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Others whose options were declined included Atlanta outfielder Nate McLouth; Colorado right-hander Aaron Cook; and the San Diego trio of right-handers Aaron Harang and Chad Qualls, and outfielder Brad Hawpe.

Harang declined his $5 million player option but does not get a $500,000 buyout because he fell 14 1-3 innings short of the 185 specified in his contract. San Diego declined a $6 million option on Qualls, who gets a $1.05 million buyout.

via ESPN

14 comments

Comments

Ughhhh

Harang didn’t decline his option, the Padres did.
He wanted to stay and frankly for $5million he would have been a steal. If this is the type of decision making we can expect from Byrnes it’s safe to assume the Padres won’t be competing for the NL West any time soon.

i agree
i guess he didnt leave you with a good first impression
jed wasn't sure about signing him either

he can pitch situationally, but overall his numbers (including peripherals) were just average to slightly below. there’s no reason to think moseley or richard can’t play better for about 20% of the price. keep in mind the starting rotation is about to get very crowded…

This

Latos, Stauffer, Luebke, Bass, Richard, LeBlanc, all around league minimum.

Don't forget all the guys in AA nipping at the heels.

I expect them to all be up by Sep.

Basically, we have enough starting pitchers that we can have one whose job is to sit in the clubhouse and drink beer.
lackey's surgery is ruining our plans...
we could trade someone

for what we need elsewhere and still have enough to cover

not to mention numerous pitchers who’d want to come here on the cheap to rebuild their value

agree

Jed didn’t sound positive
on re-signing Harang
he said something like “these options are never picked up…”

I like Aaron Harang, but $5 million isn't a steal

Cory Luebke for less than $500k is a steal. If this is the type of decision making we can expect from Byrnes, then I’m glad to see that payroll won’t be wasted on dice rolls.

Agree

It’s not even a dice roll. I think you know what you are getting in Harang, a back end of the rotation guy with little to no upside for more. A guy like that is worth 3-5 M, but not to a team like the Padres.

The Padres have 5 solid pitching prospects that are about a year away from being major league ready. They also have 4 guys that are going to earn less than 2M to compete for the #4 and 5 rotation spots. If they want to go the route of the mediocre pitcher then look to those guys not Harang.

I’d like to see them sign a FA pitcher, but one with more upside than Harang. Who they can afford to go after depends on if they retain Bell or not. Chris Capuano is a good choice if they do retain Bell. If they don’t get stuck with Bell then they could afford someone like Maholm or maybe even Edwin Jackson.

i'm thinking

either risk it on someone like brandon webb, sign a low-$ inning eater (like a harang or garland if they were available at $2-3m), or just let the kids pitch.

Goodbye Brad Hawpe.

In a season of futility, his early numbers were truly insanely bad.

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