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Four years after trading Carlos Quentin from Arizona to the Chicago White Sox, new Padres general manager Josh Byrnes is bringing the All-Star outfielder back to his hometown San Diego.

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That’s all the news for today.

Baseball

Chicago deals Quentin

to Padres for prospects

Being traded from the Chicago White Sox to his hometown San Diego Padres couldn’t have been more convenient for All-Star outfielder Carlos Quentin.

“I get a call and they said I’ve been traded to San Diego. I’m already here,” the 29-year-old Quentin said on a conference call shortly after the trade was announced Saturday.

Four years after trading Quentin from Arizona to the White Sox, new Padres general manager Josh Byrnes is bringing him home.

San Diego gave up minor-league pitchers Simon Castro, a right-hander, and Pedro Hernandez, a left-hander.

Quentin hit 107 home runs and batted .257 in four seasons with the White Sox.

“Improving our offense is a priority this offseason, and the acquisition of Carlos gives us a proven middle-of-the-order bat,” Byrnes said. “We specifically targeted Carlos because of his production and his hard-nosed style of play.”

San Diego hit the fewest homers in the major leagues (91) and had the lowest batting average in the National League (.237) last season.

Ex-Mariner Laffey, Blue Jays agree on deal

The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a minor-league contract with left-hander Aaron Laffey and invited him to spring training.

Laffey, 26, appeared in 36 games for the Mariners last season and had a 4.01 earned-run average. He was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from Seattle in August.

Tennis

Murray hires Lendl

Andy Murray of Scotland hired Ivan Lendl, an eight-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments, as his coach in a bid to earn a major title.

The fourth-ranked Murray, 24, will begin working with the Czech-born Lendl, 51, as he prepares for the Australian Open, which starts Jan. 16.

“It was important to me that any new person joining my team was able to add fresh insight,” Murray said in a statement. “Ivan’s impact on the game is unquestionable and he brings experience and knowledge that few others have, particularly in major tournaments. I look forward to working with him going forward.”

Djokovic defeats Ferrer

Novak Djokovic of Serbia routed David Ferrer of Spain 6-2, 6-1 to win the World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi.

Soccer

Blackburn stuns Man U

Blackburn pulled off the biggest surprise of the English Premier League season, defeating host Manchester United 3-2 to spoil Man U manager Alex Ferguson’s 70th birthday.

Manchester United erased a 2-0 deficit on second-half goals by Dimitar Berbatov. But Grant Hanley scored the winner on a header off a corner kick in the 80th minute, capitalizing on a mistake by goalkeeper David de Gea for his first career goal for Blackburn.

The loss by the defending champions prevented Man U from ending 2011 in first place.

Manchester City can go three points in front by winning at Sunderland on Sunday.

Blackburn started the day at the bottom of the standings in the 20-team league.

Ferguson pledged to stay as Manchester United’s manager for at least another three years.

Elsewhere

• Teddy’s Promise beat Sugarinthemorning by 2 ¼ lengths to win the Grade I La Brea for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Teddy’s Promise, trained by Ron Ellis and ridden by Victor Espinoza, ran 7 furlongs in 1 minute, 20.47 seconds. She paid $35 to win in the $300,000 race.

Seattle Times news services

What are your opinions.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

What are your opinions.

Posted at: 12/27/2011 7:05 PM

By: Liz Lastra, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Two pro baseball players are in Farmington this week teaching pitching techniques to local kids.

Jason Ray with the San Diego Padres and Eddie Carl with the Kansas City Royals are teaching a one-hour pitching clinic Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at San Juan College.

The class is for anyone ages 10 and up with all levels of experience.

“We just try to teach them the proper ways to pitch so that way when you are pitching you can always fall back on the mechanics because that’s the most important part rather than getting frustrated with yourself,” Ray said.

The clinic is $100 for two days or $40 for the last day.

Contact the Health and Human Performance Center at San Juan College to sign up.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

The biggest trade of baseball’s offseason thus far sent the San
Diego Padres’ best pitcher away to the Cincinnati Reds one week
ago, delivering in return prospects and a reclamation project of a
starter.

The trade brings the Tucson Padres an everyday catcher and might
signal the trade of their most popular player. 

Here’s a hot stove look at how the deal shapes the Triple-A
club:

A new backstop. The trade of San Diego ace Mat Latos netted 2008
All-Star starting pitcher Edinson Volquez and three prospects:
first baseman Yonder Alonso, catcher Yasmani Grandal and reliever
Brad Boxberger.

Volquez and Alonso will certainly start the season in San Diego,
while Boxberger could pitch out of the big club’s bullpen. 

Read more about the Padres in Saturday’s Arizona Daily Star.

Comment Below!.

By R.B. FALLSTROM | Posted: Thursday, December 22, 2011 10:08 pm

|

That’s all the news for today.

BASEBALL

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Luis Martinez from the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Ryan Kelly.

Martinez batted .203 (12 for 59) in 22 games for San Diego with one homer and 10 RBIs. He homered for his first big league hit on July 27 against Arizona. A 12th round draft pick in 2007, Martinez hit .323 at Triple-A Tucson in 58 games. He had one home run and 28 RBIs.

The Rangers added Martinez to the 40-man roster on Wednesday.

Kelly was 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA and nine saves in 40 appearances for Class-A Myrtle Beach last season. The 26-year-old right-hander will be assigned to Double-A San Antonio.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Briefly: The Indians have agreed to a minor league contract with versatile free-agent infielder Andy LaRoche and invited him to spring training. He’ll have a chance to win the club’s utility infield job. … The Milwaukee Brewers have signed infielder Cesar Izturis and left-hander Juan Perez to minor-league contracts with invitations to spring training. The Brewers also invited catcher Anderson De La Rosa, left-hander Jed Bradley and right-hander Taylor Jungmann to spring training. … The Kansas City Royals have signed reliever Jose Mijares to a 1-year contract, giving manager Ned Yost another left-handed option late in games. The team announced the deal Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed.

A person familiar with the situation says the Chicago Cubs and outfielder Reed Johnson are closing in on a one-year contract. The Associated Press reported Johnson will be signed pending a physical. … … Creditors of the Los Angeles Dodgers are joining the team in urging a federal district judge not to halt implementation of a bankruptcy court order authorizing the Dodgers to begin a process for selling television rights to future games. In a filing Wednesday, the committee said there’s no guarantee that a sale of the team without the TV rights will result in Dodgers creditors being paid in full.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Luis Martinez from the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Ryan Kelly.

Martinez batted .203 (12 for 59) in 22 games for San Diego with one homer and 10 RBI. He homered for his first big league hit on July 27 against Arizona. A 12th round draft pick in 2007, Martinez hit .323 at Triple-A Tuscon in 58 games. He had one home run and 28 RBI.

The Rangers added Martinez to the 40-man roster on Wednesday.

Kelly was 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA and nine saves in 40 appearances for Class-A Myrtle Beach last season. The 26-year-old right-hander was drafted by the Pirates in the 26th round in 2006.

Kelly will be assigned to Double-A San Antonio.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Luis Martinez from the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Ryan Kelly.

Martinez batted .203 (12 for 59) in 22 games for San Diego with one homer and 10 RBIs. He homered for his first big league hit on July 27 against Arizona. A 12th round draft pick in 2007, Martinez hit .323 at Triple-A Tuscon in 58 games. He had one home run and 28 RBIs.

What do you guys think about this.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—The Texas Rangers have acquired catcher Luis
Martinez from the San Diego Padres for minor league pitcher Ryan Kelly.

Martinez batted .203 (12 for 59) in 22 games for San Diego with one homer
and 10 RBIs. He homered for his first big league hit on July 27 against Arizona.
A 12th round draft pick in 2007, Martinez hit .323 at Triple-A Tuscon in 58
games. He had one home run and 28 RBIs.

The Rangers added Martinez to the 40-man roster on Wednesday.

Kelly was 3-6 with a 3.95 ERA and nine saves in 40 appearances for Class-A
Myrtle Beach last season. The 26-year-old right-hander was drafted by the
Pirates in the 26th round in 2006.

Kelly will be assigned to Double-A San Antonio.

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CINCINNATI (AP) — The Reds addressed their biggest offseason need on Saturday, acquiring right-handed starter Mat Latos from San Diego for a package of four players that includes two top prospects.

Cincinnati gave up infielder Yonder Alonso and catcher Yasmani Grandal— both first-round picks — along with starting pitcher Edinson Volquez to get the 24-year-old Latos, who initially will move into the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind Johnny Cueto. Latos went 9-14 with a 3.47 ERA for the Padres last season, finishing among the NL leaders in ERA and strikeouts.

The trade surprised Latos, who said the Padres had indicated to him that he wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“A little bit of shock and a little bit of excitement,” Latos said, describing his reaction. “Shock because literally I wake up and I’m traded. Excitement because I’m excited to join a club that’s got a lot of talent and a lot of potential. I’m excited for new scenery.”

The Reds wanted him so badly that they were willing to give up a lot.

“To acquire a pitcher who is ready to fit into the top of a rotation, you have to give up talent,” general manager Walt Jocketty said.

Latos joins a rotation that includes Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake and Homer Bailey. The rotation was a problem last season, with Cueto opening the season on the disabled list and Arroyo struggling with mononucleosis that he contracted during spring training.

Heading into the offseason, the Reds needed to get another top starter and a closer to replace departed Francisco Cordero. They think they’ve filled their first need.

“When we have Cueto and Latos at the top of our rotation, I think people are going to take notice,” Jocketty said.

Latos tied a major league record by allowing two or fewer runs in 15 consecutive starts in 2010. Last season, he held right-handed batters to a .204 average and made 20 quality starts, tied for most on the Padres.

“Our young starting pitching depth allowed us to make a move like this,” Padres general manager Josh Byrnes said. “We’ve added four credentialed young players who can help us win in the short and long term.”

Alonso, the seventh overall pick in 2008, didn’t have a place to play with Joey Votto a mainstay at first base. The Reds moved him to left field briefly last season, but he struggled defensively. The 24-year-old Alonso batted .330 with five homers and 15 RBI in 47 games.

Volquez was coming off a disappointing season, going 5-7 with a 5.71 ERA. The Reds got him from Texas in the trade for Josh Hamilton in December 2007. Volquez went 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 2008, when both he and Hamilton made the All-Star teams. Volquez needed reconstructive elbow surgery the following year and has never gotten back into form.

Grandal, the 12th overall pick in 2010, batted .305 with 14 homers and 68 RBI at Class A, AA and AAA last season, making a quick rise through the farm system. He was slotted behind catcher Devin Mesoraco, a first-round pick in 2007 who made it to the majors last season and played in 18 games.

Jocketty said Reds were willing to trade Alonso and Grandal because they were stuck behind other players at their positions.

The Reds also gave up right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger, who went 2-4 with 11 saves and a 2.03 ERA last season at Class AA and AAA. Jocketty said Boxberger was the final piece in finishing the deal.

“It was very tough giving him up,” Jocketty said. “We feel he was really starting to come into his own in the second half of the year. I don’t think we would have been able to make the deal if he wasn’t part of it.”

Latos moves from a pitcher-friendly ballpark to Great American Ball Park, one of the most homer-friendly in the majors. He said he learned during a rough patch early last season that he couldn’t let a ballpark’s dimensions affect how he pitched.

“Earlier I was trying to be too fine with my pitches instead of just attacking with my strengths,” Latos said. “I learned to just trust myself and go after hitters regardless who it is or where we are. Cincinnati is said to be hitters’ park. Philly is the same way. That doesn’t mean where you’re at or the park you’re in to change your pitching style

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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