Sunday Brunch: Padres Turning A Corner

Pablo Sandoval. Yasmani Tomas. Jay Bruce. All pretty big names. All names the Padres are involved in trying to acquire. For a team that’s a mid market team, it’s nice to see them going after such big off-season targets. The Padres need offense and they are trying as best they can do it. 

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We all have heard all off-season that the Padres have payroll flexibility. Now they might be shedding some payroll in possibly getting rid of Ian Kennedy and the oft-injured Carlos Quentin in trades at some point this off-season.

The fact that they are in the game for each is encouraging. The Padres weren’t that far off from being real contenders for a wild card birth. Their pitching stacked up with anyone in the NL last year. They were second in team ERA, seventh in strikeouts, tied for second with the world champion Giants in BAA.

That offense though was well offensive. Last in so many of the major offensive categories like batting average, OPS and extra base hits. It’s a problem that money had to be thrown at and they are doing so.

Will they land any of the big three fish? Maybe. But the fact that they are going after the same players as the Red Sox and the Giants is encouraging and says the Padres are going in the right direction.