| 02 August 2010
"Now I go into a situation where I can get a ring. It's not easy to get a ring. It's a lot of hard work. Now I'm going to have an opportunity." - Miguel Tejada
"It's not a surprise anymore. From an outsider looking in, it's obviously something special." - Ryan Ludwick
Ring? Special? The world is starting to wake up to the Padres and Team Hoyer did exactly what they needed to do at the deadline to give San Diego the best chance to make the playoffs and beyond. By adding Tejada and Ludwick to protect Adrian, our offense can now take advantage of the unbelievable pitching we have seen all year. Hoyer upgraded two positions in these deals without giving up our top two pitching prospects in RHP Simon Castro and LHP Corey Luebke.
Talking with Darren Smith of XX Sports Radio a couple weeks ago, he first mentioned to me an idea of getting Tejada. My initial reaction, was "no way, we need to go after Corey Hart of Milwaukee!." Then after about 5 minutes of letting that idea stir in the brain, I thought, well, Tejada would be an improvement offensively and if we could just compliment that move with an outfielder, that might work...
Then last Thursday, we traded for Miggy in exchange for RHP Wynn Pelzer. Not bad at all. The Orioles wanted Castro or Luebke at first, but Hoyer waited till the price went down and traded Pelzer who had lost some velocity on his fastball this year and is a client of Scott Boras. Hoyer held his ground and we got a solid, former MVP to provide more leadership and consistency on the left side of the infield. Tejada can play shortstop and spell Chase Headley at third base against tough lefties. So now, what about that outfield upgrade?
Milwaukee was not going to move Hart. In fact he just got a three-year extension. Washington was asking for the moon to let go of Adam Dunn, who didn't get traded either and even the Chicago White Sox couldn't make a deal happen for the Nationals slugger (maybe that's because we raided their pitching prospects last year for Peavy). Who was it going to be?
Ryan Ludwick??? That came out of right field - no pun intended. Apparently, Hoyer talked to the Cardninals a few weeks ago about pitching and with the emergence of rookie outfielder Jon Jay, Ludwick became available for the right price. That price was pitcher RHP Jake Westbrook of the Cleveland Indians, who received our RHP Corey Kluber in the three-team deal. Kluber was the best prospect we gave up at this deadline. He was 6-6 with a 3.45 ERA for Double -A San Antonio. But worth it for Ludwick, who immediately moves into the cleanup spot and provides solid defense in right field. He is also under team control for one more season which is an extra bonus.
But we are talking about 2010, and the fact that our front office went out and got two more pieces for the stretch run. Hoyer impressed me with these trades. The feeling of something really special happening here in San Diego is starting to take notice among the fans and the rest of the country. We are in this thing to win it all, and you can't fault them for not trying - and being smart in the process.
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