Padres - Acquired Randa, Ponson

San Diego Padres - Acquired 3B Joe Randa from the Cincinnati Reds for two minor leaguers not named as of yet; acquired P Sidney Ponson from the Baltimore Orioles for 1B Phil Nevin.

The Padres believe that Nady’s best position is first base and this swap of problem players clears the fast-declining Nevin out of the way.  Ponson will be in the rotation with Eaton still hurt and is likely to push Stauffer out if and when everybody’s healthy.  The Padres are certainly getting damaged goods, and they know it - Ponson has been pitching with a torn labrum for a few years under the Todd Stottlemyre Ignore It and Hope it Goes Away rehabilitation plan.  I’m guessing that the fact that Ponson’s stuff is about as potent nowadays as Al Leiter’s is all a coincidence.

The best realistic use of Nevin is to split time at DH with Gibbons unless the Orioles blink when/if Nevin balks at becoming a part-time player.  I’d actually prefer Gibbons platooning in right with Sosa, but the chances of the Orioles actually admitting that Sosa’s no better than a random AAA outfielder at this point are pretty long.  The Orioles are now a pretty good bet to be in the race for pretty much every starter available; they’re not going to go down the stretch with a Lopez-Bedard-Chen-Cabrera-Penn rotation even if the Burnett trade’s really dead.

Then there’s the Randa trade.  This looks to be done and if so, it’s a pretty interesting trade in that it means that the Padres are throwing in the towel on Sean Burroughs this season.  Randa’s not looked up long-term, so there’s still a chance that Burroughs starts 2006 as the 3B again, but I’m betting that he’s traded over the winter.

This also saves the Reds some pain - there was some talk about re-signing Randa and leaving Edwin Encarnacion to rot, which was a phenomenally bad idea, even worse than the Let’s Tell Austin Kearns He’s Never Coming Back to Improve His Confidence plan.

2005 ZiPS Projection - Joe Randa
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Period      AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG 
——————————————————————————————————

Actual ‘05 332  44   96  26  1  13  48  33  52   0  .289  .356  .491

Rest ‘05   210  26   57  14  1   5  29  19  32   0  .271  .338  .419
——————————————————————————————————

Total ‘05  542  70  153  40  2  18  77  52  84   0  .282  .349  .463

2005 ZiPS Projection - Sidney Ponson
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Period       W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA
—————————————————————————————-

Actual ‘05   7   8  19  19  113  151   76  12  44  62  6.04

Rest ‘05     5   4  13  13   80   82   37   6  27  50  4.16
—————————————————————————————-

Total ‘05   12  12  32  32  193  233  113  18  71 112  5.29

2005 ZiPS Projection - Phil Nevin
——————————————————————————————————

Period      AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG 
——————————————————————————————————

Actual ‘05 271  31   71  11  1   9  47  17  65   1  .262  .303  .410

Rest ‘05   184  27   53   9  0   8  35  18  42   0  .288  .351  .467
——————————————————————————————————

Total ‘05  455  58  124  20  1  17  82  35 107   1  .273  .323  .433