Padres, Austin Hays Agree to Major League Deal

The Padres and outfielder Austin Hays have reached an agreement on a major league contract, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Hays is a client of The MAS+ Agency.

A former member of the Orioles, Phillies, Reds and White Sox, Hays is now in position to see action with his fifth big league team. The 31-year-old scored a $6MM guarantee with the White Sox last winter, but they released him on Friday. Hays hit a disastrous .233/.250/.326 (50 wRC+) with a 29.5% strikeout rate, a 2.3% walk rate and minus-0.4 fWAR over just 44 plate appearances with Chicago, where he spent significant time on the injured list with hamstring and calf troubles.

Although his White Sox tenure went poorly, Hays is a former All-Star (2023 with the Orioles) who has typically held his own at the plate and in the outfield corners. In 2,664 PA since he debuted with the O’s in 2017, Hays has hit .262/.312/.433 (104 wRC+) with 84 homers. He has popped 15 or more homers four times, including with the Reds last season, and has been especially tough on left-handed pitchers. The righty-swinging Hays has put up a strong .282/.339/.477 line and a 123 wRC+ in 820 trips to the plate versus southpaws.

Hays’ calf strain has kept him out of major league action since May 1, when he and the White Sox happened to face the Padres, but he is healthy again. If Hays returns to his usual offensive form, he should provide a boost to a San Diego team that has not been able to solve lefties this year. It hasn’t helped that they lost righty-hitting outfielder Ramón Laureano to hip surgery in early June. They have also placed righty-swinging infielder/DH Miguel Andujar on multiple occasions. He is currently out after suffering a right wrist fracture on July 19.

The Padres will enter play Sunday a matching 27th in the sport against LHPs in OPS (.668) and wRC+ (88). Despite their issues in that department, the Friars are 61-57 and just a game out of a Wild Card spot. Hays will likely take over as their starting left fielder against southpaws, per Jared Greenspan of MLB.com. The switch-hitting Luis Rengifo and righty Jase Bowen have gotten most of the work there in the past couple of weeks, but they have not offered much production. Bowen is off to a brutal .151/.195/.219 start in his first 77 plate appearances in the majors.