WEDNESDAY, 1:28pm: The Yankees claimed Huffman off waivers from the Padres, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Huffman will head to Triple A. Baseball America ranked Huffman 21st among Padres prospects, noting his strong batting eye and good power but various limitations. Their bottom line quote: "He looks like a future regular on his best days and a part-timer on his worst." Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues and MLBTR has a hunch Kevin Towers' fingerprints are all over this pickup.
SUNDAY, 3:09pm: The Padres designated outfielder Chad Huffman for assignment in order to clear a space on the 40-man roster for veteran slugger Matt Stairs, according to a team press release.
Huffman, 25 later this month, was a second-round pick for the Friars back in 2006. He hit .269/.361/.469 for the Padres Triple-A affiliate in Portland last season, but managed just one hit in 23 spring at-bats. For his career in the minors, Huffman owns a respectable .289/.385/.474 line over four seasons and 1885 plate appearances.
Well, some one had to go and Huffman was expendable because he was part of the old regime, he did not fit the “mold” to play Petco park into an advantage, plus he did not have an impressive ST. With many Padres outfielders, Durango, Denorfia, Cunningham etc that are higher on the depth chart and again better fit the “plan” of Jedi Hoyer and the organization as a whole.
I always liked Chad, hopefully he can be picked up and better utilized by a AL team because he could develop into a very solid DH/LF, more so of the DH caliber IMHO
Hopefully Matt Stairs really helps The Padres out.
Anyone seen Stairs in a Pads uniform yet? I’m really curious to see what he looks like 40lbs lighter…
Would have DFA’d Liz myself.
agreed, same here.
Pretty decent slash line for Huffman. I’ve never heard of the guy but numbers indicate he can hit a little bit. He should get picked up.
Why couldn’t they have designated Cesar Carrillo?
A Kevin Towers recommendation?
Edit: I just read the headline. I didn’t see Axisa’s comment, but obviously, I agree.
LF- Gardener CF- Granderson RF- Swisher DH- Johnson
Huffman looks like he can hit. He’s a good pick up