Christian

Villanueva

Villanueva spent the entire 2019 season in Nippon Professional Baseball and batted .218/.322/.378 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI in 113 games for the Yomiuri Giants. The 28-year-old former Padres third baseman will need to show a little better in Japan in 2020 if he wants to return to Major League Baseball.

This frees up Villanueva to join the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, who bought his contract from the Padres. It’s a surprising turn of events after the 26-year-old slugged 20 homers with a .750 OPS (105 OPS+) in 384 plate appearances this past season. The Padres figure to be in the market for a third baseman this offseason.

Villanueva got off to a tremendous start in 2018, but he batted just .232/.292/.351 between June 1 and his final regular-season game on August 21. The early shutdown was due to a fractured right middle finger. San Diego will search for a more reliable third baseman on the free agent and trade markets this winter.

Lin writes that the Padres would like to add “an established third baseman” this offseason, so they are exploring their options for Villanueva. The 26-year-old slugged 20 homers with a .750 OPS (105 OPS+) in 384 plate appearances this past season. It’s reasonable to think another MLB team would take a shot here.

Currently on the disabled list with a fractured right middle finger, there simply isn’t enough time for the injury to fully heal before the end of the regular season, so they won’t try to rush him back. The 27-year-old clubbed 20 homers and slashed .236/.299/.450 in 384 plate appearances.

Baseball America rated Villanueva as the game’s 100th best prospect prior to this season. The 21-year-old Guadalajara, Mexico native is a career .286/.350/.438 hitter over four seasons on the farm. He’s currently at the High-A level and is a few years away from the bigs.

Acquired from the Rangers in the Ryan Dempster deal, Villanueva batted .279/.353/.427 with 14 homers and 14 steals at the High-A level this season. He’s not close to the majors, but the Cubs didn’t want to risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Villanueva missed the entire season after fracturing his right fibula in spring training. He’ll be ready to go next spring but will surely begin 2017 back in the minors.

The 25-year-old missed the entire 2016 season after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured right fibula, then was non-tendered by the Cubs in early December. He hit .257/.314/.438 with 20 homers and 95 RBI over 129 games between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2015.

Villanueva was forced to miss the entire 2016 season with a fractured right fibula. There’s a chance that the club will try to bring him back on a minor league contract.