Padres make a couple of small trades...

[Deleted]

I never liked Decker much as far as a major leaguer, and I said as much on this board. Good luck to him.


The Padres announced they have traded Jaff Decker and Miles Mikolas to the PIrates for first baseman/outfielder Alex Dickerson. Both Decker and Mikolas were designated for assignment last week.

Decker, 23, was taken with the 42nd overall pick in the 2008 draft. He ascended to Triple-A for the first time in 2013 and hit .286/.381/.443 in 105 games. He also saw 13 games on the varsity squad with most of his aciton coming in August.

The Orioles have acquired right-hander Brad Brach from the Padres in exchange for minor league righty Devin Jones, the teams have announced.

The 27-year-old Brach was somewhat surprisingly designated for assignment last week. Brach pitched to a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings for the Padres in 2013, striking out 31 batters in the process. Though he has swing-and-miss stuff, Brach's control has typically been problematic, and that was on display in 2013, as he walked 19 batters in those 31 frames. Still, Brach owns a career 3.70 ERA and 10.1 K/9 rate (117 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings), so if he can improve upon his career 5.1 BB/9 rate, there's hope that he can be an effective big league reliever.


http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

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Dickerson is also only 23 (from Poway) with a nice minor league stat line.

www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=dicker001ale

[AztecBill]

These trades are all about the 40 man roster. Instead of leaving players exposed, the Padres trade them for players they don't have to expose or add to the 40 man roster for players who are protected.

Padres are being forced to make some tough decisions about the 40 man roster because their minor league prospects are getting enough time that they have to be protected. That is why a player like Brad Brach, who the Padres would have loved to keep, is sent away. Doing that allows another player to stay.