Baek, Bombs Provide Win At Shea

A solid outing by Cha Seung Baek gave the Padres a chance to make 3 solo shots and a gift wrapped unearned run stand up in a 4-2 road win. The Pads got 1st inning homers by Gerut and Giles and an insurance blast by Chase Headley in the 9th frame. The Friars will have to earn the series win by beating the Mets ace Johan Santana Thursday morning.

2nd Glance


Edgar Gonzalez misplayed two balls Wednesday and was lifted in favor of Tadihito Iguchi. FF feels that Gonzalez has earned the right to be the starter at second and is pressing due to the uncertainty of playing time. Edgar may not be a Gold Glove caliber infielder, but his presence in the 2 hole is much more formidable than Black's lineup with Iguchi. It will be interesting to see what happens with the second base position through the remainder of the season, there is always the (seemingly logical) possibility of a waiver wire deal shipping Tadihito to a contender in need of a veteran who is masterful in the field and streaky with the stick.

Padres Trade Wolf To Houston

The San Diego Padres pulled the trigger on a deal that reunites Randy Wolf with his old GM Ed Wade in Houston. The Astros may have an eye towards 2009 (although Wolf is signed only through this season) and resigning the veteran LHP. In return the Friars receive a 26 yeard old right hander, Chad Reineke, who was 5-9 with a 4.41 ERA in 19 starts at AAA this season. Reinke will report to Portland and may find his way to the Padres roster at some point this season. The Padres main acquisition in this deal was cold, hard cash as they will save close to $3.5 million thorough the rest of the '08 season. Wolf, who will be a free agent after the season is said to be open to the idea of returning to San Diego for the 2009 season. Wil Ledezma will take the open roster spot as Clay Hensley will slide into the open rotation sport until Chris Young makes his return.

Diamondbacks Reacquire Tony Clark

The Padres and division rival Arizona agreed on a long rumored deal that ships pinch hitter Tony Clark to his former team in exchange for farmhand hurler, Evan Scribner. Scribner, 22, is 2-4 with a 1.64 ERA and 9 saves. The switch hitting Clark should see much more playing time at first in addition to his role of the bench. The deal was finalized after Clark agreed to waive the $500,000 assignment bonus that would have been paid by the Padres. Although Clark grew up in San Diego, it could be said the the switch hitter is going home. Clark makes his year round home in the valley and was with the DBacks for the past 3 seasons. The departure of Clark means more pinch hitting opportunities for Brian Myrow, who matched Clark's number of homers in his first AB of the season.

The last time the Friars and Snakes matched up on a deal was last July when the Padres plucked Scott Hairston form the desert. FF anticipates more deals to get younger and more athletic are in the near future; paging Randy Wolf.

Peavy Throws; Friars Swap Righties With M's

The Padres and ace Jake Peavy received good news after the latest MRI showed vast improvement in his right elbow. The 2007 Cy Young winner resumed throwing Tuesday and is working his way back to the mound. Tuesday night not only saw the Padres match a season high win streak (2 games), but the Friars also shipped rookie Jared Wells to Seattle for pitcher Cha Seung Baek. The right-handed South Korean is 29 with a 10-9 major league record in 24 starts (37 appearances) with an ERA of 4.96. The Friars plan to use Seung Baek as a bullpen arm who has the ability to start in a pinch.

3rd Trade Ships Ring To Braves

The busy Padres have sent SDSU alumni Royce Ring to the Atlanta Braves organization. The Padres left handed relief pitcher split time bouncing between San Diego and Portland this year after coming over from the New York Mets this offseason. In return the Padres obtained Wilfredo Ledezma and minor league pitcher Will Startup.

Morgan Ensberg A Padre

Kevin Towers contiued the total bench make over by trading for the Astros Morgan Ensberg who was designated for assignment by the Astros on Sunday. If you remember the Padres made a late push to aquire Ensberg last year at the deadline and instead opted to bring in Todd Walker to play 3rd.
The bench, and the 3rd base position is starting to get crowded at both the major league and AAA level.

Padres Aquire Mackowiak from White Sox

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Padres have made a deal with the Chicago White Sox to bring IF/OF Rob Mackowiak to San Diego in exchange for Single A pitcher Jon Link.
With under 30 minutes until the non waiver deadline it remains to be seen if Towers can pull the trigger on any additional deals.

Deadline Deals Dictate NL West Champ?

How important will the next 15 hours be in deciding who remains standing between the top 4 teams in the west? The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies are separated by just 3.5 games. The Atlanta Braves landed a big fish today that could shift power in the East ~ it will be interesting to see what happens on the left coast.

Pads trade for DBacks Hairston

Prior to ex Padres Woody Williams first pitch on Friday night, Kevin Towers makes yet another trade acquiring speedy outfielder Scott Hairston (hitting .222 in 76 games for the Diamondbacks this season, with three home runs and 16 RBIs. Hairston has a .238 career batting average with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs since making his debut with Arizona in 2004.) from division rival Arizona. The Padres send minor league pitcher Leo Rosales back to the Diamondbacks.

Linebrink to Brewers

After falling in the rubber match to the Rockies in Colorado 10-2, Kevin Towers sends setup man Scott Linebrink packing to Milwaukee for a trio of young pitchers. Kevin Towers showed how to "buy low" in the acqusitions of both Michael Barrett and Milton Bradley; now he has given us an example of of selling low.
In picking up 3 more arms this might point towards a few more moves prior to the non waiver trading deadline just 6 days away.