Padilla traded for PTBNL

by dajafi on Dec 19, 2005 4:45 PM EST in News

Edit by David Cohen on December 19: The player to be named is Ricardo Rodriguez. 200+ innings of 5+ERA ball in his 4 season MLB career; 3 seasons with an ERA over 5, and 1 season with an ERA of 2. There's value for you!

Gone to Texas. I presume that somewhere, Chris Wheeler is dreamily smoking a cigarette...

The Texas Rangers have acquired right-handed starter Vicente Padilla from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade for a player to be named, baseball sources told ESPN.com. The deal is contingent on Padilla passing a physical exam with the Rangers.

Padilla, 28, has a 51-51 record with a 3.95 ERA in seven seasons with Philadelphia and Arizona. He came to the Phillies with Omar Daal, Travis Lee and Nelson Figueroa in a trade for Curt Schilling in July 2000, and posted back-to-back 14-win, 200-inning seasons in 2002-2003.

Padilla slipped to 16-18 the past two seasons, and new Phillies general manager Pat Gillick had been actively shopping him this winter. Padilla earned $3.2 million last year and is eligible for salary arbitration.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal says the PTBNL might be righty reliever Ricardo Rodriguez (how's that for alliteration?). Also notes that the Phils remain in pursuit of Braden Looper, and might be thinking about bringing in Sidney Ponson. Insert "problem drinker rotation slot" joke here.

Todd Zolecki reports on the Inquirer website that the PTBNL will be either Rodriguez or "a low-level prospect believed to be an infielder."

Zolecki also sheds a little light on how Padilla's now-former teammates viewed him:

Padilla, who went 9-12 with a 4.71 ERA last season, had been maddeningly inconsistent for the last couple of seasons, with on-the-field and off-the-field issues. ... On the field, Padilla was inconsistent. The Phillies, including Padilla's teammates, often said that Padilla had the best stuff of any pitcher on the team. But he didn't pitch the way they thought he should.

But Zolecki (whom I generally think is a cut above your average beat writer type) has never seemed to think much of Padilla anyway; in his running Q&A feature, he's repeatedly taken shots at the Nicaraguan righty. That said, I can't think of anyone with or around the team who has defended Padilla since Scott Rolen, who seemed to like him in his last few months as a Phillie.

Before the trade was announced today, I was preparing an article on whether or not the Phils should offer Vicente arbitration; presumably the Rangers will now do so. Padilla's career win-lost mark and ERA compare pretty well to this guy, who just signed a deal for $55 million. If you normalize their careers for run-scoring environment, Burnett's little ERA advantage probably disappears altogether. Oh, and Padilla is both ten months younger and doesn't have the injury history that's slowed A.J. Timing is everything, and if Padilla had turned in his 2002 or 2003 campaign now (or if he does it again in '06), he'd be in line to make a hell of a lot of money.

Funny game, this baseball. I hope I'm wrong and the PTBNL turns out to be a stud, but my first guess is that this is a salary dump and a headache-removal action. !Vamanos, Vicente!

Tweet Comment 6 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

ridiculous

I just don't get it. Padilla had an admittedly lousy first half; but he rebounded nicely in the second half, presumably after he got over his nagging injuries. He's certainly better than anyone they're thinking of replacing him with (I've heard the Tomko rumors), and at an estimated $4 million from arbitration, looks to be much more affordable than the wacky FA pitcher signings last year and so far this year. I wouldn't get my hopes up for the PTBNL being anything more than minor league filler.

by Alex Falzone on Dec 12, 2005 3:49 PM EST reply actions

A lot will depend...

...on who the PTBNL is and what Gillick plans to do with any budget space he now has with trading Padilla.

I think the Phillies' assessment of Padilla is wrong, but they do know the situation better than any outsider could. However, we need quality starters so trading away Vicente, on the surface, makes no sense.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this move fits into a plan by Gillick (even if that plan is to try to re-stock the farm system). I hope it doesn't come back to haunt us.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 12, 2005 6:01 PM EST reply actions

another thought about Padilla

Check out Vicente's 2005 gamelog. Between July 22 and August 13, he ran off a string of five straight quality starts in which he didn't earn a victory (three losses, two no-decisions).

If the Phils score a few more runs in those games, maybe he goes 12-10 or 12-11 for the season instead of 9-12. With that mark, he's a 28 year-old who dramatically improved in the second half, and posted double-digit win totals in three of the last four seasons--and I have to figure we either get a lot more than a scrub PTBNL for him, or never trade him in the first place.

by dajafi on Dec 14, 2005 4:17 PM EST reply actions

in theory...

Today (Monday the 19th) should be the day when our PTNBL is, um, named. But as of 2:45pm I haven't heard anything.

by dajafi on Dec 19, 2005 2:43 PM EST reply actions

Rodriguez

He's the PTBNL. Soon to be 28 year-old journeyman who doesn't strike guys out. Here's his full pro record, including minors.

Good numbers at AAA last year, but given that his K rate stayed low, I have to believe this was a fluke. Maybe he'll be a decent middle reliever for us, but certainly this wasn't a good return, in this pitching market, for a guy of Padilla's caliber.

by dajafi on Dec 19, 2005 5:14 PM EST up reply actions

Terrible

Absolutely poor return for Padilla who should have had quite good trade value in this market where equivalent pitchers are getting 4 year deals. While I'd like to believe that Gillick knows some key inside information or that this is a part of a big master plan, I think it comes down to that Dallas Green and company didn't like Padilla and wanted him gone. And now he is gone, for junk. Stupid.

The only good thing is that Rodriguez at least has had soe minor league success (despite the relatively low K-rate) so maybe he could be a decent middle reliever for us and make this somewhat worthwhile. But I'm not holding my breath.

by Laaaaazzz on Dec 19, 2005 7:27 PM EST up reply actions