Padres News: Former Padre Carlos Quentin to Retire

Former San Diego Padre Carlos Quentin has opted for retirement after playing for Seattle AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainers. Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reported that Quentin will indeed be paid the remainder of his $8 million salary.

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Quentin was immediately dropped by the Atlanta Braves after being included in a trade package for Craig Kimbrel. He was soon picked up by the Seattle Mariners, but could not make it on their major league squad.

So essentially Quentin is being paid $8 million to not play major league baseball.

Quentin pulled his best Matt Flynn here. He turned in one great season in 2008, which earned him a monster contract. Like Flynn, Quentin went on to spend most of his time on the sideline after the extension. Personally, I’m jealous. I would love to make that kind of money for 100 days of “work” every year, but that type of career finagling is a cancer for professional sports teams.

Quentin was mostly a liability for the Padres. He was perhaps best known for starting an entertaining brawl with Dodger starter Zach Grienke. He did have a thunderous swing, but could hardly jog in the outfield, and was on the DL for the majority of his career in San Diego. I don’t know the guy, but it sure seemed like he was pretty comfortable sitting back making $8 million a year with a no trade clause to live and sometimes play for his hometown.

So what did the trade of Carlos Quentin do for the Padres? He was dealt the day before the regular season with Cameron Maybin to lock down Craig Kimbrel. But the package deal included Melvin Upton, whose prior success dissipated in Atlanta.

The deal allowed the Padres to shed the $24 million burden of Quentin and Maybin, but forced them to take a risk with Upton, who is still owed $46.35 million. Furthermore, they took on the $35 million salary of Kimbrel, and traded top pitching prospect Matt Wisler.

It’s early in the season, and way too early to determine the winner of this trade. But right now I am going to call this a loss for the San Diego Padres. Taking on an additional $22.35 million while trading away a top pitching prospect is the type of move that could really handcuff the Padres moving forward. Maybe things are different now with the deeper pockets of the ownership group, but it sure seems like they took on a lot of money to make this deal happen.

What do you think? Was adding Kimbrel worth taking on the additional payroll? Or will this hurt the Padres moving forward?

Padres News: Former Padre Carlos Quentin to Retire

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