San Diego Padres looking for starting pitchers this winter - MLB Update
The Winter Meetings will take place in Nashville, Tennessee from December 3-6, 2012 and every team will bring their own agenda along. Like other teams, San Diego Padres will also have certain issues which they will like to address in the meetings. Like many
other teams at the moment, they too are looking to improve upon their pitching staff.
Padres’ general manager Josh Byrnes is quite clear in what he wants from the December meeting. The focus for the Padres is to trade for starting pitchers rather than going after free agents.
"We have focused most of our energy on starting pitching ... with more of our energy on trades than free agency," Byrnes said. "Now we have to bide our time and find the ones who fit."
Josh has not named anyone as to whom the club may be more interested in signing but Padres will certainly have their eyes on certain players. The team for now is adopting a cautious approach.
"With where we are now, with so many guys coming off injuries, it's not the time for us to take a flyer on a health risk," Josh said.
Padres will like some good quality pitchers in good health. Only Edinson Volquez and Clayton Richard were able to make more than 16 starts each during the 2012 season. Such a situation certainly will not help the cause of the San Diego ball club in 2013.
If they are to perform well, consistency by the pitching unit will be the key.
The team ended on the 10th spot out of 15 in the National League in pitching with a 4.01 ERA. Only two pitchers won more than 10 games in the season. A total of 30 pitchers were used in the season, including 14 starting pitchers. Richard and Volquez
started 65 games between them and the rest of the 12 shared the duty for 97 games, a low average per starting pitcher pointing at problems in the starting rotation.
The general manager suggested that not a great deal will change for the team during the offseason but that does not mean that the ball club will pass opportunities to make improvements.
"We won't have as much roster change this offseason," Byrnes reiterated. " ... That said, we are always looking for ways to get better."
A good pitching staff will allow the San Diego Padres to bounce back from their 76-86 losing record from last season in 2013. They will certainly need more than two quality pitchers who can start more than 20 games in the season and most importantly will
have to make sure that players remain fit for the entire 2013 season.
These small yet critical improvements can go a long way to help the cause of the San Diego Padres.
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