An Open Letter to Tim Sullivan of the UT

Wednesday July 14, 2010

Tim,

The San Diego Padres have NOT spoken with Dye nor will they. If you think that after everything Hoyer and Moorad have said recently and have done since last seasons end to build a great fielding team,  that they are going to go out and sign a guy that wont even be able hit effectively for at least 4 weeks while he has his "spring training" in August, who will NOT be nearly as good of hitter he was in US Cellular Field AND who was amongst the worst fielding outfielders in baseball his last couple of seasons, then you really need to get another job that doesn't involve fact checking.

According to many in the media, the Padres have already had discussions with teams about some pretty high priced talent.Werth, Lee (albeit short talks), Berkman, Oswalt, and several others.

The Padres are probably NOT considering Bautista because A) He is having a career year which means his price in arbitration will be sky high next season B) his numbers will likely decline SHARPLY in Petco C) he is a horrible outfielder (horrible fielder period).

A SMALL piece (meaning a bat) won't help the team much. A SMALL piece might add a few runs, but not enough wins to make it worth making a trade and possibly upsetting the chemistry. The Padres are NOT going to make a trade simply to be able to say they made a trade. They are ONLY going to do it if they get better now and in the future and that means an impact player(pitcher or hitter or both) or an impact ML ready prospect.

The Padres FO have said they prefer a pitcher who will be a Free Agent after the season. A) they believe a pitcher will give them a discount like Garland did and B) if they are unable to sign the pitcher they will get some draft pick compensation (Two 1st round picks for a Type A Free Agent and 1 for Type B)

It isn't about HAVING to go after cheaper talent, its about getting a deal that will benefit the club both short term and long term.

You have been doing this long enough that you should know that.

Oh. Castro may very well get a call up at some point this season and if not, certainly next June.

Cumberland's only knock is injuries. He very well could be a Padre now if he had not spent so much time on the DL over the past 3 seasons. I would expect to see him in a Padres uniform sometime next season.


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