I’ll miss you, Michael
I, for one, will miss Michael Barrett. I know we need better defense behind the plate, but I really like Michael for everything else he brought to the team. Of course it made good baseball sense to get a catcher, plus a prospect, for a player we’d most likely lose to free agency at the end of this season. The fact that Barrett’s replacement from the Padres, Rob Bowen, calls a great game will also help ease the pain. The Padres pitchers currently have the lowest ERA in the National League, which is a very positive reflection on the catcher. Bowen is also known for his good defensive skills and has unusual speed for a catcher. I really don’t think the Zambrano situation had anything to do with this. Hendry isn’t going to ship someone out of town because two professionals couldn’t get along. This was simply a good baseball move.