PEORIA, Ariz. – No team in Major League Baseball did more wheeling-and-dealing during the offseason than the San Diego Padres, with general manager A.J. Preller making all kinds of moves in an effort to upgrade the big league roster. It was head-spinning, to be quite honest, and enough new players are on board that introductions were certainly in order when spring training opened late last month at the Peoria Sports Complex.
Matt Kemp, please introduce yourself to Justin Upton. James Shields, say hello to Derek Norris and Brandon Morrow. Will Middlebrooks and Shawn Kelly, please walk over and get to know Brandon Mauer and Josh Johnson.
And hey, everybody, don’t forget about this young man right over here, the guy that several media outlets named Minor League Player of the Year in 2012 when he was with the Kansas City Royals organization, and who was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2013 when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. Please, gentlemen, come over here and say hello to Wil Myers.
A highly ranked Perfect Game national prospect coming out of Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, N.C., in 2009, Myers was dealt to the Padres from the Rays in December as part of a multi-player trade that also involved the Washington Nationals.
He spent the previous two seasons in Tampa Bay after arriving there from Kansas City in December 2012 as part of a deal that sent Shields and Wade Davis from the Rays to the Royals. Now Shields is one of Myers’ new teammates, and Myers certainly seemed satisfied with his new station in life when PG caught up with him in the Padres’ clubhouse at the PSC Saturday morning.
“All these guys are good dudes and all the acquisitions (the Padres) made this offseason, everybody seems like they’re good guys, good teammates; that’s what you’re looking for with guys in the clubhouse,” he said. “I’ve been very excited about all the guys that we’ve gotten.
"It’s been good, you know. I’m finally healthy again after playing hurt a lot last year, and I’m seeing the ball well, getting a lot of ABs, so I’m feeling good.” In 10 Cactus League appearances before Saturday, Myers hit .276 (8-for-29) with two home runs, three doubles, three RBI and four runs scored.
The two seasons the 24-year-old Myers spent with the Rays were polar opposites. He became a fan favorite in 2013 when he hit .293 with 13 home runs, 23 doubles, 53 RBI and 50 runs scored in 88 games, numbers good enough to earn him the AL ROY honors.
By contrast, 2014 was one long horror story. Myers’ injury woes began early when he jammed his left wrist in the Rays’ fourth game of the regular season; he managed to play through that injury. But about a month-and-a-half into it he broke his right wrist and missed the next 3½ months.
He rehabbed for seven games at Triple-A Durham and wasn’t much of a factor when he returned to the big club. Myers finished the season hitting .222 with six home runs and 35 RBI in 87 games.
“It’s good for me to be here after Tampa kind of giving up on me after one bad year after coming off (winning the) Rookie of Year. That was a little frustrating for me,” he said. “Being able to come here and make a new start, I feel like I have something to prove this year. I’ve only had one bad year in my entire professional career and it was last year when I was hurt all year. I’m excited to be here with the Padres. We’ve got a great team here and I’m just real excited about it.”
There is something else that has Myers excited in 2015, and it’s something that resonates loudly within the Perfect Game community, which Myers was an esteemed member of in 2008 and 2009. He is the founder of WM9 Baseball, a travel ball program based in High Point, N.C., that currently fields two teams in each of the 8u through 15u age groups.
“I’ve always had a passion for travel baseball, and to be able to help these kids out and put my name on their team, it was just a good fit for all of us,” Myers said. “This is something where anyone who wants to come on board at any age is welcome. We’re trying to grow as much as we can – we’ve got a lot of good teams – but it’s really for me just to help out the kids.”
Myers shows up at the teams’ practices and games when his schedule allows, which isn’t very often, of course. He relies on Chris Smith, an associate scout with the Tampa Bay Rays, to run the day-to-operations of the organization.
It was the enjoyment Myers derived from his own travel ball experiences playing for Andy Partin and the Sedalia, N.C.-based Dirtbags organization from 2007-08 that led him to start his own group. He remembers how much fun he had playing with his buddies back in his high school years, and how he formed friendships that still live on. That’s what he wants the kids wearing the WM9 uniform to experience.
“It is about winning – we do want to win – but we just want to make sure the kids are having fun,” he said. “I know a lot of players nowadays are just going out there and playing and have forgotten what it’s like to have fun playing the game. That’s what we’re really preaching and that’s what we want in our program.”
It is Myers’ hope that he can somehow have a hand in helping the youngsters involved with WM9 reach their full potential, whether they’re 8 years old or 15 years old. He also wants to help the older kids receive the exposure that is necessary in terms of moving on to the next level, which means he wants to get his teams entered into Perfect Game tournaments this summer.
“Obviously, Perfect Game played a big part in my career, being in front of all those scouts and things like that, and we definitely want our players to experience that, as well,” Myers said. “That’s what takes you to the next level with all those scouts and (college) coaches at the games.”
A quick look at Myers’ own Perfect Game Player Profile Page provides an interesting inside story. He played in four PG WWBA tournament events with the Dirtbags – including the 2008 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., with the Dirtbags/Hooters Scout Team – and also stood out at the 2008 PG National Showcase in Minneapolis.
By the time he graduated from high school, PG ranked him No. 15 nationally in the class of 2009 and he had signed a letter of intent with South Carolina. But the most interesting line of data on Myers’ PG Profile Page was the listing for his position. He was a primary third baseman, but also a first baseman, catcher, outfielder and shortstop, not to mention a right-handed pitcher with a 91 mph fastball.
"What people don't really understand is he could play anywhere on the field, all nine positions, and do them all really, really (well)," the Dirtbags’ Partin told PG in August 2013. "There aren't a lot of true super utility guys out there anymore ... but this kid could do anything.”
Myers was selected by the Royals in the third round of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, signed a contract and never made it to the University of South Carolina. He ended up playing all or parts of five seasons in the minor leagues, including 64 games in his AL ROY season in 2013.
He made his major league debut with Rays on June 18, 2013, at the age of 22 after four full minor league seasons. That is a fairly rapid ascension and was something that really struck the Dirtbags’ Partin when he spoke with PG a year-and-half ago.
"It was really neat to watch that guy develop, and he was super talented when we got him," Partin said. "He could just do things on the field that not a lot of kids could do and he was great for us. It's been a lot of fun because he's had success at every level. He's had to earn it to get (to the big leagues) and I'm glad he's up there; I think he's going to be there a long time."
And now Myers is with the Padres, and is likely to be patrolling center field at Petco Park with 2004 Perfect Game All-American Justin Upton on one side of him and the former Dodger Matt Kemp on the other as part of manager Bud Black’s outfield.
They are a team many feel can legitimately contend with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants for the National League West championship this season.
“I know a lot of people are thinking we’re going to have a good team but I still think we’re going to surprise some people as well,” Myers said. “I think with the pitching we’ve got and the offensive that we have, I think it’s a very dynamic team, very explosive.
“I think the biggest word is ‘excited’. Everybody’s just excited to get this thing going,” he concluded. “It’s been a long offseason for a lot of players in (the clubhouse) and we’re just ready to play some meaningful games during the season.”