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Reactions To The Carlos Quentin Trade

Earlier today, the Padres bolstered their lineup by acquiring Carlos Quentin from the White Sox for pitching prospects Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.  Here's a look at some of the fallout and reactions to the New Year's Eve swap..

• The early word from scouts is that Castro and Hernandez don't have much upside, which indicates that this was a payroll move, tweets ESPN.com's Buster Olney.  
• Despite the criticism of the two prospects, White Sox GM Ken Williams insists that the club has identified the keys to getting Castro back to where he was a year ago when he was considered to be a strong prospect, according to the White Sox official Twitter.  The 23-year-old right-hander was ranked as the Padres third best prospect last year by Baseball America.
• Williams also compared Castro's build and mound mechanics to those of Jose Contreras, according to the ChiSox Twitter.  Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus (via Twitter) notes compared Castro to Contreras in a piece almost two years ago.
• Quentin said that the White Sox's sub-.500 finish in 2011 and his value led him to think he might be traded, tweets Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter).  The outfielder also says that he knew he was on Padres' radar.
• In a piece for ESPN.com, Keith Law writes that Quentin is a mediocre fit for the Padres.  Quentin, he writes, is a poor defensive outfielder who has great secondary skills, including above-average power and solid plate discipline.  However, his history of injuries indicates that he'll have trouble playing the field 150 games a year.
• GM Josh Byrnes and Ken Williams have swapped Quentin once before.  As Diamondbacks GM, Byrnes traded Quentin to Chicago for first baseman Chris Carter in 2007.  Byrnes said that trading away Quentin was "pretty high" on his list of regrets as Arizona GM, tweets Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres.
• The trade appears to signal that Kyle Blanks isn't in the team's plans going forward, Krasovic tweets.
• Byrnes says that he and Williams have been discussing the deal for the past ten days and the pace picked up significantly over the past two days, Krasovic tweets.  Byrnes also says that he's looking to put together a team that can compete in 2012 while maintaining a long-term plan (via Twitter).
• The two sides agreed to the deal in principle Friday morning before announcing the trade today, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com.

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