Results tagged ‘ San Diego Padres ’
Should the Tigers trade Porcello?
According to reports, the Tigers made not one but two offers to the San Diego Padres in an attempt to trade Rick Porcello. Both of the offers were rejected, but it makes me wonder whether or not the Tigers should try to trade Porcello.
Both reported offers would have landed Detroit a late-inning relief pitcher, which makes it seem that the Tigers don’t necessarily have a lot of confidence in Bruce Rondon being the closer come opening day. If that is the case, I can understand why the Tigers would try to trade for Huston Street, but not Luke Gregerson.
In his first year as the closer for the Padres, Street posted a 1.85 ERA along with 23 saves. Street has spent all eight years of his career as a closer, only once logging under 20 saves. Although he is a valuable closer, I don’t think trading a pitcher like Porcello (durable starter who cannot become a free agent until 2016) for a closer who is owed 21-million dollars over the next three years.
Gregerson is another interesting trade candidate, as I’m not sure he’d be able to slot in as the closer for the Tigers, especially since he’s only finished 42 games in his career (12 saves). The nice thing about Gregerson is the fact he’s only due 3.2-million dollars this year, which is a reasonable salary for a quality relief pitcher. The flip side of that is if Gregerson isn’t closing, he really doesn’t have much of a defined role on the team.
When it comes to closers, there’s basically two different theories. The first theory is that any quality relief pitcher can be an above-average closer. The second is that not all pitchers have the mentality or makeup to be a closer in professional baseball. More often than not, I’m a believer in the latter. Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule, but a closer without confidence is just a disaster waiting to happen.
So should the Tigers trade Porcello before opening day? In my opinion, I think it’s best to wait until at least the trade deadline. My biggest fear is the fact that outside of Drew Smyly, the Tigers have pretty much no rotational depth, and that’s not a position that a World Series contending team wants to deal with. If the Tigers do trade Porcello, I just hope that they get a little more value than just a relief pitcher.
Let’s make a deal!
The Tigers have won four of their last six games, but there’s still the question of how can they find ways to improve. Perhaps the Tigers will be looking to make a trade in the upcoming weeks.
There’s been some reported speculation that the Tigers are interested in trading for Carlos Quentin from the San Diego Padres, but I don’t think Detroit fans should be excited about this. It’s hard to speculate about a trade without knowing what the other team wants, but I’d imagine it’d be one of our young outfielders such as Andy Dirks or Brennan Boesch, plus a top-tier pitching prospect.
Simply put, I think the Padres are going to want a lot more for Quentin than he’s worth for the Tigers. We’ve dealt with one poor defensive left fielder already this year, so I don’t need to go through that again. If you tell me the Padres are willing to accept Delmon Young as part of the package, then I’d welcome it with open arms.
Freeing up Young would allow the Tigers to play a combination of Dirks (once he returns from the disabled list), Austin Jackson, Boesch and Quintin Berry in the outfield, allowing Quentin to be our primary DH. Granted I think it’s quite possible that one of the outfielders I just mentioned would likely be involved any deal, though.
Another intriguing possibility would be signing Vladimir Guerrero to be our DH. Not only would it prevent us from having to further deplete our farm system, but it would also cost us a lot less money. Quentin is making just over seven million dollars this year, whereas Guerrero would likely cost significantly less. I’m not saying either is likely, but I think it’s a worthwhile comparison.
I do think it’s very likely that the Tigers will consider themselves to be buyers at the trade deadline, but I’m not willing to trade our entire farm system just for the sake of adding a bullpen arm and an extra bat. I’m not saying that prospects like Jacob Turner and Nick Castellanos are untouchable, but I wouldn’t let them go cheaply, either.
A prayer for the Padres
In 2011, the San Diego Padres finished with a record of 71-91, which was tied for the fifth-worst record in all of Major League Baseball, and second worst in the National League. Is there any reason to think that the 2012 Padres will fare any better?
After a very disappointing season, the Padres traded away Mat Latos to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Edinson Volquez, Yonder Alonso and two minor-league prospects. In doing so, the Padres lost the ace of their rotation, but in return got a quality pitcher (Volquez) as well as Alonso, who if it wasn’t for Joey Votto, would have been the starting first baseman for the Reds.
The Padres didn’t go out and sign a bunch of free-agent talent, but rather decided to try to bolster their team by making several more trades. Through these moves, they were able to acquire a new closer (Huston Street) as well as outfielder Carlos Quentin. Both of these moves were made to address and improve their team, as they lost their closer Heath Bell to free agency, and desperately needed to find some way to improve their offense.
Unfortunately for the Padres, Quentin injured his knee before the season started and has yet to make an appearance for them. Once he returns from the disabled list, he will immediately make a dramatic impact on their lineup.
As much as I like to be optimistic, it’s hard for me to see a whole lot of upside with the Padres this year, especially after owner John Moores announced that he was putting the team for sale. It’s hard to imagine him willing to invest a lot of money into a team that he’s no longer going to be a part of, but hopefully the new owner(s) will be willing to spend the money to make the Padres competitive once again.
Fun fact: When the Padres initial owner went to sell the team in 1974, he almost sold it to Joseph Danzansky. Danzansky planned on moving the franchise to Washington D.C., but much to the surprise of everyone, the deal fell through. Instead, the Padres were sold to McDonald’s co-founder Ray Kroc, who had absolutely no interest in moving the team.
Brad Jeffers
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