The San Diego Padres:

Recalled RHP Cla Meredith from Triple-A Portland. Placed OF Scott Hairston on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ligament in his left thumb. Purchased the contracts of RHP Josh Geer and OF Will Venablefrom Triple-A Portland. Out-righted RHP Josh Banks to Triple-A Portland.

The San Diego Padres:

Optioned RHP Josh Banks to Triple-A Portland. Reinstated RHP Bryan Corey from the 15-day disabled list and outrighted him to Portland.

The San Diego Padres:
Acquired two players to be named later or cash considerations from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for RHP Greg”Mad Dog”Maddux. Reinstated RHP Brett Tomko from the 15-day disabled list.
Mad Dog Maddux’s line with the Padres:
20-20 4.02 ERA in 60 games started one complete with 351.1 innings pitched 382 hits 172 runs 159 runs earned 30 HR 11 HBP 51 BB 184 SO. Now some may say that is average but in all my years as a Padres fan, I’ve seen pitchers come and go and some having stints as long as 3 years plus and still never pull numbers like that; So as a sad day for Padre fans.

I SAY FAIR WELL GREG”MAD DOG”MADDUX, as this is the last time I get to write about my favorite pitcher, and just FYI to all the Padres fan in Mad Dog’s last 10 starts he was 3-4 with the exception of the St.Louis and Florida where he had to eat a combined total of 15 runs in 13.5 innings because of the bullpen being worked to death.
In 5 out of 10 game(being loses or no decisions) he was given one or less runs for run support.

The San Diego Padres Latest Transactions:
8/13/2008:
Claimed RHP Brian Falkenborg off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
8/14/2008:
Placed RHP Chris Young on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 11, with a strained right forearm.
8/16/2008:
Recalled RHP Chad Reineke from Triple-A Portland. Optioned RHP Cla Meredith to Triple-A Portland.

The San Diego Padres transactions for 8-12-2008:

Placed RHP Bryan Corey on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 10 with a strained left hamstring. Purchased the contract of INF Sean Kazmar from Double-A San Antonio.

A bad year for Padres catchers just got a little worse, as Josh Bard was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained right triceps.

Bard suffered the injury on the last swing of the last round of early batting practice prior to Friday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

Bard, who suffered a similar injury when he was in the Minor Leagues in 1999, said the pain in his elbow was enough to keep him from throwing, and that he will likely need 5 to 7 days before he will play again.

The San Diego Padres recalled rookie Luke Carlin from Triple-A Portland to take his place. Carlin was in uniform for Saturday’s game, because the Beavers happened to be playing in Colorado Springs this weekend.

Bard will be eligible to come off the disabled list on Aug. 22, when the Padres play the Giants. To date, Bard has missed 55 games because of injury, 54 of were due to a high ankle sprain suffered on May 22.

“It’s hard, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Bard said.

Michael Barrett, the other catcher on the Opening Day roster, has missed 70 games with first a sprained ligament in his right elbow, and most recently, a fractured nose and orbital bone that occurred, oddly enough, on July 3, when the team was in Denver.

“Two veteran catchers at a premium position,” Padres manager Bud Black said.

All told, Padres catchers have missed 145 games this season. The total number of missed games for the team this season is 842, up from 280 a year ago.

Bard had appeared in just six games since coming off the disabled list on July 24 and was hitting .209 this season.

“It’s been really, really hard this year to play this bad as a team, but it’s been really, really hard not to be able to help,” Bard said.

Carlin is no stranger to the Padres. He made his Major League debut on May 10 and has appeared in 30 games and started 23 behind the plate. Offensively, Carlin is hitting .138 in 80 at-bats after hitting .328 with Portland.

Rookie catcher Nick Hundley figured to get an extended look between now and the end of the season, regardless of Bard’s injury. Hundley is hitting .221 thus far and has been impressive behind the plate, throwing out 7 of 22 would-be base stealers.

On Friday, Hundley threw out Colorado’s speedy lead-off hitter, Willy Taveras, in the first inning, and appeared to get him again later in the game, though Taveras was ruled safe. Carlin’s times on the throws were 1.83 and 1.87, below the 1.9 mark the Padres want to see from their catchers.

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Brian Giles Claimed On Waivers
By Tim Dierkes [August 6, 2008 at 8:56pm CST]
According to Ken Rosenthal, Padres right fielder Giles was claimed on waivers by an unknown team. Giles has about $2.7MM left on his contract this year. He also has a $9MM option for ‘09 with a $3MM buyout (which logically should be exercised). Giles gets another $2MM if traded. Rosenthal adds that Giles can block deals to the Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers, Rays, Marlins, Brewers, Pirates, and Nationals.
Rosenthal says the Padres will attempt to make a deal with the claiming team, though it won’t be a salary dump. Giles, 37, is hitting .318/.405/.438 away from PETCO this year. Not too many players are capable of a .400 OBP.
Players Who Cleared Waivers
By Tim Dierkes [August 6 at 9:59pm CST]
I will make this post a permanent sidebar link. This is a running list of players who have cleared waivers, based on published reports. Once a player clears waivers, he can be traded to any team (barring a no-trade clause).
• Greg Maddux – Maddux is earning $10MM this year and will only accept a trade to a West Coast team. The Dodgers wanted him but asked the Padres to pay more than 80% of his remaining salary according to Peter Gammons.

The San Diego Padres-8/1/2008
Placed INF Khalil Greene on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 31, with a fracture of the fifth metacarpal on his left hand. Reinstated INF Tadahito Iguchi from the 15-day disabled list. Outrighted OF Chip Ambres to Triple-A Portland.

The San Diego Padres Transactions: RHP Chris Young reinstated from the disabled list; OF Chip Ambres designated for assignment.
RHP Kevin Cameron reinstated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Portland

7/24/2008:

San Diego Padres
Reinstated C Josh Bard from the 15-day disabled list; Recalled LHP Justin Hampson from Triple-A Portland; Optioned C Luke Carlin and LHP Joe Thatcher to Portland.

7/23/2008:

San Diego Padres
Purchased the contract of LHP Wilfredo Ledezma from Triple-A Portland