I think this seems pretty good for the Padres, but I don't think the move will be popular here initially, particularly after the local media find out that Sledge once tested positive for steroids. Otsuka ("Aki") and Eaton are both pretty well-liked by the fan base and the media.

As for Texas, they don't really need Sledge and Gonzalez, but I think they would have been better served by keeping Young and flipping Sledge + Gonzalez or some such package for one pitcher to build up rotation depth.

The Dodgers have signed Lofton. Coletti's Sabeanization of the Dodgers continues.

Good job by Towers. This trade has the potential to make Jon Daniels look more Cam Bonifay than Theo Epstein...

According to ESPN the prospect is Billy Killian.

I don't get this trade for the Rangers at all. Seems like they're getting worse (and acquiring an injury risk in Eaton) while giving up good trading chips.

The Rangers totally got Adam Eaton and Jake Peavy confused

I can't blame them, considering the kajillion times I've done this.

Young immediately jumps to the top of the list for fantasy sleepers.

In that park he's likely to have a bunch of game scores that make cpmlete sense listed next to the name "Young, C"

due to the extreme park differences between Chase and Petco, everyone in this trade except Chris Young will look a good bit worse than they are.

I sure hope Chris Young looks good at Chase. That's why the Dbacks acquired him in the Javy deal. And his defense alone at Petco would make him worth having.

I'm disappointed. The Padres got quite a bit better here. And cheaper. Not what I would've liked to see. As if the Redsoxification of the Dodgers wasn't enough...

"I can't blame them, considering the kajillion times I've done this."

Could be worse, Dan. Once in a while, I still confuse Jake Peavy and Mike Bynum.

I once confused Jake Peavy with Jake DelHomme.

Maybe the Rangers think that they've figured out how to make Eaton consistent and not one of the most frustratingly incosistent pitchers (perhaps the Kevin Towers of pitchers) on the face of the planet.

I still can't believe they traded Mark ####### Loretta. Why the hell would you do that?

I remember in a fantasy draft two years ago when I was running a team with my dad, I confused Mark Loretta and Mark DeRosa, much to my eternal shame. In case you're wondering, I got DeRosa thinking he was Loretta. Not fun.

Almost as embarassing as the time that Albert Pujols was only 3B eligible, and the league wouldn't let my dad and his co-owner put him in the outfield, so they couldn't bid on him. They had money left on the table, and could have had Pujols for his rookie year--and still have him locked up today.

Or the time we traded Dontrelle Willis for Marlon Byrd.

Or when I thought 2005 was Corey Patterson's bust out year.

*sigh*

Oddly enough, the team has won the league in 2 out of 5 years, and finished in the money one other time. Back when Vlad was in the NL, we rode him to victory two years in a row.

The Padres think they can get Loretta back?

What a weird role reversal: Towers, he of "Mirabelli for Loretta," utterly betters Daniels, i.e., "Soriano for Wilkerson +." Weird.

I used to always confuse Freddy Garcia and Frank Rodriguez when they were on the 2000 Mariners.

Looking like I'll be adding Chris Young and Dave Bush to my NL only pitching staff of Prior, Hudson, Capuano, Patterson, Turnbow, and Mike Gonzalez for next year. To go along with Matt Cain, Anthony Reyes and possibly Travis Bowyer or Yusmeiro Petit. Plenty of money to spend on bats. And damn I lose Chris YOung and gain Adam Eaton or Otsuka for 2 bucks in my AL only league.

Man this sucks three different ways; I've Otsuka on three different DMB teams and he figures to do worse pitching in Texas (not that his 2005 season was anything to brag about), I've got Eaton on one DMB team (ditto), and I have Gonzalez on my roto team next year, essentially for free if I want to keep him. Even if he does get to play full time, moving to Petco will likely make him not worth keeping. When are these GM's going to learn to take everything into consideration before making these deals.

On Rotoworld they are floating the rumor that Gonzalez might be traded to the Red Sox for David Wells as the Red Sox have been known to be enamoured of Gonzalez (plus they have a major hole at first). Not exactly sure how Sledge fits into the Padres as they have a complete outfield: Roberts/Ben Johnson, Cameron, Giles. I think Sledge is too good to sit on the bench and get a few at-bats a week. Maybe another trade to fill the hole at second?

Looking like I'll be adding Chris Young and Dave Bush to my NL only pitching staff of Prior, Hudson, Capuano, Patterson, Turnbow, and Mike Gonzalez for next year. To go along with Matt Cain, Anthony Reyes and possibly Travis Bowyer or Yusmeiro Petit. Plenty of money to spend on bats. And damn I lose Chris YOung and gain Adam Eaton or Otsuka for 2 bucks in my AL only league

Roto is sort of like high-school sports now. I have never met anyone who admits to having been/being a crappy high school athlete or having/having had a crappy roto team. I guess if you finish 9th in your roto league every year you don't talk about it.

Not that I'm saying this isn't your actual pitching staff--I'm just pointing out the general phenomenon.

I think Sledge is too good to sit on the bench and get a few at-bats a week. Maybe another trade to fill the hole at second?

Obvious. They'll trade back to Washington for Soriano.

I was pretty against the idea of trading Eaton to Texas, but I never thought they could get Chris Young back, sure I'll miss Aki, but they help the bench don't create a hole in the rotation and get someone to take over at 1st next year. However if KT turns around and trades Gonzalez for Wells I'll go back to being pissed at him.

keep in mind robinred that the people finishing 9th in our leagues don't spend time during the offseason poring over transactions like we do.

Well, if they trade Gonzalaez for Wells they become '06 division favorites, but then again, winning that division is sort of like winning a nuclear war.

I've finished 7 out of 10 the last two years in my roto league. I am teh suck.

But even I wouldn't have made this trade. The Rangers are dopes.

What a filthy trade by the Padres. Towers should be really proud of himself, and the fans can smile.

I like Dan's theory that the Rangers thought they were getting Jake Peavy. Extreme groundballer, three years to free agency...for Young...hmm, you could see someone taking that chance in Texas. But for Adam Eaton? Young is better than Eaton right now, and cheaper. This makes the Rangers rotation worse this year, and the next.

I should be up front about Adrian Gonzalez and Terrmel Sledge: I like them both a lot, and think they can be starters. They are also both surplus in Texas, and had to be traded. So good for Daniels to do that, rather than let them regress in AAA or on the bench. The Padres should go with Klesko in LF again, Giles in RF, and Cameron in CF, and give Gonzalez the 1B job. Trade Dave Roberts, which we all expect them to do, to either the Yankees or Red Sox. I like Gonzalez more than Ben Johnson.

Otsuka is a good pitcher. I think his debut was an abberation though, so Texas should expect more of 2005 than 2004. No one can sustain a 1.75 ERA. So look for a K/9 of 9, and he keeps the ball down. A good acquisition, but guys like this can be found if you look. (Looking at Benoit on your own roster would be a good place to start. I think he could post similar numbers as a setup man. But they can't seem to decide what to do with him, and given how thin this rotation is looking, they might through him back out as a starter, which I think is a mistake.)

So they get an A-list reliever, and do not improve their rotation situation, for Gonzalez, Sledge, and losing Young. I know the Rangers probably "owe" the Padres a favour, for taking Chan-Ho off their hands, but this is a bad trade. I want to give a new guy some time, not judge him right away. But it's getting harder and harder to refrain from heckling Jon Daniels. He's crossed the line into buffoon territory now.

'I have never met anyone who admits to having been/being a crappy high school athlete or having/having had a crappy roto team. '

I was a pretty crappy high school athlete. It's not as shameful when you go to a huge highschool though.

I've also had bad roto teams... I'm in a 10 team AL only league with 40 man rosters (29 active). We've had the same owners since 1994 and they all know what they are doing, so someone has to finish 10th... (I finished 9th this year in full rebuild mode).

Oh, no the Padres actually made a good move. This is not good fo rthe Dodgers

Man this sucks three different ways; I've Otsuka on three different DMB teams and he figures to do worse pitching in Texas (not that his 2005 season was anything to brag about), I've got Eaton on one DMB team (ditto), and I have Gonzalez on my roto team next year, essentially for free if I want to keep him.

Well, DMB accounts for park effects, so it's not as if the trade makes a difference there. May impact trade values if the other owners don't take those into account, however.

So do Gonzalez or Sledge have a shot at a starting job? I thought Klesko was moving to 1B, which should open up a spot in the outfield for someone, either Sledge or Ben Johnson. Is that the latest plan?

Poor Terrmel Sledge. Goes from a lousy hitter's park to a great hitter's park and then right back to an even worse hitter's park than he started in.

I think that Otsuka was really the key to this deal for the Rangers. Eaton has tantalized people for years with his stuff but his numbers never seemed to matchup with his potential -- 4.27, 4.61, 4.08 ERAs the last 3 years with a 4.10/4.57 home/road splits.

If you've seen Otsuka pitch you know that he has a "trick" delivery which I think that baseball people feel will become less effective as batters see him more. His stats over the last two years seem to bear this out as his ERA rose from 1.75 to 3.59 last year. His walks rose and his strikeouts declined. This seems to reinforce this but his numbers were destroyed by some atrocious pitching in Arizona (1.1IP, 11R, 5BB, 0-4 Record!).

Well my brother who is a pretty big (and knowledgable) padres fan isn't as happy as the rest of you are. But I suspect he is remembering the Adam Easton who pitched in the first half of 2005.

Me? I don't really know what purpose Sledge plays (could he be traded again? Or will Roberts be traded?) and I am not sure what he offers that Ben Johnson does not. I also think that Otsuka is a damn fine relivier.

Still, I am a fan of Gonzalez, I think he will have a really good next six year and Young looks to be as good as Eaton while being younger, cheaper (Eaton wanted 3 yrs. $27 mil), and healthier.

Anyone know how good this prospect is? A 19 year old catcher seems like a real wild card, kinda like an A-ball arm and the Pads already have the next Posada (at least to me) in George Kottaras.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Otsuka's home/road splits in 2005:

Home: 36.2 IP, 20 H, 39/15 K/BB, 1.23 ERA
Road: 26.0 IP, 35 H, 21/19 K/BB, 6.92 ERA


Needless to say, this does not bode well for Otsuka's performance in Texas.

Anyone know how good this prospect is?

Organization filler. Career AVG/OBP/SLG line of .218/.290/.291, mostly at the Rookie League level. Only played 14 games last year. Maybe Killian retired at the end of May and Daniels doesn't realize it?

The Padres bullpen has gotten rather thin
Especially with Hoffman being rather injury prone
Any ideas who might fill in?

I think this is a better deal for the Padres. The most exciting name in the deal for me is Chris Young. I snagged him off the wire in my fantasy league last season, and he was a steal--for a while. Then he wore down from pitching so much and blew up down the stretch. I don't know much about pitchers and conditioning, but shouldn't there maybe be a hint of caution on Young's 'breakout' 2006 in San Diego? I like the odds of him pulling it off; I'm just concerned he might have trouble rebounding from being worn out last season.

Killian also played 32 games in Arizona Rookie League 2005.
115AB...287/300/391/691...28K/3BB

Any ideas who might fill in?

Scott Linebrink for one
linky who has probably been the Padres' best reliever over the past two seasons.

I could see Tony G and David Wells to the Padres for Gonzalez and Roberts.

Killian is a decent prospect, but needs a lot of work. BA had him in the Pads top 30 last year, somewhere in the middle of the list, iirc. He's been compared to a young Jason Kendall.