The James Shields saga is over. After a two month quest involving seven or eight teams, Shields has landed with the San Diego Padres. Ironically, he will be a teammate of Wil Myers who he was traded for two off-seasons ago. Far from the $120 million rumored salary offer, he has signed for four years for $76 million with a club option for a fifth year.
As a 33-year old starter, Shields is coming off three remarkable consistent years, pitching 228, 229, and 227 innings. His WHIP for the three years has varied from 1.17 to 1.24 and his ERA ranged from 3.15 to 3.52. Shield should be a good investment for the Padres, at least early in the contract, though later years will remain to be see.
Much will made of the fact that Shields will be pitching in the NL and at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and the positive impact it will have on his stats and fantasy value. Granted, pitching is San Diego benefits fly ball pitchers and Shields HR/FB rate should not rise from his total of 10% last year. But do not forget, Kansas City is not the most hitter friendly park.
There are also some concerns for the Padres here. Shields has pitched over 1100 innings the last five years without an injury, and there should be concern about some wear and tear on his arm, even with his fairly compact motion. Shields strikeout totals have also dropped each of the last three years from 225 in 2011 to 180 during the 2015 season. Lastly, Kansas City’s defense last year was better than what San Diego will put on the field in seven of the eight positions.
The thing fantasy owners and the Padres can hope for, is that his consistency in taking the ball every fifth game at a high and eating innings will continue. The Padres are also counting on the positive impact he will have on a relatively young pitching staff. Moving forward, the teams who lost out on the Shields sweepstakes can now move on toward efforts to secure Cole Hamels in a trade with the Phillies.
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