Nevin to Texas?

[Chisox73]

They just announced during the White Sox-Orioles game that there's a hot rumor that a trade invlving Phil Nevin is imminent.

The word has it that He's headed to Texas for P Chan Ho Park.

Park was scheduled to start tonight's game for the Rangers at Toronto.Park was scratched from his start.

[yagsy]

This is definite. Nevin left Petco tonite before batting practice. I'm sad, :( I really liked the way the guy played the game. I think he deserved better from the fans. But there were ALOT of Nevin bashers out there, the SD media didn't like Nevin and they felt Nevin was just eating salary. Well these fans got what they wanted...

Here's the article with the info:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20050729-1704-bn29nevin.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/images/050728nevin-argue.jpg
Padres to trade Nevin to Rangers for Chan Ho Park

By Tom Krasovic
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

5:04 p.m. July 29, 2005



NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune
Phil Nevin has a difference of opinion with umpire Kevin Kelley over the strike zone in the ninth inning Thursday. The argument earned Nevin an ejection.
The Padres finally found a taker for Phil Nevin, trading him to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Chan Ho Park Friday afternoon, pending expected approval from the commissioner's office.
Nevin, 34, vetoed a trade to Baltimore on Monday, but Texas is not on his eight-team no-trade list, and Park has agreed to waive his no-trade clause.

Texas must get Park's consent in writing and forward it to the commissioner's office before the deal can be made official.

Nevin said he would join the Rangers in Toronto on Saturday. He thanked Padres Chairman John Moores and teammates, then left Petco Park before Friday night's game.

"It's been an unbelievable six, seven years here," said Nevin, obtained from the Angels for infielder Andy Sheets in March 1999. "The positives far outweigh the bad times of the past two weeks. I'm sorry I didn't play up to my capabilities this year."

The swap is a financial wash, according to a person close to the talks. Nevin is guaranteed $12 million after this season, and Park is due $15 million. "Financially, it's going to wash out – it'll be as if the trade didn't take place," the source said.

For the Padres, the trade ends a lengthy effort to move Nevin, who has lost his first base job to Xavier Nady and Mark Sweeney and has a subpar .301 on-base percentage and .399 slugging percentage.

Park also has been on the trade block for some time. The right-hander is 8-5 with a 5.66 ERA in 20 games. The Padres believe he'll benefit from moving to a home ballpark, Petco Park, that is far friendlier to pitchers than Texas' park.

The Padres had arranged to trade Nevin for another pitcher with a bloated contract, Baltimore's Sidney Ponson.

Nevin made two starts after nixing the trade. In each game he went hitless and was booed by fans at Petco.

"I want Phil to be here," Sweeney said before Friday night's game. "But I think with the boos it's been somewhat of a distraction in that sense."

[Toy Cannon]

I absolutely do not understand this from the Rangers standpoint:notme: They need more hitting and will sacrifice pitching? Park is not that great but with Rogers out for 3 weeks this makes them really thin. The Ponson rumors must have some merit to them.

[a_ndrew3000]

Oh happy day! Chan Ho Park! First, they try to get Ponson...Now, KT managed to get Park.....


Is Nevin really that bad now? Hopefully that source is wrong and Texas picks up a LOT of Park's salary, because his contract is absurd.

[Big R]

I absolutely do not understand this from the Rangers standpoint:notme: They need more hitting and will sacrifice pitching? Park is not that great but with Rogers out for 3 weeks this makes them really thin. The Ponson rumors must have some merit to them.


why do the rangers need more hitting? they have alot of sluggers on there and are one of the top homerun hitting teams this season but dunno why padres got park lol he hasnt been the same since leaving la

[yagsy]

I guess everyone is questioning how this deal helps a club that have lost their offense.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20050730-9999-1s30canepa.html
Tell me, how does this deal help club that needs bats?




UNION-TRIBUNE
July 30, 2005

If hell had a baseball franchise, the Padres would have glued a parka to Phil Nevin and tried to trade him there – if they could find it on the map. As it turns out, they didn't miss by much. Ah, to languish in summertime Arlington, Texas, where the devil sends his malcontents to work on their tan lines.

Frustrated in their failed attempt to deal their misunderstood first baseman/catcher/loudmouth to Baltimore for fat/troubled/troublemaking pitcher Sidney Ponson, the Padres yesterday finally 86'd a player (pending a rubber stamp by rubber-stamper Bud Selig) they obviously believe is the equivalent of an exotic poison.

If there were a rail on which Nevin could have been run out of town, the Padres would have greased it – after a tar-and-feather fest. And he deserved better. Much better. But he's gone, so we push ahead, wind at our backs, the Padres, who can't hit, getting rid of their most productive batsman of this millennium. Of course, their failure was his doing.

But he's gone now. Ciao, Phil. Farewell. And it took some skillful work by General Manager Kevin Towers, who designed Nevin's deal in the first place and then obviously grew to regret it.

The difficulty with trading Nevin was twofold.

First, he had a no-trade clause in his contract, a deal once celebrated by Towers, because the GM kept him here for less dough – better known as the San Diego Discount (SDD) – than Nevin was worth. He was a run-producer from Southern California who wanted to be here. Any trade had to be made to one of the eight teams on his OK list, which changed every November. Nevin did it right.

Secondly, as we now know, Nevin not only had to be traded to one of his teams, but (in the Padres' case) to a club that wanted to rid itself of a player making similar dough. The deal for baggage-impaired Sidney "Sky Cap" Ponson failed only because Nevin nixed it. Baltimore was one of his no-nos, a place Nevin knew could afford him but also one in which he didn't want to reside. Like I say, he did it right.

But Texas was not one of the eight teams Nevin had on his list, and the Rangers just so happened to have a pitcher named Chan Ho Park making close-enough green. So the deal was done, sending a hitter to a team that can hit and can't pitch in exchange for a pitcher to a club that can pitch but not hit.

Huh?

I sat at Petco on Thursday hearing fans boo Nevin. Why? Because he refused a trade that should have been refused? It was his right.

Nevin, catching when he should have been at first base – or maybe third? – was tossed late in the game for arguing with the plate umpire. Afterward, manager Bruce Bochy said the umpire told him Nevin asked to be removed, which Nevin later denied. Imagine, a Padre with fire. Kick somebody who actually cares out the door?

It's terrible Nevin's last act as a Padre was an ejection. I'm sorry. I hate this trade more than I hated the deal for Ponson, and I don't care if Park suddenly becomes Juan Marichal. The Padres need bats, not arms, and a healthy Nevin can carry a team. During the Padres' horrible period, 1999-2003, he had been their leader in offensive positives.

I don't know what will happen with the Padres this year – although I fear the worst – but I do know Nevin contributed mightily. He played his rear end off. He played hurt. Nevin's injuries were the result of his passion, diving for balls when the less interested would have saved themselves. He was not Roger Dorn in "Major League."

Phil Nevin was a damn good Padre. He was a soldier who played wounded. And for those who don't like him, that's too damn bad, and that includes Padres players not sorry to see him leave. He competed, and wore it on his wrist bands.

Problem is, we're residing during a baseball time here in which all plates must be cleaned and players Petco-sanitary. Nevin did some things he shouldn't have. But with his mouth. He said the wrong things – sometimes. But they weren't even venal sins. He did not disgrace the uniform. Far from it.

"It's been a privilege to be a San Diego Padre," Nevin says. "When I get to Texas, I'll feel the same way. It's been an unbelievable time here. No disappointment at all."

Nevin, not the most diplomatic of souls, is trying.

Meanwhile, we get Chan Ho Park in here. Texas gave him all the black tea it's ever processed to get the former Dodger. Park has responded with nothing. He arrives with stuff, but a 5.66 ERA. In Petco, which plays like Yosemite, those numbers could shrink, but the only thing the Padres should worry about is Park's batting average.

The Pads are not winning the NL West if they continue to hit as if bats and balls are incompatible. There was a chance, maybe a cockeyed one, that Nevin could have helped at the plate. Park can't hit. Can be hit.

Here's to you, Texas, hoping Phil Nevin becomes your next lone star.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com

[yagsy]

During the Padres' horrible period, 1999-2003, he had been their leader in offensive positives.

I don't know what will happen with the Padres this year – although I fear the worst – but I do know Nevin contributed mightily. He played his rear end off. He played hurt. Nevin's injuries were the result of his passion, diving for balls when the less interested would have saved themselves. He was not Roger Dorn in "Major League."


Exactly how I feel. I don't understand why it's fair to get rid of him when the Padres are finally seeing (sort of) some success. AFter all those losing seasons, he came just after the wonderful '98 season. Besides Hoffman, he was the longest tenure Padre, HE DESERVED TO HAVE A SHOT AT THE PLAYOFFS AND SERIES. Although the way they are going now...

The Padres need bats. I've seen Phil carry this team far too often. I don't understand this trade other than two things:
1) KT hates Nevin and that is clear
2) KT was told by Alderson - get rid of salary before the end of the season or lose your job.

Now, I think he got rid of Nevin coz he wanted to "stick it" to him and he'll lose his job anyway but that was his last act.

[a_ndrew3000]

I think we can cross #2 off....Ho makes as much money as Nevin does...I think that they wanted to get Nady more playing time, they knew (and everyone knows) Nevin would have pitched a fit if he was benched.

Personally, I would have moved Nady to 3rd, and sent Borroughs down. Maybe I would move Roberts out of the lineup, since he doesn't get on base anyways, and let Nady play CF. Dave Roberts is Jay Payton with more injuries and a few stolen bases.

Ponson and Park are terrible...Both of them are completely pathetic...Why even bother? A minor leaguer could put up the same numbers, at a much lower price!

I hope that the Pads make the playoffs, and Kevin Towers is fired in the off-season.

[Timberwolf]

I want Towers and Bochy to resign if we fail to make the postseason. I have grown tired of those two. I am sick and tired of Towers's big mouth and I am sick and tired of Bochy being too easy going.

I would like to see Al Newman manage the Padres. I think that guy is going to be a good manager. He would do great in S.D. if they give him a shot. Al is ready IMO.

Sandy Alderson would likely be the GM.