Slumping Red Sox send Wells to San Diego

[pjcolpitts?]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Slumping Red Sox send Wells to San DiegoLeft-hander David Wells was traded Thursday from the Boston Red Sox to his hometown San Diego Padres, who are contending for a playoff spot.He's a Padre," agent Gregg Clifton told The Associated Press by phone from Arizona. "He's thrilled to be heading back to San Diego and, hopefully, helping get them into the playoffs."Clifton said Wells had spoken with both general managers involved, Kevin Towers of the Padres and Theo Epstein of the Red Sox.The defending NL West champion Padres were off Thursday. They were leading the wild-card race by a half game over Philadelphia and trailing the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers by three games.A source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that the Padres would get minor-league catcher George Kottaras in the deal, which was first reported by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.Kottaras is playing for Triple-A Portland, where he is hitting .233 with two homers and 13 RBI. The Red Sox organization is in need of catching, and Kottaras has a reputation as a solid defender.Wells is expected to start for the Padres on Saturday against the Reds.To be on a postseason roster, a player had to be in a team's organization by the end of Thursday.Wells, who pitched with the Padres in 2004, was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday night in Boston and designated for assignment.Wells' locker was nearly empty and four cartons were stacked in front of it before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Reliever Julian Tavarez was picked to start in his place.The 43-year-old Wells has a history of postseason success and has been one of Boston's best starters while the team has fallen far behind in the playoff race with an 8-21 record in August, the worst in the majors for the month. The Red Sox began the day eight games behind in the AL East and 7? behind in the wild-card standings.After battling knee problems most of the season, Wells has lowered his ERA to 4.98.Kottaras, 23, was rated San Diego's No. 2 prospect by Baseball America before this season. He has a smooth swing and excellent plate discipline, and he posted an exceptional .392 on-base percentage in his first three seasons in the minors.The main criticisms of Kottaras: He's a bit undersized for a catcher at 6-0 and 185 pounds, and some baseball talent evaluators question his durability. While Kottaras has a strong throwing arm, his accuracy also comes and goes at times.Kottaras grew up in Canada and got a late start playing baseball, so the Red Sox think he has some room to refine his game. The Padres, who have Josh Bard and Rob Bowen on their roster along with Mike Piazza, are convinced they're covered at the catching position for the foreseeable future.Kottaras began this season hitting .276 in 78 games with San Diego's Double-A affiliate in Mobile.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.</div>Link

 

[nba dogmatist]

baseball players switch teams too often. whatever happened to loyalty? i know he couldn't help it this time bc he was traded, but he left san diego to go to boston right? then why would he be thrilled to come back?

 

[pjcolpitts?]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Aug 31 2006, 07:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>baseball players switch teams too often. whatever happened to loyalty? i know he couldn't help it this time bc he was traded, but he left san diego to go to boston right? then why would he be thrilled to come back?</div>Because San Diego is actaully still in the Wild Card race unlike Boston. Playing with San Diego gives him a better chance of winning another World Series ring.

 

[nba dogmatist]

but seriously, it's kind of stupid how unloyal baseball players are. They just flock to wherever there's money. example: johnny damon. he signed with the yankees? i mean come on, he was on the red sox for a while! you shouldn't just willingly sign with archrivals like that.

 

[pjcolpitts?]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Aug 31 2006, 08:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>but seriously, it's kind of stupid how unloyal baseball players are. They just flock to wherever there's money. example: johnny damon. he signed with the yankees? i mean come on, he was on the red sox for a while! you shouldn't just willingly sign with archrivals like that.</div>I see your point with all that about players being unloyal to teams, but its the same exact way with the teams being unloyal to players. Look at all Johnny Damon did for the Red Sox, but did they match the Yankees offer? No. You would of done the same exact thing that he did just like what i would of done and just like every single person on this forum would of done. I hate the Spurs, but if they offered me a contract to play for them i sure as hell would sign it. You have to look at all these sports franchises as businesses because thats what they are first and foremost. Every single team is just as loyal as the players are. Heres an example. Aaron Boone was the 3rd basemen for the Yankees the year they played the Marlins in the World Series. What did Aaron Boone do against the Red Sox that postseason? He hit a homer that put them ahead of them in the game that launched them into the World Series. The most important home run for the Yankees that postseason. Aaron Boone tears up his knee that same year and the Yankees dont re-sign him because of that reason. They werent loyal to him, now were they? And just about every other franchise would of done the say exact thing.

 

[Justice]

It's not that players are necessarily more disloyal in baseball than any other sport, but with flexible deadlines and no salary cap and teams willing to spend tons of money, you see a lot more of this sort of thing. Perhaps at the beginning of the year, the Padres wouldn't have wanted Wells (it's notorious that Wells is one of the laziest players in the league, so it's a bit risky to sign him to a big contract) and Wells maybe wouldn't have wanted to sign with them as opposed to the Red Sox. But now, things are a lot different. The Red Sox are basically done, the Padres are on the bubble, the Sox don't need his contract, the Padres can pick up some of it at a reduced amount, the Sox could use talent, etc. There's so many reasons why this works, so it happened. It's not a matter of disloyalty, just that the situation was appropriate for a trade.