Punchless Padres get ready for 'wholesale' changes
BILL SHAIKIN / ON BASEBALL
With the worst record in baseball, they could trade the few assets they have and draw talent from the minors. But there's not a lot there.
Remember Brian Myrow?
The Dodgers gave him 20 at-bats during their lost summer of 2005, a season that exposed a painful lack of depth in the organization.
Oscar Robles started half the games that year. Olmedo Saenz nearly did. Mike Edwards got 239 at-bats. Jason Grabowski got 112.
The San Diego Padres might have a similar casting call soon.
The Padres have the worst record in the major leagues. They're 13 games out of first place in the National League West. Jake Peavy, the ace, just went on the disabled list.
You can almost smell the fire sale coming. Kevin Towers, the general manager, fired a warning shot after Monday's 8-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
"I'm certainly not going to watch this for another four months," he told reporters at Petco Park.
He also said this: "We've got some hungry players down below looking for an opportunity. There's not one player in the system who is going to turn it around. If we make changes, it will be wholesale."
The Padres already cut Jim Edmonds. They could dangle Randy Wolf to the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Florida Marlins, maybe even to his original team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
They could trade Greg Maddux too, and it would be sweet if they would send him back to the Atlanta Braves, to join John Smoltz and Tom Glavine in what could be the final pennant race for all three.
They're last in the major leagues in runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage. They have three pitchers batting over .300 -- Peavy, Justin Germano and Shawn Estes -- but only one position player over .300.
What they really need is an outfield. Brian Giles is batting .311, with three home runs. He's 37.
The rest of the outfield mix? Paul McAnulty is at .200, Scott Hairston .217, Jody Gerut .195.
Those wholesale changes? We'll see, but it's not as if the Padres' triple-A Portland club is stuffed with talent.
Chase Headley, the top prospect, should arrive in San Diego shortly. The Padres converted him from third base to left field this season; he's hitting .289 with seven home runs at Portland.
Matt Antonelli, a second baseman ranked as the next-best prospect, is hitting .193.
There are no other decent prospects among the Portland position players, at least according to the Baseball America rankings. But the Portland cleanup batter is hitting .345, with 14 doubles, five home runs and a league-leading 32 walks.
His name is Brian Myrow.
bill.shaikin@latimes.com
