Cleveland would have acquired somewhere around 98% of San Diego’s farm system over the past few years.

So thanks, but no thanks, San Diego. Unless they’re willing to throw in Fernando Tatis Jr. as part of the deal while paying the majority of his salary. Then the Guardians might be interested.