A Flurry of Activity...

This could be a very busy off-season. We are a weekend away from the GM's meetings in Chicago and already some deals have gone down.

To no real surprise, JJ Hardy was dealt by the Brewers, he heads to Minnesota in exchange for centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Hardy as you recall was demoted to the minors, just as the Padres came to town, and it created a major controversy. The move by the Brewers affected Hardy's arbitration status and the player was not happy. Also interesting to keep an eye on, now that Milwaukee has acquired an every day centerfielder, will Mike Cameron be elsewhere in 2010?

The on again, off again deal between the White Sox and Royals, seems to be on again, and has been completed. The Sox acquire Mark Teahen from the Royals for Chris Getz and Josh Fields. The White Sox plan to play the versatile Teahen at 3B, and move Gordon Beckham to 2B. The White Sox also plan to part ways with 2005 WS MVP, Jermaine Dye and will buy out his 2010 option.

Other random notes on a busy Friday: (from MLB.com's, Steve Gilbert) The Diamondbacks picked up the 2010 option on Brandon Webb. It's for $8.5 million.

The Phillies exercised the option on post-season hero Cliff Lee. It's a $9 million option. According to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, the Phillies would like to engage Lee in long term extension talks. That's a no brainer.

That's a quick look at some of the moves, and again, I'll try to stay on top of any Padres moves at the GM meetings in Chicago Monday. Haven't met the new GM, Jed Hoyer yet, obviously he's been a bit busy, getting to know the organization and preparing for his first big event as the GM. He does have some experience in this realm, since he represented the Red Sox at the GM and Winter Meetings when Theo Epstein walked away from the team briefly several years ago.

Some Padres news/notes...

According to the Union Tribune today, Nick Hundley underwent surgery for a sports hernia. He tells the paper he first was injured in May and played through the pain receiving treatment for the hernia.

Also in Padres news today, Brian Giles and Henry Blanco officially filed for free agency. There had been talk before Kevin Towers was dismissed as GM, that Blanco was a guy the Padres wanted to bring back. We'll see if that has changed now that there's a new guy in charge.

USD 6th Man Dinner, a big success...

It was my pleasure once again to serve as the emcee for USD's annual fund raiser, the 6th Man Dinner last night. The staff and crew of the Jenny Craig Pavilion make the building over, and turn it into an elegant banquet hall. It's hard to believe every year that we are doing this event in a basketball arena. Kudos to them.

This year the committee brought in a guest speaker, and Steve Lavin, the former coach at UCLA and now college hoops analyst for ABC/ESPN was the guy. Lavin watched practice yesterday and offered his thoughts, he addressed the team, and spoke about the importance of being a student/athlete. A very good talk from Lavin. He also talked extensively about Bill Grier's ability to coach, and how he is able to adjust during games to what is going on. He also mentioned that Grier felt that San Diego is a place he'd like to lay down roots, and not be a "one hit wonder". Let's hope that's the case. Grier is not only a good coach, but a great person to be around. He certainly makes my job as the play by play voice much easier, allowing me access to the team and it's practices.

Also coach Grier addressed the gathered crowd, and introduced his 2009-10 team on stage. Fans, from first glance, it's a young team, with a good mix of some veteran leadership. This team has some speed and can get up and down the floor. Grier made it known that it is great to have Brandon Johnson back in the fold after his season ending injury of last year, but that BJ is only operating at about 75 percent. It will just be good to have him on the floor, as he's one of the fiercest competitors I've seen. All you have to do is look back to the game in the 2007-08 season, at the WCC Tournament, playing all 50 minutes in the come from behind, double overtime win over St Mary's. Amazing.

The Toreros only exhibition game is tomorrow night, at the JCP, 6pm against Occidental College. Then it tips off for real, a week from today, against Stanford in the home/season opener at 7pm.

Alright, a lot to digest, perhaps more later...

Andy