WASHINGTON _ In another year, the Padres might be widely ridiculed for placing a moderate price tag on a starting pitcher with a 4.79 ERA, two disabled-list trips on the season and free agency only a few months away.
This July, that's exactly what A.J. Preller has done. The Padres general manager is all but guaranteed to trade right-hander Andrew Cashner by the Aug. 1 nonwaiver deadline, but on Friday night, he was still holding out for value in potential deals.
"Nothing's really changed in terms of the trade deadline," Preller said Friday. "Obviously, there's a lot of interest in him. Doesn't seem like a ton of pitchers are available. You've seen we've made a few trades (already), and we're obviously not in the top part of the standings. We think he's a quality major league pitcher. We're going to listen, but in order for it to make sense, it's going to have to be a deal that improves us for sure, in the short and long term."
At least a handful of teams have discussed Cashner _ Baltimore, Miami, Texas and Toronto recently have shown some interest. But on Thursday, the Padres had yet to find the return they were seeking and gambled by putting the pitcher on the mound at St. Louis.
The decision ended up working nicely. Cashner struck out eight over 52/3 innings of one-run ball, this after he struck out nine over six innings against San Francisco. With the 29-year-old showing sustained velocity and an improved slider, the two-start stretch was his best of the season.
"To see his last couple outings, he's been pretty dominant," Preller said.
Cashner's next scheduled turn is Tuesday at Toronto's hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, and it seems unlikely the Padres won't strike a deal before then. Major league evaluators know the importance of not overreacting to small sample sizes, but a disastrous outing certainly would hurt Cashner's value.
Even the pitcher himself is expecting he'll be on the move soon.
"I know I'm going to be traded," Cashner said after Thursday's start. "It's just part of the game, part of where the season's at."
