The Rundown: Padres Continue Revamp, Baez Stays Hot in Winter Ball, Mike Quade Named Twins’ AAA Manager
What in the world, San Diego?
After recently trading for outfielders Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, and catcher Derek Norris, the San Diego Padres on Friday acquired outfielder Justin Upton from the Braves.
After missing out on signing third baseman Pablo Sandoval earlier in the offseason, the Padres were able to fill their void at the hot corner on Friday by acquiring Will Middlebrooks from the Red Sox. In exchange, San Diego is sending catcher Ryan Hanigan to Boston.
Watching the Padres’ moves over the past week has been a lot of fun. They really have a legitimate offense now, all without giving up any key pieces of their solid starting rotation.
Expect to see more action from the Padres this offseason, as they basically have half their roster made up of outfielders. As Ryan Davis wrote yesterday, maybe a guy like Seth Smith could be a fit with the Cubs. (Hopefully not, though.)
Other notes
* The Giants have agreed to a deal with RHP Jake Peavy, according to Ken Rosenthal. Pretty happy with this development — I absolutely did not want the Cubs to bring in Peavy. I didn’t think it would happen because he was looking for a multi-year deal, but I feared it was a possibility. Near the end of the World Series, Peavy talked about wanting to return to Chicago and wanting to rejoin his friend Jon Lester. Really glad he went back to the Giants.
* Javier Baez is swinging a scorching-hot bat in Winter ball. He had another multi-hit game on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer. Baez is now hitting .444/.476/.889 in five games. Obviously a small sample, but definitely nice to see him having a lot of success so far.
* In case you missed it, the Cubs made a number of moves yesterday: they claimed 1B/outfielder Shane Peterson and catcher Ryan Lavarnway off waivers, and signed catcher David Ross to a two-year deal. To make room on the roster, the Cubs DFA’d infielder Logan Watkins and RHP Donn Roach. They still need to clear a spot for Ross.
* The Minnesota Twins have named former Cub manager Mike Quade as their Triple-A manager. He’ll need to start coming up with his nicknames for Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano (Buxty and Miggy?).
