Interesting to note the Red Sox might’ve considered breaking up the Idiots and bringing in Phil Nevin (currently on the DL)
From the San Diego Union Tribune’s’ Tim Sullivan.
The minor deal disclosed after last night’s 3-2 loss to San Francisco “ pitchers Darrell May and Tim Redding for New York Yankees reliever Paul Quantrill “ may only be the first in a series of midseason moves.
Alderson indicated that the Padres are in a position to act now and to act aggressively; that they need not off-load costly contracts in order to acquire quality players. Furthermore, Moores’ claim that his hands are tied by baseball’s debt service rule is now being characterized as an economic exaggeration.
“We have some issues with respect to the debt service rule,” Alderson said. ” . . . (But) If we don’t make a deal between now and July 31, it won’t be because of the debt service rule.”
Alderson was standing on the dirt in front of the Padres’ dugout, virtually the same spot Moores stood on June 4 when he cast doubt on his club’s ability to obtain pennant insurance in a series of unequivocal and widely unpopular statements.
The subject surfaced because manager Bruce Bochy and General Manager Kevin Towers had alluded to major deals under discussion in separate interviews. If austerity is not yet an afterthought at Petco Park, the organizational tone has undergone an overnight change worthy of Ebenezer Scrooge.
“We’ve discussed big names with other clubs,” Towers told MLB.com. “Big, big deals. It’s not something that’s imminent, but it could come back.”
Some of the deals under discussion are surely driven by management’s desire to pare its payroll obligations and gain more maneuverability, but cost is not the only consideration. The Padres’ recurring efforts to trade first baseman Phil Nevin (above), for example, are motivated in part by his cantankerous personality and in part by the closing window on his limited no-trade clause.
Starting next year, Nevin’s list of teams to which he can refuse trades expands from eight to all. Since the Padres are unlikely to offer Nevin a contract extension when his current deal expires after next season, it probably behooves them to move him now rather than risk losing him without compensation.
Earlier this season, the Padres discussed a deal with Boston that would have sent Nevin, third baseman Sean Burroughs and pitcher Brian Lawrence to the Red Sox in exchange for first baseman Kevin Millar, third baseman Bill Mueller, outfielder Trot Nixon and expatriate Padres pitcher David Wells. Those talks have since been tabled, but they suggest that the Padres are open to large-scale operations.