San Diego busy again
The World Champion Padres are not satisfied just sitting on their accolades and have begun what promises to be a busy off-season making two big trades. The Padres acquired masher Russell Branyan from Minnesota in exchange for Outfielder Ben Francisco, and received starter Jered Weaver, outfielder Jeremy Hermida, and a third round pick from the Oakland Athletics (formerly of Boston) in exchange for outfielders Fred Lewis and Travis Buck, third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, and reliever Justin Hampson.
In its acquisition of Francisco, Minnesota rounds out its outfield complementing the presence of Gary Matthews Jr. and Pat Burrell, replacing the hurt Michael Cuddyer who was limited to under 300 PA last season.
Boston/Oakland shores up its defense with the acquisition of Fred Lewis to man its outfield, and picks up Kouzmanoff to replace the departing Miguel Cabrera. The front office was also reportedly very happy about the inclusion of Travis Buck who hit .281 with 4 homers and 10 doubles in 140 PA the year before for the Padres, but who did not meet expectations in real life. The Boston/Oakland front office fully believes he will bounce back and contribute in future years.
San Diego is thrilled in their acquisitions which they believe will increase their chances of a repeat championship. In Weaver they get a good young pitcher and in Hermida they get a good young outfielder who has never quite reached his potential and Branyan provides a huge bat off the bench, replacing the declining Tony Clark.