Padres, Royals fill minor needs

By Will Kimmey
November 8, 2004

The first trade of the offseason wasn't a blockbuster, but it accomplished what most general managers are searching for when they make a deal: It filled needs. The Royals got a stopgap outfielder in Terrence Long, while the Padres added an innings-eating lefthander in Darrell May. The teams also exchanged command-challenged righthanders on Tuesday, with Dennis Tankersley heading to Kansas City and Ryan Bukvich going to San Diego.

Long will make $4.7 million in 2005 while May will earn $3.225 million, so the Padres kicked in just less than $1 million to even things out as each player enters the final year of his contract.

Long, 28, will compete with Abraham Nunez for the starting job in right field, and could see time at all three positions as a fourth outfielder. Defensively, he fits best in left field. Long split time between all three outfield positions last year, his first with the Padres, batting .295/.335/.420 in 136 games with career lows in home runs (three), RBIs (28) and at-bats (288). He slugged a little better outside of Petco Park (.435 to .398) and enjoys more success against righthanders than lefties (.780 OPS vs. .590). He's a good athlete but not much of a basestealer or defender and fits best in left field. He has .268/.319/.411 career averages with 63 home runs and 321 RBIs in 741 games.

May, 32, led the Royals in wins and innings pitched the last two seasons, but leaves town as Kansas City tries to clear space in the rotation for younger arms. He works the strike zone with an upper-80s fastball, curveball, slider and an above-average changeup that's his best pitch. His 10-8, 3.77 performance in 2003 looks more like a career year after he went 9-19, 5.61 in 31 starts in 2004. He led the American League in losses. He had a 120-55 strikeout-walk ratio and allowed a .306 average and 38 homers in 186 innings. May, whose career record is 25-39, 4.98 in 137 games (88 starts), should be helped by pitching in spacious Petco Park.

Tankersley, 24, once was regarded as the top pitching prospect in the Padres organization after they acquired him from the Red Sox in a 2000 trade for Ed Sprague. Now he'll compete for a spot at the end of the Royals rotation or the bullpen. He has been unable to locate his low-90s fastball and once-plus slider in the majors, though he continues to succeed in the minors. He went 7-4, 3.15 at Triple-A Portland in 2004, but 0-5, 5.15 in nine games with San Diego. He has a 1-10, 7.61 career record in 27 big league games (16 starts), with a 68-61 K-BB ratio, 13 homers and .290 opponent average in 86 innings.

Bukvich, 26, was an 11th-round pick out of Mississippi in 2000. He has spent the past three seasons shuttling between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha, and he'll try to win a job in the Padres bullpen. Bukvich's fastball reaches 96 mph, but he often leaves it up in the zone to get hammered or fails to locate it all. Once he falls behind, he can't use his average splitter or slurvy slider. In 2004, Buckvich went 3-4, 4.37 with seven saves at Triple-A Omaha and had a 3.68 ERA in 14 big league innings. His major league career totals are 2-0, 6.54 in 44 games, with a 35-35 K-BB ratio, four homers and a .268 average in 43 innings.