Tag: San Diego Padres (Page 6 of 11)

White Sox interested in Adrian Gonzalez

The White Sox are interested in acquiring Padres’ first base slugger Adrian Gonzalez but as the Chicago Tribune notes, bringing Gonzo to the “Windy City” won’t be easy.

But here are some reasons why such a trade could be difficult to pull off. First, the Padres would be seeking four top-notch prospects at pitcher, center field, catcher and second base for a player of Gonzalez’s caliber.

The Sox have touted pitcher Daniel Hudson, outfielder Jordan Danks and catcher Tyler Flowers as core players of their future. All three players could make the Sox’s 2010 opening-day roster, but trading all three would be a significant hit to the Sox’s development unless other young players accelerate their progress.

The Angels, known for their farm-system success, could aid the Sox, but wouldn’t be required to pick up the bulk of the cost for such a proposed deal.

Although Konerko nearly signed with the Angels four years ago and maintains mutual respect with Scioscia, a major-league scout who follows all three Southern California organizations said the Angels have depth in their organization should they lose Guerrero and wouldn’t have to pursue Konerko.

Juan Rivera could move from the outfield to DH. The Angels still have Gary Matthews Jr., who will earn about $23 million over the next two years as a part-time player.

Finally, new Padres general manager Jed Hoyer was an assistant for four years at Boston, which reportedly has interest in Gonzalez. The Padres and Red Sox have done business in the past, and Hoyer is very familiar with the Red Sox’s deep farm system.

Hoyer has a daunting task of rebuilding a franchise that has lost 186 games over the past two seasons. So if he inevitably trades his most valuable bargaining chip, he will make sure to get his price — which will be steep.

Williams traded for Peavy last year and now is hot for Gonzalez, so it appears that he’s willing to sell the farm in order to acquire the marquee talent to win another World Series. As long as Peavy stays healthy, the Sox have the pitching to compete for a championship, but adding a slugger like Gonzo would be a necessity to help provide some pop to the offense.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Red Sox, Padres discussing deal for Gonzalez

According to a report by the Boston Globe, the Red Sox and Padres are in discussions about a deal that would send slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Beantown.

Padres GM Kevin Towers was said to be asking for “a ton” for Gonzalez according to one major league source familiar with the Padres’ thinking. Some of the names being discussed included Clay Buchholz, Lars Anderson, Jed Lowrie, Ryan Westmoreland, Justin Masterson and others, but no word on whether the Red Sox had offered a package for Gonzalez.

Less was known about the status of talks between Cleveland and Boston for Victor Martinez. The teams have been discussing Martinez for quite some time, but the Red Sox have been reluctant to deliver Buchholz for the catcher/first baseman.

Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi remained pessimistic about trading Roy Halladay, but as one team’s top advisor said last night, “where there’s a huge pitcher available some teams don’t show their best hand until the final moments of the deadline. You might see that with Boston at the end.”

I don’t know how Boston fans feel, but as an outsider, it seems like the Red Sox are lacking something offensively. They’re going to be in contention for either the AL East crown or the AL Wild Card no matter what. But adding a slugger like Gonzo would certainly add more pop to their lineup and give them some extra firepower against the Yankees and Rays in the division.

But is he worth the price? After a hot start, he’s only hitting .252 with 28 home runs. This is after racing out to 15 home runs and a .311 average in mid May. One would think that his numbers would rise in Boston’s lineup, but his average is death right now.

Former MLB bust Bush is a bit of a crier

Remember when the Padres selected Mission Bay High School shortstop Matt Bush with the first overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft? Then he was suspended before he ever took the field because he got into a fight outside an Arizona nightclub? Then San Diego had to move him to pitcher because they realized he hit like Rey Ordonez? Then he tore a ligament in his pitching elbow? Then he got caught for allegedly being involved in a drunken assault on his high school campus? Then he was traded to the Blue Jays, who then released him two months later for violating their zero tolerance behavioral policy?

Yeah, that guy.

Well, apparently he cries like a bitch when he gets arrested (in the middle of the day mind you) and charged with drunk driving, resisting arrest and two counts of vandalism:

This is the same idiot who allegedly threw a baseball at a young woman’s head and banged on her car window because he thought she might have drawn on his face while he was passed out. He’s a real classy kid that Matt Bush.

Hairston traded to A’s, is Holliday the next to be moved?

On Sunday, the Padres traded outfielder Scott Hairston to the A’s in exchange for minor league pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano, in addition to a player to be named later.

MLB FANHOUSE discusses the possibility of the A’s acquiring Hairston as a precursor to a Matt Holliday trade:

For the A’s, they already have Ryan Sweeney and Matt Holliday in the outfield. Hairston gives them the ability to play Sweeney in right field instead of either Travis Buck or Jack Cust. Digging deeper, though, the A’s could easily be preparing to trade Holliday, who is in his walk year, certainly won’t be re-signing in Oakland and would likely be a hot commodity in the trade market. According to a source close to the A’s, Hairston will initially split time in center field with Rajai Davis, but they are looking at him as a corner outfielder in the long term. There’s no real word from Oakland about Holliday specifically, but it certainly looks like a precursor-type move — especially with the news that Hairston will begin in center and eventually shift to a corner.

At this point, it seems inevitable that Oakland will move Holliday. Trade wizard Billy Beane isn’t going to accept just anything in a deal, but he’s going to get something in return for Holliday, especially after giving up multiple pieces to acquire him from Colorado last winter.

The Cardinals, Giants and Reds have all been linked to Holliday, although nobody should ever count out the Yankees making a move.

National League All-Star voting–who is leading and who should be

Last week we picked apart the American League all-star voting. Well, this week we will look at the National League, and after last night the starters have all been selected (aside from pitchers). You ready?

First base
Leader: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Mike’s pick: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals.
Well, this one is a no-brainer. Is it possible that Albert gets better with age? Yes, and his numbers border on staggering. 81 games in, he’s batting .336 with 31 homers and 82 RBI and a slugging percentage of .748. That projects to 62 homers and 164 runs batted in. What’s more, dude has a .993 fielding percentage. There is little doubt Pujols is the best player in the game, and he gets to flaunt it in front of his hometown crowd a week from Tuesday.

Second base
Leader: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
Mike’s pick: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies.
This one is also a no-brainer that the voters got correct, though as a Mets fan it pains me to say that. Utley has 17 homers, 54 RBI, he’s batting .303 with 16 doubles and a .980 OPS—all unbelievable numbers for a second baseman. This guy is a gamer.

Shortstop
Leader: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
Mike’s pick: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins.
This is getting to be a trend, but the numbers in the National League don’t seem to lie, do they? Hanley is batting .344 with 13 homers and 58 RBI, 26 doubles, 12 stolen bases and a .972 OPS. By comparison, he is hitting 119 points higher than JJ Hardy and 132 points higher than the slumping Jimmy Rollins. Case closed.

Third base
Leader: David Wright, New York Mets
Mike’s pick: Mark Reynolds, Arizona Diamondbacks
. Wright was leading the league in batting for quite a while, and he’s currently hitting .333 but with just 5 homers and 42 RBI. By comparison, Reynolds has clubbed 22 home runs with 57 RBI while batting a respectable .271. At a power position, I’m giving the nod to the guy barely anyone gets to see play.

Catcher:
Leader: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
Mike’s pick: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves.
This is close, because Yadier’s brother Bengie has 10 homers and 46 RBI for the Giants, but McCann is batting .311 with 8 home runs and 33 driven in, with 15 doubles and a respectable .988 fielding percentage.

Outfield
Leaders: Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
Mike’s picks: Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Brad Hawpe, Colorado Rockies
Ibanez is having a career season, batting .312 with 22 homers and 59 RBI, and Braun just continues to rake, with 16 home runs, 58 driven in and a .326 average. But Beltran, while he plays in the biggest media market and makes mega-bucks, is not going to get my all-star nod over Brad Hawpe. Beltran is hitting .336, but has just 8 homers and 40 RBI. Hawpe is hitting .328 with 13 homers and 56 runs batted in, 25 doubles and a stunning .993 OPS. If Manny Ramirez was playing most of the season, he’d probably be on this list, but I can’t consider a guy who’s only played 28 games, regardless of why he missed all that time.

Starting pitcher
As you all know, pitchers are chosen by the managers and will be announced this Sunday.
Mike’s pick: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants. Last year’s NL Cy Young winner got off to a slow start, but has been mowing hitters down lately, to the tune of 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA and league-leading 132 strikeouts with just 28 walks in 114 innings. Arizona’s Dan Haren is a close runner-up, with a 7-5 record for a crappy D-Backs’ team, and a league low 2.19 ERA with 113 K’s and 0.81 WHIP.

Relief pitcher
Mike’s pick: Heath Bell, San Diego Padres. When this former Met helped christen Citi Field by mowing down his ex-teammates in April, I thought it was just a phase. But dude leads the NL in saves with 22, and is 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 33 innings of work. And here’s the best stat of all—Bell has saved or won 74% of his team’s wins. If he keeps that up, Bell will contend for the NL Cy Young and even garner some MVP votes.

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