Huston Street is up the freeway in Anaheim, Chase Headley is in the Bronx and who knows what's next. Say this for the Padres' "Office of the General Manager": For a club without a GM, the office sure is doing a lot of general managing.
The reaction is simple and quick: Hallelujah, it's about time this roster started getting rearranged. But let's get one thing clear before we move on: This is not a fire sale. Absolutely, positively not.
I bring that up because I've seen that term thrown around in print and online in recent days, and this is not even close. A fire sale is when a club unloads expensive, marquee, talented players simply to cut costs.
The 1992-1993 Padres dumped, among others, Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff, Tony Fernandez, Darrin Jackson, Craig Lefferts and Bruce Hurst. Sheffield and McGriff are in Hall of Fame conversations these days.
The 1998 Marlins dumped, among others, Al Leiter, Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Robb Nen, Bobby Bonilla and Gary Sheffield (Bonilla and Sheffield were dealt for Mike Piazza, who was immediately spun off to the Mets).
These Padres do not employ any player who will be in Hall of Fame conversations, now or in the future. No disrespect to Street, who was terrific since 2012, leading the majors with an overall save percentage of 92.5.
Plus, the Padres, according to sources, sent $1 million to the Yankees to cover a portion of the roughly $4 million left on Headley's contract.
If this is a fire sale, Roseanne Barr is Taylor Swift.
What this is is an honest recognition that, as presently constituted, the Padres will not win. You've watched this group. I've watched this group.
In a fire sale, generally, you hate to see the players your team is dealing.
Is there anybody wearing a Padres' uniform right now you would hate to see dealt? Headley to the Yankees? Should have happened two years ago.
"We looked at it as there are about 64 games left in the season, and Chase is an impending free agent," A.J. Hinch, point man for the GM Office, told me. "Certainly, Chase is a talented player, he's been a good Padre, he's been a loyal Padre. Teams have thought that he could help them.
Since his breakout season in 2012 when he led the NL in RBI, Chase Headley's inconsistent numbers and numerous injuries led to skepticism and many trade rumors about the third baseman.
"He's played through injuries, through the skepticism of the roller-coaster ride. This is time for the organization to bring back two players and move in a new direction. As the last trade with Huston demonstrated, we are moving in a new direction with personnel on the field."
So this is where the Padres are. And dealing Headley, Nick Hundley and Street alone does not fix things. The way Yonder Alonso has regressed this year, and Everth Cabrera, are they a part of a winning future? Not by this summer's play.
So acquiring two infielders in the Street deal, Taylor Lindsey and Jose Rondon, and adding another in the Headley deal, Yangervis Solarte, was essential. A no-brainer.
Lindsey, 22, is a second baseman. Do not be surprised to see Jedd Gyorko, get some playing time at third base, his natural position, as he rehabs at Triple-A El Paso. Especially with Headley gone, you can imagine a future with Gyorko at third and Lindsey, or someone else, playing second.
"His bat's struggling right now in Triple-A, but that's OK because he probably needs another year in Triple-A," says one veteran scout who has seen him this year and views Lindsey as an eventual everyday big league player. "He was an average everyday player last year. I like his bat. He's got good bat speed and strength to the pull side. His swing is better suited using a gap approach. He really hits the ball hard the other way."
Jose Rondon is only 20, one of the younger players in the Class A California League. The scout likens him to Andrew Romine, an infielder with the Tigers. He doesn't view Rondon as a future star, but thinks he has a chance to be "major-league average" at multiple infield positions.
Solarte, 27, surely peaked when he was hitting .336 in mid-May for the Yankees. It's been downhill ever since. But he certainly keep third base warm until the Gyorko transition is complete, or another option springs up as Hinch, Omar Minaya and Fred Uhlman Jr. continue to wheel and deal until a permanent GM is named.
To that end, the next big decision will involve set-up man Joaquin Benoit. Named by manager Bud Black as Street's successor in the closer role, the Padres are taking many phone calls from clubs interested in acquiring Benoit. The Tigers would love to bring him back. Many other clubs would love him, too.
RHP Joaquin Benoit has been the point of interest for many teams looking to bolster their bullpen.
I don't get the feeling Hinch and Co. are in love with the idea of dealing Benoit and completely gutting the back end of the Padres' bullpen. One rival executive wondered out loud to me whether dealing Benoit after he signed a two-year deal here would give other free agents pause when considering the Padres, afraid the same thing could happen to them.
On the other hand, if the package is right, given where the Padres are, it might reach the point where it would be irresponsible not to deal him. You've got to listen.
There is some interest in outfielder Chris Denorfia, who could be a valuable bench piece on a contending club. The Padres also are taking lots of calls on starter Ian Kennedy, and he presents another interesting case.
If the package is right, a team thin on young talent needs to consider moving Kennedy, who is under club control for one more year beyond this one but employs Scott Boras as an agent. So he's as good as gone after 2015.
But this is where the GM situation comes into play: Hinch is wary of moving a starter who has thrown 180 or more innings over each of the past four seasons, is on pace to rack up another 200 this year and has been such a big part of what the team has done so well. Maybe that one should be left for whomever becomes the new, permanent GM.
So, the clock ticks on toward July 31. The four finalists for the GM job are in this week for second interviews. A.J. Preller, assistant to Jon Daniels in Texas, interviewed again Monday. Billy Eppler, assistant to Brian Cashman in New York; Mike Hazen, assistant to Ben Cherington in Boston; and Kim Ng, an MLB vice-president who oversees international operations. A decision is expected by mid-August.
Meantime, I will say this: If the Padres can deal Carlos Quentin this month, ownership not only should immediately hand Hinch a lifetime contract as GM, it should re-name Petco Park after him and present him with his very own suite at the Hotel Del Coronado.
Fire Sale? Please. If Quentin is shipped out, it's manna from heaven.
Call this a reconstruction. A significant and overdue reconstruction.
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Longtime national baseball columnist Scott Miller is a weekly contributor to FOXSportsSanDiego.com. Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottMillerBbl.
