The San Diego Padres have acquired 29-year old righty swinging RF Carlos Quentin from the White Sox for 23-year old righty starting pitcher Simon Castro and 22-year old lefty starter/reliever Pedro Hernandez. Quentin played in 118 games for the White Sox last year and he was 107 of 421 (.254 avg, .838 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 24 homers, 77 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 616 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 529 of 2,100 (.252 avg, .836 OPS) with 321 runs scored, 121 homers, 383 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Quentin will give the Padres some much needed thump in the middle of the batting order. Simon Castro came into last season as the Padres’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America….but he was awful in 2011. Castro pitched in 22 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 7-8 with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Pedro Hernandez wasn’t a highly ranked prospect for the Padres. He pitched in 28 games (18 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball last year for the Padres and he was 10-3 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. I love this move from the Padres end of things as they really didn’t give up much for Quentin.