Are The Padres Done Trading?

Chris Denorfia and Ian Kennedy are still Padres. Will they be gone by Thursday? Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

A recent news report from Corey Brock suggested that the Padres might already be done trading. Huston Street is gone. Chase Headley is gone. Yet don’t think Assistant GM AJ Hinch would not already consider it a successful trading season for the club.

"“What’s been notable through all this is that there’s been several teams that like a lot of our players,” Hinch said. “One thing I’ve been happy with is to hear the positive feedback on the group we have here, from the two who have been traded and the guys who might be traded and ones we have no interest in trading.”"

While I do tend to agree that the two trades were good, sound baseball decisions, part of that is just due to timing. Street was at the top of his game, and GM Billy Beane and many other clubs have shown us that finding closers isn’t exactly as hard as it is made out to be.

Of course, for every club that makes it look easy, the Detroit Tigers can’t seem to buy one and had to trade for a working closer AGAIN this season after investing heavily in Joe Nathan in the off-season.

Yet, Chris Denorfia is still on the trading block. He has slumped some this season, but would be great on a team like the Cardinals or notably the Red Sox. Couldn’t the Padres get a few more offensive prospects in return for Chase Headley? Is there another Ian Kennedy out there; a proven veteran in a down year the Padres can pick up cheap and rebound for a couple years of productivity?

Personally, I would like to keep Kennedy in San Diego for next year, and if nothing else, he’s a reliable starting pitcher that much we know!

However, I do think they need to deal Deno and probably Joaquin Benoit to take advantage of their position of strength in the trade market. Nothing left to play for this year – plenty of time to find out who will be playing well next season in what we all hope will be a season where they compete again in the division.