Major League Baseball

San Diego Padres holding Jered Weaver on a "short leash"

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:39 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Keaton Moore/FanSided via Call to the Pen

The San Diego Padres gambled on Jered Weaver this offseason, but so far he's been an empty hand and management is starting to take notice.

Following his rough outing against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, where he allowed seven runs in three innings, Jered Weaver is showing no signs of a turnaround. Seven starts into the season and winless, the aging right-hander is 0-4 with a disastrous 6.81 ERA.

Consequently, Weaver is now being held to a "short leash" according to Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, who expressed his frustration on The Mighty 1090-AM on Wednesday.

Fowler's ominous foreshadowing of a roster change contains a similar ring to the trade that sent James Shields to the Chicago White Sox last year. In similar fashion as Weaver, the Padres signed Shields with high expectations, but he never lived up to them.

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Once Shields fell to 2-7 after allowing 10 runs in 2.2 innings to the Seattle Mariners last May, the Padres traded him away to the White Sox four days later. Given his similarities with Shields and Fowlers' illusive comment, whose to say Weaver won't end up wearing another uniform by year's end?

Deja Vu

To some who watched the Los Angeles Angels last year, Weaver's weak start this season is nothing new. In what turned out to be the final season of his 11-year stint with the Angels, Weaver's velocity dropped significantly and he posted a career-worst 5.06 ERA.

Yet, during last season, Weaver experience plenty of ups and downs, including a 1-4 April, to end up with a 12-12 record. Quiet possibly, Weaver can work out of this down as he is expected to make his next start on Saturday and slowly prove to the Padres that he is worth keeping around.

"Nobody takes this harder than me," Weaver said (per gaslampball.com). "It's been frustrating not being able to throw the ball the way I want to. I know it's right around the corner. I can feel it. I'm going to keep going out there and grinding. I'm going to figure this out."

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