Trade Front And Center For Padres

The Padres couldn't or wouldn't come to an agreement to retain their free agent center fielder Mike Cameron this offseason and instead turned the position over to former All Star and Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds, who was acquired in a trade with the Cards. Immediately following this trade, questions regarding the age and health of the Friars CF (Edmonds) and RF(Brian Giles) accompanied the questions about the lack of a starting left fielder. Through the first week of Cactus League play the Padres Edmonds and Giles have combined for 1 base hit, granted Brian Giles has yet to lace up his spikes due to his recovery from offseason knee surgery ~ but then again, that in itself is a problem. Edmonds is now on the shelf for 2-3 weeks due to a calf strain he suffered while in the batters box in a game this week.

The only left field clarification to date is that Jody Gerut , Chase Headley, and even Paul McAnulty have all proved that they can hit enough to compete for playing time with incumbent Scott Hairston, who himself has never been an everyday major league starter. So, lets toss in the huge hole in center created by Edmonds' calf muscle and the Padres have a tough situation with few in house fixes.

On Friday Kevin Towers reported that he had talked with the Boston Red Sox regarding Coco Crisp, it is suspected that the Sox would want top prospects Chase Headley or Matt Antonelli ~ and the Pads are not giving those 2 away for almost anyone at this point. So, may the Friars see yet another aging player passed their prime sporting the sand and navy in FA Kenny Lofton? Or would the Pads give up top talent to bring Tony Gywnn, Jr. back home from the Brewers? Something will have to happen, because the season is drawing ever closer and the Pads outfield is getting older each inning that passes.

Look for the Pads to also speak to the Angels, who have too many bodies in their outfield - some who are out of minor league options. FF believes (or wants to believe) that the Friars will find a way to get younger, healthier, and faster in the outfield prior to the March 31st opener.

Murton Out, Gross In?

FoxSports.com's KenRosenthal reports that those persistent rumors about the Cubs' Matt Murton have come to rest, with Padre GM Kevin Towers now possibly looking to the Brewers' Gabe Gross for help in the outfield. This rumor is apparently fueled by the crowded outfield situation in Milwaukee, to great extent helped by former Friar Mike Cameron's 25 game suspension for a second positive test for banned stimulants. Gross is also out of options, forcing the Brew Crew's hand. Gross is a former 1st round pick, selected 15th overall by the Blue Jays in 2001. He posted a respectiable .857 OPS for the Brewers in part time duty in 2006. His left handed bat doesn't seem idea for Petco Park, but that hasn't stopped KT in the past.

Friar Offseason a B?

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman has graded the Padres' offseason maneuvering at a B level (above average!). Really? Of Kevin Tower's moves, Heyman says,

11. Padres. No one makes more worthwhile low-budget pickups than San Diego(Mark Prior, Randy Wolf, Tony Clark this winter). Maybe it's the lure of San Diego, I'm not sure. Jim Edmonds may have a resurgence back home in Southern California, too. But I still can't help but feel Barry Bonds could turn it into a dynamo. B

IF KT's low monetary bets on Prior and Wolf pay off, then this offseason will be at best above average. While FF likes these moves, the reality is that the bar has been raised by the competition the already hyper-competitive National League West. These moves may not expose the Padres to much payroll risk, but they certainly expose them to a tremendous amount of performance risk. Should either pitcher falter, KT will have to start from scratch.

Tony Clark is a good pickup for the clubhouse and to spell Adrian Gonzalez, but this a bit of reach in the above average classification. AJ Smith could argue that keeping a backup in Michael Turner was a major offseason move, but he didn't have have to plug six spots in the starting lineup (LF, CF, 2B, C, SP4, SP5). Speaking of these positions, LF remains wide open. FF likes Scott Hairston and would love to see Chase Headley emerge, but when the team can't anoint a green player as the presumptive starter, it's hard to argue the void is filled. Mike Cameron for Jim Edmonds is a wash in center at best. Tadahito Iguchi is clearly an upgrade over the 2007 2B platoon. FF continues to be be disturbed by apparently satisfaction with the unchanged backstops.

A quick sidebar for the national media: Get off the Padres-Barry Bonds obsession. You think that people freaked when Burger King stopped selling the Whopper? San Diego would embrace Al Davis before Barry Bonds.

Some positive things did happen over the offseason: Jake Peavy was signed to a contract extension, Greg Maddux was brought back, the Terrmel Sledge experiment ended, not to mention some potential pitching and bench depth was added. Guess FF must have forgotten when treading water became an above average effort. Either Milton Bradley or Kosuke Fukudome could have made the grade a B+ or better; a pre- or in-season move could still push the Friars to the next level, but FF thinks KT will stay the course until he has a better feel for Hairston and Headley.

Cameron Close To Joining Brewers

Former Padres CF, Mike Cameron, is near a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. Cameron's arrival in Wisconsin would mean 2 starters would be switching positions, including 2007 ROY Ryan Braun from 3rd to LF while Bill Hall would slide into left after roaming CF last season. Mike Cameron, who will begin the '08 season serving a 25 game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance (2nd offensive brings about suspension), is being replaced by Jim Edmonds.

A Padres dreamer might want to think that by Milwaukee adding a CF in Cameron, Tony Gwynn Jr would become available via trade...whether that would actually be a good situation is another story...

Aging Edmonds Joins Club for Prospect

The Padres acquired Jim Edmonds from the Cardinals to take over Petco's spacious centerfield in exchange for minor leaguer David Freese. Edmonds waived his no trade clause to allow the deal, which brings him back to Southern California, where he has roamed center for the Angels from 1993 to 1999. Once considered an elite fielder, Edmonds has been slowed by injuries in recent campaigns. He last won a Gold Glove in 2005 and has eight to his credit in all. The loss of Cameron will put added pressure on Friar corner outfielders as Edmonds does not have the pure speed that Cameron displayed. At the plate, lefty Edmonds has batted just .160 at Petco Park over the last three seasons over 25 at bats. In comparison with Cameron, we can expect a similar, but slightly lower number of punch outs from Edmonds to go with significantly more walks. Cameron was likely the best baserunner from the 2007 club while Edmonds received the same rating, a minus-nine, from the 2007 Bill James Handbook as Padre backstop Michael Barrett. The same publication ranks Edmonds' range as a centerfielder just a hair below that of Cameron. All in all, it isn't the most exciting move, but it will be effective if Edmonds can stay relatively healthy. In fact, if he reaches 137 games, that will be the maximum that Cameron could have possibly played due to his drug test-related suspension. So something in the 120 game range will likely be a break even point between the two.

Busy Day For NL West Arms, OF Answers Soon

Friday proved to be a busy day for hurlers coming and going in the NL West, as the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired All Star pitcher Dan Haren from the A's and shipped last 2007 NL saves leader Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros.

While the reigning NL West champions were busy making moves involving big names, the Padres inked 2 veteran LHP, in Shawn Estes and Glendon Rusch. These moves solidify depth for the back end of the Friars rotation that (after Peavy, Young, & Maddux) features many seasoned lefties coming off of injury in Randy Wolf, Estes, and Rusch. The 2 signings Friday reduce the probability that San Diego will bring in native Mark Prior, or Josh Towers who was non tendered by Toronto earlier this week.

OF Answers Soon

After missing out on Fukudome, and Bradley the Padres are drawing nearer to hearing back on their final offers to Mike Cameron, and Geoff Jenkins. It seems that the Pads and Cameron's agent have agreed on the length (2 years) of a deal but remain far apart in dollars. The Geoff Jenkins sweepstakes (if you can call it that) has come down to the Padres and the Phillies, in both destinations the left handed slugger would be in a platoon role.

The Padres remain desperate for a CF, and if they bring Cameron back he will miss the first 25 games of the season as a result of testing positive for a banned substance. In that case (as the roster stands right now) Scott Hairston would slip into center with corner outfield possibilities that include: Chase Headley, Brian Giles, Geoff Jenkins,and rumored ex Pad Xavier Nady. The Pads outfield questions remain as vast as the the actual outfield at Petco.

For a little fun lets take a look at a very plausible scenario ~(The Pads sign Cameron and Jenkins, Brian Giles starts the season on the DL after knee surgery)... The Padres would have to trot Scott Hairston out in CF flanked by Geoff Jenkins in RF, and rookie Chase Headley in LF. So, how would that work out for a team built around pitching and defense, not very well! Hairston is not a true CF and with the spacious outfields throughout the division it might just remind Friar fans of the "defense" played by Brady Clark in the 1 game playoff against the Rockies. Jenkins has below average foot speed and is much better suited as a left fielder (especially at Petco), but with Chase Headley having never play outfield Jenkins would be the lesser of the evils.

Who knows how the rest of the offseason will play out, but as it stands now GM Kevin Towers must not be sleeping very well. For a franchise that puts such an emphasis on pitching, it becomes extremely important to catch the ball. We continue to hear that there is a plan and that the Pads will look to bring in young players with speed, great plan! The only problem is the Padres perpetually sign players who are past their prime (if they ever had a prime)...frustrating, scary, and ridiculous all wrapped up into 1. This is a recipe for disaster.


UPDATE

Since the post was written, Mike Cameron has broken off talks with the San Diego Padres. The Friars are, amongst others, discussing the possibility of bringing in two more aging players in St Louis' Jim Edmonds, and Kenny Lofton to fill their huge hole in center.

Sayonara Kosuke Fukudome

Kosuke Fukudome has chosen to accept an offer from the Cubs, reportedly around $50M for 4 years. While it remains to be seen what the Frairs actually offered Fukudome, it is widely rumored to be over $10M/year for at least 3 years. Otherwise put, the likely difference between the two clubs was about one veteran bench player/year. While the Padres will surely point to Jake Peavy's signing as a major commitment this offseason, the reality is that the farm system will have to do better for the Padres to sport hitting talent (which won't be brought in via free agency - ever). Whatever the excuse is today (we think it is TV revenue these days), the club seemingly was close enough to make this click and is in dire need of an outfielder(s). Considering that Giles will likely start the season on the DL, Cameron will be gone or suspended and Milton Bradley has already bolted, the spacious outfield is looking more so these days. We're fine with Scott Hairston getting a shot, but that still leaves the team an outfielder short. Please KT, don't make that extra outfielder Todd Walker.