Although Padres' pitcher Huston Street has said in the past that he doesn't want to be traded, it looks like he is going to be shipped off in an attempt by Padres management to improve a team that has been floundering for a few years now.
The future is a mystery in San Diego, but one thing is clear today. At 34-44 and 11.5 games back in the National League West, San Diego is on the way to a fourth straight losing season, and the eighth straight that ends before the postseason.
Josh Byrnes is out as general manager after being fired on Sunday, and in a move of seeming desperation geared around making trades, replaced on an interim basis by three men who will share the duties of running the team: A.J. Hinch, Omar Minaya, and Fred Uhlman. Essentially, three GM's means triple the amount of trade talks.
Street is low hanging fruit for one of these three men, because, as good as he is, the Padres have a capable closer in Joaquin Benoit, whose 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio this year is even better than Street's impressive 4.29. In their current season, San Diego has absolutetly no business with two strong closers on its roster. Street is six years younger than Benoit, so he should have higher trade value. Also, the fact that he will probably be an All-Star this year makes his trade value tick up even more.
A possible target team for Street would be Detroit. Detroit has the roster to make another World Series run, but as they know very clearly, a blown save in the postseason could be the difference between moving on or going home.
Street could be just the player to keep the Tigers going far into the fall this year.
Although Street has expressed a desire to stay in San Diego, he understands the nature of the business, too.
He has heard trade talk for years, considering the slide the Padres' have been on.
"It's a part of the game," Street told ESPN Tuesday from Citizens Bank Park. "It's not going to distract me. I'll give the same answer I have year after year: I have no control over it. I don't have a no-trade clause, so there's nothing for me to consider."
"If the phone rings and they say, 'Hey, we shipped you,' then you just put on a new uniform and try to get to know your teammates and go to battle for a new team," he continued.
