What could be a rather extensive housecleaning project appears to be underway in San Diego.
The Padres announced Saturday that they had traded starting pitcher James Shields to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for pitcher Erik Johnson and prospect Fernando Tatis Jr.
As part of the deal, the Padres will kick in a significant amount of cash for Shields’s contract, with the White Sox reportedly on the hook for only $27 million of the $56 million he would still be owed.
The #Whitesox are paying $27 million of the remainder of James Shields contract
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 4, 2016
Johnson is a 26-year-old starting pitcher who has bounced between the minors and majors for the White Sox. He has a 4.50 ERA in 98 career innings. Tatis Jr. is just 17 and has yet to even play professionally, having been signed by the White Sox as an amateur free agent last July.
A Shields trade seemed inevitable. He has a 4.28 ERA in 11 starts in 2016, a figure that was inflated by what will go down as his final start for the team. He gave up 10 runs in less than three innings, prompting the team’s executive chairman to label his performance an “embarrassment.” Expensive and underperforming on a below average team, it was only a matter of time before Shields found a new home, and the White Sox always seemed a likely destination from day one.
Shields may not be the last to depart San Diego this season, with the team said to be shopping another of their high-profile names.
