On May 3rd, 2012, the San Diego Padres made a trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. San Diego sent relief pitcher Ernesto Frieri to the Angles, and received minor league pitcher Donn Roach and infielder Alexi Amarista in return. Amarista was instantly added to the Padres’ roster and saw a lot of playing time, as the Padres released second baseman and costless agent bust Orlando Hudson a few weeks later. 

On the surface, Amarista was kind of an interesting pickup. He is listed at 5'8, but is probably closer to 5'4, and his stature (or lack thereof) earned him the nickname "Little Ninja." He was never considered a top prospect, nor did he flash any tools that would led the average fan to believe that he would bloom into a useful player. 

Sure, Amarista hit in the minors, as his .312 career minor league average dictates. However, he only homered 21 times in nearly 2000 minor league at-bats, and his stolen base percentages were below average. Most scouting reports had Amarista pegged as a utility player, at best.

It did not matter much to Padres’ manager Bud Black, who played Amarista in 105 games in that 2012 season. He rewarded the Padres with a paltry .282 OBP. He also rated out as below-average defensively at every position he played, including a -38.3 UZR/150 in center field, where he logged over 500 innings. Amarista proved he wasn't much with a bat, and wasn't even useful at any position in the field. 

Flash forward to 2013, where Amarista once again posted an uninspiring .282 OBP, with a pitiful WAR of -0.8. Again, he was far below average at every single defensive position he played at. Why was he tied for the team lead with 146 games played? 132 of which were even starts. That seems like an awful lot of time for a utility guy that cannot hit or field.

Despite all the aforementioned instances of terrible work, Amarista was once again on the big league roster to start 2014, and has somehow been even worse with the bat. He is currently sporting an OPS of .559.

The Padres are currently without second baseman Jedd Gyorko, who is on the disabled list. The team sent down prospect Jace Peterson to the minors on Saturday, which means that Amarista has become the de facto everyday second baseman. The Padres have made plenty of questionable decisions over the last few years, but the playing time that Amarista receives has to be near the top of the list.

Padres’ manager Bud Black has been reassured by Padres management that he will remain the manager of the club for the rest of the season. The vote of confidence comes, despite a team-record $90 million payroll and nearly every position player having a career-worst season.

It is easy to question Black's decision to play Amarista so much, but is there a deeper reason he plays that the Padres’ fan base is not privy to? Who knows why Amarista started 132 games last season, and could match that number this season -- however production and potential cannot even be in the discussion. 

Obviously, a utility infielder who could fit into a Little League uniform is not the major reason why the Padres are one of the worst teams in baseball. There are a plethora of reasons, however, Amarista is a microcosm of why the Padres have been so awful. The team continues to try the same things over and over again, which have never worked in the past.

What the statistics show is that Amarista is clearly not deserving of the playing time he receives, yet he continues to get opportunities to play every day. No one can argue that the Padres cannot do better, as a .282 OBP in 700 at-bats and below-average defense everywhere is not hard to replicate. Bud Black loves trotting him out, so fans are forced to deal with one of several automatic outs in the worst lineup baseball has seen in nearly 100 years. 

This author is not trying to pick on Amarista, but is just using the infielder as an example of why the Padres and Bud Black have failed. Doing the same thing and getting the exact result means one thing: it’s time to make a change. Bud Black and Alexi Amarista are examples of the entropy of losing that the Padres have fallen into. Heck, Amarista and Black might be baseball soul mates: two entities that will forever be joined in the black abyss that has become Padres’ baseball.

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About the author
Kevin Charity
Hello, my name is Kevin Charity. I am 29-years-old, and I reside in San Diego, California. I have been blogging for about four years, mostly writing about baseball. I am a huge San Diego Padres fan, and I have had my work featured on MLBTraderumors.com. No one knows as much as the Padres organization as I do.