Fantasy GM: San Diego Padres
With the Padres struggling, I’d go in complete selling mode. There are plenty of veterans on this team that could get a few prospects.
First move would be to get some names floating around. Everyone knows that Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf will be available. Why not put Khalil Greene’s name out there? Brian Giles would be welcome on a contender.
My only untouchable on this team would be Jake Peavy, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Chase Headley. Matt Antonelli is the second basemen of the future, so he’s in the mix for the new team.
Maddux should net the team a mid-level prospect. Milwaukee is in contention and his brother is the pitching coach; I’d push for Tony Gwynn or Callix Crabbe (maybe both if a low level prospect were thrown in). Gwynn has been on the Padres radar for some time and Crabbe was on the Padres as a Rule V draftee.
Wolf wouldn’t net as much. He’s an innings eater with an injury history. He’s going 6 or 7 innings during good outings, so there may be a team or 2 interested. I’d check with St. Louis, as they don’t have a deep rotation (no matter how well they are doing right now – someone is bound to regress or get injured). They could get a guy like Nick Stavinoha or Cody Haerther for him.
If Greene were put on the market, quite a few teams would be calling. The 2 best options would be the Cubs and the Orioles – both teams looking for an upgrade at shortstop. While the Orioles system is deeper, the Cubs have a few key pieces that will help sooner. A deal of Ronny Cedeno, Sean Marshall, and a lower prospect (similar to what was offered for Brian Roberts) would probably work.
Another good bargaining chip would be Adrian Gonzalez. He’s still young, but he’s at the height of his game. A team like the Yankees is looking for an upgrade at first. Alan Horne and Chris Stewart could be a good deal, if another lower level prospect is sent along. Horne is probably one of the closest pitching prospects in the Yankees system to being ready and was mentioned as a player in the Johan Santana offers.
Here’s the real coup for the team – trading Chris Young. Young is a good pitcher, but I believe he benefits from Petco Park more than people believe. Since he’s a big name and young, they could get a couple key pieces. The Angels are looking an arm and have Kendry Morales and Brandon Wood pretty much blocked (plus, it seems like they won’t give Wood a serious shot to play). The Padres could then shift Wood back to his natural shortstop.
Michael Barrett was brought back for almost the sole purpose of trading him. One team needing a veteran catcher is Florida. You could probably pry struggling reliever Taylor Tankersley for him – you’d have your closer of the future there.
The last major trading piece is Brian Giles. The Braves are looking for an outfielder – one with pop, but you could always try to spin that Giles can still hit with a little power outside of Petco (.394 slugging at home vs .484 slugging on the road). If you could get them to swap Giles for Brandon Jones, you’d have to take it.
That would leave Scott Hairston, Jody Gerut, and Tony Clark as anything with value. You could flip all 3 to contenders for lower level prospects so the system could attempt to be restocked.
Final Roster would look like:
C – Josh Bard
1B – Kendry Morales
2B – Matt Antonelli
3B – Kevin Kouzmanoff
SS – Brandon Wood
LF – Chase Headley
CF – Tony Gwynn
RF – Nick Stavinoha
B – Callix Crabbe
B – Brandon Jones
B – Paul McAnulty
B – Chris Stewart
B – Ronny Cedeno
SP – Jake Peavy
SP – Clay Hensley
SP – Josh Banks
SP – Alan Horne
SP – Sean Marshall
CL – Trevor Hoffman
RP – Heath Bell
RP – Cla Meredith
RP – Taylor Tankersley
RP – Justin Hampson
RP – Cha Seung Baek
RP – Carlos Guevara
Unfortunately, Hoffman won’t go anywhere since he has 10/5 rights (10 years in the majors, 5 with his current team). The purpose here was to get younger. The team probably will finish in last, but there are now some key young player. It will also free up some payroll to go after a pitcher or 2 during free agency. 2009 has a 50/50 shot of being productive with this roster, but all the players should be at a point for 2010 that they could be up with the Diamondbacks as contenders. By 2010, some other key prospects should be ready, mainly Will Inman – he’s a nice complement to Peavy.
