Odds & Ends: Padres, Baldelli, Hillenbrand

Exactly, 4.7 ERA "Closers" aren't exactly a hard quantity to find, one could just sign Todd Jones for that.

Sherrill's value lies not so much in being a closer, but in being a LHP who can be effective against RHB in a setup role and step in as a closer if an unproven youngster fails in the job.

Hillenbrand is an interesting case. He is still relatively young, is a proven MLB hitter and can play both infield corners. Hardly a poor commodity to have for a bench guy/cheap 8 hole. If his head is on right, there is no reason for him not to garner interest.

As for Rocco, it is still sad. He is a 5-tool player with CF defensive ability, but this weird disorder seems to have just robbed him of so much potential.

Sherill is decent as a closer, but the fact is that it just wouldn't be ideal to have him closing.

Against lefties, the guy is a lockdown reliever (.190 BAA, .534 OPS Against), but against righties the guy is very hittable (.254 BAA, .784 OPS Against). Ideally, Sherill would be used mostly against lefties, which would have him giving you numbers more like he had in 2007 (2.37 ERA, .179 BAA) than he had in 2008 (4.73 ERA, .234 BAA).

Hillenbrand has never been a good offensive player. Career OBP of .321. The last season he played, 2007, his OBP was .270. Yikes.

Sherrill isn't a very good option as a closer but I think he proved that he's more than a LOOGY, so he should have some value as a set up man. I believe his strikeout numbers are solid as well.

Sherrill wasn't a "lock down" closer by any means, but he was solid and the inflated ERA can be explained somewhat by his ineffectiveness in non save situations, so he should have some value to other teams

I am just curious if Olney is EVER right about anything.

Almost every post has so many assumptions that turn out totally wrong that it is a wonder they actually PAY him for his comments.

1st Off - It is not that the Padres can't afford Peavy's contract. They could pay Peavy and Giles and Trevor and everyone else currently under contract or eligible for arbitration and still be under $50 million for 2009. Ad reduction of $23 from the 2008 payroll and $5 million LESS than Olney said they has set their payroll at.

The reason a trade is being talked about is Peavy's Value will never be higher than it is now because of a combination of his age (27) and his relatively low $ contract over the next 5 years.

If Padres trade him now they may be able to improve at multiple positions with younger players they can control for several more years prior to their reaching arbitration and free agency. That is the true value to the team in payroll savings. Not Just Peavy's salary.

If the Padres end up getting Escobar, Schafer, ML ready pitcher and a another pitching prospect, they fill SS and CF immediately. This will give them 3 players earning right at or near the major league minimum salary while providing comparable performance at CF and SS and good performance at SP.

2nd - This will also allow the Padres to then trade Greene and Kouzmanoff and move Headley to 3B.

Both Kouz and Khalil should be able to bring back a pretty good young pitcher in return.

Kouzmanoff, who is has a higher trade value, may actually land the Padres a young pitcher like Ervin Santana, Nick Blackburn/Francisco Liriano, or Gavin Floyd whose teams have a need at 3B with little in the farm system at that position and several good young pitchers on each team they could potentially trade to the Padres.

Moving Peavy, Greene and Kouzmanoff could add 2-3 ML pitchers who step into the rotation immediately and 2 starting position players plus several prospects and will clear $18 million off the books.

That would put the Padres payroll at around $27.5 million for 2009. Sign Trevor for $4 million and they are still at only $31.5 million.

So even if they are going to cut the payroll to $55 million, they will still have another $23.5 million to spend and will only really need a #3 type pitcher, a couple of bullpen guys and a backup catcher.

Next years Padres team may look very different and yet be both younger and stronger if they can get back a good return on Peavy, Kouzmanoff and Greene.

Websoulsurfer

The Padres have not even SCOUTED Hernandez and they have scouted Schafer multiple times in the AFL.

Three times in the past 3 weeks I have seen Padres scouts sitting in seats reserved for Braves personnel. Twice Hanson was pitching.

Also, trading for Hernandez makes no sense for the Padres.

If they are going to get an outfielder in return, they don't need one that will not be ML ready for 2-3 more seasons.

They need one that is ready NOW and will give them the chance to move Headley to 3B and trade Kouzmanoff, who doesn't fit Alderson's mold.

So once again, Olney says something that just doesn't make any sense.

I know this has nothing to do with the rumor, but where did Shea Hillenbrand play this past season?
The York Revolution!
He did a pretty good job at 3B. I hope his time there helps him get back to MLB.