San Diego Padres Can’t Wait for Headley to Come Around

With other capable options, the San Diego Padres are faced with a dilemma regarding one of the veteran leaders of their team. At what point do the Friars make a full-time change?

Chase Headley hasn’t gotten off to a great start. With Cory Spangenberg and last night’s hero, Christian Villanueva, both willing and able to provide the San Diego Padres with other options at third-base, Headley needs to find his swing and fast.

When the Friars acquired Headley, 33, from the New York Yankees over this past offseason, they had envisioned a clubhouse leading on-base machine with some pop coming back to San Diego.

What they’ve gotten so far is a shell of the Chase Headley they traded for and an imposter (in most ways) of the player the franchise traded away in 2014.

In just ten appearances over the Padres’ first five games, Headley has just ten plate appearances, with zero hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.

Nobody expected this to be the same player he was four years ago, but we were at least hoping for something close to the .273/.352/.406 hitter that he was last season for the Yankees.

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What’s next for the Padres and for Chase Headley?

Sure, it’s a long season and Headley has plenty of time to get himself straightened out. He’s a ballplayer.

This is a game of failures. He would have never gotten to this point if he wasn’t adept at making adjustments and working his way out of a slump.

But, with the offensive exploits and defensive capabilities of Spangy and Villanueva quite literally chasing him out of the lineup already, how long will manager Andy Green wait before banishing Headley to a more of a bench role than he’s already in?

His presence in the locker room and potential to break out of this early-season funk give the Padres a few paths to take regarding how to move forward.

Andy Green and AJ Preller can wait it out, let Headley work his way out of his slump, and keep him around as a valuable asset to this team, as he still most certainly is.

Or, they could look to move Headley now that they are surely a little more comfortable with their other options at third base.

Next: Random Thoughts After Padres' First Win

Whichever way the Friars choose to move forward, once again, having too many talented players on the roster is never a bad thing. Until it is.