Padres Trade for Slugging Catcher

On June 20th San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers pulled another switch with the Cubs, sending backup catcher Rob Bowen and High-A outfielder Kyler Burke to Chicago, in exchange for 'slugging' catcher Michael Barrett and $1.5 million in cash.

Michael Barrett, perennially a fringe NL All-Star, is a 6'3" 210 pound, right hand hitting catcher born in Atlanta, Georgia. Barrett is a career .267 hitter with 95 home runs in almost 10 years of Major League service (Montreal, Oakland & Chicago Cubs). He was hitting .256 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs (also two dugout fights & six stitches) in 57 games with the Cubs prior to the trade.

Rob Bowen, a 26 year-old switch-hitting catcher, was acquired by the Padres from the Minnesota Twins in 2006. Considered a much better defensive catcher than Barrett, he was hitting .268 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 30 games this season with San Diego. Ironically, in his last game as a Padre, Bowen hit a home run against the Cubs last Sunday. In his two seasons as a Padre, Bowen carried a .256 batting average (45-for-176) with five home runs and 24 RBIs. The trade means that Bowen immediately becomes the starting catcher for the Cubs and he will have about three months to prove he can be an everyday starter.

Burke, a 6'3" 205 pound left-handed outfielder, was the 35th overall pick in last June's Draft (a high school draftee from Chattanooga, Tennessee). This season he was hitting .211 for Class A Fort Wayne and has had a .210 average over his first two seasons in the Padres' organization (79 hits in 376 at-bats).

According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, if Barrett - a free agent after the season - does not re-sign with the team, the Padres would get two compensatory picks in the First-Year Player Draft next June. In acquiring the high-profile catcher, Towers doesn't just help the team for this year's pennant run, he helps bolster the farm system that the Padres have built up since the arrivals of Sandy Alderson and Grady Fuson.