Myers intent to make good on contract

PHOENIX -- The question caught Wil Myers off-guard. Standing in front of his locker after the Padres' final home game on Thursday afternoon, Myers was asked whether he thought he might have played his final home game in San Diego.

Myers paused, shrugged and searched for the right words. Did he expect to return next season?

"As of right now," he said, "Yeah."

Myers, it seems, is just as uncertain about his future as the rest of the baseball world.

"I had not even thought about that until they asked me yesterday -- the thought that it might have been my last home game as a Padre," Myers said Friday before San Diego’s series opener against the D-backs at Chase Field. "It didn't even cross my mind.

"[A trade] is obviously a possibility. It is what it is. I've lived it twice, and you can't control that. If I'm somewhere else, I'll make the most of that opportunity. But if I'm here, I'll make the most of this one. "

Myers wasn’t in the starting lineup on Friday night, though he has been fully cleared to play after a fainting episode Sunday night at Kirby Yates’ charity event. Interim manager Rod Barajas said Myers would start at least one of the Padres’ final two games this season.

If this is Myers’ final series with the club, it would be an unceremonious end to his tenure in San Diego. Three offseasons ago, Myers inked a contract extension that was meant to keep him with the Padres through 2022. He has posted three subpar seasons since, including a .239/.322/.415 slash line in 2019.

His contract extension was worth $83 million at the time, but the payments were not spread evenly. Myers is owed $67.5 million over the next three seasons. He has a team option for the 2022 season, with a $1 million buyout and another $1 million written into the deal if he's traded.

The remaining money owed to Myers is money the Padres presumably would like off their books to address other needs -- most notably starting pitching and left-handed bats.

But Myers has played like a big-money player in the past. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2013 and an All-Star in ’16. He feels he can reach those heights again.

"I still have three years on this deal to make this into a good deal," Myers said. "Obviously, it looks bad right now. But I have the ability to come in and make it good for both sides. I'm still in the prime of my career. I'm 28 years old. There's still time, and, at some point, I know I'll figure it out."

Of course, the Padres must ask themselves whether they have the patience to wait for Myers to figure it out. Team sources have indicated that the club will test the market with Myers this winter.

But it's unclear what it would take for a Myers deal to come to fruition. Would the Padres need to throw in a prospect? Would they be willing to eat some salary?

They'd prefer to avoid both of those options. General manager A.J. Preller generally isn't one to sacrifice prospects for salary relief. And the organization still feels as though there's value to be extracted from Myers. He's their only outfielder with relatively even splits, and he has posted a .273/.333/.436 slash line in the second half, leading to some optimism. If that's the production the Padres would get from Myers, why eat salary to watch him play somewhere else?

Then again, there's no guarantee that's the production the Padres get out of Myers.

"The ups and downs, it's not what I wanted to be doing," Myers said. "It's definitely on the frustrating side. I definitely had a few times through the year where I really got going, then followed it up with an 0-for-15. ... For me, it's just about looking to find that consistency where once I get it going, I keep it going."

For the Padres, that refrain is an all-too familiar one from Myers.

Ultimately, he might find that consistency he craves so desperately. Will he be given the chance to find it in San Diego? That remains to be seen.