Quote from Booster SD on May 12, 2018, 9:44 pm

Absolutely none.

Quote from TarheelPadre on May 13, 2018, 9:17 am

The idiotic move to take on Headley’s $13 million to get Mitchell may go down as the stupidest decision this team has made in the last decade or more.

 

I can’t think of a better example of the ineptitude of this Padres organization.

Quote from padscharg on May 14, 2018, 2:20 pm

The move definitely has not have worked out yet, but they still have Mitchell for several years and there is still a chance he can turn into something positive.  They only gave up Blash to get them both and he was likely to be DFA'd at some point anyway.

 

Plus Headley's contract was only for one season, so it didn't hurt the team for the future.

Quote from Cptjack on May 15, 2018, 1:53 am

The idea was solid take on 13m to get something you think can be valuable. Their scouts were dead wrong. They were wrong for the entire offseason.

Quote from sportwarrior on May 16, 2018, 3:16 pm

Agreed. This was a solid gamble. The team was obviously betting that Balsely could take Mitchell's solid arsenal and refine it into something usable. Headley was maaaybe gonna be a decent trade piece at the deadline. Headley definitely didn't work out and Mitchell doesn't appear to be, but considering we gave up absolutely nothing in terms of talent in a deal that has zero negative impact on our long term plan it's real hard to call this anywhere close to the "stupidest decision this team has made in the last decade."

Quote from 3fingersplit on May 16, 2018, 8:06 pm

Quote from sportwarrior on May 16, 2018, 3:16 pm

Agreed. This was a solid gamble. The team was obviously betting that Balsely could take Mitchell's solid arsenal and refine it into something usable. Headley was maaaybe gonna be a decent trade piece at the deadline. Headley definitely didn't work out and Mitchell doesn't appear to be, but considering we gave up absolutely nothing in terms of talent in a deal that has zero negative impact on our long term plan it's real hard to call this anywhere close to the "stupidest decision this team has made in the last decade."

Unless of course you're the owner and don't mind a " zero negative impact " of 13 million dollars that can't be spent next year in a very good free agent market.....13 million dollars could have been used in a lot of ways that would have a "positive impact" on the long term plan

Quote from sportwarrior on May 17, 2018, 1:04 am

Quote from 3fingersplit on May 16, 2018, 8:06 pm

Quote from sportwarrior on May 16, 2018, 3:16 pm

Agreed. This was a solid gamble. The team was obviously betting that Balsely could take Mitchell's solid arsenal and refine it into something usable. Headley was maaaybe gonna be a decent trade piece at the deadline. Headley definitely didn't work out and Mitchell doesn't appear to be, but considering we gave up absolutely nothing in terms of talent in a deal that has zero negative impact on our long term plan it's real hard to call this anywhere close to the "stupidest decision this team has made in the last decade."

Unless of course you're the owner and don't mind a " zero negative impact " of 13 million dollars that can't be spent next year in a very good free agent market.....13 million dollars could have been used in a lot of ways that would have a "positive impact" on the long term plan

Possible, but unless we're operating at a loss this season I don't think that $13m is coming directly out of 2019/20's books. That contract is dead and gone after 2018 giving us $13m back onto the budget. They certainly won't say no to a proper FA investment then because of a $13m gamble now.

Quote from fenn68 on May 17, 2018, 7:23 am

Quote from sportwarrior on May 17, 2018, 1:04 am

Quote from 3fingersplit on May 16, 2018, 8:06 pm

Quote from sportwarrior on May 16, 2018, 3:16 pm

Agreed. This was a solid gamble. The team was obviously betting that Balsely could take Mitchell's solid arsenal and refine it into something usable. Headley was maaaybe gonna be a decent trade piece at the deadline. Headley definitely didn't work out and Mitchell doesn't appear to be, but considering we gave up absolutely nothing in terms of talent in a deal that has zero negative impact on our long term plan it's real hard to call this anywhere close to the "stupidest decision this team has made in the last decade."

Unless of course you're the owner and don't mind a " zero negative impact " of 13 million dollars that can't be spent next year in a very good free agent market.....13 million dollars could have been used in a lot of ways that would have a "positive impact" on the long term plan

Possible, but unless we're operating at a loss this season I don't think that $13m is coming directly out of 2019/20's books. That contract is dead and gone after 2018 giving us $13m back onto the budget. They certainly won't say no to a proper FA investment then because of a $13m gamble now.

Have not heard any indication that running a payroll under $100MM in 2018 is above their budget plan ... and that includes the $13MM for Headley. I really doubt that expenditure has any negative impact on future payrolls although it is $13MM less cash on hand. Even if revenues are lagging (no indication they are) the fact that they are limited in international bonuses and have lost their 2nd round pick in the draft ... those expenditures will be pretty low this year. Cash flow is unlikely a problem.

Given the Padres situation coming into the season ... the Headley / Mitchell deal was a good gamble but ended up a bad outcome (no one wins all the gambles). Personally surprised ... after last season performance with the NYY .... Headley fell off that quickly (looks very old very fast). Did not consider him a potential important piece but at least serviceable with the chance of a trade deadline move. A bit of a cautionary tale with "older" players. As for Mitchell, still time to see if they can develop his command of very good stuff ... would guess he makes it through this year and spring training before they really have to make the tough call ... not as though he is blocking a ton of RHRP/RHSP from getting moved up this year. When you are building for the future, these are the gambles you take.