Results tagged ‘ Padres ’

It’s Adams (not Bell) going from San Diego to Texas

SAN DIEGO – The Padres dealt a highly-regarded reliever Sunday, though it wasn’t the move everyone figured was coming.

The Padres traded eighth-inning specialist, right-hander Mike Adams to the Rangers for two Minor League pitchers, left-hander Robbie Erlin and right-hander Joe Wieland.

Adams, who turned 33 on Friday, is 3-1 with a 1.13 ERA in 48 appearances. Since the 2009 season, Adams – regarded as one of the top set-up men in the game, has posted a 1.31 ERA in 155 appearances.

The trade came as a surprise to Adams, who admitted that he figured that closer Heath Bell would be traded on Sunday.

“I came in this morning prepared to be the closer. I honestly thought Heath (Bell) would be moved. This is a shock,” Adams said.

The Padres, who were seeking impact players with upside in any deal, land Erlin, a 20-year-old who was a third-round Draft pick in 2009. Erlin is 8-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) between Class A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Frisco.

Wieland, 21, was a teammate of Erlin’s in Frisco. He made news on Friday for tossing a no-hitter against the Padres’ Double-A affiliate, San Antonio. Wieland is a combined 10-3 with a 1.80 in 21 games (20 starts) between Myrtle Beach and Frisco.

Wieland was a fourth-round pick in the 2008 Draft.

– Corey Brock

Moving day for the Padres?

Is there another organization in baseball with as many interesting and attractive pieces to move between now and Sunday’s trade deadline as the Padres?

Before now and Sunday’s 1 p.m. PT deadline, consider what might happen with the Padres.

Three-time closer Heath Bell figures to be on his way out of town, possibly to the Rangers, who to date have shown the most interest. Bell would love to stay in San Diego, but if the Padres truly aren’t interested in trading set-up guy Mike Adams, they almost certainly have to move Bell.

Reliever Chad Qualls also figures to be traded. A former closer, Qualls has been healthy this season and rediscovered his power sinker. Better still, he could be a low-cost option for a contender.

Outfielder Ryan Ludwick, who can play left or right field, has 62 RBIs this season and could help a team looking for a bat for the stretch run. Ludwick is also a great clubhouse guy who would have no trouble assimilating himself wherever he goes. The Braves and Indians have shown interest.

Pitcher Aaron Harang’s homecoming to his native San Diego has gone well. He’s 9-2 with a 3.45 ERA, granted that a lot of his success has come at pitcher-friendly PETCO Park. Still, for a team looking to add a starter, he could be a viable option.

The Padres are looking to add impact players with upside and I would imagine they want to add a catcher and possibly a shortstop in at least one of these deals.

– Corey Brock

Padres: Trade Adams or Bell?

It’s less than two weeks before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline and the Padres find themselves with an interesting conundrum on their hands: Trade three-time All-Star closer Heath Bell or reliever Mike Adams, who is regarded as one of the top eighth-inning specialists in the game?

Bell is making $7.5 million and will be a free agent after the season. He loves San Diego. He’s making his home here and, if he had the choice, would remain a Padre for life. If the Padres don’t like the package of players offered for him, they could hang onto him, offer him arbitration (pray he declines) and then add two Draft picks in 2012. But what if he accepts? There’s a big risk there for a club that had a $43 million payroll and isn’t interested in devoting a large portion of their payroll to a non position player.

Adams, who at 32 is 10 months younger than Bell, could attract the best compensation package. The Padres are looking for young, controllable players. Impact players with upside. Players, presumably, no more than a year or so away from being able to contribute at the Major League level. For a team looking for a late-inning reliever or even a possible closer (though Adams hasn’t done that at the Major League level) Adams looks like a very viable option. And that he is under club control for 2012 makes him even more attractive.

So who goes? That will depend on the best offer. Moving Bell might make the best financial sense for the Padres. But a deal for Adams could get them the pieces the team covets to build moving forward.

– Corey Brock

If Phil is right, do the Yankees need Ubaldo?

That’s the question Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is likely pondering as the non-waiver Trade Deadline nears.

Anybody would want Ubaldo Jimenez — but at what cost?

With regards to the Yankees, the names that have surfaced as potential pieces to a deal are the likes of Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Ivan Novaand Jesus Montero (though SI.com is reporting Monday that Montero wouldn’t be the centerpiece of the potential trade, since the Rockies don’t view him as a catcher).

Since Jimenez is under club control for a while, is pretty affordable and isn’t really having a great year, the Rockies don’t feel much pressure to move him at this point. So it isn’t surprising that they’re asking so much for his services.

An added wrinkle is what took place on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, when Phil Hughes registered his best start of the year — the type that made you feel he was getting awfully close to being the 18-game winner of 2010.

Now, the question is: If Hughes really is back, should the Yankees — with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Hughes at the top of their rotation, and Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Nova filling out the back end — give the Rockies what they want for Ubaldo?

Bombers Beat has more on that dilemma …

– Alden

Padres have attractive pieces to move

San Diego general manager Jed Hoyer has been busy in recent weeks fielding calls from other teams about relievers who are expected to be available — three-time All-Star Heath Bell, Chad Qualls and, quite possibly, Mike Adams.

The Padres are also looking to move left fielder Ryan Ludwick to a team looking for a right-handed, middle-of-the-order bat.

But, make no mistake, the relievers are getting the most hits.

Bell will be a free agent after the season, so he might end up a rental for a team. If that’s the case, it won’t be easy to land a big prospect package.

Qualls, after a terrible 2010 season, has reestablished himself as a viable late-inning reliever as his hard sinker has returned.

Adams is a wild card here. Many view him as a future close, a spot he figures to land in if the Padres traded Bell.
He’s under team control through 2012 and would get the Padres the best package of prospects if they decided to deal him.

What are the Padres looking for?

Keep this in mind: Upside, impact players. Their farm system doesn’t have too many players ready to graduate to the Major League level. I would expect the Padres to ask for a shortstop/second baseman and catcher in return when they choose to make a deal.

The Phillies and Reds have more of these pieces than, say, the Cardinals. The Cardinals aren’t going to part with Shelby Miller and they don’t have a lot of prospects close to the Major Leagues.

The next two weeks should be interesting. Teams aren’t nearly as willing to part with prospects as they once were. Will the Padres land the upside/impact prospects they covet?

Stay tuned.

– Corey Brock

Bell addresses his future

Heath Bell has no illusions. He’s fully aware of the probability that he’s going to be traded between now and the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline. And he’s perfectly willing to discuss it — at length and in detail.

 

On Monday, at his media availability session prior to Tuesday’s All-Star Game, Bell fielded a variety of questions about what he would prefer when and if the time comes that he’s playing somewhere other than San Diego. Bell can be a free agent after the 2011 season.

 

Asked whether it’s a problem if a team acquires him to be a setup man:

“If a club wants me to close, I’ll do the best I can. If a club wants me to be the eighth-inning guy, I’ll bust my butt to do the eighth inning. I don’t have a problem. As a free [agent], I definitely want to close. But for the last two, three months of the year? I’m good. I’ll set up. Because I think I’ve showed everybody than I can close. I don’t think I’m going to worry about this offseason whether they want me to close or set up. But I definitely want to close next year. But if I’ve got to set up this year, it’s OK.”

 

Asked whether it matters which league he goes to:

“No. I like the National League because I know everybody. But then I look at the American League, and they don’t really know me. I don’t think in the Major Leagues you trick anybody or you fool anybody, because everybody kind of knows everything. But the American League hitters haven’t really seen me, but then again I haven’t seen them. It’s going to be interesting. If I get traded to the East or the Central of the National League, those guys don’t see me all the time and now they will. So I’ll be more familiar with them. If I get traded to the American League, I’ve got a lot of homework to do. But they also have a lot of homework to do.”

 

And asked whether it’s just the slightest bit strange to be answering so many questions like this, so matter-of-factly, when he’s still a member of the Padres:

“I’m actually glad I’m answering it now and not like once every day for the next two weeks. Because in San Diego we’ve got like two or three guys [covering the team every day]. And they’ll come up to me every few days and just say, ‘Hey, have you heard anything?’ ‘Nah, I haven’t heard anything.’ ‘All right, cool.’ So they won’t write anything.”

 

–Matthew Leach

E equals W for Padres

An error by Cardinals shortstop Ryan Theriot in the 11th inning on Thursday helped the Padres to a 5-3 victory before a sold-out crowd of 46,368 at Busch Stadium.

Chase Headley scored from third base when Theriot botched the relay throw back into the infield after a single by Cameron Maybin. Nick Hundley drove in a run later in the inning for the final margin.

The Cardinals (0-1) took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning before Ryan Franklin allowed a home run to Maybin with two outs in the inning.

The Cardinals got three hits from Matt Holliday, including a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

– Corey Brock

Padres look stronger up the middle

It wasn’t more than two days after the 2010 regular season ended when Padres general manager Jed Hoyer told reporters that he wanted the team to be stronger up the middle in 2011.

Hoyer then went out and traded for center fielder Cameron Maybin and shortstop Jason Bartlett and signed free second second baseman Orlando Hudson.

All three have made nice first impressions on Opening Day, as Maybin had a sliding catch in shallow center field on the first play of the game.

Bartlett and Hudson — with an assist to pitcher Tim Stauffer, of course — have combined to turn three double plays through the first five innings of Thursday’s game.

Strong up the middle, indeed.

– Corey Brock

Let’s get it started

The last time it counted – 149 days ago to be exact – Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz swinging to give the Giants their first World Series title since 1954.

Hot Stove season came and went. Spring Training games were played.

Now, it’s time for a new season.

Opening Day 2011 features six matchups (all times ET): Braves-Nationals at 1:05 p.m.; Tigers-Yankees at 1:05 p.m.; Brewers-Reds at 2:10 p.m.; Angels-Royals at 4:10 p.m.; Padres-Cardinals at 4:15 p.m.; and Giants-Dodgers at 8 p.m. in the ESPN Opening Night game.

The Giants begin their quest to become the first repeat champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees, and the first in the NL to repeat since the 1975-76 Reds. But the Phillies added Cliff Lee, giving them a philthy rotation that could be the best in MLB history. Over in the AL, the Red Sox added some serious firepower in the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

The 27 other MLB clubs begin today with the same record, the same hopes, the same dreams.  Follow us all day as we chronicle the dawn of a new season, from the first pitch on the East Coast, to the last out in SoCal. Who will rise in October? Buckle up and enjoy The Show.

Roundup: Soriano to Yanks as market starts to thin

Spring Training sits firmly on the horizon with just about a month to go until that special day when pitchers and catchers report. It could be a busy month, though, for several teams who are still looking to add a key piece or two to their roster for 2011.
One of those teams is the Yankees, who pulled by far the biggest move of Thursday, agreeing to terms with reliever Rafael Soriano on a three-year deal, pending a possible Tuesday physical, that would have him set up closer Mariano Rivera — for now — and earn about $35 million. He has opt-out options after each of the first two years of the contract.
 
While pitching is always a valued commodity, some clubs are also looking for a role player; maybe a fourth outfielder or a back-up infielder that will provide a little extra insurance. 
 
Regardless of what they are shopping for, the Hot Stove market is definitely growing thinner at this stage in the game. However, there are still plenty of players out there who could prove to be a gem for one team. 
Here’s a look at the latest updates on the market from around the league: 
- The Padres are on the verge of adding some additional depth to their bullpen, in the form of right-hander Chad Qualls, according to MLB.com’s Corey Brock. Brock reported on Twitter on Thursday afternoon that the Padres are “very close” to a deal with Qualls. 
- Utility man Willie Bloomquist has agreed to a one-year deal, $1.05 million deal with the D-backs, SI.com’s Jon Heyman tweeted on Thursday. The deal also includes a mutual option for the 2012 season. 
- It’s not appearing that outfielder Willie Harris will return to the Nationals in 2011. Harris has two offers at this point, MLB.com’s Bill Ladson tweeted Thursday and neither of them are from the Nats. The two sides haven’t spoken in weeks, Ladson added. 
- Veteran Eric Chavez has worked out recently for the Blue Jays, ESPN.com reported Thursday. Chavez has been working out for teams in Arizona over the past few weeks. The Mariners and Dodgers have also been linked to Chavez at times this offseason.
– Bailey Stephens
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