Read More: Huston Street (P – SDP), San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres are deep into talks surrounding a trade involving current Rockies relief pitcher Huston Street, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.

Colorado has been shopping Street at the Winter Meetings, and have been talking to the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, and Boston Red Sox. These discussions with the Padres appear to be a new development, however, and these talks do make sense for both sides. San Diego recently saw closer Heath Bell sign a three year deal with the Florida Marlins, and they traded elite setup man Mike Adams to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline this season. The Padres are desperate for elite bullpen help, and Street fits a need.

The return on this potential trade is less certain. It was reported on Tuesday that Colorado would reportedly eat some of Street’s $7.5mil contract for 2012 in exchange for prospects. The two teams have also discussed second baseman Orlando Hudson, so this could be a straight salary swap with each team filling a perceived hole on the MLB club.

Street has been one of the most common names thrown around during these meetings, so it is becoming likely that he gets moved in a deal.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract with outfielder Mark Kotsay.

Kotsay was with the Padres from 2001-03. The 35-year-old, a lifetime .278 hitter, has also played for the Florida Marlins, Oakland A’s, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.

Kotsay hit .270 with three home runs and 31 RBIs with the Brewers last season.

The Padres announced the deal on Wednesday.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres have agreed to a $1.25 million, one-year contract with outfielder Mark Kotsay.

Kotsay was with the Padres from 2001-03. The 35-year-old, a lifetime .278 hitter, has also played for the Florida Marlins, Oakland A’s, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.

Kotsay hit .270 with three home runs and 31 RBIs with the Brewers last season.

The Padres announced the deal on Wednesday.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The word last week was that Heath Bell(notes) wanted to sign with a West Coast team, though there were two teams on the East Coast that interested the former San Diego Padres closer: the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox. The Phils took themselves out of any Bell bidding by signing former Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon(notes).

So it’s looking pretty good for a team out West to snag Bell, though the Padres are “not too optimistic” that Bell will re-sign there, according to SI.com.

The 34-year-old Bell has a two-year offer from San Diego, but SI points out that he can likely get three years and $30 million from another team.

Bell has saved 132 games for the Padres in the last three seasons. He’s also blown 14 chances in that time. This past season, he had 43 saves, 51 strikeouts, and a 2.44 ERA for a team that only won 71 games.

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Source: SI.com

Related: Heath Bell, Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres

Heath Bell(notes) has only been the full-time closer for the San Diego Padres for three seasons, but he’s closed the door for 134 games since then and gone to three All-Star games. Plus, he’s taken home the last two National League Rolaids Reliever of the Year awards. From 2010 to 2011, Bell saved 41 straight games, which is tied for the fifth-longest streak in MLB history. Now the free agent is looking around to see what other opportunities are out there.

Sirius Radio reports that Bell, a California native, prefers to stay on the West Coast and would like to sign on with the Padres, Los Angeles Angels or the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, there are two teams on the East Coast that tempt the 34-year-old: the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, both of which are currently in need of a closer.

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Source: Siriux XM Radio

Related: Heath Bell, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres

SAN DIEGO — It’s Phil Plantier’s turn to try to succeed in the least-stable job on the San Diego Padres’ coaching staff.

New Padres general manager Josh Byrnes confirmed Monday that Planter, a former big leaguer known for his pronounced crouch at the plate, has been hired as hitting coach.

The team expects to make the formal announcement this week, possibly on Tuesday.

Plantier will be the sixth person to hold the job since the Padres moved into cavernous Petco Park in 2004. By comparison, the Padres have had just two managers since then, and three general managers.

Plantier replaces Randy Ready, who was fired a day after the Padres finished last in the NL West at 71-91. The other Padres hitting coaches during the team’s time at Petco Park have been Dave Magadan, Merv Rettenmund, Wally Joyner and Jim Lefebvre. All were fired except Joyner, who resigned late in the 2008 season, before he could be fired.

Plantier had three stints with the Padres in the 1990s. He also played for Boston, Houston, Oakland and St. Louis.

“He has a pretty good chance to impact it,” Byrnes said.

Byrnes said Plantier knows what he’s getting into.

“He does. He’s a local guy who played here. Again, a no-excuses type of guy. Understands that young guys coming from our system are part of the program and we’ve got to figure out a way to finish off the teaching up here,’ ‘ Byrnes said.

Byrnes was introduced as the Padres’ new GM on Monday. He says the process of hiring Plantier was started by his predecessor, Jed Hoyer, who left for the same job with the Chicago Cubs, and manager Bud Black.

Plantier was a career .243 hitter in parts of eight big league seasons. He had 34 homers and 100 RBIs with the Padres in 1993. On Dec. 28, 1994, he was dealt to Houston as part of a 12-player trade that brought Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley to San Diego.

The Padres plan to bring in a second hitting coach. That coach won’t be able to be in the dugout during games.

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

SAN DIEGO (AP)—It’s Phil Plantier’s turn to try to succeed in the
least-stable job on the San Diego Padres’ coaching staff.

New Padres general manager Josh Byrnes confirmed Monday that Planter, a
former big leaguer known for his pronounced crouch at the plate, has been hired
as hitting coach.

The team expects to make the formal announcement this week, possibly on
Tuesday.

Plantier will be the sixth person to hold the job since the Padres moved
into cavernous Petco Park in 2004. By comparison, the Padres have had just two
managers since then, and three general managers.

Plantier replaces Randy Ready, who was fired a day after the Padres finished
last in the NL West at 71-91. The other Padres hitting coaches during the team’s
time at Petco Park have been Dave Magadan, Merv Rettenmund, Wally Joyner and Jim
Lefebvre. All were fired except Joyner, who resigned late in the 2008 season,
before he could be fired.

Plantier had three stints with the Padres in the 1990s. He also played for
Boston, Houston, Oakland and St. Louis.

“He has a pretty good chance to impact it,” Byrnes said.

Byrnes said Plantier knows what he’s getting into.

“He does. He’s a local guy who played here. Again, a no-excuses type of
guy. Understands that young guys coming from our system are part of the program
and we’ve got to figure out a way to finish off the teaching up here,’ ’ Byrnes
said.

Byrnes was introduced as the Padres’ new GM on Monday. He says the process
of hiring Plantier was started by his predecessor, Jed Hoyer, who left for the
same job with the Chicago Cubs, and manager Bud Black.

Plantier was a career .243 hitter in parts of eight big league seasons. He
had 34 homers and 100 RBIs with the Padres in 1993. On Dec. 28, 1994, he was
dealt to Houston as part of a 12-player trade that brought Ken Caminiti and
Steve Finley to San Diego.

The Padres plan to bring in a second hitting coach. That coach won’t be able
to be in the dugout during games.

San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer resigned Wednesday to accept the same position with the Chicago Cubs. Jason McLeod also is leaving the Padres to join the Cubs as the team’s vice president of scouting and player development. The Cubs will send a player to be named later to San Diego in exchange for Hoyer and McLeod. Hoyer will be reunited with Theo Epstein, who left the Boston Red Sox to take over as director of baseball operations for the Cubs. The Padres announced that Josh Byrnes will succeed Hoyer as the team’s general manager. Byrnes, who was fired by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010 and hired by the Padres, previously worked with Epstein and Hoyer in Boston.

Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod are
reuniting with Theo Epstein at the Chicago Cubs, years after the
trio helped the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and
again in 2007.

In exchange for Hoyer and McLeod, Chicago will send a
player and compensation to the San Diego Padres, the Cubs said
on their website. The player going to San Diego will be
announced later.

Epstein was introduced two days ago as the Cubs’ new
president of baseball operations after working as the Red Sox
general manager since 2002.

Hoyer, the Padres’ general manager since 2009, comes to the
Cubs in the same capacity. McLeod, who followed Hoyer to
California where he was assistant general manager, will be head
of scouting and player development.

McLeod was the director of amateur scouting for five
seasons in Boston during which time he selected Dustin Pedroia,
Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard and Justin Masterson.

Major League Baseball gave the Cubs permission to announce
the personnel changes yesterday because Game 6 of the World
Series was postponed a day by rain.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

According to Major League Baseball’s official Twitter feed, the San Diego Padres have announced that general manager Jed Hoyer and scouting director Jason McCleod will be joining Theo Epstein with the Chicago Cubs.

The tweet from @MLB read, “BREAKING: Cubs, Padres announce that Jed Hoyer & Jason McLeod will leave the Padres, effective immediately, to accept positions with Cubs.”

A follow-up tweet added, “Padres will announce Josh Byrnes as Jed Hoyer’s successor as executive vice president/general manager on Oct. 31.”

Hoyer and McCleod worked under Epstein to build the Boston Red Sox’s championship teams; Hoyer left first when he was hired to be the Padres’ GM in 2009, and McLeod was brought to San Diego a few months later.

With the Cubs, Hoyer will become Executive Vice President/General Manager while McLeod will receive the title of Senior Vice President/Scouting and Player Development.  The Cubs will also send a player to be named later as part of the deal.

The Cubs and Padres released a joint statement announcing the moves:

The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres jointly announce today that Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod will leave the Padres, effective immediately, to accept positions with the Cubs. The Cubs have agreed to send the Padres a player to be named later as compensation.

Both the Cubs and the Padres intend to hold press conferences after the World Series. The Cubs intend to announce Hoyer as Executive Vice President/General Manager and McLeod as Senior Vice President/Scouting and Player Development, while the Padres intend to announce Josh Byrnes as Hoyer’s successor.

Out of respect for the World Series, both clubs have agreed to forego further comment until holding their respective news conferences after the World Series is complete.

The San Diego Padres are expected to lose two of their top front-office personnel whenever Chicago Cubs bigwig Theo Epstein gets started hiring in the Windy City. But no worries, Padres fans. The team is all set to replace them.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that if and when Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod head to Chicago to join Epstein, the team will replace them with Josh Byrnes and A.J. Hinch.

Byrnes would become the ninth general manager in the history of the franchise, the Union-Tribune points out, while Hinch, who became an assistant general manager toward the regular season’s close, “likely would assume McLeod’s position overseeing the amateur scouting and player development departments.”

The Boston Red Sox and Cubs have yet to finally agree on the compensation the North Siders will send to New England in exchange for Epstein.

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Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Related: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres

The Chicago Cubs’ front office overhaul may mean a bit of a reunion for the former Red Sox’ baseball operations department.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman reported that the Cubs and likely GM-to-be Theo Epstein are interested in bringing San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer aboard if and when the Epstein deal finally gets done. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point that Epstein will end up in Chicago, but compensation remains the hold-up.

Once that is finally figured out, it sounds like Epstein and the Cubs may be trying to get his Boston gang back together, according to Heyman. Hoyer worked under Epstein as the assistant GM in Boston before taking a general manager job in San Diego a couple of years ago. Heyman speculated that while it wouldn’t make too much sense for Hoyer to leave a GM job, it’s possible that he could be given that same position in Chicago with Epstein working as team president.

If Hoyer were to leave San Diego for the North Side of Chicago, it would likely mean that vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes would be promoted to fill the vacancy. Byrnes, who also used to work in the Boston front office, has also been rumored to join Epstein in Chicago, at least before the Hoyer rumors surfaced.

Furthermore, Heyman also reported that Epstein would be interested in Padres assistant GM Jason McLeod. If that name sounds familiar as well, that’s because McLeod was also apart of the baseball operations team in Boston during Epstein’s tenure.

Of course, none of these moves can take place until Epstein’s move to the Cubs is made official. The two sides continue to haggle over compensation with no real end in sight. Further complicating matters is that the two sides will likely have to hold off on any sort of announcement during the World Series per request of the commissioner’s office. While that may not put an end to negotiations and the like, it does mean that an announcement and resolution will likely have to wait at least a week.

SAN DIEGO — Nothing from the Padres’ 2011 season should have
come as a surprise.

That’s what happens when a budget-conscious franchise removes
the best-valued contract in baseball and one of the top hitters in
the game from its lineup. That’s what happens when young players
regress and free-agent moves don’t pan out. That’s what happens
when the farm system can’t help patch holes.

With the Padres having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball,
their 71-91 record in 2011 should be considered the norm. Until
general manager Jed Hoyer’s vision of a farm system capable of
producing several prospects per season comes to fruition, the
Padres’ stunning 2010 season — in which they won 90 games and fell
one game short of the playoffs — will be nothing more than an
outlier.

The trade of Adrian Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox last
offseason placed Hoyer and the Padres in an almost insurmountable
hole. Although the Padres received several prospects that they
believe will become franchise cornerstones, an irreplaceable player
was lost.

Hoyer did everything he could to make up for Gonzalez’s absence
through free agency and trades. It wasn’t enough.

Gonzalez’s replacements — Brad Hawpe and Jorge Cantu — flopped.
Hawpe’s bat was inconsistent before his season-ending injury, and
his inexperience at first base hurt the defense. Cantu never hit
and was released in June.

The Padres hoped that the additions of middle infielders Jason
Bartlett and Orlando Hudson would strengthen the team. But neither
player lived up to expectations.

Hudson had trouble staying healthy and never hit as well as the
team hoped, and Bartlett committed 18 errors, though most were in
the first half.

The team’s bench also failed to match the 2010 group in terms of
production and leadership. Hoyer said last week that the latter
factor played a significant role as the Padres — who didn’t retain
David Eckstein, Jerry Hairston Jr., Yorvit Torrealba or Matt Stairs
— suffered from a leadership void for most of the season.

One of the team’s few bright spots, center fielder Cameron
Maybin, asserted himself in the clubhouse late in the season and
backed it up on the field with stellar play. But the Padres will
need even more internal direction from their players to improve at
Petco Park, where they won only 35 of 81 games. The team’s 35-46
home record was tied for the worst since the park opened in
2004.

With run production lacking at Petco, run prevention is
significant. The Padres were great at saving runs in 2010. They
were above-average in 2011, but only after a second-half
turnaround.

After ranking at the bottom of the fielding standings for the
first half of the season, the Padres cleaned up defensively and
finished ranked fourth in the National League.

The team’s pitching staff ranked third in the league with a 3.44
ERA. But even that performance wasn’t up to the team’s lofty
standards. As Hoyer and manager Bud Black noted, the Padres rarely
outpitched an opponent.

Before returning to form in the second half, Mat Latos struggled
through a sloppy first three months. Clayton Richard also slumped
before he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery after 18
starts.

Of the position players, outfielder Will Venable was too
inconsistent to hit leadoff. Catcher Nick Hundley was an All-Star
when healthy, but he missed 60-plus games with injuries. And Ryan
Ludwick wasn’t the middle-of-the-order threat that the Padres
expected.

Not all was bad. The Padres’ farm system produced two league
titles — Single-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio — and four
teams that reached the postseason.

And because the Padres were out of contention by early July,
they had plenty of time for evaluation. Anthony Rizzo, James
Darnell, Josh Spence, Erik Hamren and several others saw
significant field action.

Jesus Guzman came out of nowhere to produce a strong rookie
campaign. Cory Luebke developed into a good starting pitcher.
Anthony Bass put himself in position to make the 2012 roster.
Maybin became a fixture in center and a player the Padres can build
around.

But the Padres aren’t contenders yet.

With few dollars available to make significant changes, and not
enough impact prospects ready, the Padres are likely to find
themselves facing an uphill battle again next April.

SAN DIEGO – By the time Matt Kemp bats in the last game of the regular season Wednesday night he hopes to be ready to enter some of the rarest territory in baseball.

In a quiet way, Kemp catapulted himself toward a possible Triple Crown run with a productive September. But after a tough three-game series against the San Diego Padres over the weekend, Kemp’s quest has become a lot more difficult.

Although Kemp has a comfortable lead in RBIs (119) and is tied with St. Louis’ Albert Pujols in home runs (37), the Dodgers’ slugger has fallen nine points behind Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun in the NL batting race. If Kemp is to become the first player to win the Triple Crown since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and the first NL player since St. Louis’ Ducky Medwick in 1937, he will have to pick up the pace in Phoenix in the final three games.

“I know it will take a lot to go past (Braun),” Kemp said. “I’m not going to try for hits, but I’m going to just keep doing what I have been doing and that is take good hacks and stay within myself.”

Kemp, who went 3 for 13 against the Padres at pitcher-friendly Petco Park, is at .324 while Braun is at .333.

Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly, a former AL MVP and lifetime .307 hitter with the Yankees, thinks Kemp has a shot, although it will take an exceptional combination of circumstances.

“One guy has to kind of collapse and the other guy catches fire,” Mattingly said. “You kind of need one of those 5-for-5 days and the other guy has to go 1 for 5. But we have seen Matt get hot before.”

Kemp’s torrid six-game stretch of multiple hit games leading into the San Diego series got him back in the Triple Crown conversation. Kemp was hitting .321 on Sept. 1 but trailed New York’s Jose Reyes (.335) and Braun (.331). Two weeks later, his average had dropped to .314.

But then on Sept. 16, Kemp began his multihit barrage with 15 hits in six games that culminated with a 4-for-5 performance in the Dodgers’ final home game Thursday. That raised his average to .326, four points behind Braun.

“If I have any chance at getting there, my mindset, my approach can’t change,” Kemp said. “I’m not going to be trying to hit home runs or worrying about hits. Once I start to do that, that’s when I lose my focus and I won’t be successful. I have to stay focused and do the same things that have gotten me to where I am at right now.”

Through it all, Kemp has kept his sense of humour.

“Someone was screaming at me when I went to bat, ‘Braun got two hits. Forget about it, man,’” Kemp said after Sunday’s game at San Diego. “I just started laughing. He’s actually one of my favourite players.”

One thing Kemp promises is this: He won’t think about trying to smash the ball. He hasn’t done it all season and won’t do it now.

“I’m not going to change it up. I just have to relax. When I try to hit home runs and hit too hard, I’m not too successful.”

If Kemp somehow pulls off this Triple Crown, Mattingly thinks the feat will have big implications.

“Just look at the game of baseball,” Mattingly said. “The last time it was done was ’67. Right there that tells you a lot. A lot of great players have come through the league and done a lot of good things. But to be able to put this combination together is huge.”

Heath Bell, the Padres’ 33-year-old closer, marvels at the difficulty of a Triple Crown.

“Think of it this way — 1967. That was 10 years before I was even born, and I’m not one of the young guys in the league,” he said. “He’d be doing something that none of the great players in the last 40-some years did. That’s pretty mind blowing, pretty impressive.”

Said Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly: “It would be an unreal ending to what has already been a great year. Just on its own, this season has been tremendous. Now you add the Triple Crown and that puts it in a completely different category all by itself.”

Kemp has hit well at Chase Field, where he has a career average of .304 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 148 at-bats.

“It would be unbelievable if I could do this,” Kemp said.