No, the San Diego Padres are not done. After trading for Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton, the team has added a third baseman. On the East Coast, the Rays might be leaving Tampa Bay in the near future.
The Padres are close to a deal with the Boston Red Sox that would send third baseman Will Middlebrooks to San Diego, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. The Red Sox will receive catcher Ryan Hanigan, who the Padres acquired from the Rays on Wednesday in the deal that brought them outfielder Wil Myers. The Red Sox have little need for Middlebrooks since they signed Pablo Sandoval earlier in the offseason.
The 26-year-old Middlebrooks had a disappointing 2014 campaign with the Red Sox after being hampered by injuries and posting a .191/.256/.265 stat line with two home runs and 19 RBIs in 63 games. However, he's shown potential to be a solid power hitter in his previous 169 games, during which he smacked 32 home runs and 103 RBIs. He'll likely take over at third base for San Diego while Yangervis Solarte either moves to a utility role or takes over at shortstop for Clint Barmes.
Middlebrooks is the latest acquisition of the Padres, who have made headlines throughout the past week as general manager A.J. Preller extended talks to a number of MLB clubs.
However, the news is not so good on the East Coast. The Tampa Bay Rays have been dealing with rough times over the past few months. First the team traded ace David Price to the Detroit Tigers right before the deadline, and when the offseason began they lost manager Joe Maddon and then bench coach Dave Martinez to the Chicago Cubs. They also just traded outfielders Wil Myers and Matt Joyce as well as utility man Sean Rodriguez, reliever Joel Peralta and starter Jeremy Hellickson. On top of all of that, their closer, Jake McGee, just underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery and will be out for a while.
And now the St. Petersburg City Council rejected the team's request to search for a new stadium site on Tampa Bay, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays have had the lowest attendance in the MLB over the last three seasons and have been among the teams with the lowest rates since they joined as an expansion team in 1998.
There's now a good chance owner Stuart Sternberg sells the team and the Rays move to another city. On December 9, Sternberg spoke with Topkin about the city council's upcoming decision and provided some insight regarding the future of the team:
"I'm not leaving. I'm not moving this team. I'm not taking this team out of the area. But that's me. The chances of me owning this team in 2023 if we don't have a new stadium are probably nil. Somebody else will take it and move it. It's not a threat, just the reality. I won't be sitting here 10 years from now waiting it out to move the team.''
