The Padres are pretty much done for this off-season.  Spring Training is closing in; the payroll is projected to be in the $50 million range, where Jeff Moorad said it would be.  One has to figure the Padres will now draw no more cards.  With a new GM seated at the table, never a better time to review Josh Byrnes’ first time cooking at the Hot Stove for the Friars.

First off, Byrnes took over the post on Halloween.  For the sake of clarity: those decisions occurring prior to his control of the team will be omitted.  With that established, let’s look at the moves made so far and try to develop some idea of a common thread.

NOVEMBER 16 – Signed OF/1B Mark Kotsay to a 1-year contract.

Before dismissing this move as lacking importance, consider: Kotsay was given a guaranteed contract.  They didn’t invite him to camp in late January and give him a minor league deal.  They gave him the money.  That means, at least to me, there was some demand for Kotsay.  Byrnes had a desire to lock him up rather than risk losing him.  Also, the Padres have shown the necessity and the luxury of having a quality left-handed bat off the bench.  In 1998, John Vander wal and Mark Sweeney helped the team with a division.  Of course, Sweeney was back with the team in 2005 and was out of his mind in limited duty (.294/.395/.466).

Bottom line: Seems like a move made to win if not now, then soon.

NOVEMBER 22 – Traded P Wade LeBlanc for C John Baker.

It could be argued that the second largest reason the Padres regressed 19 wins from 2010 to 2011 was the poor play from the catcher position.  Nick Hundley played well but spent exactly half of the Padres games behind the plate.  The rest of the season was a menagerie of Rob Johnson, Luis Martinez and Kyle Phillips.  Ugh.

Enter John Baker, another left-handed hitter to help address the Padres’ problems hitting righties last year.  He is solid, if not unspectacular.  However, Baker has career big-league totals of (.271/.356/.401).  Just to compare, Rob Johnson hit (.190/.259/.285).   Can you say “near 100-point improvements in all 3 offensive categories”?  Baker had Tommy John surgery, but that was 2 years ago.  By all accounts, he’s ready to go.

On the other side of the coin you have Wade LeBlanc.  You have to root for the guy.  It takes stones to go out there and face MLB hitters with his lack of stuff.  His margin for error is paper-thin.  When he is “on”, he’s pretty good.  When he is not “on”, things get real ugly real fast.  His loss is close to negligible, especially considering how many young arms the Padres have coming up behind him.

Bottom line: Fangraphs marks this as a win for the Padres.  I tend to agree and it’s another move to instantly improve the team.

DECEMBER 7 – Traded P Nick Schmidt for P Huston Street.

The Padres first real move of the off-season was more necessity than anything.  Heath Bell got his money in Miami.  Good for him.  Before any Padres fans had time to panic, they fixed the gaping hole in the bullpen.  Huston Street is solid.  He logged serious innings while in Oakland and then had to pitch in Colorado.  Being a 60-70 innings guy and half of those in PETCO will do wonders for pitchers.  So, you sacrifice almost nothing in the exchange of Street for Bell in terms of effectiveness.  You may even gain some if PETCO Park helps with Street’s numbers.  What you gain is youth, Street is 5 years younger, and salary room (Street will get $7.5, Bell $9).

I was hopeful for Schimdt to eventually come around.  I even watched him start a game at Lake Elsinore.  But he had the elbow issue right after the draft and he’s just never been effective.  If anything, it’s nice to purge a lingering reminder of the series of failures in the first round of the draft.

Bottom line: same numbers as last year’s closer, but cheaper and younger?  All day long.

DECEMBER 13 – Signed OF Chris Denorfia to a one-year deal.

Outfield depth is never a bad thing.  When healthy, I like the guy in the lineup (as long as he’s not batting lead-off).  He was 2^nd-year arbitration eligible, so rather than fight it out at a desk with a lawyer, they worked out a deal.  Fine.

Bottom Line: relatively inexpensive depth works for me.

DECEMBER 17- Traded P Mat Latos for P Edinson Volquez, P Brad Boxberger, OF/1B Yonder Alonso and C Yasmani Grandal.

I was the guy on Friarhood and on the Friarhood Facebook page talking about looking forward to seeing Alonso and Volquez at PETCO Park this season.  If lack of production out of first base was the single largest reason the Padres struggled last year, this trade immediately addresses the issue.  And, if addressing an issue also adds depth to an already stacked farm system, it’s hard to miss the logic in the move.

Many are upset that the Padres dealt a rare commodity like a bona fide ace for prospects and a guy trending downward.  This point is legitimate and we can debate the issue.  However, to accuse Latos of behavior and maturity issues is missing the point.  Regardless of whether those accusations are true, they have almost nothing to do with this trade.  This was a baseball move.

The Padres got better.  This was not a money trade nor was it a give-up trade.  This improved the Padres central issue from 2011, the offense, while sacrificing a strength, pitching.  An excess in one area and a deficiency in another will not work… ever.  No team in history has loaded up its pitching rotation with studs and left its batting order barren and won anything.

The fans clamored for more offense and Alonso will undoubtedly be an upgrade over Brad Hawpe.  How much of an upgrade remains to be seen.  But, even a moderate upgrade improves the team.  In addition, the addition of Volquez should off-set the loss of Latos by using PETCO Park to lower Volquez’s bloated ERA, which he earned while pitching in Cincy and other NL Central hitters’ havens.  In addition, the Padres got a future end-of-the game reliever and a possible future catcher.   They gave up a lot, but the Padres got a haul and a half.  Put it this way, the Padres got more for Latos than they did for Peavy.

Bottom Line: a big risk, but with all the Padres pitching depth, this was the best possible gamble to take.

DECEMBER 31 – Traded P Simon Castro and P Pedro Hernandez for OF Carlos Quentin.

I have always been a Carlos Quentin guy.  He’s from San Diego and he can rake.  He is one of those guys who gets a hit while getting out of bed.  He is also an athlete.  He played baseball, football and basketball while at Uni. High.  Will his power project at PETCO Park?  Probably not.  But will he hit doubles and drive in runs?  Probably.  He’s not a masher along the lines of the elite power hitters in baseball.  What he is, is a presence in the middle of the order that pitchers will have to take note of.  He is exactly what the Padres did not have in 2011: a clean-up hitter.  The Padres gave up one non-prospect and one who had a dreadful season in what was supposed to be a breakout year.   Quentin is likely an upgrade over Ryan Ludwick, who never really got it rolling in PETCO Park.  Here’s hoping Quentin doesn’t fall prey to the same home-run eating monster.

Bottom line: another move to improve the team right now.  And sacrificed very little to do it.

JANUARY 6 – Traded 1b Anthony Rizzo and P Zach Cates for P Andrew Cashner and OF Kyung-Min Na.

I was drawn in by Rizzo.  He is still on a very short list of players who made me go to a baseball game just to see one guy (Peavy, Griffey, McGwire, Sosa and Caminitti are some of the others).  So, I get that Padres fans were disappointed to see him go.  But with a log-jam at first base something had to be done.   What you get in return is a fireballer.  Absolute cannon in cleats.  Cashner has been known to throw in excess of 100 MPH.  Does velocity portend success?  Certainly not, but it’s a nice place to start.  Whatever margin for error LeBlanc didn’t have, Cashner has.  I think he slides right in to that Mike Adams role as the set-up for Huston Street.  Once again, this move instantly improves the team.  The cost was a little higher than I would have liked, but Rizzo had very little value after his miserable stint in the big leagues in 2011.

Bottom line: instant bullpen help in exchange for someone who may pan out, but has nowhere to play.

I look at all these moves and the first thing that strikes me is that most are designed to improve the team right now.  And, this team is now better, most likely, in: left field, catcher and first base.  There will likely be a bit of a regression in pitching (both starters and bullpen) but the glaring needs were addressed with very little sacrificed, except money.  Which is a point I feel many Padre fans are missing.

Padre fans have been clamoring for the team to spend.  I’m all for spending, but you need to find the right guys.  Throwing money at Carlos Lee seemed great at the time.  He’s now a multi-million dollar albatross.  The Padres are spending more, but they are getting safe players with little to no chance of completely busting out.   Personally, I can’t be happier.  I knew the Padres weren’t getting Pujols or Wilson this off-season.  But adding 100 runs to the offense is fairly awesome, none the less.

I really feel a return to .500 baseball is not only likely, but expected.  And, excuse my presumption, but an NL West title seems to be in the headlines in 2013.