And The Player To be Named is...

Anonymous wonders:

Who do you think the PTBNL is in the (Scott) Hairston trade? Apparently, the Padres can pick between one of two pitchers.

I don't know for sure, but speculation at Fangraphs and Athletics Nation has surrounded Sean Gallagher and Dana Eveland. MLB Trade Rumors suggests that one of the potential PTBNLs does have major league experience, making Gallagher or Eveland seem like possible choices.

I'd say that Gallagher is probably the better choice for the Padres, but what Rotoworld called a "minor knee injury" on June 7 has kept Gallagher out of action for over a month now. That means that if it is Gallagher, you might not see much impact from him in 2009 and can all but cross him off of your FAAB wish list. If you're thinking long-term, though, he is still only a relative pup at the age of 23 and could definitely translate his minor league successes to the majors at some point.

I'm a little less confident in Eveland. Some of that might simply be from the visceral experience of watching him tank against the Red Sox tonight. He started off like a house afire in 2008, but seemed to lose command of his pitches as the season went along and he hasn't been the same since. Tonight was the same story: Eveland's best stuff wasn't blowing anyone away so he started throwing slop outside the zone. That led to walks, which led to slop inside the zone, which led to Red Sox hits, more slop outside the zone and an early exit.

At 25, Eveland isn't as young as Gallagher, but he still is relatively young. That being said, I think the Padres (assuming they are choosing between these two) would probably go for Gallagher over Eveland.

Of course, it wouldn't be a discussion about any future Padres pitcher without mentioning the obvious: Petco is a pitchers heaven. Even on that score, though, Gallagher benefits more than Eveland, as Gallagher is a flyball pitcher while Eveland at his best is a groundball machine.

The other possibility is that the PTBNL is someone else. We shall see. I can't remember the last time a PTBNL generated such interest.