Khalil Greene’s Future

Padres beat writer Corey Brock sums up the Khalil Greene situation on his blog.  Greene is due for free agency after the 2009 season, and it does not look like he wants to stay in San Diego longer than that.  Despite his Spicoli-like appearance he might prefer to play on the East Coast and/or in a more hitter friendly park.  He’s 28, plays strong defense, and has a lot of power.  He has been a bit OBP-challenged, whether due to low batting averages, lack of walks, or both.  He’s set to earn $4-5MM in ’08.

Plenty of teams could use a shortstop like Greene: the Orioles, Royals, Angels, Nationals, Cubs, and Cardinals come to mind.  However the Padres have no replacement for him.  Erick Aybar, Felipe Lopez, and Ronny Cedeno are three possibilities where Towers could get a young shortstop in return (Lopez, less so).  Are any of those three a sufficient bounty for two years of Greene?  Pitching might have to be added to make it viable for San Diego.  Towers will be a lot less limited if he can acquire a good young shortstop in a separate deal.