MLB.com’s Corey Brock does a Q&A -- apparently with himself, about the state of the Padres. The most interesting one comes when he asks “what kind of player” new GM Jed Hoyer wants to bring to San Diego. The answer Brock gives, presumably based on conversations he’s had with Padre people:
There’s not one type of player Hoyer likes or covets, though he has talked about finding players who fit this ballpark, PETCO Park. After all, the Padres do play 81 games here. That player is an athletic one, has doubles-power, someone who can run ... if it’s an outfielder, someone who can go get a ball, someone who won’t clog the bases. Granted, you need thumpers in the lineup, but ones who are undeterred by the spacious dimensions of the ballpark.
Based on everything we know about how the Boston front office thinks, and based on Hoyer’s apprenticeship in the Boston front office, I’d be shocked if he would actually say that he was looking for something specific like a doubles hitter. If he were really asked what kind of players he wants, wouldn’t his answer be “good players. The best players we can find that we can afford.” Maybe they do fit that specific profile. But maybe they don’t, and if they don’t, he’s not going to turn them away.