Many thought the Padres were out of their minds to trade Josh Barfield to the Cleveland Indians.  The Padres have replaced Barfield with Marcus Giles and they might have gotten their starting third baseman for a long time from the Indians in 25 year old Kevin Kouzmanoff.  Kouzmanoff played in 94 AA+AAA games for the Indians and he hit .379 with 68 runs scored, 22 homers and 75 RBIs.  He then got a cup of coffee at the end of last season for the Indians and he played in 16 games for them.  In those 16 games, Kouzmanoff hit .214 with 3 homers, 11 RBIs and a .689 OPS for the Tribe.  Kouzmanoff will likely rip the cover off of the baseball, but he will likely be a below average defensive player at third base for the Padres.

31 year old lefty swinging Russell Branyan will back up Kouzmanoff at third base.  No one can hit a baseball further than Branyan can, but, he whiffs a lot.  Last season he played in 91 games with the Padres & Devil Rays and he hit .228 with 18 homers, 36 RBIs and a .825 OPS.  He did whiff 89 times in 241 at bats which is an incredible number!  He’s not too good of a defender at third base as he made 6 errors and showed below average range in 31 games at third base.  He also could get some playing time in the outfield.  What you see is what you get with Branyan.  He will hit a lot of homers but his average will always have a tough time getting over .225.

33 year old Todd Walker could get some playing time at 3B this season.  It’s definately not his best position on defense as he made 5 errors in only 23 games there and he didn’t show much range.

34 year old Geoff Blum played 34 games at 3B for the Padres last season and he didn’t make an error there.  He didn’t show too much range there though.  He will most likely be needed much more at shortstop.

28 year old Khalil Greene always plays pretty well, on the verge of a breakout season, and then he gets hurt.  He played in 121 games last season and hit .245 with 15 homers, 55 RBIs and a .747 OPS.  He didn’t show much range at short last season and made 9 errors in 113 games there.  If Greene ever stays healthy he could hit 20-25 homers and give the Padres a valuable bat in the middle of their line up.  Look for Greene to play 120 games this season before getting hurt again.

Soon to be 34 year old switch hitter Geoff Blum is an important reserve for the Padres as he backs up the brittle Khalil Greene.  Blum played in 109 games last season and he hit .254 with 4 homers, 34 RBIs and a .659 OPS.  He played in 49 games at shortstop and made 6 errors while showing outstanding range.  Blum should get a lot of playing time again this season for the Padres. 

36 year old Manny Alexander is a long shot to make the Padres.  He played in 102 games in AAA last season and he hit .265 with 78 runs scored, 7 homers, 37 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and a .686 OPS.  He played in 22 games for the Padres last season and he hit .176 with a .481 OPS.  He played in 9 games at shortstop for the Padres and only made 1 error while showing off good range.  Alexander will likely start the year in the minors and wait for a chance to play for the Padres.

Todd Greene dislocated his shoulder Wednesday during drilling and will miss most of Spring Training leaving Rob Bowen as the only experienced back up for the Padres.

The Padres have signed 30 year old Oscar Robles to compete for a back up infield job.  The 30 year old lefty swinging Robles only hit .152 in 29 games for the Dodgers last season.  But he played well in 2005 for LA as he hit .272 with 5 homers and 34 RBIs.  He’s a long shot to make the Padres roster unless there are injuries to infielders listed higher than him on the depth chart.  He can handle every spot except first base in the infield defensively so he could get a shot at some point in the season for the Padres.

Marcus and Brian Giles have dreamed about playing on the same baseball team and now they will get their wish.  28 year old Marcus signed with the Padres after the Braves decided not to tender him a contract for this season.  Giles had an off year last season as he hit .262 with 87 runs scored, 11 homers, 60 RBIs and a .729 OPS.  The Padres are banking on Giles being rejuvenated now that he has been re-united with his brother.  The Padres made a good gamble here and I think Giles will hit at least .280 with an OPS of around .800 this season.  Giles has a little bit below average range and he made 11 errors last season and that will need to improve.

33 year old lefty swinging Todd Walker will be the Padres back up second baseman this season.  Walker hit .278 with 9 homers, 53 RBIs and a .754 OPS last season for the Cubs and Padres.  Walker made 5 errors in 60 games at 2B and that’s a little too many.  Walker has never been known for his defense.  He will also back up at 3B and 1B for the Padres this season and he’ll provide a nice stick off the bench.