It was on this day in 1982 that the Padres made a trade with the Cardinals that brought shortstop Garry Templeton to town. Though Templeton spent the next 10 seasons in San Diego, it's still a trade that Padres fans shake their heads over. The centerpiece of the package that went to the Cards was another shortstop — future Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith.
Here are some notes from the modern-day Padres….
- The Padres will have about a 20% ownership stake in the new FOX regional TV network that will air their games, reports Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres. The ownership stake is part of the pending 20-year broadcasting contract between the club and the new cable outlet. The Padres would get $30MM in the first year and that total would gradually increase to $65-70MM by the final year of the contract.
- Based on these ownership shares, Krasovic reports the Padres could receive around $1.5 billion from the contract, close to the $75MM annual payout that USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported on Thursday. Krasovic notes the $1.5 billion figure is "a best-case scenario" for the team, which may explain why club president Tom Garfinkel said yesterday that Nightengale's reported terms were too high.
- Andrew Cashner tells MLB.com's Corey Brock (via Twitter) that the Padres have promised him a chance to start again after this season. Cashner made his first Major League start in 2011 but pitched in just seven games due to a strained right rotator cuff.
- Josh Byrnes seems to have more room to operate than did former GM Jed Hoyer, writes Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune as part of his weekly fan chat. Byrnes has already convinced owner Jeff Moorad to spend an extra $7MM on payroll this winter and Center doesn't "think Hoyer would have had the freedom to pull the trigger on the Carlos Quentin trade."
