We’ve been watching this all day and it’s finally happened. At least a version of it has happened. As we reported late Thursday afternoon, the Padres have acquired left-hander David Wells from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Speculation on who the player to be named will be has focused on Triple-A catcher George Kottaras, but that’s all it is at this point — speculation. Still, where there’s smoke…
As for the acquistion of Wells, I’m not super excited about it but as long as the cost isn’t too high, he’s worth a shot. If you’re looking for a positive spin, you could do worse than point to the 2.65 ERA he’s posted over 34 innings in the month of August. If his body can hold up for another month and a half, he could give the Pads some quality innings down the stretch and deep into the playoffs.
The nightmare scenario, of course, is that the Padres don’t reach the post-season and surrender Kottaras. As much as I love what Josh Bard has done this season, I’m not completely sold on him as Mike Piazza’s successor (assuming Piazza doesn’t return, which is yet another unknown in this little drama), and Nick Hundley still has a ways to go before he reaches the Show.
What I’d really like to see is the Padres give back some of the money they took from the Red Sox in the deals that sent Mark Loretta to Boston and brought Josh Bard and Cla Meredith to San Diego. Easy to say, since it’s not my money. 
Enough spinning of wheels; let’s deal with what we’ve got. Wells is a member of the San Diego Padres. I believe he has a chance to help, and perhaps more importantly, some of the Padres players might be inclined to believe the same. Whatever else we may think we know about baseball, there’s still something to be said for belief. Even if Wells is a difference maker only in the minds of his teammates, he’ll have done his job.
In the broader scheme of things, we won’t be able to fully judge this deal until the proverbial other shoe drops. Then, when we have a better understanding of what has been lost and what has been gained, we’ll know whether our shouts should be for joy or for something else.
But for now, with the information currently available, I’m okay with the deal. Welcome home, Boomer; now get out there with your teammates and bring home a championship.
34 Comments
why would it be Kottaras “or” cash considerations?
Kottaras did not start for Portland tonight…not sure if that means anything, but there it is.
what about the possibility that if Wells is on the roster tonight, someone has to get taken off the 25 man… who would that be?
This is a crap trade. There, I said it. (Unless they keep Kottaras.)
The Padres don’t play tonight so there would be no need to make a roster move. They simply activate Wells before the game tomorrow it won’t be an issue tomorrow before the game either because it’s Sept. 1
no.. because the roster deadline for postseason is today so someone should still be moved.
I think the “price” depends on the perceived contribution of Wells to the Padres. If he only starts one or two games, and then gets hurt, I would assume the cost would be cash. If Wells has five or more starts in the regular season and/or a start in the playoffs, it will be Kottaras. Oester, from Lake Elsinore, was on “Too Much Show” on XX and he believes that the PTBNL is Kottaras. Wells better be “lights out” the rest of this year and sign with the Pads for a song and a six-pack next year for this deal to not suck eggs before the end of next year.
Any clue where Wells will be slotted into the rotation? I think he was scratched tonight, but Thompson’s turn doesn’t come until Tuesday.
If Kottaras is the compensation, I think it’s a bad deal. Five or six starts from Wells, as opposed to Thompson, isn’t worth parting with Kottaras.
As Geoff notes, this trade may be more about the players’ psychology than on-field performance. A hot Wells would look nice in a playoff rotation, too.
If it makes those who hate the trade feel any better, PECOTA really doesn’t like Kottaras.
NC Times indicates it’s Kottaras:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/09/01/sports/professional/padres/0_54_23_068_31_06.txt
Making it to the playoffs won’t justify this deal; winning the first round might be enough, but I’m thinking we pretty much need a World Series appearance if it really is Kottaras. I also have to wonder if there’s something in the works with Piazza for next year. Oh well, at least we’re going for it.
I don’t know if Pectoa likes any catchers.
I don’t want to make the playoffs or just make it to the World Series – I want a championship! This trade isn’t going to make that happen this year or any year.
I can’t believe that improving our odds of just making the playoffs this year from 20% to 40-50% is worth our 2nd best prospect in exchange for six to eight starts by a 43-year old pitcher.
This year our strengths of have been starting pitching, relief pitching and defense up the middle. What did we go out and acquire for the stretch run? Relief pitching (Williamson), a second baseman (Walker) and starting pitching (Wells). So far the only trade that looks like it has any promise is Branyan, and the jury is still out on that one.
And regarding the Loretta trade – despite the fact that we ended up with Bard and Meredith, it is also the primary reason we STILL have the .192 / .289 / .356-hitting Mark Bellhorn on our roster. I’m not sure Bard and Meredith can make up for that. How can a guy that’s hitting .155 since 1 June still be on a major league roster?
From the rumor mill, looks like more than a few teams will be pursuing Roberts in the offseason. If the Pads want him back, they’d have to offer him 2 years with an option for a third, and that ain’t gonna happen. Or, they could offer his agent 5 mil. with an option-buyout for a second year, but that would have to be right now, and that ain’t gonna happen, either.
Once they start negotiating, with the leverage Roberts will have, unless the Pads are willing to give him a Giles like deal (not at that price, of course), very little chance of re-signing him.
Chances of Roberts coming back: 15%-20%, and that’d only be because he wants to stay in San Diego. 34, having a career year — I say he goes for the bucks.
I’d be all for giving him 2 years. As long as he realizes he’s not going to start the entire time.
Hopefully Wells is able to contribute. I’m not necessarily pleased with the trade, but I am somewhat pleased that Wells is a Padre.
I really dislike the deal. Hensley has been one of our lights-out guys since 8/1, with that sinker really biting, and I don’t see DW as much of an upgrade. Over the Chan Ho/Thompson/Stauffer pu-pu platter, sure, but how much value does that create between now and the regular season’s end, which is the only window of time Wells would be subbing for that cluster.
Sure Kottaras isn’t making anyone forget Johnny Bench, but promising young catchers who have proven they can hit (small sample first tastes of AAA not withstanding) are more valuable than this. We’re trying to build a perennial contender here that can challenge the big spenders in the NL AND hold their own against the AL in any potential World Series. This year’s team isn’t that team and I can’t countenance giving up what could have been a valuable chip in building that contender to improve it marginally.
Now that I’ve had a chance to sleep on this, I’m convinced the Padres didn’t bring Wells back for the stretch run, they brought him back for the playoffs. Even though the cost may end up being too high, I like the fact that they’re at least thinking like a team that expects to win. They’ve made a real commitment to this year’s club while the ring is within grasp. In the bigger picture, I wonder what impact that might have on potential free agents who are thinking of signing here?
I heard on XX yesterday that “the fans don’t realize how close they came to getting Phil Nevin.” SA said on XX the day before that he was pretty sure we’d get a bat for the stretch run and we were also looking at a pitcher. Looks like the bat may have been Phil.
Philly Billy said that the deal for Nevin got nixed when some of the players said not to do it. OTOH, according to the UT this morning, the players were all for the Wells trade.
Wonder how the comments would be running if Phil was now a Padre?
Yikes. Thankfully we’ll never know the answer to that question.
no more Phil Nevin talk… even if he was brought in to play third he wouldn’t provide much more than Branyan-Bellhorn-Walker could.
Justin Leone and Pete LaForest DFA’d (SD Union Trib) to make room for Boomer and Seanez on the 40-man.
Regarding the Wells & P2BNL deal, some were speculating on the way it works – “The rules of the player to be named later state that the deal must close within six months and the player must change leagues” http://padres.scout.com (subscription req’d)
Slept on it an dhave a little different idea…I think I am not so angry if this deal takes place 2 months ago. I think I am only moderately angry if this deal happens July 31…but for this deal to take place on August 31 is very painful.
Do I think Kotarras is really the “#2 Prospect” in the organization? No, I really don’t. I have seen him play a few times and, IMHO he is not going to be a major league catcher for long. Carrillo, Headley, Hundley, and Ben Johnson should all be listed above him in our minor league rankings…and that is just off the top of my head.
I guess the two questions that we will never know the answer to is; Do other teams think that Kotarras can be a major league catcher and if they do, do they think that he really is that good of a prospect. If the answer is yes, then we got hammered in this deal. If no, then we did fine.
This is odd, the padres sent Thompson down and recalled seledge, why not Johnson?
Getting Nevin would have been downright bizarre.
Stating the obvious here — our top three starters now:
Peavy
Young
Wells
The next two are
Williams
Hensley
That’s not a bad looking rotation. I kind of like it, actually.
If Greene ever comes back, that should give the offense a little pick-me-up.
Anyone hear anything about a timetable for his return?
I was just listening to XX and they had Boomer and Bochy on a conference call. You don’t think of Bochy as being funny, but he was giving Boomer all kinds of grief. I was actually shocked how entertaining Bochy can be in a non-press briefing environment. Boomer was acting (?) miffed, since the Padres didn’t give him a private plane to come back when Mirabelli got one. Boomer says that he needs to throw when he gets in, sometime around 5:00 p.m. and told Boch to just let him strap it on. Bochy said they’d considered it, but decided on Sunday, all things considered.
Re #23: I think that Johnson has to spend 10 days in the minors, once he’s sent down. I think he’s due back on September 5.
Re #25: Last I heard was they though Khalil would be able to come off the DL on Sunday, provided that the cortisone shot he got in Arizona had the desirable effect.
re #25, Johnson has to spend 10 days in the minors unless he is replacing someone going on the DL – OR – the Portland season ends. Then he could have been brought back. Either way, Portland’s season is done on Monday so we should see him and a few others come our way then.
Anyone else think it’s strange that Johnson has been leading off in Portland? Sign of things to come maybe, or are they just trying to get him as many ABs as possible?
I’ve lived here about a year, originally a Reds fan but day-to-day I follow and root for the Padres (sports bigamy, I know, I know), and just want to know one thing: What exactly did Phil Nevin do that makes everyone hate him so much?
Besides sign a big contract and then suck?
IIRC, I think the last straw was when he exercised his no-trade clause on a deal, straight up, for Ken Griffey, Jr … that didn’t sit well with many Padre fans …
Re #27: Here is my subjective take on Nevin.
I, unlike many others, didn’t hate Nevin. On the positive side, nobody wanted to win more than Phil. He cared about his teammates and didn’t care about management. He butted heads with the fans and management constantly. But I actually liked that fire that he showed because of that “overdeveloped” sense of competition. There are lot of players on the Padres team, then and now, that seem pretty laid back with no sense of urgency. But, in Phil’s case, there are certain people that let that sense of competition drive him and he was one of those.
On the negative side, Phil was a dick, flipping off fans, getting into arguments with them near the dugout, staring up at the Padre’s luxury box when he crushed a ball to right center that fell harmlessly at the warning track. The thing that tipped the scales for me was learning that he mis-treated ball boys in visiting parks. It’s one thing to be surly, it’s another to take it out on kids that just want to be around big league ballplayers. It’s one thing to be highly competitive, it’s another to be bad to those who you perceive are “beneath” you. Despite rumors of ‘roids, Phil was one who was willing to put the team on his shoulders. Unfortunately, his talent (real or enhanced) in recent years wouldn’t let him carry it.
re:30.. I completely agree with everything. There was no question that he wanted to win, look at how he volunteered to play catcher last season when Hernandez went down. But I’ve also heard the stories about what an ass he was to just about everyone. Toughest thing to hear those kinds of stories and then have your 7 year old say Phil Nevin is his favorite player..and then have to try and explain to him that he’s been traded. From that standpoint, I wouldn’t have minded seeing him back in San Diego..but it doesn’t surprise me that the players didn’t want him here.
LaMar
Never heard those rumors about Nevin mistreating people. I knew he was a jerk, but that’s just crap. Gives me a new impression of the guy.
Whatever, he’s gone now. We don’t have to worry about his attitude now that we have our 3b of the future: Russ Branyan!!
29: Whoa, LynchMob. How dare Nevin exercise a contractual right that saved us from paying Guatamala’s GNP every year for the rest of the millenium to a declining player who can’t play CF? I’ve never understood how that works – he’s not a team player because he won’t let the team throw him out the door? The team knew the risk when it signed him. Then it made him the scapegoat when the real fault for the team’s struggles was the front office.
I’ll withhold judgment on his supposed treatment of ball boys. I’m not the poster child for nice myself and I’m not going to bash him on heresay.
Tom, I’ve never heard anyone say you weren’t nice, well, except ball boys.