Newly appointed Padres GM Josh Byrnes has been a busy bee so far this winter. Since assuming the leadership mantle from his predecessor, Jed Hoyer, Byrnes has: Traded Mat Latos, the club’s best starting pitcher; added power-hitting corner OF Carlos Quentin; brought in veteran OF-1B and clubhouse leader Mark Kotsay as a free agent; upgraded at backup catcher with John Baker; replaced outgoing UFA closer Heath Bell with Huston Street; dealt one of the prize pieces from last winter’s Adrian Gonzalez deal, Anthony Rizzo, in a deal for reliever Andrew Cashner; and re-signed nine of the team’ eleven potential arbitration-eligible players ahead of the deadline to exchange salary numbers (a tenth, Clayton Richard, agreed to terms shortly afterwards). Undoubtedly, while the team has mostly steered clear of free agency, Byrnes has turned over a large chunk of the club’s roster in short order.

While it’s nearly impossible to guess how the on-field product will perform given the high turnover rate from last season, one thing is clear; Byrnes has a plan and he has wasted little time implementing it. His goal this winter was to continue to add to the deepening pool of young talent while improving the team for an unlikely but hopeful postseason run next season. Yes, the Padres will obviously miss Latos and the trade that sent him to Cincinnati for a prospect-heavy return is difficult to view as a step to improve the product on the field nest season. But Byrnes has still accomplished both goals with the plethora of deals he has made as GM.

Let’s take a look at how some of Byrnes’ winter acquisitions will impact the Friars organization whether for just this season, the future or both starting with the Latos move.

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us and the calendar flipped to December the shopping season is upon us. That’s also true in the baseball world where the annual Winter Meetings and the trades and free agent signings that generally accompany the event are right around the corner. So, what will the Friars do, if anything, at this year’s Winter Meetings? We’re not sure but the Friarhood staff, in honor of the Christmas holiday, has compiled our Friars wish list and sent it off to Saint Nick in the hope Padres fans get something nice under our collective tree.

Extensions

Everyone had this on their list. The popular extension candidate was CF Cameron Maybin. Maybin is Brandon’s “favorite player.”

Steve would rather see the Friars broach the “E” word with the camps of pitchers Mat Latos and Tim Stauffer before doing anything with Maybin. He feels the club and Maybin are “too far apart” in talks and would like to see “confirmation that Maybin isn’t a flash in the pan.”

Bottom line is essentially every Padres fan wants to see the ownership group show a commitment to building a winner and extending the young talent before they get too expensive is a good first step.

Weeks of rumor finally came to fruition last week when Theo Epstein officially agreed to join the Chicago Cubs as President of Baseball Operations. Unfortunately for the Padres, Epstein managed to convince Padres GM Jed Hoyer, and his assistant in San Diego, Jason McLeod, to join him in the windy city. Owner Jeff Moorad quickly moved to replace Hoyer with Josh Byrnes, his former GM in Arizona where Moorad held the title of CEO and General Partner of the Diamondbacks. Byrnes joined the Friars last December after being fired as GM in Arizona.

Not surprisingly, some Padres fans feel Hoyer abandoned the team; that he took the first opportunity to leave a small-market like San Diego for the riches of Chicago. It’s almost as if he turned his back on the challenge of turning the Padres into a perennial contender, as he had repeatedly said was his goal, in order to take a job with his mentor for a club that doesn’t have the financial restraints San Diego does. On the surface it does look like he took the easy road so-to-speak. But anyone who has experienced a split either in their personal or professional lives knows there are two sides to every story.