So the Padres seem to suggest they don't value the services of Anthony Rizzo after they made Yonder Alonso the center piece of the deal for Mat Latos. With less than 200 ABs, the Padres must not have valued him after Hoyer made him the centerpiece of the Adrian Gonzalez deal. The reports are that Rizzo will go to AAA to fix his swing but if that was really the case they had a first baseman of the present in Jesus Guzman + they have Kyle Blanks to spell him. So it begs the question, what does the brass really think of Rizzo-mania?

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Ken Rosenthal tweeted that we traded Latos to the Reds for Yonder Alonso and more

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/12/reds-acquire-mat-latos-for-alonso-others.html

WTF? REALLY? THANKS GUYS, TRADE MAYBIN TOO WHILE AT IT! Why can't we keep our damn players? This better be an incredible deal to justify this. How could you trade our ACE?! I don't understand the Padres, seems like no point in being a fan of the team

Well let's see how many positives we can find out of this debacle of a season.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Aaron Harang, Anthony Bass, Kyle Blanks.

5. Padres 2011 Draft

Padres look to be spending the money on the draft, they look to be drafting some real studs, and things I think are turning around as far as the farm system is concerned. It's really showing in the lower levels with the Tin Caps and the Storm playing outstanding baseball with the latter winning their division title.

4. Cory Luebke

Joining Tim Stauffer from last year, yet another very good pitcher that the Padres developed, begins a season in the bullpen and becomes a very good starter. The Padres have a wonderful problem coming up with a rotation of five with Latos, Stauffer, Richard, Luebke, Harang, Mosely, LeBlanc, Bass and maybe more competing.

3. San Antonio Missions

The future is (almost) now - Darnell, Blanks (to start), Gyorko, Hagerty, Belnome, Erlin, Kelly, Decker, Wieland, Oramas, Tekotte and more. Almost the exact same core that destroyed the MWL a few years ago. This group will be arriving within a year and the Padres could very well see their fortunes turn.

2. Jesus Guzman

Thanks San Francisco! Have no idea where or how he will fit into the Padres plans next year but he's forced his way into the conversation while becoming one of the few Padres worth watching.

1. Cam Maybin

This was robbery at the time and it looks like we stole the Hope Diamond from the dumbstruck Marlins. Outstanding defense, great speed, good power, the best player barn none on this team and someone who will likely be on the team for a few more years. I really look forward to watching him develop even more.

I'm just throwing some ideas out, feel free to blow them to pieces at your heart's content. All the experts in the room, at least show me what you can come up with.

Padres trade 3B Chase Headley to Cardinals for OF Colby Rasmus & P Casey Mulligan

Right up front, I don't like Headley very much. For all the talk about being a savior and a power hitter he can't hit for power any more than Sean Burroughs. He is a good defender and can get on base, but that plus his price means we can’t afford to keep him around. We have James Darnell waiting in AAA and Jedd Gyorko right behind him so we have options for 3B in the near future. I want more power out of that position and will trade him to a team with power to spare in need of a 3B. With Headley there, the Cards get a long term solution who can provide some great OBP and very good defense over Freeze and others. Rasmus could team with Maybin to give Petco two outstanding defensive outfielders with good pop and good speed. He would be a huge upgrade from Venable and desperately wants out. Mulligan is a AA pitcher with a unique action as a right hander who can get out left handers. He would provide some good bullpen depth and give the team a unique addition pitcher without the fail of Pat Neshak.

Padres trade P Mike Adams & LHP Wade Leblanc to the Yankees for C Jesus Montero & RHP Andrew Brackman

I'm trading Adams for three reasons; 1) He's under control for longer and younger than Bell. This means the Yankees can lock up Adams long term as the set up man for Rivera before he retires and then the job goes to Adams. This means the Yankees don't have a closer problem like would be the case with trading Bell (2 month rental + wants to close period). 2) Adams is getting alot more attention and thought of higher then Bell, in part because of #1. 3) If the Padres decide to keep Bell they can not only bridge the gap between current bullpen and the young guys like Spence/Brach as well as show the Padres will keep some of their stars. If your going to keep someone keep a great face that wants to stay here and take a San Diego discount. Plus I'd toss in Leblanc as a left handed specialist, I don't care just get rid of him.

Montero is redundant in the system, they don't need a 1B or a DH (have those in spades) and they have sufficient backup catchers in Sanchez and Romine along with Martin and Posada still there. Montero has power for days, he's stewing in AAA. We need a real upgrade over hundley, who I'm ready to cut bait on. Put Montero in the majors watch him blast the ball even in Petco. He might not be a long term catcher but let's see how long he'll go. He's a big powerful player. Brackman is improving off an injury and is projected as a closer, something they don't need with Adams in short or long term. He might not be our closer but would be another stockpiled reliever

Padres trade OF Ryan Ludwick to the Phillies for OF Jiwan James

The Phillies need pitching but they also need some good hitting in the outfield especially with little production out of Brown/Francisco/Ibanez. Ludwick has shown great hitting ability.  The Phillies need some more offense and for a fairly low price, the Padres are willing to oblige. If anything they need Ludwick out of the way so that Blanks can start. Jiwan James is a left handed speed demon who is a perfect lead off hitter (think Fuentes but with ability to hit it OUT of the infield). He's seen as a fast rising prospect who would fit well in the petco system. For another if combined with Spandenburg it'd make a formidable, fast OBP machine at 1-2, something the padres haven't had since the 90s.

Padres trade SS Jason Bartlett, P Dustin Moseley & RHP Chad Qualls to Milwaukee Brewers for RHPs Robert Hinton, Eric Arnett and Matt Miller

If the Brewers are legitimately happy with Betancourt at SS I'll eat my hat. Yes Bartlett has not been as good as advertised but he'd be a marked improvement over Betancourt and at the lower part of an order on a winning team, I’m sure magically we would see improvement in Bartlett's game. Qualls was expected to be traded and would provide some good veteran bullpen support to the Brewers. Moseley is pitching better then expected and has shown great talent, something the Brewers need in the back end of their rotation. Hinton is a good fastball slider pitcher who strikes people out (sound familiar) and Miller is a dominating power right hand pitcher in low A, something we are missing. Arnett is a talented pitcher two years ago who took a step backwards with his control this year. I think he's more likely to improve then to keep falling apart.

Padres trade P Aaron Harang to the Tigers for OF Avisail Garcia

The Tigers need a fifth starter, someone with experience who can play in big games. They've had nothing but trouble from that fifth spot and its questionable if they want to throw their top prospect right into the fire in a pennant chase. If they decide to go the veteran route, Harang would be a low cost alternative. Garcia will still be a teenager until June but should be in right field and is sized beyond his years at 6'4" and 232 pounds (according to the media guide). He's big and runs well but is still a baby who has been rushed alot. I basically want him in low A and just to learn as much as he can, but he has alot of talent for such a big player

And I don't know who to deal for them but PLEASE just get rid of Hudson, Hawpe and Venable by any means

So our lineup is now

C: Montero
1B: Rizzo
2B: Forsythe
SS: Cabrera
3B: Darnell
LF: Blanks
CF: Maybin
RF: Rasmus

SP: Latos, Richard, Luebke, Stauffer, Inman
RP: Bell, Gregerson, Spence, Brackman (bring him up), Brach (bring him up), Bass

Let's see what everyone thinks about the team by groups

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http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/28/padres-prospect-donovan-tate-suspended-for-drugs/

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http://twitter.com/#!/Teddy1090

#Padres have designated INF Jorge Cantu for assignment. Have 10 days to trade, release or placed on waivers. Opens a spot on 40 man roster.

Good riddance to bad rubbish? Bring on Jesus Guzman? Thoughts?

Pity he never panned out, had high hopes for him. Wanted him to be a good pinch hitter kinda like a Matt Stairs, but oh well

Can't blame Hoyer for this move but another bad one (Hawpe, Hudson, Harang(maybe))

I feel the urge to overreact to our success in two games so I provide this, graciously, as an opportunity to gloat and feel exuberant. Lord knows we shouldn't go too crazy based on two wins. Still I feel very optimistic; Maybin looks like Gwynn Jr except with a good bat, the middle infield defense is outstanding (would like some better hitting though), our starters have powered through outings where they haven't been great and Hundley looks outstanding. So yeah I allow this as a chance to take your optimism and run like a mad man

WORLD SERIES!

MAD MAN LOVE FOR MAYBIN

WHO NEEDS ADRIAN?

WE WILL CRUSH THE GNATS AND THE DOYERS!

BEST OFFENSE IN BASEBALL!

LUEBKE IS GOING TO START FOR US SOON!

Add as you wish

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/12/ryan-ludwick-drawing-trade-interest.html

Makes some degree of sense still, trade whomever you can who could bring us the best possible prospects. Let's be honest, we are rebuilding so it does make some sense to tear it all down and rebuild. Don't see why we are keeping Heath Bell much the same - if we can get a damn good deal for him let's do it now. Idk, thoughts?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/padres-marlins-discussing-cameron-maybin.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


Take with the appropriate grain of salt. What would we have and why the heck would we want Maybin in the first place? Guy has been a giant disappointment in all facets of the game, don't we have enough of those kind of outfielders? And more importantly what the heck would the Marlins want for him? I just don't see this as anything positive, someone talk me down from the ledge?

Padres are involved in a three team trade to get Ryan Ludwick. Indians will send Jake Westbrook to Cardinals. Padres will send one prospect each to the Cards and the Indians

http://castrovince.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/07/westbrook_to_the_cardinals_dea.html

http://twitter.com/tomkrasovic

I think that counts as a rather big bat and combined with Tejada, Gonzalez does get some protection and help. I will say this much, ownership is doing the very best they can with the hand that's been dealt. I rather like this move.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/02/bn02enberg-joining-padres/

Enberg will call 100 games, Neely will work those that Enberg doesn't, Mud Cat stays as the analyst

Could be very interesting. Brings a BIIIIIG name into the booth with the Padres, but I wanna see what he can do in the booth with the Padres. I do kinda like Neely still, maybe put all three and see what happens. Should be a very interesting year.

I think Gwynn has played great for us since he came to San Diego from the Brewers. He's definitely become alot more then a legacy pick up for us and has contributed quite a bit, even if he has struggled for a while. But the more I ask, the more I don't get a clear answer if people think he could be a full time CF or RF for us. I think people are set with Venable (no doubt he's earned it) and I think people believe Blanks could play well in the outfield because he did for a short period. But the question remains; do you think Gwynn could or should play CF/RF full time for the Padres in 2010, and why?

I think personally he's shown he can cover ground well and has improved tracking the ball through the outfield. He's a decent hitter who could easily slide into that #2 spot (and would be ALOT better then Eck there) and provide us with two guys at the top who can run and get on base for our power guys.

Thoughts?

While I'm not necessarily trying to turn lemons into lemonade, with the 2009 season winding down is anyone else seeing some real positive signs for the next season? I don't know if that means we can compete with the Dodgers in this division (which is pretty competitive with 3/5 teams in the hunt), but it means I don't think we'll just be the automatic cellar dwellers.

Some of the positives

1. New young outfield - We've got four guys for three spots and all of them have shown they can play and hit. Gwynn had a very hot few months and only cooled off when he stopped getting regular playing time. Give him some more and he could once again be very effective at the front of the lineup. Blanks has handled RF better then any of us expected and has provided some great power and surprising speed. Venable has been equally outstanding when he gets regular playing time, something few of us probably saw coming (I didn't). And of course there's Headley who looks to finally be comfortable at the major league level. Four guys, three spots

2. Evereth Cabrera - I won't rehash this because its been spoken about regularly as one of the big positives of the year. He provides speed, defense and some surprising pop on occassion and has real all star potential.

3. Bullpen with help on the way next year - While this group has had its ups and downs there's some real potential and guys really showing they could stick.  Mujica has been pretty decent, as has Gregerson. Thatcher has been better lately. Adams was solid until he got put on the DL. Bell is Bell, and even with some bumps has been very good. Russell its too early to tell. Even perdomo and burke have had moments. And next year we will add Mark Worrell and Cha Sung Baek to the bull pen further strengthening it, with the possibility of adding AAA arms like de la Cruz. There's alot of good pieces here.

4. New rotation - Even with the Peavy deal there's quite a few pitchers here who could be fighting for a roster spot. Latos has been a great surprise, Young will return next year (need to see what he can do), Gallagher probably won't start til 2010 but has potential, Poreda is working on things in AAA, Russell and Stauffer have done well and we can resign Correria who was huge for us when the rotation struggled. Lot of young pitchers with alot of potential.

So does anyone else think that there's the potential to make good improvement next year or am I just blowing smoke?

http://coreybrock.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/07/stephen_strasburg_as_a_padre.html

As it stands now the draft would look like

1. Washington

2. Washington (compensation not signing Strausburg)

3. San Diego

4. San Diego (Compensation not signing Tate)

Its doubtful the Nationals would do the same thing twice and pick Strausburg. So that could mean we would end up with the ability to potentially pick Strausburg.

It is something of a dream, for now there appears to be no motion with the Nationals talk. But that could still happen and if it does it could make for one amazing possible occurrence.

Basically I've been thinking of the need to just tear the entire club down and start over from scratch. Its abundantly clear we don't have much in the way of talent besides a few key players. So a fire sale as well as a firing of key front office figures would have to be involved. At the position we are now, it'll be at least two years before we are competing. So frankly I say fire Black and most of the coaching staff and trade who we have now for some young players who are cheaper and can grow.

Fire Bud Black - he might not be totally responsible for this debacle but I don't think he's capable of motivating or bringing along our young players. Can most of his staff as well outside of Darren Balsley.

Trade Jake Peavy to the Milwaukee Brewers for Alcides Escobar, Brett Lawrie, and a pitching prospect not named Jeremy Jefferies.

Peavy will only go to National League teams, here's one that needs pitching. What we get back is their top prospect who's an incredible shortstop, a catcher/3B hybrid with ridiculous power and another pitcher. You could put Escobar at SS and move Cabrera (who i like) back to his natural 2B position. This would give us incredible range in the middle of the diamond combined with two guys who can flat out fly. A 1-2-3 of Cabrera, Gwynn, Escobar could run around the bases all day long. Lawrie has taken to catching better then 3B defensively, give him time and I think he could be good along with providing pop at a position we haven't had much of. At the very least he provides serious competition to Hundley (unknown) and Canham (I don't like). As for a pitching prospect, well, I just think Jefferies is a bonehead for getting busted twice with marijuana. So pick your pitcher to fill in.

Trade Heath Bell to the Florida Marlins for Sean West (and maybe Jose Ceda)

You want some power? How about a pitcher in High A compared roughly to Randy Johnson? He's big, he throws a mean fastball and has a decent slider and changeup. I think he could be another Mat Latos. And Bell, i do like him but let's face it, he has high value now and he's not used as much. Besides lots of people are clamoring for Schribner to be brought up and I agree he might have the talent to close immediately. With Ceda, if we could pry him, we get a guy back who we didn't know enough about when we sent him to the Cubs. Now we have someone who could close in AAA and could work as another arm or set up guy in the bullpen. At the very least he'll provide a nice change of pace from Gregerson/Worrell/Mujica who don't have Ceda's pure power.

Trade Adrian Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox for Clay Buccholz, Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson and another middle prospect

This one hurts because I like Gonzalez and it would take a massive haul like this to trade him. But I don't know how much higher his value could get and its clear the Red Soxs are lusting after Gonzalez, so why not take them for all their worth. I personally am not sure about Buccholz; For all the talk about his amazing make up and talent, he hasn't done much at the major leagues when he gets brought up. Yes he threw a no-hitter BUT since then he hasn't made many good starts. So i'm wary but he probably has to be in the mix. Masterson is a workhorse San Diegan pitcher who is good at control, has a unique delivery and I like alot. I think at the minimum he could be a great reliever and at best could be in the mix for the bottom of our staff.  Bowden is another control specialist who could truly thrive in Petco when he's pitched in some atrocious pitching environments in New England. I think he could be in the middle-back of the staff and again be a good pitcher. Lars Anderson - a powerhitting 1B - would be moved to LF (which he has played more often and better then Blanks). If you disagree with me, hey that's cool. Either way we get a patient hitter who can hit the ball very well. We definitely will need some more hitting after Gonzalez goes and he's the best they have. As for another prospect, I don't know who but take your pick.

Trade Kevin Kouzmanoff to anyone who'll take him for whatever they'll give us

I don't care who gets him and I don't care what they get for him. I've liked Kouz for a long while but its time to go. Move Headley back to 3B and go from there.

LINEUP

2B Cabrera
CF Gwynn
SS Escobar
1B Blanks
3B Headley
LF Anderson
C Hundley
RF Venable

BENCH

OF: Macias
INF: Salazar
INF: Gonzalez/Stansberry
OF: Baxter
C: Alfonzo

ROTATION
1. Young (Experience)
2. Latos
3. Buccholz
4. Bowden
5. Stauffer/Masterson/Correria

BULLPEN
CL: Schribner/Ceda
SU: Ceda/Gregerson
P: Worrell
P: Mujica
P: Gregerson
P: Perdomo
P: Adams

We're definitely younger and I think we supplement our current young guns with a massive wave of young talent. This at least would be more fun to watch then current Padres.

Apparently we just acquired a 31yr old jack of all trades for probably (outside of Heath Bell) our best reliever available for trade. I don't get this whatsoever. This is a major case of selling low and it doesn't make any sense. Where/how/what are we going to do with a guy with singles power only who plays all over the infield??

Someone explain this to me, it makes a bad day worse on the Padres.

MLB Trade Rumors

Amy Brittain Twitter

Wanted to put out a general post and see if, in this insanity of a very poor year with the Padres, there are some good things to think about in this team in the midst of this disaster.

Add anything or agree or whatnot, and I'll start out a few of them

1. Evereth Cabrera - I think he's only going to get better from here on in. He has some incredible speed and is solid in hitting. He will be something very special.

2. Tony Gwynn Jr - Again another that I think will just keep getting better with more and more playing time. He plays solid defense, he can be a slap hitter in this park and has very good speed. He needs to better utilize it on the base paths and learn to steal better but he and Cabrera give us one of the fastest fronts of the lineup we've had in almost a decade.

3. Some bullpen guys - I actually think we've got some young gems in the bullpen that no one is looking at or giving much love. I do like Gregerson and think he has potential. Mjuica has been quietly impressive. Bell needs no extra adjectives, he's been outstanding. And other guys like Perdomo and even Burke have had good times out there. Could be some very good players in that group - especially considering Schrieber and a few others in the minors and Mark Worrell.

4. Some minors talent - I won't include Kyle Blanks in this list. But Mat Latos, Sawyer Carrol, Dan Robertson, Logan Forscythe, Luis Durango, Cory Luebke, James Darnell and a few others are showing some real progress. Yeah I know this is still up in the air, and there's no guarantee. And maybe I'm being stupid but I think there's some real potential down the line.

5. New Ownership - I can only pray that finally we'll get some semblance of order, structure and focus on the team with a new ownership.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/03/padres-acquire-eulogio-de-la-cruz.html

What the heck is an Eulogio de la Cruz? Sounds like something you do in a Catholic Church in Mexico City.

He's part of the Miguel Cabrera deal, and apparently he's a hard throwing right hander (which means for the Padres.....he hits 90, maybe).

I know we need pitchers but come on, this is what we find? Serious?

This is going to be a long year

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/03/shawn_hill_signs_with_padres_a.html?wprss=nationalsjournal

So where does this put our rotation? I thought 4&5 were set with Correria and Silva with players like Nova, Ryu, etc going into the pen. I know its a minor league deal but I somehow doubt he'll really end up in the minors. I think he was picked up to help finalize one of the last two spots. So who goes or where does Hill go?

SullyBaseball

From a writer named Paul Sullivan, I've never seen teams that were home grown and acquired. Some interesting players in that mix for both sides

This is some great stuff, enjoy! And hey it beats talking about this team as it currently is, I call it my own little attempt to push some positivity on this site and about this Padre team.

At this point though, please tell me we've had a better home grown 3B then tucker ashford - i mean hell I'd rather put out Chase headley then that.

Also never knew Peavy was in high school musical, that's reason enough to want to trade him!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3694923

Trevor Hoffman, the all-time leaders in saves and the face of the San Diego franchise, will not return to the Padres for 2009. The team has withdrawn its contract offer for 2009 to Hoffman, who is eligible for free agency this fall.

While I understand this move, frankly during this whole 'everything falls apart' moment within the Padres franchise, I think this is a slap in the face to all padre fans. I don't get why this is being done but I'm not happy

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/more/11/09/japan.series.ap/index.html?eref=si_mlb

Thought this would be amusing to alot of you, congrats to him though. I'm glad he had such success when he ended up in Japan. Not to mention he helped knock off the Japanese equivalent of the New York Yankees.  Didn't have great hatred or anything for him, was never sure what to make of him though :-p

Anyone have any thoughts, opinions, whatnot?

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/oct/10/padres-s11padres213243/?padres

Its time to face basic facts - the odds that Peavy will be pitching on Opening Day for the Padres is shrinking by the day. The Padres seem committed to rebuilding and to shedding salary and as such want to trade their best player. Teams everywhere are lining up to make offers.

What will it take to make that trade acceptable to you as a Padre fan? Be specific with players from the teams if you can or with positions & numbers if you can't.

I'll throw a few out there as a suggestion

Yankees
Jake Peavy for Austin Jackson (CF - AAA), Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Marcos Vechinoacci

Braves
Jake Peavy for JoJo Reyes (SP), Jordan Schaffer (CF) and Gorky Hernandez (SS)

Rangers
Jake Peavy for Elvis Andrus, Jarod Saltalamacchia, Matt Harrison (SP - A) and Neil Ramirez

Any thoughts?

Supposedly there's interest by the Padres in acquiring 2B Dan uggla from the Marlins. The UT suggests it as does another cite on MLB Rumors. I really don't know anything about this guy minus the fact I know he can hit. On that note can anyone tell me

1) what it'd cost to get him

2) what are hit other strengths and weaknesses?

3) would this be a good move?

4) Would be better off in comparisson with a stop gap until Antonelli or have people basically said no to that?

First post here