Rants and Raves from a Displaced Padres Fan

Well, the season is upon us and a few interesting notes over the last few weeks. In my last article I talked a lot about pitching and that I was concerned that it was “rough”, even late in spring training and the bats were coming alive. I guess it’s just part of being a manager or a GM of a professional baseball team. Since spring training started everyone publicly stated that they weren’t concerned about May’s pitching (or lack of) and that he was their 5th starter.

Obviously, they changed their mind rather quickly.  It would have been nice to give a youngster a shot but maybe it was a stretch for management to take that risk.  There’s always that concern about brining someone up to early although I must admit I’m not totally sure why.  Instead the Padres trade for Redding who’s potential is just that – potential.  His numbers aren’t great but he seems to have the tools if he can put them together.  Trading Quintero, a position the Padres were deep at especially if they can sign Hernandez to a new contract seems to be a good risk.  Of course, the last time the Padres seemed to be deep at catching it led them to a season of mediocrity at the position.  It had to be built back up via the farm system and via trades.  Can you say Santiago, Alomar, Ausmus, Davis?  Some pretty good names there all in the Padres system at one time.

Back to pitching and May.  I know the Pads wanted to trade Long and to get out from under his contract but at this point would you rather have May or Tankersley back regardless of Long’s contract?  It’s probably more a question of potential and in retrospect the deals seem to make sense.  If you look at the overall trades the Pads have made for a number 5^th pitcher it’s come to this:

Traded: Tankersely, Long, Quintero (+ $1 million cash to help w/ Long’s payroll)

Acquired: Bukvich, May, Redding (-$100,000 cash)

net to the Padres: May and Redding (+ $900,000)

Ok, it looks so-so from that perspective (and the Padres were out $900,000) but look at what the Padres and Royals are left with and you see the real picture (pardon the pun).  May is making a lot of money and currently in the bull-pin and I don’t think he will do much there until he finds his fastball again.  I bet you won’t see him in any games unless the Padres are leading by a large margin.  So the trades, breakdown like this:

Traded: Tankersley – starting, Long - starting (part-time), Quintero – unknown

Acquired: Bukvich – gone (waivers), May – Bull-pin and maybe should be in AAA, Redding – number 5 starter.

On another note, I’m glad to see Nady getting a full-time shot.  He deserves it and I’m sure we’ll see a lot of him especially with Roberts’ injury (and where he has ended up almost every year – on the DL).  We gave up a lot too to get him and we’ll see how this trade plays out in the long run.  I think the plan to sit him early and get him healthy is a sound one but I think his injuries are going to be an on-going issue all season.  We’ve seen this spring that when you get your shot at making the team you need to take advantage of it – they came, they saw, they were sent back to the minors.  Now, I think it’s Nady’s turn and he’ll get steady playing time and at-bats.  I personally think he’ll rise to the occasion and be there all season.  He’s proven himself in AAA; let’s give him a full season and a chance.  I see Roberts ending up being a platoon player and pinch runner because you just can’t depend on him being injury free and Nady will do so well you won’t want to sit him.

Well… I can’t wait.  Let the games begin.  Time to dust off the Padre hat and tune into some games.

Kevin can be reached at: