Facebook friend and San Antonio Missions Assistant GM Bill Gerlt posted this earlier today on the offseason activity of the Padres, the parent club of the Missions:
“Acquired Matt Kemp, Tim Federowicz and cash from the Dodgers for Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin
•Acquired Wil Myers, Ryan Hanigan, Gerardo Reyes and Jose Castillo in a three-way deal that sends Rene Rivera, Burch Smith and Jake Bauers to the Rays, and Joe Ross and Trea Turner to the Nationals
•Acquired Derek Norris and Seth Streich from the Athletics for Jesse Hahn and R.J. Alvarez
•Acquired Justin Upton and a low-level minor leaguer from the Braves for Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson and Mallex Smith
•Acquired Will Middlebrooks from the Red Sox for Ryan Hanigan
•Signed free-agent Brandon Morrow to a one-year deal
•Signed free-agent David Ross
•Signed free-agent Clint Barmes to a one-year deal
•Are close to re-signing Josh Johnson to a one-year deal
That’s quite a collection of moves. Five major deals and a handful of mid-level free agent signings. Off the top of my head, you have to go back to Whitey Herzog at the 1980 Winter Meetings to find an equivalent offseason.
As a Mets fan, it’s hard not to be slightly envious of all of this activity, even if you wonder how awful that defensive outfield is going to be.
Be that as it may, this offseason by the Padres drives home a point that has been banging around my head for awhile now. Trading is an undervalued asset at the major league level.
There are three main ways to improve your team: through the draft, through free agent signings and through trades. Somehow, trading has become the red-headed stepchild of the group.
It will be interesting to see if the Padres have success this year if a copycat mentality emerges and teams executing multiple trades becomes more common. And who knows, maybe the bug will even strike Sandy Alderson!
“And who knows, maybe the bug will even strike Sandy Alderson!”
Let’s hope something or somebody strikes him before another season is lost.
Trading in baseball is absolutely my favorite thing about the sport. It’s fascinating. I worry what the Padres will look like in a couple of years after giving away a lot of young talent, but they keep producing more young prospects, so what do I know. Plus if they make it to the playoffs this year, it was probably worth it. What’s the over/under for outfielder homers for the Friars?
In hindsight, it looks like last year was the turning point in terms of trading and the bulk of the offseason occurring earlier. The amount of trades this year has been crazy, which i think was mostly due to Billy Beane blowing up his team (for no reason)
The Padres and Marlins are making this thing spin. Can’t believe the amount of moves they are making in such a short time.
I think the Marlins have played it smarter so far. Though i’m pretty impressed by what the Padres have been able to accomplish.