So how many folks are still actually watching the games at this point? If you are, drop me a line at why-oh-why-in-the-world-do-I-do-this-to-myself-please-make-it-stop-I-want-to-die@geoffreynyoung.com and let me know how that’s working for you.

Khalil Greene

Second day at Triple-A better than the first. He drove in five runs last night at Colorado Springs.

GM for a Day

Well, I’ve moved past the "game watching" phase of the season and into the "let’s think about anything but what’s happening on the field" phase. With that in mind, I give you some ideas of moves I might make if I were GM for a day.

My methods for constructing this were highly unscientific. Basically I drew up a list of marketable commodities on the Padres (precious few, as it turns out) and another list of teams within five games of a playoff spot (there are 16 such teams). Then I tried to figure out which teams need what we have, and what on each of those clubs might be of value to the Pads (primarily young catchers and outfielders).

The guys that should fetch the most interest are Mark Loretta and Rondell White. These are established big leaguers who play pretty much every day and who could help a contender but who are essentially useless to the Padres.

Of the contenders, the most likely suitors for Loretta appear to be Minnesota (Luis Rivas, .255/.298/.342) and Los Angeles (Alex Cora, .248/.295/.332). Both teams have some decent catching prospects, so there’s potential for a deal here.

The Twins have a kid in their system who is caught between Scylla and Charybdis (or in this case, between Mauer and Pierzynski). His name is Rob Bowen and he used to be highly regarded before suffering through a miserable .184/.272/.313 FSL campaign last year. He’s moved up to Double-A and he’s hitting a ton of doubles and showing good plate discipline. Bowen is a switch-hitter who has "advanced receiving skills, plus the arm and quick release to deter basestealers" (Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2002). He’s drawn comparisons to Ben Davis, which would be a welcome upgrade from anyone currently in the system. Bowen isn’t a great prospect, but he’s got promise and the Twins have less use for him than they ought to for a guy like Loretta.

Minnesota also has a glut of outfield talent. Bobby Kielty is the guy everyone over at Fanstop talks about, but I’m not sure Loretta alone would be enough to land him. Throw in a Brad Baker or Mike Bynum, and maybe something happens.

The Dodgers also have an intriguing possibility in Koyie Hill, who was more highly regarded than Bowen coming into the season but who isn’t doing a whole lot so far this year. I’d think that, being in the same division, the Dodgers might be a little hesitant to move one of their top prospects to a rival. Unless, of course, they don’t consider the Padres a real threat, in which case all bets are off.

All-but-forgotten Chin-Feng Chen and converted infielder Jason Repko are a couple other players I’d be looking at if I called the shots for the Pads.

Kansas City, which nominally has Carlos Febles at second, is a lesser candidate for the services of Loretta thanks to the play of Angel Berroa and Desi Relaford. A healthy Lou Merloni, who can fill in at multiple positions, might be a better fit. And White would almost certainly be useful to the Royals.

The Royals have a few intriguing options behind the plate. Mike Tonis is the most advanced of the group, but he’s battled injury problems throughout his career and his upside isn’t that high. His OPS is below 700 right now at Wichita, an environment ordinarily very favorable to hitters. A potentially useful player, but probably not enough for White.

Another interesting young player in Kansas City is outfielder Dee Brown. He’s on the DL right now and still very raw. But he has a lot of athletic ability, and the shine that went with his prospect status has largely faded. Maybe he’s something, maybe he’s nothing. But the Padres could do a lot worse than to take a shot on a guy like Brown. Would White for Tonis and Brown work? I dunno. Might make a good starting point, though. Or perhaps Alexis Gomez could be gotten? He’s having a terrible time at Omaha, but he’s still young and I doubt the Royals have given up on him yet.

Well, when all is said and done, I think I’d try to work the Loretta-for-Bowen (or Loretta-and-something-for-Kielty) angle with Minnesota. Then I’d talk to the Royals and see what could be done involving one or two of Gomez, Brown, and Tonis. If I could somehow turn Loretta, White, and a second-tier pitching prospect into Kielty and Tonis (or, leaving out the pitcher, Bowen and Brown/Gomez), I think I’d be pretty happy.

I think I probably wouldn’t be sitting around writing a blog, either. More likely, the few useful parts of the bullpen will be shipped off for less-than-marginal prospects and there will be no takers for Kevin Jarvis. We’ll see how it all plays out…