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.

Edinson Volquez:

Volquez will fill the rotation slot vacated by Latos. Remember a time when Volquez was an All Star and along with Johnny Cueto looked primed to form an exceptional 1-2 punch at the front of the Reds rotation? Injury (Tommy John in 2008) and a 50-game suspension for PED use stalled Volquez’s progress. He wasn’t as bad last season as his traditional numbers suggest (5.71 ERA) as his xFIP was a shade over 4. Put him in a ballpark like Petco and he has a decent shot to be a league average or better starter and would have value at the trade deadline, assuming the Padres weren’t in contention themselves, with many contenders looking to add starting pitching. He has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining and is scheduled to make $2.2375 million this year after avoiding a hearing. So maybe the Padres benefit from a strong rebound season from Volquez and/or they cash him in for more assets near the deadline.

Yonder Alonso:

The Friars front office feels Alonso’s swing is better suited for success in Petco than outgoing hot 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo. The Bill James and RotoChamp projection systems both have Alonso approaching an OPS of .800 next season. He isn’t the equal of Rizzo with the glove and profiles as nothing more than average at 1B so the Friars will miss there. Still, an article by Chris Cwik on Fan Graphs calls Alonso “the ideal left-handed hitter for Petco.” Alonso is under team control for a while so the club should enjoy solid production at an affordable cost for the foreseeable future.

Yasmani Grandal:

Before last June’s draft catching wouldn’t have been considered an organizational strength. But after drafting and paying over-slot for high schooler Austin Hedges and acquiring Grandal the Padres now have a lot of depth; the type of depth they can perhaps parlay into some serious value down the road as Grandal challenges Hundley and is then challenged himself by Hedges forcing the Padres to consider cashing in on the excess. Grandal, a switch-hitter, has often been compared to Jason Varitek and that’s not a bad thing.

Brad Boxberger:

The Friars have a propensity for molding quality relievers from almost thin air but it doesn’t ever hurt to add some talent. Boxberger is another intriguing power arm that can help this year as a possible setup guy and in the future as a late-inning stud.

Next we look at the acquisitions of Carlos Quentin and Huston Street since their stories are basically the same.

Quentin addresses the glaring need for a middle-of-the-order bopper. He was sent to San Diego, his hometown, by the White Sox for Simon Castro, a starter who was a year ago looked at as one of the top prospects in the system but has since been surpassed by several arms, and minor league left-hander, Pedro Hernandez. Cwik said about Quentin, “when healthy, his hitting style will play in Petco.” If he gets off to a good start the Padres will have several options. They can look to extend him to a somewhat team-friendly long-term deal; they could flip him for a better prospect package than they gave up getting him; or they can allow him to walk away next winter as a UFA and collect the compensation as he profiles to merit it under the new CBA.

Street, in the final year of his deal, is in the same boat as Quentin. However in his case the Padres are unlikely to extend him or pick up their end of the 2013 mutual option his contract carries, but can either collect the compensation pick when he walks or trade him at the deadline. Considering they gave up former first-round flop Nick Schmidt to get him it is likely the compensation pick or any trade return will have more value than what they gave up originally. Also, just for this season alone, Street should provide comparable production at the back-end of the bullpen as the man he is replacing for slightly less money and the benefit of added draft picks (two for losing Bell and probably one more when Street walks next winter). Great deal for San Diego.

John Baker:

The Padres received little from the catching position when Nick Hundley was out with injury. Rob Johnson, Kyle Phillips and Luis Martinez combined to post a god-awful 0.1 WAR last year. That’s why they added John Baker in a trade for barely league-average starter Wade LeBlanc. Baker, when healthy has produced. In a combined 656 PA accrued during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Baker accumulated a 3.1 WAR. Baker is also a left-handed hitter who hits well against right-handed pitching as his career wRC+ of 105 would attest. The Padres struggled as a team against right-handers finishing tied for 27^th in wRC+. Baker will help in that regard.

LeBlanc was the 6^th starter last year and while it’s nice to have depth in the rotation the Padres like the upside of youngsters Robbie Erlin, Joe Weiland and Casey Kelly more. He did eat some innings but benefitted greatly from pitching at Petco. I’d rather have the quality bat and backup catcher.

Andrew Cashner:

Yes, it was tough letting Rizzo go after just one season, a disappointing one at that; especially when you consider all they got for the highly regarded 1B is a fungible asset in reliever Andrew Cashner. Cashner, a former first-round pick, profiles as a top notch, back-of-the-bullpen power arm but generally high upside position players are far more valuable than high upside potential closers. Still, the Padres had a need and they may believe Cashner can eventually move into the rotation. If he can make that transition to a starter then this deal has a chance of being a win for San Diego. And at the end of the day, the team feels better with Alonso at 1B than Rizzo so a deal was going to happen sooner or later.