Carlos Quentin Likely Done With Padres

When Carlos Quentin came over to the Padres from the White Sox on the last day of 2011, the general thought was that the Padres had found a suitable  power hitting replacement for Adrian Gonzalez. Quentin at that time was coming off four straight productive seasons, including an all-star nod and a 36 homer season in 2008.

However, since coming over to San Diego, Quentin’s most notable highlight of his Padre career is the 2013 brawl in April with the Dodgers that saw Zach Greinke break his collarbone. Quentin’s overall career numbers with the Padres are a .251/.352/464 slash line with 33 home runs and 108 RBI in 218 games. Quentin had a .177 batting average this season with four home runs and 18 RBIs in 155 plate appearance.

Corey Brock, the Padres correspondent for mlb.com, recently had an interview on the Darren Smith Show on the Mighty 1090 where he said Quentin was looking for a second opinion on his knee and an official season ending announcement is due when the team returns home from their road trip. Quentin has had three knee surgeries since joining the Padres, each of which has caused him to miss significant playing time. 

This appears to be the end of the line for Quentin’s Padre career. As U-T writer Dennis Lin recently mentioned in a Padres chat, Quentin is likely to be let go by the Padres this off-season, as they simply cannot afford another season with Quentin on the 40-man roster without any favorable returns. The oft-injured outfielder signed a 4-year $37.5 million contract with the Padres in 2012 and is set to make $9.5 million this year and $8.5 million next season. That large of a number on the Padres’ payroll and the fact that the Friars have a multitude of young outfielders almost certainly seals Quentin’s fate, making him a prime candidate to be either released or traded in the off-season.

At age 31 and three knee surgeries with a possibility of a fourth, Quentin is no longer an option to play the field full time for any team. This makes him a prime DH candidate for a power needy American League team come spring training. A team like the Yankees or Red Sox could swoop in on the San Diego native and get a steal, but for now, Quentin’s career as a San Diego Padre is all but over.