What are the Padres thinking? The team has already picked up Jason Marquis and Ross Ohlendorf. They have also not only happily acquired these two pitchers but have put them onto their active major league roster. This is a team with no hope. If the Padres do anything other than trade everything of value that they have between the second this is posted and the trade deadline this season should be considered nothing but an extreme failure. Lets go ahead and look at what they might be able to trade. For the sake of argument we’ll assume that the fact that they have Omar Minaya and Josh Byrnes in positions of significant authority won’t be a serious hindrance to making competent trades.
The team has sought out replacements for the likes of Jeff Suppan by replacing them with pitchers other clubs didn’t want, Ohlendorf was barely good enough for the Red Sox to keep in AAA, let alone putting him on the big club’s roster. Marquis was as bad if not worse than I predicted with the Twins. He’s not going to suddenly be an ace or any type of savior for this rotation either. If the Padres are claiming anything other than that they’re rebuilding, they’re miserable liars or hopelessly delusional. The Padres realistically need to look at what they have and what they can get for what they have at the moment. They have the 10th ranked ERA in the NL at the moment, almost all of the positive value is owed to Cory Luebke. but the team needs to look at what they can do two or three years from now because they’re not going to compete next year either if this is the same general team they’re putting out there in a year.
The Padres need to build up value in a reliever or two. Huston Street, having made two appearances this month after missing most of May, still has his “Genuine Closer” label and if the Friars can show him off for a few weeks he’ll be worth looking at for several clubs in contention.
There’s nothing to do with someone like Carlos Quentin on a losing team but flip them for prospects, and flip him they shall. While some people are using their big boy internet pedestals to play GM and say that the Dodgers need to make a push for Quentin. I don’t see it. They’ll overpay in prospects to get a pretty good left fielder from a division rival, and their lineup, though banged up, isn’t where their biggest problems are, much less so in the outfield.
Chase Headley is a hard sell. At 28 he’s going to be arbitration eligible for the first time so he’ll command a few legitimate prospects, possibly one of the better hauls for anyone that they could give up this season. I don’t know that the Friars will be willing to give up Headley but I don’t see why they wouldn’t listen to offers.
Mark Kotsay isn’t exactly a top tier player but a utility outfielder with a little first base experience certainly has value, especially on a 1 year contract for a contender looking to sure up their bench. I wouldn’t look at Kotsay to command a huge return but a quadruple A starter or a mid tier prospect isn’t necessarily out of the question.
The Padres could certainly move Edinson Volquez, Clayton Richard, Andrew Cashner, Joe Thatcher, or Jeremy Hermida all with varying returns. Their best return would come from Volquez though I don’t know that what they’d get back would quite outweigh what he can provide the team over the next few years. Hermida would provide a reasonable amount of value as a 4th outfielder who can provide something with his bat (though I’m not totally sure what that something is) and could net the team a prospect without really hurting themselves this season.
The Padres are in a weird spot. They have a very good farm system according to several sources who rank such things so attempting to acquire more organizational depth may not be what’s needed here. The Padres could probably do well to get rid of anyone on a 1 year contract that they’re not 100% sure they can extend. With their place in the standings secured it almost makes more sense to let some of their top tier prospects get a feel for major league pitchers/hitters now rather than waiting until September.
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