The Padres’ signing of Bubba Trammell is interesting. On the one hand, $9M for 3 years seems reasonable for a 28-year-old corner outfielder with career .267/.342/.481 numbers. On the other hand, he isn’t good enough to build around, and his qualitative stats have suffered this year with increased playing time.
Another wrinkle is the Sean Burroughs factor. With Burroughs likely taking over at third next year, Phil Nevin would move to first, which would push Ryan Klesko to right and create a Ray Lankford/Trammell platoon in left. But I don’t believe Kevin Towers would drop $3M a year for a part-time player, so I’m guessing he’s figured he can’t afford to re-sign Nevin. At the very least, he’s given himself and the Padres a little insurance.
And now for the latest on next year’s rotation:
- Bobby Jones
- Kevin Jarvis (assuming he re-signs)
- Brian Lawrence
- Brian Tollberg
- Junior Herndon/Jason Middlebrook/Brett Jodie/Dennis Tankersley
I suspect that with so many options at the back end, the Pads will elect to start Tankersley at Triple-A. My guess is that Middlebrook or Jodie will win that fifth starter assignment: Middlebrook because he’s the oldest, Jodie to justify the Hitchcock deal. Whoever wins that spot will be about two bad starts from losing his job.
Speaking of Tankersley, Baseball America reports that he has been compared to Kevin Brown by some Southern League observers. I’m not sure about that, but I do believe he has a chance to become the pitcher Pads’ fans were expecting Matt Clement to be. Tankersley has that kind of stuff but with much better command.
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