Jed Hoyer’s first trade as Padres’ general manager is in the books, and Jeff Moorad should be pleased.
Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eric Sogard to the A’s for Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham is clean and simple. No gunslinging here. More like reorganizing the closet. A couple little changes, add a shelf, voila! A more balanced roster free of a growing salary concern.
Kouz was about to be valued more than he’s worth. Solid defense aside, Kouzmanoff managed just 88 RBI hitting behind Adrian Gonzalez. He’s one of those good-but-not-great players that can fit in on a winning team but can’t help rebuild a bad team.
His gaudy minor league OBP numbers never materialized in the big leagues, and as a .300 on-base occasional slugger, Kouz seemed better fit as a 7-9 hitter in an AL lineup than a 4-5 hitter in the NL. Now he’ll get that chance to find his niche.
Throw in arbitration, the natural desire for the Padres to return Chase Headley to his natural position, the growth of Kyle Blanks as an outfield prospect, and the need for a right-handed platoon partner for Tony Gwynn in center field…and then the chance comes to swap Kouzmanoff for Hairston. Perfect.
Hairston fits well into the Padres' outfield
Scott Hairston is a good fourth outfielder, and that’s what he projects to be on the 2010 Padres. He will be primarily discussed as a right-handed batting center fielder, but I could easily see him grab ABs in both corner outfield positions as well. When he gets hot and starts hitting homers against the Giants again, Bud Black will ride him for a while, and when he strikes out 12 times in a week, he’ll get some time off.
More importantly, Hairston is inexpensive (just over $1M last year), while Kouzmanoff is a rising variable. The Padres’ signing of Heath Bell to a 1-year, 4-million dollar deal on the same day they trade Kouz is not coincidental.
Jed Hoyer needed to move Kouzmanoff this offseason, and while Kevin Towers might have tried to flip Kouz for a prospect with crazy upside (the mere fact that this deal does not return an arm to San Diego lets you know for sure the Towers era has ended), Hoyer made a clean and mostly neutral trade that answers questions at two positions and still leaves the Padres with their biggest trade chips in place.
My only possible concern with this deal could come from the two minor leaguers involved. Eric Sogard had a nice walk rate in the minors and is a 24-year-old lefty-swinging second baseman. Aaron Cunningham is another right-handed outfielder who will probably be entertaining the fans in Portland and the PCL with little impact in San Diego. Hopefully Hoyer didn’t let a good one slip away in Sogard.
Still, for the first time out, it looks like Hoyer’s killed three birds with one stone, clearing up third base and left field while simultaneously adding a useful roster piece in Hairston. Nice job, Jed.
