Padres Rumors

Possibilities For Padres At No. 3

By Tim Dierkes | May 14, 2009 at 5:05pm CDT

The Padres have the third overall pick in the June draft, and ESPN's Keith Law has info on their preferences:

Keith Law has learned that the Padres, owners of the No. 3 overall pick, are high on Cartersville High School (Ga.) CF Donavan Tate, USC SS Grant Green, Missouri RHP Kyle Gibson and Fort Worth Cats RHP Aaron Crow.

In a mock draft released today, Baseball America projected Green as San Diego's pick.

Both articles linked in this post require subscriptions to read fully. As someone who devours tons of baseball information every day, I highly recommend subscribing to both Baseball America and ESPN Insider. You can get three months at BA for $26, and a year of ESPN Insider for $40.

The San Diego Infield

By | May 14, 2009 at 2:53pm CDT

The Padres lost shortstop Luis Rodriguez to a severely sprained ankle last night and now have a fairly serious depth issue at the position. MLB.com's David Brown spoke after the game with manager Bud Black, who noted "noted the presence of (Chris) Burke, along with David Eckstein and Edgar Gonzalez as options 'in a pinch' but indicated general manager Kevin Towers would be working on bringing in someone else."

"We're working our way through that right now," Black added. "K.T., I'm sure, as we speak, is doing evertyhing he can to try to fill that void."

Suspecting the San Diego manager may have been alluding to a possible trade or free agent signing, I probed Corey Brock, the Padres' MLB.com beat writer, for a bit more information. He was kind enough to respond.

"I think that with Rodriguez heading to the DL and rookie Everth Cabrera already there, the team might be covered for a while in-house," Brock wrote in an e-mail. "I believe Eckstein would fill-in at shortstop for a while if needed, leaving Burke and Gonzalez to play a spot (second base) where they might be better off."

As for a free agent signing or trade, Brock noted that "Going outside the organization likely won't happen. They're not looking to add salary." Sounds about right.

Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg

By Tim Dierkes | May 13, 2009 at 12:44pm CDT

Links for Wednesday…

MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Royals received righty Eric Basurto as the player to be named later in the Ross Gload trade.
Tom Glavine hopes to pitch in the Majors this month, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
Back on May 3rd, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times wrote about the possibility of Barry Bonds signing with the independent league Long Beach Armada (the team already employs Hideki Irabu and Jose Lima). But Bonds' agent Jeff Borris said, "He's not going to do that."
It appears that Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves after the Mets released him.
Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune will be out of a job come August. Sorry to hear it; Krasovic does excellent work.
MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo talked to Tony Gwynn about Stephen Strasburg.
Johnny Damon talked about his future again, this time with MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
Jim Thome would like to return to the White Sox next year, based on his comments to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.

Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 8, 2009 at 9:24am CDT

Links for Friday…

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes the D'Backs' new manager, A.J. Hinch, is a "strange choice" because he has no managerial or coaching experience.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff says signing Manny Ramirez was the best move the Mets never made.
MLB.com's Doug Miller and Ken Gurnick sift through a year's worth of Ramirez-related drama.
Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Dodgers will have enough payroll flexibility to take on Jake Peavy's contract, now that Manny has been suspended without pay.
Kirk Kenney of the Union-Tribune asks where Stephen Strasburg belongs in college baseball history.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a plan to fix the Astros. He'd like to see them trade veterans like Jose Valverde and Carlos Lee and try to win with youth, even if it means losing first.
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the contrast between what the Yankees owe Alex Rodriguez and what the Rays owe Evan Longoria illustrates the difference between the AL East rivals.
Buster Olney profiled Longoria for ESPN the Magazine.
More sad news for baseball: Dom Dimaggio died this morning, as MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier reports.

Odds & Ends: Nationals, Teixeira, Ligtenberg

By Tim Dierkes | May 1, 2009 at 11:32am CDT

Links for Friday…

RotoAuthority looks at the April offensive stat leaders.
Jim Callis of Baseball America discussed Jim Bowden's Stephen Strasburg comments. Bowden says the Nationals' decision to draft Strasburg has been made, and predicts they'll sign him for around $15MM minutes before the deadline.
ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. talked to Nats interim GM Mike Rizzo about their revamped Latin American plan.
Mark Teixeira talked to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times about his decision to sign with the Yankees.
Brian Stensaas of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes about Kerry Ligtenberg, who is attempting a comeback with the St. Paul Saints.
SI.com's Tom Verducci spoke with one GM who points to struggling older teams and says "it's better to be young these days."
Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Tigers are being patient with pitchers Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello.
MLB.com's Corey Brock doesn't expect GM Kevin Towers to sit back and watch if the Padres continues to struggle.
Here's Baseball America's list of the hottest prospects in the minors right now.
ESPN.com's Keith Law scouts a pair of college players who could turn up on BA's list next year: Tim Wheeler and Drew Storen.
Twins reliever Juan Morillo cleared waivers, so he'll head to Triple A according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Jeff Moorad Chat At MLB.com

By Tim Dierkes | April 29, 2009 at 11:23pm CDT

New Padres CEO Jeff Moorad did an online chat with fans for MLB.com today. A few highlights:

When asked about the idea of signing Adrian Gonzalez to an extension in 2010, Moorad replied, "Why wait until 2010?"
Moorad reiterated that he is willing to keep Jake Peavy, but tossed in the caveat that "no one player is untouchable."
In reference to the July 31st trade deadline, Moorad would be "open to adding an appropriate player or two" if the team is within striking range.

At this writing, the Padres are 11-10, three games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. They rank 10th in the NL at 4.33 runs scored per game and 13th with a 4.77 ERA. Bright spots: Gonzalez, David Eckstein, Nick Hundley, Scott Hairston, and Heath Bell.

The biggest needs appear to be a shortstop and starting pitching. Just for fun: what do you think about a midseason run at Miguel Tejada? What pitcher would you like to see Kevin Towers target?

Padres Designate Eulogio De La Cruz

By Tim Dierkes | April 27, 2009 at 4:35pm CDT

According to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez, the Padres designated pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz for assignment today to make room on the roster for Chad Gaudin. The Padres had acquired De La Cruz from the Marlins a month ago for a player to be named later or cash. Paul DePodesta had a glowing review at that time.

Padres Will Solve Pitching Problem From Within

By Brian Shephard | April 26, 2009 at 4:23pm CDT

Corey Brock of MLB.com reports that the Padres will promote right-hander Chad Gaudin before Monday's game for a start on Tuesday against the Rockies.

According to Brock, Padres GM Kevin Towers said Sunday that he will not seek to acquire pitching help in a trade.

The Padres have been hit hard by injuries to their rotation, placing three starters on the disabled list in the last month. Cha Seung Baek and Walter Silva have strained forearms, and Shawn Hill was moved to the DL after leaving a game with inflammation in his elbow.

Padres Acquire Chris Burke

By Tim Dierkes | April 20, 2009 at 8:31pm CDT

8:31pm: Dan Hayes of the North County Times says the Padres have arranged to reacquire Chris Burke. The Padres signed Burke to a minor league deal this offseason but traded him to Seattle on March 25th. MLB.com's Corey Brock has the story as well.

1:37pm: According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Padres rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera may be out for two months due to a hand injury suffered Sunday. The Padres snagged Cabrera from the Rockies in the Rule 5 draft back in December.

Krasovic talked to Padres GM Kevin Towers, who "said he probably will look outside of the organization for a shortstop." The current starter for San Diego is Luis Rodriguez.

So who's available? Reader Chris F. suggested Oakland's Bobby Crosby. I imagine that would require the A's eating most of his $5.25MM salary. I'd expect something lower profile, like Angel Berroa or Luis Rivas.

Odds & Ends: Bonifacio, Jimenez, Darvish

By Tim Dierkes | April 17, 2009 at 1:32pm CDT

Links for Friday…

Royals third baseman Alex Gordon is out 10-12 weeks due to hip surgery. Mark Teahen will slide over to take his place.
Ken Rosenthal examines the Indians.
I did a Q&A with But The Game Is On.
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post gets into the Emilio Bonifacio trade.
ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. writes about how the Yankees' signing of D'Angelo Jimenez changed everything.
Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker has a Yu Darvish velocity chart.
The Big Lead talked to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Paul DePodesta explains the Padres' decision to expose Travis Denker to waivers.

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