San Diego entered the trade market on Friday with two small deals. The first trade sent IF D'Angelo Jimenez to the White Sox for OF Alex Fernandez and C Humberto Quintero. Later in the day, the Padres announced they had acquired OF Brian Buchanan from the Twins for SS Jason Bartlett.

The White Sox signed Quintero out of Venezuela as a nondrafted free agent in 1997. Quintero has a bit of speed but no other apparent offensive skills, although he has a good defensive reputation. San Diego lacks a substantial catching prospect, but Quintero isn't really a high-upside player.

Seattle signed Fernandez out of the Dominican Republic in 1998, and the White Sox then selected him in the minor league portion of the 2001 Rule 5 draft. The 21-year-old offers both power and speed potential. Unfortunately, while his plate discipline showed some improvement last season, it's plummeted this year. In 343 AB at AA Birmingham in the Southern League, he's hitting .292, with a .304 OBP, and .397 SLG on 100 H, 15 2B, and 7 HR with an 8:60 BB:K and 20/27 SB%. Unless he shows sudden improvement in strike zone judgment with the Padres, he won't warrant a promotion to AAA next season. If he learns to take a walk, he shows definite potential as at least a fourth outfielder in the majors.

I felt the Padres made an excellent trade last season when they acquired D'Angelo Jimenez from the Yankees for Jay Witasick, and I'm quite disappointed that they cut ties with him this quickly for so little return. The 24-year-old showed excellent potential in the minors and was ready for the majors before a car accident in January of 2000 left him with a fractured a bone in his neck, causing him to miss most of the season. He demonstrated solid plate discipline, complimented by good speed and moderate power potential. Once recovered from his injuries, he quickly returned to close to his pre-accident form, with only his speed significantly affected.

Unfortunately, his plate discipline dipped a bit when the Padres gave him a starting job last season and his home run power and speed skills were absent in the majors. He continued to play below expectations this season with the added pressure of job insecurity. San Diego moved him to clear room in a crowded middle infield, but I still believe it's a mistake as he should still develop into quality starter at either 2B or SS; he's also been their best middle infielder offensively this year.

Given my belief that the Padres undersold Jimenez, you'd expect I'd like this deal from the White Sox perspective. However, they almost had a glut of high quality middle infield prospects prior to the trade. Chicago has sent Jimenez to AAA for now, which I think might be a good move to clear his head, but he'll likely take playing time away from younger guys with similar or better upside, which is bad. As a result, they need to follow up this trade with a second deal quickly.

I realize the White Sox are still very much in the playoff hunt, but I doubt very much they can put together a team that makes it past the first round even if they manage to beat out the Twins for the division. Consequently, they should clean house and make room for their youth movement. Deal upcoming free agents Ray Durham, Kenny Lofton, and Royce Clayton, move the cantankerous Frank Thomas, and strongly consider trading Carlos Lee. They should be able to fully reload their minor league system while clearing major league positions for Jimenez and Joe Crede now. Jeff Liefer, who wants to be traded due to lack of playing time, Aaron Rowand, and Tony Graffanino can cover any holes for a few months. The team can then promote Joe Borchard, Willie Harris, and Tim Hummel in September in preparation for starting jobs next season. If they're unhappy with Hummel's offense, they'll have a chance to shop him this off-season. At the very least they should deal Durham and Clayton for a starting pitcher, as they could likely improve their playoff chances with such a trade.

Now that I've finished this tangent on the White Sox, I'll turn to their division rival Twins. The Twins ostensibly moved Buchanan in order to free up playing time for Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty, which I think was a good idea. However, they then called up Michael Cuddyer to fill Buchanan's roster spot.

Cuddyer will likely provide the Twins with more offense than Buchanan. This season at AAA Edmonton in the Pacific Coast League, he's hit .311 with a .372 OBP and .595 SLG in 296 AB on 92 H, 14 2B, 5 3B, and 20 HR with a 27:72 BB:K and 9/16 SB%. I'm concerned about his plate discipline, but he has the added advantage of playing 3B and 1B in addition to RF and LF. While Cuddyer will likely take up almost as many at-bats as Buchanan, I have to agree with the move because Minnesota is gunning for the division and has a legitimate chance at success in the playoffs.

San Diego drafted Bartlett out of the University of Oklahoma in the 13th round of the 2001 draft and immediately assigned him the Short Season Northwest League. They sent the 22-year-old straight to A+ Lake Elsinore this season where he's hitting .250 with a .329 OBP and .331 SLG in 308 AB on 77 H, 14 2B, 4 3B, and 1 HR with a 32:53 BB:K and 24/29 SB%. His speed is evident, and if he can continue to gradually improve his plate discipline as he has from last season to this year, he should develop into at least a major league backup infielder.

Although the Padres infield should be full for the next several seasons, I'm still puzzled as to why they would trade Bartlett to acquire Buchanan. This likely signals that they're serious about moving Phil Nevin back to third base for the rest of the season, meaning Klesko returns to first base from the outfield, leaving considerable playing time available. Manager Bruce Bochy reportedly commented that he plans to use Buchanan, Bubba Trammel, and Gene Kingsale regularly to give Ron Gant more rest. Trenidad Hubbard also remains on the roster. Buchanan offers a bit of power but has very undesirable plate discipline. He was likely merely the first low cost outfielder GM Kevin Towers came across on the trade market.