Blue Jays: Notes on Clayton Richard trade

Additional notes, stats and figures on the Toronto Blue Jays’ recent acquisition of left-handed pitcher Clayton Richard from the San Diego Padres.

Padres to Cover Half of Richard’s Salary

According to AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, the Padres are going to be covering half of Clayton Richard’s $3 million salary in 2019, meaning the Blue Jays will only be on the hook for $1.5 million for next year. This puts a quantified figure on the cash considerations announced by the teams as part of the initial deal.

Panas Heads to El Paso

Connor Panas, the young outfielder who the Padres received in the trade, has been assigned to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas of the Pacific Coast League, according to MiLB.com’s PCL transactions page. Panas, 25, has played 105 games at the Double-A level, 114 games at the High-A level, 143 games at the Low-A level, and six games at the Rookie-level during his four-year professional career.

Richard Projected as Fifth Starter

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Roster Resource has updated the Blue Jays depth chart to include the newly acquired Richard, projecting him to slot in as the team’s fifth starter behind Matt Shoemaker, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Ryan Borucki. The chart also notes that the organization’s biggest needs this offseason include a corner outfielder, a setup man (or a closer), and a starting pitcher.

Clayton Among Top Padres

As Bill Center of Padres.com points out on Twitter, Richard is among the top Padres in terms of various pitching statistics, ranking sixth in franchise history in starts, eighth in wins and strikeouts, and ninth in innings pitched.

He also ranks 16th in opponents batting average and 13th in winning percentage. According to Baseball Reference, he has been worth a cumulative WAR of 0.9 in parts of eight seasons in San Diego