The Padres must resist the urge to pull the trigger on the multiple offers that will inevitably come at them for third baseman Chase Headley.
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported:
Padres third baseman Chase Headley, 28, is five years younger than the Red Sox’s Kevin Youkilis and $8.525 million cheaper this season. Youk also plays first base, but Headley—a popular trade target, according to major-league sources—might be the more attractive commodity.
Headley is the heart of this offense, and San Diego is not likely to receive enough value to make a trade worth it. Any team looking to add Headley will do so to strengthen its run to this year’s World Series.
That means teams won’t be looking to part with anything but prospects. And barring a nice package of multiple elite prospects, which is extremely unlikely, this trade will not be worth it.
Headley is currently hitting .253 with seven homers and 25 RBI. He has a .370 OBP and a 124 OPS-plus, which is important to mention because Petco Park is a stats killer for hitters.
Headley is under team control through the 2014 season. He is making just under $3.5 million this year. He likely will be due a raise in free agency, but he isn’t likely to be a budget buster, and the Padres have a year and a half to negotiate a long-term deal with him.
That will give them plenty of time to get an idea if they will be able to re-sign him or not, and if they feel they can’t, they can ship him out before next year’s trade deadline.
At 18-37, the Padres aren’t going anywhere this year, but that doesn’t mean they need to host a complete fire sale, and they certainly don’t need to trade one of their clubhouse leaders and best hitters for a limited return.
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