Ludwick and Adams gone, Heath stays

With Sunday's game 1:05 start being only 5 minutes after the 1:00 trade deadline the air around Petco Park was thick with anticipation. The names on the chopping block were Ludwick, Bell, and Adams. The ones that got chopped: Adams and Ludwick. Ludwick was announced in the starting lineup and Adams was traded about twenty minutes of the game's start. To say Manager Jed Hoyer and the Padres trade team was cutting close is putting it mildly. Of Mike Adams and Heath Bell, Adams was still under club control for another year and a half, Bell is a free agent at the end of the season. If Bell were to leave as a free agent, the Padres would get two draft picks as compensation. So, were another team to acquire him it would essentially only be as a rental for the next two months, but Adams will be under the Rangers control for another year and a half. In exchange for Adams the Padres picked up two minor league pitchers; Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland. Hoyer held a news conference almost immediately following the trade news and I was there for your inside scoop into the mindset of the manager.
"You hate to be in the position of the seller," Hoyer noted. "The goal is to win games but we just have not done enough of that, so we are the sellers this season. Our goal now is to create a championship organization, I don't think it's any secret that we are not going to the playoffs this year so we are going to strike deals that build talent base. With this ballpark you can never lose sight of the bullpen, that's why we went for the two young pitchers we did. We were very impressed with how polished they are."
"Our depth was tested this year, last year we were fortunate, we were more tried with injury this year. You want a core group but you also want to strengthen your farm system."
If there was one thing Hoyer was emphasizing it was the farm system and how important it is to the Padres to continue to build young talent.
Ludwick was also traded in the final moments before the deadline to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later or cash compensation. Ludwick, unlike Adams who said, "I came in this morning prepared to be the closer. I honestly thought Heath would be moved. This is a shock," was prepared for his impending trade.
"I knew I was going to get traded," Ludwick said. "Jed (Hoyer's) been honest since day one, I have nothing bad to say about the club. You can take me to my grave on that."
Ludwick, no stranger to the trading game, this will be his seventh in eleven years in the league, while sad about leaving San Diego where "everything was great, we just didn't win," is excited about the prospect of being in playoff contention.
"I'm excited to for the chance to get to the play-offs," Ludwick said. "And the central area is a place where I'n familiar."

So let me ask you, with all these last minute deals...first of all, what do you think about trading Adams over Bell, and secondly, what do you think about the emphasis on young players as opposed to veterans who know the game?

In the Blink of A Trade

With the deadline fast approaching, trade talks seem to be the only talks in the dugout. Heath Bell, Ryan Ludwick, and Mike Adams are all candidates for a last minute trade, but no one is exempt. Bud Black discussed what would happen in the event of even today's starter Aaron Harang being traded within the next hour.
"In that hypothetical situation," Black stated." Anthony Bass would be the starting pitcher."
You just never know when that call could come, or who it could come for. Buddy himself was subject to just such a surprise trade. He was warming up during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays when his coach got the call that he no longer needed to warm up...he had been traded to the Blue Jays. From dugout to dugout in a matter of minutes. The intricacies of baseball pale in comparison to the unpredictability of baseball.

Speaking of unpredictability, Nick Hundley was out taking BP this afternoon. He showed up before the first group batted and ran the bases as well as threw to second a few times, with his throws appearing to be normal, if not just a hair lower than they normally are. He batted with the last group during BP and Buddy said he may very well be in a rehab assignment by early next week.

Bell's Question is No Longer "If" But "Who"?

Heath Bell is almost certainly getting traded from the Padres. After months and months of discussion the question is no longer "if" he will be traded, it is "who" will pick him up? Several teams are in the conversation, especially the Rangers and the Cardinals. But all you needed to do to get that information was turn on SportsCenter or go on MLB.com. It's no longer a secret. But how exactly does the Heater feel about all these rumors and no action? Or about leaving San Diego in general?
"I don't want all the money," Heath said. "I want to create a legacy, you know like Trevor Hoffman did? I want that, I don't care about the money at all."
Manager Bud Black, as opposed to discussing the actual placement or possibility of a trade, looked at the way Bell is handling the situation.
"I'd say he's handling it different than most," Black said. "Most players are guarded when they talk to the media, Heath is very open, it's in his nature and he's open publicly with his feelings."
While it is Jed Hoyer who is making all the phone calls and exploring all the options, Black is kept informed as far as who Hoyer is looking at acquiring or giving away.
And at this point the situation has come to feel like a Band-Aid that has been on too long. It just needs to be ripped off so Heath can adjust both himself and his family to the move as quickly and painlessly as possible. The only question now is, will the scar be in the shape of Texas or a Cardinal? Deadline's Sunday, the wait will be over soon!

Richard down...possibly out?

Clayton Richard went in for shoulder surgery today at around 2:30 pm, manager Bud Black casually mentioned at the end of his news conference before today's game between the Padres and the Rockies. Thus far, all Buddy knows is that it was an exploratory surgery and promised more details following tonight's game. However, the recovery time at best is 6-8 weeks...I'm no math major but even I know that 8 weeks is two months and that's the end of the season folks. No word as to what could happen in the off-season but it looks like, at least for 2011, Richard's shoulder has finished him off.