I’ve got a new article up at Hardball Times on everyone’s favorite first baseman from Eastlake High…
Triple-A
No games scheduled in the Pacific Coast League.
Double-A — South All-Stars 7, North All-Stars 3
Kyle Blanks, Chad Huffman, and Craig Cooper combined to go 0-for-9 with a walk. The other Missions representative, Matt Buschmann, worked two scoreless innings of relief.
The game took place at Hammons Field in Springfield, which I visited on my way back from Cooperstown last summer. That was the day before my car got smashed. Good times…
High-A
No games scheduled in the California League.
Low-A — Fort Wayne 8, West Michigan 0
Drew Cumberland (SS): 1-for-2
Lance Zawadzki (DH): 3-for-5, 2 2B
Justin Baum (3B-2B): 2-for-4, HR, BB
Yefri Carvajal: 0-for-3, BB
Felix Carrasco (1B-3B): 1-for-2, 2 BB
Brad Chalk: 0-for-4
Wynn Pelzer: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3 WP (9 GO)
Robert Woodard: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 2 SO
Cumberland left the game in the second inning with a back injury. It’s not certain whether this is related to the problem that forced him to the disabled list at the end of May.
Short-Season-A — Eugene 7, Spokane 6
Sawyer Carroll: 0-for-4, BB
Emmanuel Quiles: 1-for-4, E
Rookie — AZL Royals 6, AZL Padres 5
Kevin Hansen: 2-for-4, 2 2B, SH
Keisy Marte: 1-for-4, SH
Jaff Decker: 2-for-3, 2B, BB, SB
Danny Payne: 2-for-4, 2B
Hansen isn’t a prospect, but he played at USD, so I’ll be keeping an eye on him.
DSL Padres
Information often is slow to arrive from the Dominican Republic, but I’ll try to track a few guys down there as best I can:
Jonathan Galvez: .417/.600/.694, 13 BB, 6 SO, 3 SB
Rymer Liriano: .176/.291/.392, 11 BB, 37 SO, 6 SB
Both are 17 years old; Liriano just turned 17 last week. Anyone else worth following? I’m open to suggestions…
#7@Field39: Yesterday Field said that it was time for the FO to stop messing around and work on making some trades.
I know that AZ has fallen back and can’t seem to score runs. I know that the Dodgers are not all that exciting. I know we think that we have a chance to climb back into the race. I know.
I also know that getting value for a couple of our players may be the best way to improve for 2009. I am not saying pull the trigger today, but we need to be dispatching our scouts and making heavy in-roads to getting deals done so that come July 31, we are ready to pull the trigger…multiple times.
CM: What do you propose we trade to make a deal? I don’t see that any of our prospects will bring anything of value. Admittedly, in a year or two they might, but now, “No.” Our current starters have little value, otherwise we wouldn’t be mired in last place.
We could trade Giles, who is under contract next year, but we have no one to replace him. We could trade Maddux, but what do we get in return? We aren’t going to trade Adrian or Jake.
I don’t see any sort of positive outcome for this year or next.
The only possible trade that I could see if the Kouz for Bay that was discussed yesterday – but I think Lamar hit it on the head, there really aren’t any deals out there to be made.
Also most trades today are as much about money as about talent.
on a giles trade….
say for example the front office trades away giles for some mid level prospect. And, then they use the freed up money to sign that hot young prospect (16?) from wherever that the A’s are supposed to be all over – we’d be getting a great return for giles. not that i see the pads investing that kind of money on someone that young, but just trying to make the point that the talent we get directly from the trade isnt the only repercussion.
#4@Sam: Big problem with trading Giles is that he can veto up to eight teams and he gets a $2 million dollar annual bonus if traded.
So for a team to pick him up Giles would command a salary of $11 million and could even involve picking up his option in ’09 for $11 million. I like Giles, but I don’t think his skill level justifies that type of payday anymore.
On another subject I hope everyone has had a chance to listen to the weekly spots on the Mighty XX with Sandy Alderson – great interview the other day with Darren Smith. Smith acutually asks some tough questions – which is a lot easier to advocate than to do.
Now we know why the Dykstra negotiations have stalled. The NCTimes reports that the Padres are digging into his medical reports. After his freshman year in high school, Dykstra required surgery and a bone graft for avascular necrosis in his right hip and a tumor on his thigh bone.
Now that doesn’t mean he’s doomed. It may not mean anything at all in terms of his ability to play pro baseball. He had 3 good years in college and 2 good seasons on the Cape with that history. It would seem to make it less likely that he’s capable of holding up in left field, especially in Petco, but his value was in his bat anyway. The worrisome thing is that this information, unlike Tim Stauffer’s injury, was common knowledge. Doesn’t it seem like the go/no-go decision should have been reached before draft day, not after it?
#2@LaMar: I am simply saying stop trying to play coy. This is not a contending team and if the rumors are true, both ATL and Chicago have called about the availability of Wolf and Maddux. Baltimore may have interest in KG (assuming we can find a suitable replacement).
Giles is a decent player, worth more to us at $11mm for 2009 than someone else at $13mm, but there may be a team that could use a solid LF/RF with good OBP skills. What is that worth in the market? I don’t know, but the FO needs to be prepared to answer that.
I am mostly advocating an admission that this season did not work and if we can get some value, we are going to be open to saving cash and improving for ’09.
#6@Tom Waits: They signed Allan Dykstra for $1.4mm a little while back.
#3@John Conniff: I don’t believe most trades require balancing money right now. Baseball revenues have increased a lot over the last 4-5 years. We don’t see as many salary dumps or salary swaps as we used to. But, like you point out, two of the most desirable Padres (Giles and Maddux) have complications. A lot of teams wouldn’t mind paying Giles 5-6 million for the rest of this season, but that 3 million tag next year is non-negotiable. It’s possible we’re going to have to kick in money to make a deal happen with him, at least a deal that brings back something we want. His NT clause isn’t such a problem, because he put mostly bad teams on it who don’t want him anyway.
#2@LaMar: If we trade Giles, it doesn’t matter who replaces him this year. We’re punting the season at that point. But our best move may be to keep him, pick up his 2009 option, and plunk him in LF next year.
#8@Coronado Mike: No, they didn’t. It was announced as a done deal, but nobody’s signed. See today’s NC Times for details.
#6@Tom Waits: It does, especially someone that you have ranked as being taken in the first few rounds.
I still think its kind of a strange pick. If Fuson states that he believes he can only play 1b – either the team believes AGon is going to be gone or they aren’t that crazy about Blanks.
If you’re going to spend $1.5 million isn’t the team better off going for an athletic high school guy like the pitchers we passed on?
#7@Coronado Mike: Giles makes $9 million now, if he is traded it goes up to $11 million.
#9@Tom Waits: I think it plays a little more of role than you do, but that is an opinion and I don’t really have the data to back it up.
I’m just not sure what you could really get for Giles and that he may be more valuable to the Padres this year and next. I’m really curious if the Padres and Pirates would try to do a deal because if so that would clear up many things. I for one think Headley is much more of a 3b than an OF.
A potential trading partner could be St. Louis with both Ankiel and Colby Rasmus as center fielders. Rumor is the Cards aren’t as happy with Rasmus as they once were and he would be a great guy to get if possible.
#11@John Conniff: I can see taking him even if he’s a 1b only. If things work out, you end up with a Thome / Howard situation in Philly, only you hope the front office could make a better move with Agon. We never want to have only one option. But it seems strange to me that they’d pop him knowing about his hip / leg history, and then back off the decision.
Maybe it’s just a negotiating ploy to save some money.
If I was going to guess at which player SA was referring to when he said there were non-scouting reasons for our pass, my guess would be Collier.
#13@John Conniff: OG is definitely not an easy decision. Not that easy to replace, probably have to send money with him, etc.
#10@Tom Waits: Here’s a link:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/06/26/sports/padres/zbcb7b4cafb2ffe2188257474000fbfa6.txt
Also, the BA draft database is useful in tracking these things:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2008xteam.php?team=1016
#6@Tom Waits: If I understand the concept correctly. The Padres would not have access to Dykstra’s medical records, without his permission. In that case, they may have known about the genral condition, but not the specific details. Those details, may be troubeling.
#14@Tom Waits: I could see that but it just seems, especially in the first round and with a college guy, you might want to at least think where the guy could fit in with the big club three years down the road.
If the Padres had taken someone like Hosmer I would have a much easier time buying into that theory.
Methinks we need to get a little more down and dirty with our background checks.
There’s lot of trade bait on this team. Wolf, Maddux, Giles and Bell are all pretty valuable pieces right now. There’s a ton of teams needing an extra starter. Almost anyone can use a .400 OBP guy and everyone’s always looking for bullpen help.
Kouz is someone we may want to move, but I’m not sure the takers are there.
Forget down and dirty … the condition was in an NC Times article. Uggh.
#17@Field39: The NC Times reported on his medical condition in Feb. 2007. Maybe they have more information now, but I really hope they weren’t caught off-guard again.
#18@John Conniff: 3 years down the road (after 2011) Agon is a free agent.
#19@Alan: There would be more interest in Kouz than there would be for Maddux and Giles simply because a team would have him for a longer period at a much cheaper price.
I don’t think trading Bell or Wolf would really be in the Padres interest right now. Bell is probably the team’s closer next year and the Padres don’t have enough pitching in the minors to toss away a quality starter like Wolf.
#21@Tom Waits: I could see the Padres shelling out to keep Adrian – so that is still where I am a little lost on taking Dykstra.
#23@John Conniff: Oh, I could see them doing it to. But nobody wants to be in a position where they HAVE to shell out money because they don’t have other viable options. If the going rate for a player of Agon’s caliber after 2011 is 15M per, and he wants the going rate, they’ll need someone to fill 1b.
#22@John Conniff: A team that’s fighting for the playoffs is less interested in long-term control of a player than filling a hole. There seem to be more teams in need of SP and OF than a 3b with a poor defensive rep (earned or not) and what look like only adequate offensive numbers.
Wolf’s only guaranteed to be here for 3 more months anyway (2 after the trade deadline). I have no problem letting Germano / Hensley / Geer / Ramos take his starts if he lands us something halfway good. What they’re offered may be less valuable than 2 draft picks or a year of arbitration-salaried Wolf in 2009, though.
On Bell – Sometimes you have to move a guy when he’s up rather than hoping he stays up. If we’d traded Meredith after 2006 many fans would have been upset, but we might be a more talented team now. But I’m not saying it would be easy to do.
#22@John Conniff: Wolf has value and he is the most easily traded of the big three (Maddux, Wolf, Giles). Unless they are planning on signing him to a new contract, looking into a trade makes sense.
#24@Tom Waits: The key phrase that you use is “halfway good”. If trading Giles and Bell could bring back someone like Rasmus I would do the trade now.
On AGon/Dystra it seems that Blanks should fit your insurance scenario, so again its still a little puzzling to spend that much and more importantly use a first round pick on someone like Dykstra – but others probably have much more information than I have.
#25@Field39: I agree, but I think as Tom pointed out it depends what you can get for him. I just don’t see that many organizations that have minor league talent so deep they can give a top prospect for a three month rental.
#27@John Conniff: It also depends on what kind compensaion pick they would get. With all the time he missed last year, he may get a B rating.
#26@John Conniff:
(Prospects) If we’re holding out for a Rasmus-level prospect, it’s almost certainly not happening. I’d trade Wolf and Maddux for a lot of players who aren’t as highly thought of as Rasmus and aren’t in the top 50-100 prospects. I’d trade them for a lot of guys who are already in the majors but undervalued or superfluous to their own teams.
(First Base) I doubt there’s sold on Blanks. Even if they were, he’s still just one guy. Agon wants to test free agency, Blanks flames out in AAA, we’re stuck. I’m happy with the team taking the player they wanted regardless of position; I’m currently withholding judgment on whether they should have wanted Dykstra or not.
#27@John Conniff: I don’t need a top prospect for Wolf, but that’s me. If Wolf landed us Aaron Heilmann, I’d do that deal quickly and without looking back.
#28@Field39: I would bet he’s an A as long as he stays healthy this year. 1.5 above-average seasons usually gets you there.
#29@Tom Waits: In general on a Rasmus level prospect I would agree with you – but St. Louis could be a possible exception to the rule. (1) They seem pretty happy with Rick Ankiel in CF for the big club and in AA Jon Jay is having a very good year. (2) There was some bad blood between Rasmus and St. Louis after spring training regarding what LaRussa did or did not say to him and the subsequent postings on an Internet site. (3) He had a tough first two months in AAA and is finally starting to pull out of it. He may not be quite as untouchable as he was before spring training.
If St. Louis was willing to deal him – and get back Giles and Bell in return – they would fill a LF hole and get a potential closer, something they have missed while still having an everyday CF and one in the wings with Jay.
Giles is at most in San Diego’s plans for one more year, and while Bell would be tough to get – Rasmus could give SD six years in CF if he’s as good as everyone believes.
If you talk to people who saw him play in the Texas League most thought Rasmus was better than Headley last year.
#30@John Conniff: Don’t get wrong, I’d love to get Rasmus. I wouldn’t hold my breath on a deal like that if someone else was offering an interesting player for Wolf alone, though.
#31@Tom Waits: I’m sure plenty of people would be in the Rasmus sweepstakes – to get a player like that is largley about fate – you happen to have the parts they covet and for a top prospect he’s backed up behind someone they do like.
The Padres have dealt with the Cards in the past – but now they have a new GM – so who knows.
#22: Your argument holds if you think we contend next year. I’m not sure I do.
If we can turn Kouz, Maddux, Giles and Wolf into two top end prospects, I’d rather play next year hoping for young breakouts.
Geoff, your Hardball Times article got some attention from Tom Tango.
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/one_of_many_ways_that_not_regressing_toward_the_mean_can_get_you_in_trouble/
Oops, actually MGL wrote that piece.