Padres Roster Moves 1/8/13

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Not too much has been going on in the front office these days. Maybe they are busy talking to Chase Headley about a new one year deal. I’m not sure what motivation Headley has to sign a contract with the Padres prior to arbitration, though. Josh Byrnes has stood by the fact that he is fine with going int0 2014 with Headley on a one year contract. That contract presumably would be about $10 mil awarded to him by the arbitration panel. I would think that if the Padres called to discuss a one year deal to avoid arbitration, Headley and his representatives would stick to asking for a multi-year deal. In the words of Joe Dirt, “it’s good biz!” The club may do it’s best to avoid arbitration because signing Headley to a long term contract later could be more difficult after you’ve bad mouthed him and told him he’s not worth that much in front of the arbitration panel. Enough guessing, here’s what we know is happening in the Front Office these days.

Despite the Padres not being interested in trading Denorfia right now, the Red Sox clearly did not read this article that I wrote recently. In this article by Ben Buchanan, he mentions that the Red Sox are interested in Denorfia’s right handed bat off the bench. He says that the Red Sox would try to move Daniel Nava or Mike Carp in order to make room for Denorfia. I think Denorfia would only be traded if one of the young outfielders in the system comes to Spring Training and rips the cover off of the ball. Although, that may not matter either because I get the feeling that Josh Byrnes is very happy with where the team is at right now.

As I mentioned when Adys Portillo was designated for assignment to make room for Joaquin Benoit, his numbers throughout his career and more importantly in the winter leagues this year have been unimpressive. That is probably the reason that Portillo passed through waivers unclaimed and is heading to AA San Antonio. Perhaps the coaching staff there can help him find what it was that the Padres saw when they added him to the 40-man in the first place. Good luck Adys!

Yesterday the Padres signed Xavier Nady to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Nady is 35 and did not appear in the Majors last season. Nady played for AAA teams Omaha and Colorado Springs last season and put up a very respectable .296/.360/.456 with 15 HR and 65 RBI. The Padres already have too many outfielders as it is, so there is a good chance that Nady is the starting Rightfielder for the El Paso Chihuahuas come Opening Day.  If he is ok with staying in the minors for another season, it would be great to have him there for the Chihuahuas first season.

Have a great day everyone! Hall of Fame votes will be announced today at about 9am Pacific. There aren’t too many Padres on the ballot but, I guess it’s ok to have mild interest in whether Piazza or McGriff get in.