Padres Acquire Tony Gwynn Jr.

In a trade that probably looks like nothing to most everyone in the country, the Padres sent Jody Gerut (a platooning center fielder) to the Milwaukee Brewers for a AAA prospect. The reason it means anything to the Padres is that he happens to be the son of the most famous athlete in San Diego sports history. The moved loved for sure.

Tony Gwynn Jr. (preferably Anthony Gwynn) hopes to continuing following in Dad's footsteps following his career at SDSU into a succesfull major league career in SD. He is a solid prospect, a bit younger than Gerut, and a guy that will be instantly loved.

In his first at bat as a Padre, on a day he found out he was traded and flew from Portland to San Diego, he drew a walk, and a big one at that. He arrived in San Diego just in time to dress and make it out to the field for game time, but found himself as the pinch hitter with one out and a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-1 game. A lot of young guys coming into a situation like this would be very anxious. The crowd went nuts for Mr. Padre's son, and I wouldnt have blamed him for swinging at some bad pitches and showing little patience, but he did the opposite, drawing a walk and eventually crossing home plate as the winning run.

Great start to hopefully a long stay. The problem could be the platoon. It doesn't make sense to have him split time with Scott Hairston in center, especially when Giles is hitting .160 over in right field. I saw Hairston splits time with Giles more than Anthony, and we get the two of them more at bats than our second highest paid player. Just because we are paying him a lot doesnt mean we have to keep playing him through mediocrity.

I'll tell you something else, it will be nice to have some speed on this team too.

Peavy Trade Approved by Clubs and Possibly Jake Himself

It looks like Jake Peavy will go to Chicago after all, just not the Chicago team we all thought it would be. The Padres and White Sox have agreed on a deal that would send Peavy to Chicago for two young pitchers. The main piece looks to be 2007 first round pick Aaron Poredo who is 3-4 with a 2.54 ERA in Double A this year, and a potential front end starter. The other player is Clayton Richard who has thrown in 14 big league games this year, including two starts and 4.33 ERA.

What we don't know yet is how much of Jake's contract will be picked up by the Padres, but this apears to be a salary dump more than anything, with a top prospect in the mix to possibly (and this is a very thin possibility) replace the Ace of the Paderes staff.

This is interesting at this point with a five game winning streak, and the Padres currently owning a better record than the Chicago White Sox. Peavy hasn't officially accepted the trade, but the whispers are that he will be ok with it, even though it would move him over to the American League.

As a big fan of Jake Peavy, I can't accept this as a good move, but at least there is something of value in the trade besides the salary dump. Of course ticket prices don't go down with the lesser product, but they found a way to counter the lack of ticket income by cutting salarys...thanks for nothing.

Of course, Peavy still needs to approve the trade, and there is no guarantee. It doesn't fit his original requirements simply by being in the AL.

Boston Red Sox Claim Brian Giles Off Of Waivers?

Last night, following Brian Giles' 6th home run of the year in a Paders victory, Giles was claimed off of waivers by an unknown team. In a situation like this, the league and teams keep it a secret on who made the claim so that the teams and players can try to work out a deal behind the scenes.

Rumor has it that the Red Sox are the team that made the claim, which is interesting because they are one of the teams Giles has the right to refuse. I can't imagine him wanting to play for the Padres over the Red Sox, but you never know.

Brian is hitting .296 with 6 home runs, 37 RBI and 49 runs scored. Most importantly he has walked 61 times, giving him an on base percentage of .391. He is Mr Reliable for getting on base, but he doesn't pack the power he used to. He isn't fast, but he is a smart outfielder and makes up for his speed and arm strength by getting in the right position and busting his ass every day. He also provides a left handed bat which can become valuable in September and October.

I can't say I would exactly be sad to see him go, as getting on base doesn't help when no one can knock you in, and $9 million is a bit much to pay for a guy known for walking.

Padres Cheap? Who'd of Guessed?

It is the time of year when your team is so far out of the race, they start trading away those short term players to benefit the future of the club at the expense of the present. As a Padre fan, this is not an uncommon occurrence. We have had the privilege of enjoying three years in a row of being on the other end. We have enjoyed three straight years where the last game of the season was very important.

Regardless of the outcome in those years, I am thankful as a fan for at least that much. It is hard to expect more in a league like Major League Baseball, in a city like San Diego. However, we are right back to the a trade deadline on the selling side of things, and we did the usual; we gave away our commodity for almost nothing in return, because all we wanted to do was save a few dollars (in pro baseball standards at least).

I won't complain about losing Randy Wolf, because thing to do. It sounds like they jumped on the first offer ahead of the deadline in order to get him and his whopping $4 million salary out the door. We landed a pitcher how has a losing record in his 4 year minor league career, including 5-9 with a 4.41 ERA this year in AAA. It wasn't Chad Reineke that got the deal done, it was Wolf's contract.

The Padres are willing to take a $1 million gamble on Prior, but they will take table scraps to get rid of $1 million of Wolf's salary. That is being cheap. I think the only reason Gregg Maddux is still on the team is because the Dodgers were too busy signing one of the best hitters possibly to ever play baseball. I can't doubt that they would have gotten the same kind of deal. Maddux is getting more than Wolf was, but I for one am glad he is still here.

I love Gregg Maddux. He was an idol of mine growing up (to date myself) and I would love for him to be a part of the Padres organization for as long as possible. If he wants to play next year, we should pay him to do so. If he doesn't want to play, I would hope that he would stick around and take some sort of role with the organization whether it is a full time coach or one that comes from spring training and plays the role of a "consultant." I may be way off here, but I would hope that the better the relationship stand with Gregg, the better chance the Padres have of keeping him in any kind of role with the club; and I know that any club will benefit from having Gregg Maddux as part of their organization, no matter where he decides to apply his brain and personality.

How Do You Know It Is Time To Give Up?

It is the first game of the "second half," following the All Star break, and your team is playing the first of an 11 game road trip. Your ace is on the hill and you score one in the first and one in the third. Things are looking up.

Next thing you know it is the top of the ninth and they are down 4-2. Fortunately the other team's biggest weakness is their bullpen, so there is still a shot. Your second year third baseman rips a double to lead off the inning, and up comes the pride of the farm system. The rookie crushes a ball opposite field off of the wall, jogging into second to represent the tying run.

Then your sometimes power hitting shortstop gets pulled for a pinch hitter by the name of Brian Myrow...there is your first sign things are not looking good for this team. He strikes out, swinging at a 3-2 pitch that bounces before the plate. Next up...Nick Hundley. Not Todd Hundley(who doesn't exactly give the last name power), but Nick Hundley. At least he advances the runner with his slow roller to second.

Now the tying run is just 90 feet away, and the closer is a little shaken, but there are two outs. We are obviously getting to the bottom of the lineup, so we should probably throw in our pinch hitter here. The problem is we just traded him for...I don't know what, the end of paying his salary?

So your pinch hitter in the ninth inning, with two outs and the tying run on first? Luis Rodriguez!!

Thank you Bud, Sandy, and Kevin, you made it much easier for me to give up. Now lets move on. We can look forward to the future with lots of Dominican players filling in around a great core...Kooz, Adrian, Edgar (I never thought I would say that about him), Chase (freaking beast), Jake, CY (if he ever recovers), and Heath. There are 7 really solid, young guys that give us something to build on. Let's sell the rest and move on.

Sorry Khalil.