Josh Barfield traded to the Indians

[DirtyKash]

Rotoworld.

Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B Padres - Age 25
.389/.449/.660, 15 HR, 55 RBI, 34/23 K/BB, 2 SB in 244 AB for Double-A Akron
.353/.409/.647, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 12/10 K/BB, 2 SB in 102 AB for Triple-A Buffalo
.214/.279/.411, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 12/5 K/BB, 0 SB in 56 AB for Cleveland
.382/.460/.618, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5/4 K/BB, 0 SB in 55 AB (AFL)

Kouzmanoff was available to anyone in the Dec. 2005 Rule 5 draft after batting .339/.401/.591 for Single-A Kinston, but no one took the chance. In 2006, he hit his way from Double-A to the majors and was acquired by the Padres, along with Andrew Brown, for a player in Josh Barfield who was viewed as the far superior prospect entering the season. Kouzmanoff is expected to take over as San Diego's third baseman, but there are still major issues here. Kouzmanoff hurt his back in 2004 and has had issues since, though he wasn't forced to miss any time last year. His defense at third is below average, and since first base in San Diego should be off limits for several years, the only alternative for him is left field and he might not have enough range to be decent there. What's not in doubt is Kouzmanoff's bat. He's a legitimate .300 hitter with 20-25 homer power. However, Petco Park will take a toll. He may struggle to bat .270-.280 with 15 homers as a rookie next year.

[padrefanforever]

LOL........ .280/20 would be vastly better than anything we've had in so long.....lol and if that's a struggle......sounds pretty damn nice to me....

[FmrFresnan]

Kash, I hope he lives up to the hype, I really do. He's a young player with, what seems to be, a lot of talent and power. Let's hope he's everything and more.

[padrefanforever]

I think this guy is going to make us look back and think......DAMN KT you did it again......where'd you find this guy.......like AGon and Meredith

[FmrFresnan]

I really hope you guys are right about that. If we're not and Barfield starts going off in Cleveland, this could be looked at as a lopsided deal that didn't go in our favor.

[HollywoodLeo]

it wouldn't be the first lopsided deal that didn't go in our favor...but you know what? Every GM in baseball makes bad trades every now and then.

Overall I think Towers has been pretty good on the trade market. I don't know if I'd rank him one of the best, but he's been pretty good.

[FmrFresnan]

I'd agree with that Leo, especially the steal of Bard and Meredith from Boston. I'm just not sure about the Barfield deal until we get to see Kouz play. I'm looking forward to seeing him in March when the wife and I make the trip to Peoria for Spring Training.

[HollywoodLeo]

It's perfectly fair to not be sure of the Barfield trade until we see the guy play.

To be "sure" of it right now would be absolutly homerific.

[FmrFresnan]

I think Zito is going to be the Padres big free agent signing, the only thing is, the Dodgers are going to do everything they can to make sure that doesn't happen. The Padres need to get that deal done.

[padrefanforever]

Loretta for Mirabelli wasn't exactly a hit......yes he erased that bad taste, but that was a bad deal none-the-less

[HollywoodLeo]

True, but he rectified that trade a month and a half into the season

[padrefanforever]

I said he corrected it.....the amount of time it took is irrelevant, since the point was he does make bad trades

[FmrFresnan]

I hate to say this, though I know we should just sit back and let the chips fall, but I do wish KT and Sandy would throw us a bone and let us know that they're close to signing someone or that they're talking to a free agent at this position. I don't think that's exactly tipping your hand, it's letting your fans know that they're working on it.

[HollywoodLeo]

That could also be determental to their efforts.

If they let us know who they're looking at....they let the Dodgers know who they're looking at.

[FmrFresnan]

I didn't say for them to say who they're looking at, but just the fact that they are looking at certain positions.