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Wil Myers, a Padres‘ mainstay through the difficult years that led to their recent success, has signed with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent.
Myers, 32, joined the Padres in 2015 after an off-season trade with Tampa Bay. His six-year contract with the Padres ended in 2022 and though the team had an option to extend the pact, they declined.
He played with last-place clubs, then one that made to the National League Championship Series, a road that gave him the chance “to see the city transform.”
“It was a lot of fun for those eight years and something I’ll never forget,” Myers told MLB in October after the Phillies closed out the NLCS, ending the Padres storybook season.
The outfielder/first baseman is a career .254 hitter with 153 home runs and 521 RBIs.
His new contract is for one year at $7.5 million with incentives.
In October, the former American League Rookie of the Year said “he had nothing but great things to say about San Diego,” but he perhaps cemented himself in city sports lore with his unique celebration of the Padres’ shocking win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
He and his wife left Petco Park and kept the celebration going, heading to downtown bars to buy rounds of drinks for ecstatic fans. In his farewell, posted to social media, he wrote that “none of us will ever forget the thrills of October 2022. I have a bar tab to prove it.”
In other Padres news, MLB reported that the team signed the versatile Matt Carpenter, pitcher Seth Lugo and catcher Pedro Severino.
Among the departures – Josh Bell, who came to San Diego in the Washington Nationals trade that brought the Padres Juan Soto, left for Cleveland. Brandon Drury, another trade deadline acquisition, will be a Los Angeles Angel in 2023.
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