Padres Send Song Down, Move To Add More Offense In Outfield

The San Diego Padres announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Dustin Harris, according to a report from Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com, with the Padres sending Sung-Mun Song down to Triple-A El Paso for the second time this season in a corresponding move. In addition, right-hander Lucas Giolito was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a spot in the 40-man roster for Harris.

The Song move is the more surprising part of this, and it’s an indictment of the decision to sign him in the offseason, as GM A.J. Preller was unable to make more significant moves due to the sale of the team still stuck in process. 

The Padres gave Song a four-year deal for $16 million, and he simply hasn’t hit enough to justify it. Song has also made several costly errors that have cost the Padres game, and while his glove work has been impressive at times, it doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to make the adjustment to American pitching after hitting well in Korea in the KBO League. 

As for Harris, he played last night for the Padres and had a key double, although the Padres couldn’t come through in extra innings as they lost 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12. 

Harris has been making the rounds in the veteran journeyman role for some time this season. He started the season with the Chicago White Sox on a minor league deal, but he was DFA’d barely a week later, per McDonald. The Houston Astros then gave him a shot, but the same thing happened, although he did manage to last for two weeks with the Astros. 

Enter the Padres and El Paso, which is well-known for producing gaudy stats in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Harris responded right away, and he had a slash line of .350/.422/.617 with six home runs and and a strikeout rate of less than ten percent. 

At this point he profiles as a classic Four-A player, as he has an MLB slash line of .225/.307/.371, although the sample size is small with 102 plate appearances, according to McDonald. 

The Padres have been hunting for offensive help for most of the season, especially in the outfield, as they lost Ramon Laureano back in the spring due to a serious hip injury. Harris will be a plug-and-play bench outfielder, and there’s a chance he could stick given the way the Padres have been shuffling bodies in and out of the lineup.