The Padres have already pulled off two major offseason trades under GM Josh Byrnes, sending Mat Latos to Cincinnati and obtaining Carlos Quentin from the White Sox. “We’re not in total go-for-it mode, but we can make some choices,” Byrnes said, according to Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Here are details from Center’s recent look ahead to the rest of the San Diego’s offseason:
- The Padres acquired Quentin from the White Sox with the notion that they could extend him, Byrnes said.
- The Padres have already discussed signing Cameron Maybin to a deal that would buy out one or two of his free agent years, according to Center. We heard late in December that the Padres were set to re-start contract talks with the center fielder, who’s on track to hit free agency after 2015.
- No payroll model would have allowed the Padres to re-sign Adrian Gonzalez for $20-25MM per season, according to Byrnes. Former Padres GM Jed Hoyer dealt Gonzalez to Boston for prospects Casey Kelly, Reymond Fuentes and Anthony Rizzo last offseason.
- The Padres were reluctant to offer Heath Bell a third year this offseason, Center writes.
- The Padres could sign a pitcher or two before Spring Training and San Diego native Joel Zumaya is high on Byrnes’ wish list, Center notes.
- Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner would like to see the Mariners pursue Will Venable, "probably one of the more underrated players in the sport."
- The Padres figured prominently on Tim Dierkes' list of the offseason's most surprising trades so far.
Would love to see the Pads add Zumaya to a minor league deal, and bring in Paul Maholm as Mosley and Richards are health concerns.
Wonder if the Pads could package some combo Venable and pieces for Nick Franklin. Doubt we will see anyone bite on Hudson.
RIzzo is a great trade piece as is Blanks, both are young and have vast talent. Maybe a package to the Rays for Hak Ju Lee and an arm. Pads will not be contenders this year, but will not be the Astros either. The future is bright for this team…
You joker. If Venable is the biggest piece in a deal for Franklin, it ain’t happening. Sorry! It would have to be Rizzo. Silly goose.
Why would the Mariners trade Nick Franklin, their 20-year-old switch-hitting shortstop who was Baseball America’s 53rd-ranked prospect last season, for 22-year-old firstbaseman Anthony Rizzo, BA’s 75th-ranked prospect who plays the same position as Justin Smoak and Mike Carp?
You can find Dave Cameron’s reasoning behind just that if you click on the link above and go to his piece on the Latos trade benefiting the M’s.
That was last year’s rankings…….Rizzo had a monster year in AAA, and a sub par (being kind) year in the majors. Franklin is at least a year away, but had a great year in A last year.
Smoak hit .234 with 15 homers last year in 400 or so AB’s….Carp is already 26 and has not held as a big leaguer. Neither is a long term solution at 1B.
The Mariners are not going to get Prince……as with all things on this site, it’s just a thought by a fan. People get so bent out of shape like you are insulting their mother. There is a reason none of is work in major league offices…..we just are fans.
I politely asked a question … no one is “bent out of shape.”
To be precise, Mike Carp is 25 years old and matched Anthony Rizzo’s “monster year” in the rarified air of Tucson while Carp was playing his home games at sea level in Tacoma. Rizzo posted a .331/.404/.652/1.056 line in the Pacific Coast League while Carp posted a .343/.411/.649/1.060 line before being named AL Rookie of the Month in August following his MLB call-up.
Justin Smoak may have disappointed at the MLB level in 2011, but not to the degree of Anthony Rizzo.
Smoak had 400 AB’s….Rizzo had less than 200……
Rizzo is way better. He’ll have the better career imo. I’d be mad if the pads traded Rizzo and only got Franklin. They should just hold on to Rizzo, at least until the trade deadline or summer. Make Alonso earn the job over him.
Hence the word, “package”……
Hmm never though about that. Malholm could be interesting in SD
I also like the idea of bringing Zumaya in. If healthy and used properly he could be a good anchor for the young bullpen. If they bring Maholm, which I wouldn’t mind, does that mean Bass is back to the minors? Stauffer, Luebke, Richard, Moseley and Maholm would have to be the starting 5 right? In this scenario, you would have to hope that one of the 4, not Luebke I want to keep him around for a while, is having a good year and at the deadline Byrnes could get something for him.
I don’t think the M’s would move Franklin for Venable unless the other piece was quite good and I don’t think Franklin is a sure bet to stay at SS anyway.
Rizzo is a great trade piece, but I don’t think Blanks has a lot of value at this point. I could see him going to an AL team and becoming the player the Padres once thought he would become, but I don’t think the Padres couldd get a lot for him right now. Unless the Rays are willing to give up Lee, which everyone doesn’t think they are, then I wouldn’t be making a deal with them involving Rizzo.
One of the Koke’s had a pretty good 3 way trade proposal:
Padres get Turner(DET) & Jackson(CHC)
Cubs get Rizzo(SD), Crosby(DET) and another minor leaguer(DET)
Tigers get Garza(CHC) and Headley(SD)
And you are right about the future of this team being bright. Now as long as 1/2 of these prospects come through, all Padre fans wil be laughing.
Headley & Rizzo for Turner & Jackson. I’d pass. Turner I think is over-rated, and not as good as the other top pitching prospects in the game he’s lumped with. Brett Jackson I see as having an Aaron Cunningham bat while having the added speed & CF value. If the Padres weren’t set in CF, maybe, but him in a corner doesn’t seem like a long-term solution. Good not great bat, they should aim higher.
The Tigers though, sweet mother, Turner, Crosby, another minor leaguer for Garza AND Headley… if they could they should.
You see, I think the Padres need 2 centerfielders, so Jackson could just slide to right and still have a ton of grass to cover. I’ll be honest I haven’t seen Turner pitch, but from everything I read he is going to at least be a #2, which could play out as a #1 in Petco. I wouldn’t mind trying Rizzo in left either.
I think they do with Venable starting, and arguably with Denorfia too. Not a great platoon by any measure, but one that is cheap and serviceable.
It’s a pretty great platoon for the Padres. The duo will cost a little more than 3m next year with Venable still under control for four years and Denorfia for two. Venable had pretty solid minor league splits (same avg. vs LH/RH) but that has not been the case in the majors.
RF was the Padres most productive position last year because of those two. With the Quentin trade, I’d like to see Venable/Blanks fill the spot next year. Denorfia would either see his playing time reduced to late inning defensive guy/pinch hitter or be dealt, as he’d probably provide more value in trade versus holding down that role. In that scenario, Blanks time in RF would be limited to 6 or 7 innings when he did start. On some instances he’d shift to LF or to 1b during the later portion of the game, depending on other factors.
So a possible outfield of Quentin in LF, Maybin in CF, and Blanks/Venable in RF, with Deno as a late-innings replacement? Could be hard to watch sometimes, but I like that configuration, and it works perfectly with keeping Alonso/Guzman at 1B.
I’m not even sure if they would need to keep Denorfia. Late innings would have Maybin in CF, Venable in RF with one of the others in LF. Venable or Maybin goes down, Tekotte gets called up from Tucson.
Great points. I just love the Deno I guess.
I don’t know about the Blanks/Venable platoon. Blanks MLB numbers vs. LHP (small sample size granted) have not been very inspiring-and I’m a big Blanks fan. I just think that he needs to play every day.
I agree on the Venable/Denorfia platoon, but from what I read Jackson should be better than both.
Depends what the Cubs asking price would be, I suppose.
Jackson is 15 homers and 25 sbs at best playing at Petco offensively. I’m not a huge fan.
Blanks can be an Allstar and good clean up hitter, best case.
I’m not sure Blanks is going to get another shot in San Diego. Quentin/Maybin/Venable looks like the starting OF to me.
The Tigers pick up Headley and Garza, they would be instant contenders for a World Series title.
The Padres would need more back for Headley and Rizzo, imo.
Yeah good starting point for Rizzo and a prospect similar to what the White Sox got; but when you put Headley in it’s nowhere near enough. Sad truth is the Cubs don’t have what the pads want, but getting a 3rd team involved could get a deal done.
You forget about Volquez. Stauffer, Luebke, Maholm, Volguez and one of Bass, Richards or Mosley. I think you see them move on of Richards or Mosely during the Spring if they prove healthy.
Pads are so desperate for middle of the infield depth, I think you would have to overpay for someone like Lee, or Franklin etc.
Wow, what a brain cramp. I can’t believe I forgot about Volquez and I can’t even blame it on “the New Years hangover”. He should actually have a heck of a year with the help of Balsley and Petco. As for the middle infield, as long as all you want is a steady, not star, SS then Bartlett could be your man. Everyone in San Diego was expecting the All Star Bartlett, but I don’t think he is that player anymore. As for 2nd, Forsythe could hold down the bag if the Padres could get rid of/would cut Hudson. I really want them to sign Aybar next off season.
Bartlett, Hudson, Forsythe, and Cabrerra is plenty of middle infield depth.
Thing is, padres have star caliber prospects at every position except shortstop (unless you consider Jace Peterson and Cumberland). Ideally they’d like to trade for Profar or Machado but it looks like Lee followed by Franklin are the two best shortstop prospects that can be had at a steep price. Personally, I question whether Franklin can even handle short in the majors, so I apologize if your offended that I feel that he isn’t even worth Blanks.
…ive watched zumaya on the DL over and over and over…once even because of playing a video game (15 days)…hope he doesnt get a hangnail…
Only Padres fans (myself not included) still think Blanks has value. He can’t hit in the majors, at least not consistently. He has a ton of holes in his swing. I do think he’ll be moved this off-season, but not in a deal of note. I think he makes sense as part of a 1B platoon for the Rangers.
He has holes but he’s still young and can/will figure it out. Obviously I’m the kind of fan you speak about, but say if Blanks was traded to the Phillies and you wrote his name into their 6th spot… If he was to bat their I could pencil in a easy 30 homers if he stayed healthy, and I mean easy.
If the pads are smart and don’t platoon or bench him I see Blanks being one of their top hitters and leader of the team in homers in 2012
Venable is not underrated. He’s just not very good. You mariners can have him.
Quentin in SD sounds like a recipe for disaster. There’s nothing to show they would be worse off with Alonso in LF and Rizzo at 1B than Quentin in LF and Alonso at 1B.
I’m always curious about people that get traded a ton, and sometimes with people like Teixeira and Sabathia it’s weird seeing them on so many teams. But someone like Quentin I can totally understand why they move around so much. Not to beat a dead horse but he’s gonna struggle massively in SD
I really don’t understand why everyone says the Padres need a lot of power hitters. That’s not the way to build in Petco. They are building around speed, contact, and pitching. Petco can actually IMPROVE some hitters that have gap power and good contact skills. That is what they are doing and power pieces like Quentin are just complimentary.
this. Why Alonso will be good there, and why Hundley, Headley, and Venable are underrated
Getting two FA years of Maybin’s under team control would be a nice final move to an already inspiring off-season. Excellent player for the Padres to gamble on.
Glad to hear you say the offseason has been inspiring, with the Latos deal and all. At the center of that deal was a redundancy at both 1B and C. I think Byrnes has done an excellent job at attacking the clubs biggest weakness… offense. Instant offensive upgrade at 1B, OF, C, and on the bench. This is exactly where the Padres needed to improve and have done so without selling out the future, the Latos loss aside. If the Padres show they can be competetive this year, I see no reason why they couldn’t replace Latos arm next year either in house, via FA, or via trade. They will have the payroll flexibility and the prospects to do so. Great off season thus far by Byrnes, and plenty of depth everywhere except middle infield.
I’m getting a little obsessed, at this point with Blanks platooning with Lind at 1B in TO and getting all in on their “grip it and rip it” RHB pull obsession. Litsch + a little more for him? Litsch is exactly the type of pitcher who would put up great numbers in SD
I should say – Lind needs a platoon partner desperately, he has major weaknesses against lefties, and Encarnacion would work but he should be the full-time DH (has great numbers, an OPS in the .800s, when not having to worry about defense). My other cheap option, besides Blanks, is Jonny Gomes, so….
Blanks and Forsythe for Lowrie.
They’re not trading Lowrie-especially not for marginal pieces like Blanks and Forsythe. And I like both those guys.
Wait LAWRIE. That’s not happening