The Padres are 8.5 games out, and it’s only April 28th. It’s not a good place to be. Obviously they aren’t throwing in the towel yet, but if they have a similarly ugly May a fire sale could be in order. Let’s speculate on some trade possibilities.
- Greg Maddux. The Padres’ highest paid player at $10MM, Mad Dog is calling his own shots at this point. I imagine he’d prefer to stay put.
- Brian Giles. The team’s leadoff hitter still knows how to draw a walk. He doesn’t hit lefties much but his overall numbers would look a lot better away from Petco. He earns $9MM this year and has a $3MM buyout for ’09. He can block trades to eight teams and gets a $2MM increase if dealt.
- Jim Edmonds. He’d have to shake off the slow start and remain healthy. Makes $8MM with no-trade protection; the Cards are paying $2MM of his salary.
- Trevor Hoffman. Even if Hoffman loses the closer gig a trade seems unlikely.
- Randy Wolf. He might be one of the Padres’ more tradeable commodities. He’s signed reasonably and just needs to remain healthy. Everyone needs pitching.
- Khalil Greene. Greene gets $4.5MM this year and $6.5MM in ’09. Trading him only makes sense if a good young shortstop comes back.
- Others: Tadahito Iguchi, Tony Clark, Glendon Rusch, Michael Barrett (if healthy).
