Padres Free Agents

Here is a list of Padres players that will be heading into free agency and eligible for arbitration for this off-season

Free agents: RHP Kevin Correia, INF Jerry Hairston Jr., SS Miguel Tejada, OF Matt Stairs, 2B David Eckstein, C Yorvit Torrealba, SP Jon Garland, SP Chris Young.

I would love to bring back Kevin Correia, if we are able to get a good discount for him. He had a tough deal this last season, BUT also had to go through a lot in his personal life. His brother died during the middle of the season and he had to pitch with a heavy heart. He is a veteran pitcher in the rotation and will be able to chew up innings. I would want to bring him back to compete for a rotation spot though and not give him one outright.

Jerry Hairston played a pivotal role for the Padres supplying clutch hits and solid defense for the team. It would be nice to have him back for another season to supply a little pop in the batting order. He was a key contributor for the squad last season.

Miguel Tejada showed that he has a little bit left in that old body and he had a few clutch hits to bring the team into contention and he showed that he still can play some shortstop. It would be nice to bring back his veteran leadership to our team.

I think Matt Stairs will be done with the Padres and possibly his career. There were a few times during the season that he was hanging on by a thread to a position and I think it is time for Stairs to move on to retirement.

David Eckstein is a scrappy little player and provided SOLID defense for the team at 2B. If the Padres were able to bring back Hairston and Tejada, then I don’t see any room for Eckstein. As much as I love the scrappy player, I think I am ready to move on to someone with more potential at the position.

Yorvit Torrealba sparked the team a few times with the bat and was solid behind the plate. He got the opportunity to play a lot of innings with us and capitalized on it. He will demand a significant pay increase and the Padres will start to rely on Nick Hundley. We will need to bring in another veteran player to share time with Hundley.

Jon Garland was an inning eater for the Padres, but will demand to high of a contract for the Padres to keep. The Padres will be able to find another veteran pitcher to help chew up some innings and be a contributor as long as they play at Petco Park.

Chris Young might be back with the team this season at a discounted rate. I would give him another chance if the price is right. When he is ABLE to pitch, he has shown that he can have dominant stuff. He just needs to find a way to stay healthy.