The Padres have Carlos Quentin "on their list of possibilities" for an offseason trade, reports Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It seems like a good match, given that the White Sox are thought to have Quentin on the market and the Padres are looking for a corner outfielder. Center mentions elsewhere in his chat with readers that given the Padres' difficulty in luring free agent hitters to Petco Park, a trade would be the club's best chance to add that desired corner outfield help.
Quentin has posted a .257/.352/.505 line over the last four seasons in Chicago, though it remains to be seen how his bat and his glove (a career UZR/150 of -9.3, though this metric also shows Quentin was an above-average defensive right fielder in 2011) would play in spacious Petco Park. If Quentin was acquired, he and Cameron Maybin would play every day, with Center including Chris Denorfia, Jesus Guzman, Kyle Blanks, Mark Kotsay and Will Venable all in the mix at the other corner outfield spot.
Some other news about the Friars…
- Also from Center, GM Josh Byrnes is "actively talking trade with a number of clubs." Center lists Maybin, Nick Hundley, Mat Latos and Anthony Rizzo as "the only players who I believe are close to untouchable."
- Former Padres GM Jed Hoyer tells Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres that the new collective bargaining agreement played a big role in the club's decision to keep Heath Bell at last summer's trade deadline. "We checked with MLB several times to make sure the compensation system wouldn't be eliminated after the 2011 season," Hoyer said. "The value of the picks was the crux of our decision not to trade him in July or August. In our minds (and many people were involved in the decision), we never were offered anything all that close to the value of the draft picks in return." If Bell turns down San Diego's offer of arbitration and signs elsewhere, Bell's modified Type A status means that the Padres would receive a first-round pick in a slot directly ahead of Bell's new team, plus a supplementary round pick.
- Writing for Fangraphs, Mike Axisa thinks the Padres got the better end of the recent John Baker-for-Wade LeBlanc trade.
- The Padres' willingness to spend on their international scouting and development system is paying dividends, writes Dan Hayes of the North County Times.
Carlos Quentin would be a great pick up for the Padres.
How about this idea for a 3-way:
Pads get Seth Smith
Rockies get Martin Prado
Braves get Chase Headley
Throw in prospects as needed to even things out.
Headley being traded is close to impossible, considering that he’s really the only consistent hitter in the lineup. You guys can have Hudson though.
Wrong. Gyrko led the AFL in hitting and Darnell and Forsythe got called up last September
3B is their deepest spot offensively
A 3B who can’t hit for power. Pass. Even if he’s gonna hit .290 he doesn’t drive in runs, whether that be his fault or the players around him 3B is a production position and he really doesn’t produce.
Why would the Padres want Seth Smith? He is left handed, a fact that seriously limits his value to the Padres (PETCO is murder on lefties). Acccording to +OPS and WOBA he is Will Venable, soild against rights (110 vs 111 career or .330 vs .377 ) terrible against lefties (54 vs 42 or .257 vs .262 ). The idea behind any deal for an outfield is to upgrade the offense not for it to be a push. He has advantage in hitting righties but not enough of one to consider him an upgrade in SD, especially since you have the Padres giving up the same amount of years of Headley.
You beat me to it. Seth Smith holds little to no value for the Padres.
I’d rather have Prado.
No way in hell Padres could get Prado.
You’d rather have Prado then Headley?
Headley+ position prospect or two might get you Prado, seriously. He is on the block.
Make it CarGo instead of Seth smith and it sounds alright to me.
Padres are getting raped in that proposal. Make that a hell no.
Who would the give us in return? Nobody comes to mind
Tim Stauffer for Quentin? I wonder why the Padres would trade for someone that is only under contract for a year when they really shouldn’t expect to compete.
If I remember correctly there were Stauffer for Lawrie rumors last off season. Man do I wish Hoyer had pulled that trigger. As for Stauffer for Quentin I would have no interest in that. Stauffer may not light up the radar gun, but he sure knows how to pitch.
Quentin is from SD, maybe they have some weird, crazy hope he’d re-up at a cost they can afford?
Hows about the Braves get Quentin? I’d like that better.
Q for Mike Minor
Done deal.
I hope that the Padres aren’t really serious about giving up a top-tier talent for Quentin. I think we’re good with the outfield with the Maybin/ Blanks/ Venable trio.
We need to look for a left-handed batter instead who’ll potentially drive in some runs.
Blanks and Venable can’t hit. Quentin would be a massive upgrade at either corner OF spot for them, and there is really no debating that. This team needs a legit power threat in the heart of the order. Given that his numbers have slipped the last couple years and he’s only under contract for one season, it won’t take top-tier talent to get him.
Blanks has only 420 ML ab’s to his name and will be only 25 heading into next year, kind of in the same situation as Cameron Maybin was in last season. I say give him a full year to stay healthy and let’s see what he can do. Way to young to say he can’t hit IMO, esp, with that RH’ed power bat.
I was merely making the point that it’s a little premature (if not foolish) to suggest that the Padres outfield is “fine” in its current form. Maybin is currently the only true everyday player in our outfield mix. Everyone else is either a platoon player, a 4th outfielder, or just an extra piece.
We know Venable can’t hit – at least not consistently – and he’s unlikely to improve much at his age. Blanks is still an unknown with some big holes in his swing. Denorfia is a 4th outfielder on any other club. Kotsay is just an extra piece. Guzman may wind up playing LF out of necessity, but no one really knows how he’ll perform over a full season.
Quentin, by comparison, is a proven commodity. There is less guess work with him than our current outfield mix. You have to respect his power, which isn’t really something you can honestly say about anyone else on the roster. Getting a proven slugger like him might take some pressure off of everyone else.
Would Quentin be a “legit power threat” if he played 81 games at Petco? He always seems to have something wrong with him and he doesn’t really fit the “athletic player” mold that the Padres are wanting to acquire. If, and that’s a big if, Byrnes could talk Amaro into a Headley for Brown swap and then plug in Guzman at 3rd until Gyorko is ready, hopefully by 2013, the Padres could really have something.
if he’s healthy, the ball goes bye bye no matter where he plays.
Is it me or have the Padres been the most exciting team when it comes to trade speculation the past 5 years?
I can definitely see Phillies and Padres matching up with a deal for Chase Headley. I’d expect that the Pads could get a good return for him
They could get him IMO if they deal Brown and or Martinez
That’s exactly what I was thinking. If the Phillies are in complete win now mode they may be willing to deal Brown for Headley. Maybin and Brown would be a great nucleus for the athletic team the Padres are trying to build. As for Quentin, he does not interest me in the least.
At the least it would excite local fans.
Have you ever seen Dom Brown attempt to play baseball?! He’s terrible.
Quentin has had so many foot injuries and his range is so limited I can’t picture him playing the OF in a very large park, and with SF and Colorado’s parks also in that division, that doesn’t seem like a great fit.
Byrnes should stay as far away from Quentin as possible. If the Padres want a corner outfielder who can’t field, they already have him in Blanks and Guzman.
No kidding. I’ll be bumed/pissed if they trade for a guy to block Blanks, like landing Quentin would. Blanks first year back from TJ surgery had him hitting 35 2b’s 6 3b’s & 22 HR’s in 134 games (543 PA) between AA, AAA & SD. His tour in 2011 in SD had him posting a 26.8% strikeout rate. Down from 38.3% & 32% the previous two years and much closer to his rate in the minors, 20%.
I would be keeping my eye out for a legit long-term option for RF, someone a notch or two above the likes of Venable, Denorfia & Cunningham. That said, I disagree with the “need” of upgrading a corner outfield position. My priorities would be seeing if Blanks can put together a full season in the majors and seeing if Venable can become a more consistent player. Both players have four years of control entering 2012, and if things go right with either, those will be four valuable years, for whomever they are playing for. Pairing Venable with a RF that pounds lefties is key, a guy like Cody Ross and his career .282/.349/.563, that’s 46 hr’s in 759 PA against them, might represent an ideal plaoon. Denorfia is perfectly suitable for the role and he’s already here, he doesn’t have the kind of power as Ros but as a Padre has hit .312/.387/.442 versus them the past two years.
Then you have Guzman, who if he continues to hit as well as he did, and with his contact ability and strike-zone knowledge, I’m thinking he probably will, he’ll get plenty of playing time at the corners, with the likely exception of RF. Guzman will probably be a super-2 in 2014, but he still has 6 years of control left.
Reading Center’s stance on LF, “well they were below average in 2011 so upgrades should be looked into”, doesn’t jibe with me. Blanks (7/22) & Guzman (6/17) weren’t even around the first half of the season. Quentin is a mediocre fit for the Padres at this time.
I’m pretty sure I am in the minority, but I don’t think the Padres need to add power. They need to build around guys who hit the gaps for doubles and triples and can steal bases. Guys like Maybin and Venable, when he’s going right and man do I wish he could just find his groove, he could be great. I don’t think you could find a consistent power threat who played 81 games at Petco, but gap hitters play anywhere. I can’t wait to see what Gyorko and Spangenberg can do at Petco, hitters who perfectly fit the mold of a Petco hitter.
why do they think so highly of hundley? the guy is garbage and they have to como to terms with that. given he was like the 4th best hitter on the padres last year, but that says more about the padres than anything else.
more than 3 WAR in half a season…. most teams would kill for that kind of production from a catcher. his production was almost on par with brian mccann in 50 less games. just saying
First let me state I’m not bringing up the Red Sox just to get them mentioned in here. I just find it odd that they get linked to so many players and I haven’t seen them linked to Quentin. I mean they need a RHH OF. It just seems out of all the names they have been linked to, he would make alot more sense then some previously mentioned.
Quentin’s been brought up before, but I’m not sold on him.
He COULD be a good fit offensively. He’s got plenty of power and his walk numbers are great. The downsides though are he cannot seem to hit for average and I’m hard pressed to blame the team around him for that as he’s got a terribly low BAbip on his career which makes it look like he probably makes a lot of weak contact. On top of that, his defense is just terrible.
He’s an okay option, but he’s going to cost something like six or seven million and he’s only under contract for one more season and he’d need some work to be a viable option. If he had three years of team control, I’d move on him to see if a change of scenery/coaching could get that BA up (Get that BA up to a moderate .280 and his plate discipline makes him a valuable commodity, ala his 2008). As it stands, though, with only one year left I’d rather just stick with Kalish and see if Willingham is open to being a fourth outfielder now that he doesn’t cost a pick. I’d only take Quentin if he came cheap and was willing to agree to never try to hit to the opposite field while at Fenway (The Monster would do wonders for that BAbip of his).
he would destroy in fenway. SSS, but at fenway: .304/.396/.543
and if you’re worrying about avg with quentin, you’re doing it wrong.
Considering the damaged goods (Peavy) the Sox got from the Padres last time they made a trade, I’d be skeptical of getting fair value for Quentin.
To argue your point: someone new is at that decision helm. To agree with you: Byrnes is better than Hoyer and the reason he got the job. I think KT made the Peavy deal; but I will say the pads have at least 20 prospects that should be MLB regulars. If a team trades with them they can get players that will help. Not superstars but multiple contributors.
Quentin huh? I wonder why that’s familiar… lol
So I haven’t paid any attention to baseball during football season, just clicked on this and saw all the Chase Headley lovers are at it again lol, give it a rest and let Brynes trade him in peace! I would love to see him go