San Diego Padres hurting on, off the field

Pity the poor San Diego Padres.

Not only will they probably have MLB’s worst record over the second half of the season; they also have more than half of their payroll on the disabled list.

And that’s not good for an organizational that cut its payroll to $45 million this year (second lowest in the majors.)

The Padres have $25.475 million sitting on the DL in:

Pitcher Jake Peavy, $11 million
Outfielder Brian Giles, $9 million
Pitcher Chris Young $4.625 million, and
Second baseman David Eckstein, $850,000

And that’s not to mention three others who have been out all (or virtually all) season costing another $1.679 million:

Outfielder Cliff Floyd, $750,000
Pitcher Shawn Hill, $500,000, and
Pitcher Cha Seung Baek, $429,000

All told, these seven veterans are costing the Padres about 60 percent of their payroll for not even playing.

The Padres also traded away their second-best hitter in Scott Hairston ($1.25 million) this week in a further salary dump.

Sadly, this is a team whose only direction seems down … on and off the field.

Padres need to cut ties with Giles, Floyd

The San Diego Padres need to get on with their youth movement and cut ties with Brian Giles and Cliff Floyd.

Without a doubt, Floyd will be the easier choice.

He was brought in at a salary of $750,000 to be a designated hitter at American League parks. The Padres finish interleague play June 28 at the Texas Rangers, so getting rid of Floyd after then should be a no-brainer … unless the team wants to keep a guy batting .125 with no extra base hits who is incapable of running the bases.

Giles will be a much tougher decision.

First of all, he’s making $9 million this year. The Padres would have to eat well more than $5 million of that to cut him now. (And, yes, they could have bought him out in the offseason for $3 million.)

But who knew he would be batting .191 on June 19 with two home runs … not to mention the fact his arm is now well below-average for a right fielder?

Giles may be declining because of age. Or his descent could be due to the mentor factor of going through an ugly lawsuit with his ex-girlfriend where all sorts of woman-beating accusations have come out against Giles.

The Padres need to find out if Drew Macias can be their right fielder for the future.

In a small sampling earlier this season, Macias was leading the team with a .435 on-base percentage. Additionally, all five of his hits (four doubles, one home run) were for extra bases.

Sure, they are bringing up spring training sensation Kyle Blanks this weekend. Sadly, they will probably discover that they are rushing him … especially as a true first baseman playing the outfield.

The Padres will likely finish last with or without Giles and Floyd. It’s high time they discover what the future holds with players such as Macias.