Tuesday night in Cincinnati, the Padres put together one of their best performances of the year. In 2009, that’s not saying much, as just about any well-pitched game qualifies. But in this space we are hoping that the 3-2 win over the Reds will bring some needed serendipity for Kevin Towers and the Padres’ front office.
See, this is the time when GM’s for contending teams are coming up with their plans A, B, and C for approaching the trade deadline. For teams with World Series aspirations such as the Phillies and Dodgers, Plan A is to get an ace like Roy Halladay, and Plan B is probably an elite reliever like Heath Bell. While these gaudy names help baseball writers fill out their daily rumor columns, the odds of players like Halladay or Cleveland’s Cliff Lee getting moved are slim. The unloading GM asks for the sun and moon, and the contending GM blanches at the idea of moving A-list prospects for a rent-a-player.
That’s about when Plan C starts to kick in: who else is out there? Advance scouts, help me out, who’s pitching well right now? This is where one erratic scouting report can be hastily converted into a trade that eventually pays dividends for the dealer. And that’s why I’m dreaming that scouts were at Great American Ballpark on Tuesday.
Kouz: Big Bat available! (Walks not included)
Kevin Kouzmanoff, driving a pair of doubles off Bronson Arroyo (the guy those scouts were probably in town to see), then knocking in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. Hey, look, Kouz has just one RBI fewer than Adrian Gonzalez! He’s a run producer, really! Good defense too. Put a little polish on the Kouz coozie and cozy on up to the table, we’ve got a deal for you!
Then there’s Kevin Correia. Good guy, good arm, and one of the more dependable starters for the Padres in this sad-sack season. Hey Scouts! Look at those radar gun readings, 93 MPH with movement! Surely you could use Correia as a consolation prize once Cliff Lee evades your grasp! He’s an “innings eater”, a “stabilizer” for your rotation! Operators (ok, well, one operator, Kevin Towers) are waiting for your call!
Could a desperate GM confuse Correia for a quality starter?
As I said in our latest Padres trade podcast, Kevin Towers is at his best when he is dealing from the higher ground, when he is not forced to unload a player, or a salary. The Padres are probably going to ask for too much in return for Heath Bell, and it appears that ownership has wisely decided that moving Adrian Gonzalez would lead to most people treating Petco Park as a quarantine zone. Peavy was supposed to be the must-move player for 2009, but his bad ankle moved Jake onto the disabled list and out of the grasp of covetous GM’s elsewhere.
That leaves KT in an old familiar place. He won’t get to pick from the A-list or the B-list out of other team’s minor league systems, so he has to peruse the C-list and see if he can uncover a hidden gem. Towers has to hope that in the frenzy leading up to Friday’s deadline, some team misses on their first and second choices, and then decides to hastily settle for their third option from the Padres. Then, KT finds a diamond in the rough in exchange for one of his cubic zirconia big leaguers.
So, as the title states, I have one hope for all three Kevins in this story: a TRADE. Here’s hoping that Kevin (Towers) can find some GM dumb or desperate enough to squint hard and see a winning player in Kevin (Kouzmanoff) or Kevin (Correia). In a year where even modest expectations have been dashed against the rocks, here’s hoping that some other team makes a minor mistake that allows the Padres to unload one of their major league mediocrities for something better.
Craig Elsten -
Chris Ello -
Chainsaw -
