The Padres have “sort of banned the word ’small-market’ ” in regards to how they both perceive themselves and how they wish to be seen around the league, team co-owner Peter Seidler tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres’ busy offseason and second straight year with a payroll in the $100MM range were made possible by increased revenues from Petco Park and national and local TV contracts. Team president/CEO Mike Dee notes that the Padres’ recent spending “should not be looked upon as an aberration. This should not be looked upon as ownership is going for broke. This should be looked upon as ownership is doing what they said they were going to when they bought the team, which is trying to make this a franchise that operates at a very high level.”
Here’s the latest from around the NL West…
- Archie Bradley’s promotion to the Major Leagues and to the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation is all but official, Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic writes. Bradley’s strong performance during Spring Training gave the Snakes reason to explore trading Trevor Cahill, eventually sending the veteran righty to the Braves. “If [Bradley] had needed more work, Cahill would still be here,” Tony La Russa said. “Trevor got the attention of a number of clubs, so we started getting calls from different clubs. It wasn’t a question of let’s trade him at some point. It came to a decision of Archie versus Trevor.”
- Speaking of highly-touted young arms in the NL West, Eddie Butler still has a chance to earn a place in the Rockies’ rotation after his start today, Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. Jon Gray, the Rockies’ top prospect and one of the top-ranked prospects in all of baseball, will not be starting his MLB career quite yet, as Groke notes in another piece that Gray will begin the season at Triple-A.
- Brian Sabean’s promotion from Giants general manager to VP of baseball operations will allow Sabean to personally scout new talent, he tells reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea). This includes players currently in MLB and also international prospects who could become more available thanks to the expanding Cuban market and the possibility of an international draft being instituted. “The international schedule is moving fast. I don’t see enough of our minor-league teams to draw my own conclusions,” Sabean said. “I hardly see any games before the June draft, which I used to do. Selfishly, I’d like to see some guys who could be in play trade-wise and free agents to be. This allows me to be more places.”
