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Trade Candidate: Carlos Quentin

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If Carlos Quentin keeps hitting and the 17-35 Padres continue struggling, contending teams figure to call about the left fielder this summer. In a trade market that seemingly features little power, Quentin’s right-handed bat will have considerable value.

Carlos Quentin - Padres (PW)

The 29-year-old recently returned to the Padres’ lineup after missing nearly two months to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery. So far, the results have been remarkable. He has seven hits, including three home runs, in 12 trips to the plate. It’s a small sample, of course, but in more than 2400 career plate appearances the two-time All-Star has a .254/.347/.496 batting line. In other words, Quentin offers an attractive combination of on-base skills and power as a hitter. On defense, he’s sure-handed and has decent range with a below-average throwing arm, according to The Fielding Bible Volume III. 

Quentin will earn $7.03MM this season before hitting free agency. Similar players — think Josh Willingham, Jason Kubel and Luke Scott — are worth $6-8MM on the free agent market, which means a qualifying offer in the $12-3MM range seems highly unlikely. The Padres won’t be getting draft picks for Quentin, so a trade appears to be the only way for the team to obtain a long-term asset for the left fielder.

When GM Josh Byrnes acquired Quentin last December, he sent minor league left-hander Pedro Hernandez and right-hander Simon Castro, a former top-100 prospect, to the White Sox. The Padres may be able to acquire better prospects if Quentin’s knee holds up and his bat returns to form. As I mentioned before, there doesn’t seem to be much power on the trade market (Alfonso Soriano could probably be had, but he earns $18MM in 2013 and 2014, which makes things messy). And it could take a while for bats to become available because more teams than ever are within striking distance of a playoff berth.

Once Quentin plays enough to show he is healthy, Byrnes could make him available and wait for other teams to start making offers. The Indians, Orioles and Dodgers are among the teams that might have interest in adding a right-handed hitting outfielder with power in the next eight weeks. If Quentin is healthy the Padres may come out ahead this summer and trade him for better prospects than the ones they surrendered to acquire him.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire. I discussed Quentin and the Padres yesterday on XTRA Sports 1360 in San Diego.

Padres To Sign Jason Marquis

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The Padres will sign Jason Marquis to a minor league contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). San Diego has four starters on the disabled list and needs to replace the depth. He's an ACES client.

Marquis, 33, posted an 8.47 ERA with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) in seven starts and 34 innings for Minnesota this season, but just last year he pitched to a 4.43 ERA in 132 innings for the Nationals and Diamondbacks. The Padres only have to pay Marquis the pro-rated portion of the $480K league minimum with the Twins picking up the rest of his $3MM salary.

Cory Luebke (Tommy John surgery) and Dustin Moseley (shoulder surgery) are both out for the season while Joe Wieland and Tim Stauffer are expected back from their elbow issues sometime this summer.

NL West Notes: Abreu, Dodgers, Padres, Giants

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The Dodgers are sitting atop the National League West with a 32-15 record but have reason to worry with Ted Lilly sidelined due a shoulder injury.  Just as the left-hander hit the 15-day disabled list, we heard tonight that the club has put an offer out to Roy Oswalt.  Here's more out of the NL West..

  • Newly-acquired Bobby Abreu may not have been a great locker room influence with the Angels, but the veteran has provided tremendous veteran leadership with the Dodgers, write Ken Gurnick of Alex Angert of MLB.com.  Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly noted that the club was excited about picking up Abreu but didn't anticipate him playing as much as he has been.
  • Three years after resisting the ownership overtures of Jeff Moorad, Phil Mickelson is joining forces with the O'Malley family in an effort to buy the Padres, writes Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune.  If the group is successful, second-leading money-winner in professional golf history says that he hopes to get Tony Gwynn involved.
  • Barry Bonds hopes to return to the Giants in some coaching capacity, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft.  Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the club plans to bring him back into the organization once his legal proceedings are through.

Padres Seriously Considering Jason Marquis

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The Padres have four starting pitchers on the disabled list at the moment, which is why they are "giving serious thought" to signing Jason Marquis according to Joe Christensen of The Star Tribune. The right-hander was both designated for assignment and released by the Twins within the last week.

Marquis, 33, posted an 8.47 ERA with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) in seven starts and 34 innings for Minnesota this season, but just last year he pitched to a 4.43 ERA in 132 innings for the Nationals and Diamondbacks. Any team that signs Marquis will only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the $480K league minimum with the Twins picking up the rest of his $3MM salary.

Cory Luebke (Tommy John surgery) and Dustin Moseley (shoulder surgery) are both out for the season while Joe Wieland and Tim Stauffer are expected back from their elbow issues sometime this summer.

This post was originally published on May 29th.

Padres Claim Neil Wagner

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The Padres announced that they have claimed right-hander Neil Wagner off of waivers from the Athletics. The Padres optioned Wagner to Triple-A and moved James Darnell to the 60-day disabled list in related moves.

Wagner, 28, made his MLB debut last year, pitching out of the Athletics' bullpen six times. He has been pitching at Triple-A Sacramento this year and has a 5.49 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings. He has a 3.58 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in seven minor league seasons.

Quick Hits: McLouth, Padres, Oswalt, Hamilton

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It's never a good sign for a team when its catcher has the game's best pitching line.  Jeff Mathis' scoreless inning of mop-up work made him the only Blue Jay hurler to not allow a run in the Rangers' 14-3 drubbing of the Jays.  Nelson Cruz swung the hottest Texas bat, going 4-for-5 with a home run and eight RBIs.

Here's some more news from around the majors…

  • The Angels have "no real interest" in Nate McLouth, reports MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (Twitter link).  McLouth was designated for assignment by the Pirates earlier today.
  • Major League Baseball has given approval for three ownership groups to review the Padres' financial records as a step towards possibly buying the team, reports MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom.  The groups are respectively headed by Thomas Tull, Peter O'Malley and Steve Cohen.  Tony Gwynn is affiliated with Tull's group, while O'Malley and Cohen also recently bid to buy the Dodgers.
  • Roy Oswalt needs to show some compromise if he really wants to pitch for the Rangers, writes Evan P. Grant for the Dallas Morning News (subscription required).
  • The Rangers should be willing to pay Josh Hamilton $180MM+ to keep him from leaving as a free agent, opines Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  "You don't let immense talent walk. Immense talent always stays. Even if you overpay, immense talent, the best talent in baseball, stays — warts, demons and all," Galloway says.
  • Juan Carlos Oviedo has received his visa and will arrive at the Marlins' minor league headquarters on Monday, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  Oviedo and his representatives have not decided if they will appeal Oviedo's eight-week suspension for playing under a false identity as Leo Nunez.
  • The week's minor league transactions are recapped by Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

Quick Hits: Colon, Litsch, Rangers

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Cory Luebke will undergo reconstructive elbow surgery on Wednesday, Dan Hayes of the North County Times tweets. The Padres left-hander hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since April 27th and had been undecided as to his next step. Here are the rest of today’s links…

  • Jim Callis of Baseball America says Royals infield prospect Christian Colon will eventually move from shortstop to second base, where he can be a solid regular.
  • Blue Jays right-hander Jesse Litsch says he has a "career threatening" infection in his shoulder, Barry Davis of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Litsch, 27, has spent the entire season on Toronto's disabled list. He posted a 4.44 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 75 innings last year.
  • Former MLB outfielder Bobby Kielty told MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes that he signed with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League. The 35-year-old has a career .296/.379/.503 batting line against left-handed pitching, but hasn't played in the Major Leagues since 2007.
  • There's still no resolution in the Jairo Beras–Rangers case, Ben Badler of Baseball America writes. Texas agreed to sign the prospect for $4.5MM, but MLB's questions about his age remain unanswered. International sources tell Badler MLB can't sign off on the deal if it wants to seem serious about rule enforcement in Latin America.
  • Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com wonders if the Rangers could be a fit for Roy Oswalt now that starter Neftali Feliz is on the disabled list (Twitter link). Click here for the latest Oswalt rumors.

Quick Hits: Pirates, Manny, Luebke, Luhnow

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Some links from around the league on a day when Max Scherzer became the first pitcher since 1988 to induce 15 swinging strikeouts in one game…

  • We're just two weeks shy of the three-year anniversary of the trade that sent Nate McLouth from the Pirates to the Braves in exchange for Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, and Gorkys Hernandez. Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review points out that with Locke being recalled from Triple-A, all four players involved in that trade — even McLouth himself — are on the Pirates' 25-man roster.
  • Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News chronicles Manny Ramirez's journey to the Athletics, and ponders which Manny will show up in Oakland. Manny, who began a 10-game minor league assignment this weekend, has a chance to rewrite what was a disappointing ending to his career, writes Brown.
  • Nothing is certain, but Padres lefty Cory Luebke is strongly leaning toward undergoing Tommy John surgery, writes Dan Hayes of the North County Times. Luebke was transferred to the 60-day DL today, which opens a spot on the Pads' 40-man roster.
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow is personally scouting candidates for his team to select with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's MLB draft, writes MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. Luhnow isn't revealing which players he's scouting. He told reporters the Astros "aren't close" to knowing which player they'll draft, but are feeling more comfortable with the information they've gathered.

Franchise Notes: Padres, Athletics

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Here’s the latest on the upcoming sale of one California team and the possible relocation of another…

  • MLB has vetted five possible ownership groups for the Padres and the sale of the team could be complete in weeks if not months, Dan Hayes of the North County Times reports. Some of the groups that had interest in buying the Dodgers also appear to have interest in the Padres, which has sped the process up. Some estimate that the Padres will sell for $600-700MM.
  • Athletics owner Lew Wolff told the San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn't intend to leave the Bay Area. Wolff believes that "there is only one location that'll provide [the A’s with] a badly needed new venue, and that location is … in downtown San Jose." Bud Selig established a committee to examine the Athletics' situation in 2009, but the commissioner said yesterday that there's no timetable for resolution.
  • The time has come for Wolff to start firing off lawsuits in an attempt to move the Athletics to San Jose or sell the team, ESPN.com's Buster Olney tweets.
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