Random Padres thought

Curious in all this San Diego chatter is the fact that they will seek to re-sign Hoffman for (in the neighborhood of) $8M next year. I know they want to be loyal and whatnot, but if they are dumping Peavy, why don't they tell Hoffman that they can't afford him as a luxury closer and let him go anywhere he wishes, including retirement?

Seems like a strange expense to incur at a time when rebuilding and slashing salary appears to be Priority #1.

Guessing that they could offer him arbitration, and pray he declines (doubtful) so they could get a compensation pick. Or just not offer him arb and let him walk to finish his career somewhere else.

Would that be so brutal and tough to stomach, Padres fans?


UPDATE (10/15/08, 3:50pm): So I went to the source (MLBTradeRumors.com) and quickly ran into this:

Hoffman made $7.5 million in his age-40 season, posting a 3.77 ERA and recording 30 saves for the last-place Friars. Despite the fact that this is the highest ERA Hoffman has posted since 1995, and the fewest innings since his injury-shortened 2003 campaign, he thinks he's got plenty of innings left in his arm.

"Well, I think I have more than one [season left]," Hoffman told MLB.com last month. "My body feels good. My arm feels a heck of a lot better than it has the last few years. The competitive juices are still there."

So I emailed Tim my question about my question about how signing Hoffman while trading Peavy seemed at odds with one another. Naturally (and typically) Tim replied nearly instantly:

I think they do the last thing you said. That gets them a draft pick or else a one-year deal with their fan-favorite closer. If he leaves for that multiyear deal he talked about, maybe the Padres can say they tried. I agree that the offman/Peavy things are at odds with each other though.

One thing to keep in mind is that trading Peavy does not necessarily equal punting on the '09 season. They could get back three MLB-ready young players and come out ahead in both the short and long-term. Maybe Towers only deals Peavy under those conditions.

Agreed. Trading Peavy doesn't necessarily mean the Padres are bailing on 2009 as they will get MLB-ready and likely MLB-proven players in return. Thanks, Tim.