MLB fans react to the news of the Padres signing the free agent, Rougned Odor

Rougned Odor has signed a deal with the San Diego Padres. It has been reported that it is a minor league deal, and the finalization is yet to be completed once his medical tests are done.

The Padres have offered Odor a minor league deal and have invited him to be a part of the Padres' spring training practice sessions.

Odor, who is 29 years old, made his major league debut with the Rangers in 2014 as a 20-year-old, and by 2016, he already had the look of one of baseball's top young second basemen. By that point, he had hit.265/.302/.464 while steadily increasing his power output.

Rougned Odor hit 33 home runs in 2016, making up for a pitiful 3.0% walk rate and .296 OBP with tremendous power, good bat-to-ball abilities, and a strong second base defense.

He has a batting line of.201/.274/.398 going back to 2019 (78 wRC+), but he has started to take more strolls, his 7.6% rate over the previous four seasons is still below average.

Nevertheless, his strikeout rate, which was once above average, has risen to 27.8% since 2019. Odor did make progress with the Orioles in that area last year (23.1%), but the 2022 season also saw him produce his lowest amount of power since his rookie year.

Rougned Odor joins an already stacked San Diego Padres roster

On paper, the Padres compared favorably with L.A. With their performance in October, they have already shown that they can compete with their main division rivals.

Now that Xander Bogaerts has joined the Friars, it will also include the return of Fernando Tatis Jr., the extension of Manny Machado and Yu Darvish's contracts, and the addition of Rougned Odor.

If they fall well short once more, concerns about sustainability, especially those regarding trading Soto before his walking year, will only get louder. Yet given how early in the season it is, it seems more likely that the opposite will occur.

The Padres have Machado, Tatis, Soto, Bogaerts, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, more members of their youthful core, and all the other players they signed over the winter, at least for this season.

About the author

Karan has been a baseball sports betting expert, analyst and content strategist at Sportskeeda since 2022. He holds a Master's degree in Sports Management from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked with the VCU Rams baseball team as a trackman analyst. He started following the sport at 18, watching postseason on television.

Karan is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers owing to their successful history in the sport, and their consistent performances at the highest level. He admires Mookie Betts’ on-field defensive and offensive prowess, along with his off-field charitable exploits, while Bruce Bochy is his favorite coach.

The Mets’ miraculous rally from a two-run deficit in the 1986 World Series Game 6 in the bottom of the 10th inning despite being two outs and two strikes down is his all-time favorite baseball moment.

Karan’s strengths are player profiling and technical deep dives, for which he always refers to reliable sources such as the social media handles of the best MLB analysts.

When not strategizing, he likes to read, listen to music, go for a run, and watch sit-coms.

Know More