Padres Press Clips Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Article Source Author Page Minor moves: Dodgers nearing deal with Tate UT San Diego Sanders 2 Padres poised to unveil new uniforms? UT San Diego Sanders 6 Dave Roberts a fine man, but not Preller’s guy UT San Diego Canepa 8 SDSU, USD game at Petco moved to Dec. 6 MLB.com Kruth 10 Inbox: Who takes over as closer for Padres? MLB.com Brock 11 Multiple Petco Park events keep crews busy Padres.com Center 13 Hedges finishes winter league stint with 3 HRs in 72 Abs Padres.com Center 17 Holiday Wonderland returns to Petco Park DiscoverSD.com Bowen 19 Bill Walton Basketball Fest kicks off at Petco Park 10news.com 10news 1 Minor moves: Dodgers nearing deal with Tate Tracking the Padres' minor league transactions By Jeff Sanders | 10 a.m. Nov. 11, 2015 | Updated, 7:35 p.m. | Nov. 30, 2015 Donavan Tate's baseball career will extend beyond his oft-interrupted stay with the Padres. A baseball source on Monday confirmed that the former third overall pick is expected to sign a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal is pending confirmation from the commissioner's office. Baseball America's John Manuel first reported the Dodgers' interest in Tate, who received a Padres-record $6.25 million signing bonus as the Padres' top selection from the 2009 draft. But the high school center fielder failed two drugs within his first two years in pro ball, was banned 50 games at one point (later reduced to 25 games), had endured a number of injuries when he injured his Achilles in the spring of 2014 upon emerging from a second stay at a rehab facility. Healthy in body mind and spirit in 2015, the 25- year-old Tate played all of his final year under Padres control at high Single-A Lake Elsinore, batting .211/.290/.334 with six homers, 34 RBIs and 112 strikeouts in 95 games after 605 days away from baseball. "I don’t feel old at all,” Tate said in June while detailing his off-field struggles for this lengthy profile. "This is going to be my second full season playing without injury. I feel like I’ve got a lot of time left in this game. I want to cherish every moment I have.” It seems he'll have at least one more. A minor league free agent who never played above A-ball, the 6-foot-3, 200-ound Tate is owns a career .229/.334/.324 batting line in 289 games spread across five minor league seasons. He swiped as many as 21 bases in 107 games in 2012 and set career- highs in total bases (111), doubles (15), homers and RBIs in 2015 as he began to piece his life back together. Already a husband and a father to a 1-year-old girl, Tate and his wife welcomed a second daughter into the world, according to his Twitter account. 2 PADRES SIGNED TO MINOR LEAGUE CONTRACTS FOR 2016 C: Jason Hagerty (AAA) SS: Diego Goris (AAA) OF: Alam Martinez, Danny Tovar (17) RHP: Johnny Hellweg (AAA), Daniel McCuthen (AAA), Luis Diaz (AA), Martires Arias (LoA), Juan Arias (DSL), Aaron Lezema (18) LHP: Jeff Ibarra (AA), Ramon Benjamin (AA), Omar Fernandez (16) PADRES' REMAINING PENDING MINOR LEAGUE FREE AGENTS C: Miguel Del Castillo (Hi A), Griff Erickson (AA), Tim Federowicz (AAA), Adolfo Reina (AA) 1B: Cody Decker (AAA) 2B: Benji Gonzalez (AAA) SS: Mike McCoy (AAA), Ramiro Pena (AAA) OF: Luis Domoromo (AA), Tyson Gillies (AA) RHP: Juan Arias (DSL), Jordan Hershiser (Hi A), Daniel McCutchen (AAA), James Needy (AA), Aaron Northcraft (AAA), Adys Portillo (Hi A), Jerry Sullivan (AAA), Cecil Tanner (R) LHP: Eury de la Rosa (AA), Jason Lane (AAA), Caleb Thielbar (AAA) PREVIOUS ENTRIES Pirates sign Jake Goebbert (Nov. 26, 2015) A year after finishing the season on the Padres' 40-man roster, Jake Goebbert spent all of 2015 at Triple-A El Paso. His next shot returning to a big league squad will be with the Pirates. Pittsburgh on Wednesday signed the 28-year-old Goebbert to a big league deal and added him to the 40-man roster as depth at first base and on the corners in the outfield. The left-handed hitter still has three options left. 3 "He's a left-handed hitter who does some things we like. He has some defensive flexibility. With the options, he brings us a ton of flexibility and versatility," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington told MLB.com. "We like the way he commands the zone. We feel like he's a good complement to our existing group of players." Goebbert hit .294/.392/.452 with 10 homers and 62 RBIs in 2015 in the Pacific Coast League but was never on the receiving end of a call-up despite the Padres losing both Yonder Alonso and Wil Myers to various injuries throughout the year. Instead, the Padres added Yangervis Solarte into the first base mix, gave some starts there to Derek Norris and recalled minor league signee Brett Wallace. Acquired in 2014 along with minor league right-hander Ronald Herrera from Oakland in the Kyle Blanks deal, Goebbert hit .218/.313/.317 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 101 at-bats in his first major league action. Herrera was traded to the Yankees earlier this year for infielder Jose Pirela. ALSO Recent arrivals: Rated as high as No. 4 in the Brewers system in 2013, RHP Johnny Hellweg has signed with the Padres, according to BaseballAmerica.com. The 27-year-old Hellweg stands at 6-foot-7. He had a 6.05 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP in 16 starts (61 IP) spread between high Single-A and Double-A. … RHP Luis Diaz (Red Sox) has signed after posting a 5.47 ERA in Double-A. … 25- year-old RHPMartires Arias (Mets) went 8-5 with a 2.29 ERA, a .203 average against 115 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP in 118 innings split between two A-ball stops. Recent departures: According to Baseball America's minor league free agent tracker, 33-year-old RHP Daniel McCutchen has signed another minor league deal with the Padres after going 9-8 with a 3.60 ERA for Triple-A El Paso in 2015. … SS Hector Gomez, 27, will play in Korea in 2016. … RHP Chris Smith, 34, has signed with the Athletics. Decker, Tate now free agents (Nov. 11, 2015) With the third overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Padres gambled on a two-sport high school athlete they hoped would one day roam center field and hit in the middle of their order and signed him to a club-record $6.25 million signing bonus. Then, 651 4 picks later, they gave a power-hitting college senior with a few thousand bucks and, essentially, wished him luck in his climb up the system. One exceeded expectations. One … well … did not. Today, both Donavan Tate and Cody Decker are minor league free agents. Their paths to this point in their careers, of course, have varied greatly. Decker is free to seek a new employer after amassing 154 homers across seven seasons, a record for a Padres minor leaguer. He hit a many as 29 in 2012, slugged .524 across nearly 3,000 plate appearances and didn’t get an opportunity in the majors until the final weeks of the 2015 season. The 28-year-old infielder/designated hitter/sometimes-outfielder/rarely-a-catcher went 0-for-11 with five strikeouts and a sacrifice fly while appearing in eight games. The 25-year-old Tate, meanwhile, never advanced higher than high Single-A Lake Elsinore in his six years of Padres control. In fact, he returned to the Cal League this year for a third time in an attempt to resurrect a career derailed by injuries and addiction. In 95 games, Tate hit .211/.290/.334 with six homers, 34 RBIs and 112 strikeouts in 376 plate appearances. A full accounting of the 589 minor league free agents can be at BaseballAmerica.com. 5 Padres poised to unveil new uniforms? Team holding joint press conference with U.S. Navy at 1 p.m. Tuesday By Jeff Sanders | 12:08 p.m. Nov. 30, 2015 One hat, apparently, is out of the bag. Probably time to let the jerseys out, too. Days after a hat store employee posted photos of an early delivery of asunshine-yellow splashed Padres hat, the team on Monday announced a joint press conference with the U.S. Navy set for 1 p.m. Tuesday on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, which arrived to its new home port of San Diego last week. Though the subject matter was left off the release, the timing of it is leading to widespread speculation that the Padres are preparing to unveil new uniforms for the 2016 season. Which makes some sense given the belief that the Padres are moving to navy blue camouflage jerseys for their Sunday military appreciation games. Other details – all unconfirmed by the Padres – leaked at Chris Creamer’s sportslogos.net uniform blog include: ▪ The addition of yellow to the color scheme (see hat, which would be worn with the home uniform) as an accent not unlike its use in the Padres’ official All-Star Game logo. (A Union-Tribune source previously confirmed that hosting the All-Star Game allows for a trial look that could be scrapped if it proves unpopular.) ▪ A new alternate home uniform will incorporate a brown-and-mustard retro look – brown jersey with a “bowtie” Padres wordmark in yellow with a brown cap.