Padres Release Edmonds; Make Room For Chase

The Padres, as expected, cut ties Friday with CF Jim Edmonds, the free agent pickup who was batting just .178 with a home run and 6 RBI through yesterday. They promoted Jody Gerut from AAA Portland, where he was batting .308 with 5 dingers and 18 RBI.

That much you probably already know.

Here's the real news. Clear room in LF for Chase Headley. He's coming soon.

Headley, as mentioned several times in this blog, got off to a rotten start in Portland, coming off a 2007 when he was the AA Player of the Year. Forget the bad start. As recognized in Baseball America, Headley is hitting .516 in May after a 5-for-5 performance Thursday. The hot streak includes 3 doubles and a home run.

The Padres still should keep him in the minor leagues as long as possible, if some sort of Paul McAnulty/Scott Hairston platoon can be productive in left field. Unless those two drop deeper into the tank, the Friars can probably afford to keep him in the minors until the end of May. But June 1 is kind of a marker in baseball, akin to the trading deadline and deadline for playoff rosters. Unless PMac or Hairston go on a tear, look for Headley in left in Petco in time for a June 2 contest against Chicago.

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All the talk lately has been about the moves the Padres have to make to keep from worsening the majors' worst record. Besides the release of Edmonds and the upcoming promotion of Headley, don't look for much else.

No other minor leaguers appear to merit promotion at this time. Only Kenny Lofton appears enticing as a free agent. And with a lot of baseball teams hovering around the .500 mark, the Padres are the only franchise in the trade market. Even if the trade market was more active, the Friars really have nothing of value to offer. The majors team stinks, and the promising youngsters are either in AA or just hit AAA this season.

The Padres will make some adjustments on the 2008 roster where they can, but will otherwise stick to their long-term plan. That's the correct course given their circumstances. As for me, when do the Chargers and Aztecs preseason camps start?