Hours after announcing Tyler Wade had been designated for assignment, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller expressed a hope that the clubhouse favorite would remain in the organization after clearing waivers, as he has.

As for the longest-tenured member of the organization, Preller was resigned to the fact that Eguy Rosario was likely headed to a new home.

The team has seven days to work out a trade. If that endeavor fails, it is unlikely that the 25-year-old Rosario would pass through waivers without a rebuilding team — like, say, a White Sox team coming off a 121-loss season — wouldn’t find room on their active roster.

“Eguy’s a big-league player,” Preller said Thursday morning. “He’s got real talent and ability … and he can do damage. He can do a lot of things to help a team win a game. … He’s going to get an opportunity to go elsewhere and play in the big leagues I would think immediately, and we’ll try to add some value through a trade here in the next week.”

Wade, 30, a Murrieta Valley High grad, has more than five years of service time and can reject a minor league assignment to Triple-A El Paso. Wade is a career .217/.291/.289 hitter across parts of eight seasons in the majors and had a .524 OPS last year, although he filled in capably at six spots on the diamond and was the Padres’ best speed option off the bench until Brandon Lockridge took off this spring.

“He was a real part of our team last year,” Preller said. “ ... We’re going to continue to talk to him a lot here in the next few days and let him know that even though it wasn’t opening day this year, which I know is disappointing, that he fits, and he’s a guy that brought a lot of value to us last year.

“Hopefully we line up on him again here this year, and he comes back.”

— San Diego Union-Tribune

BLUE FLU

The stomach virus that sidelined him for most of two weeks might be behind Mookie Betts. But it does not appear to be over for the Dodgers.

Kiké Hernandez would have been in the lineup for Thursday’s home opener against Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal, but he was feeling ill and vomiting, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Hernandez never made it to Dodger Stadium for Thursday’s home opener and will be re-evaluated Friday.

“I got a text from him earlier today that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t sleep well and couldn’t keep stuff down,” Roberts said before Thursday’s home opener. “(We’re) trying to just get some fluids in him, rest up, and hopefully we can stay away from him. But let’s just hope that it’s not what Mookie dealt with.”

The fact that Hernandez did not feel ill until after the Dodgers returned from Japan makes them confident it is unrelated to Betts’ illness. Betts started feeling ill during the team’s final days in Arizona before leaving for Tokyo and said he dropped from 175 to 157 pounds over the course of two weeks.

Apparently, Betts was not the only player who came down with a stomach virus while the team was still in Arizona. Reliever Michael Kopech did not make the trip to Tokyo and said he was ill before the team’s departure as well — “similar stuff to what Mookie had but probably not as severe.”

— Bill Plunkett

AROUND THE MAJORS

A sampling of notes from Thursday’s late openers:

Pittsburgh starter Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball the Pirates’ 5-4 loss to the Marlins in Miami. Skenes gave up three hits and walked two.

Houston prospect Cam Smith, 22, who reached the majors after playing just 32 minor league games, started in right field in the Astros 3-1 win over the Mets.

Miguel Amaya hit two doubles and had five RBIs, and Ian Happ added a homer, double and three RBIs as the Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-6 in Phoenix.

Jorge Polanco and Randy Arozarena hit eighth-inning home runs as the Mariners rallied to beat the Athletics 4-2 in Seattle.

The A’s, in the process of moving from Oakland to Las Vegas, begin what is expected to be a three-year stint in Sacramento on Monday against the Cubs for a three-game series at Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affaliate.