I am sure Carlos Quentin was just chilling in his house getting ready to trip the night fantastic on New Year’s Eve and not having a care in the world. Then at about 2:00 EST, he gets a call saying he has been traded to San Diego and just like that, everything changes.

Quetin was traded from the Chicago White Sox to the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon for minor leaguers Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez. This is a very calculated risk by the Padres and I like the move by them.

Quentin hit .254/.340/.499 with 24 HR’s for the White Sox in 2011 in 483 PA’s. Quentin became expendable because he is in his final year of arbitration and can become a free agent at the end of the 2012 season. Quentin made $5.05 million in 2011 and could make between $7 – $8 million in the arbitration process this time around.

Do I think Quentin will help the Padres win the National League West or even one of the two Wild Cards? No, I don’t. But I think he will do two things:

1. He will give the Padres a legit hitter in the middle of their lineup. Quentin has hit 20-plus HR’s in each of his last four seasons and considering Padres’ left fielders were 10th worst in baseball with a .302 wOBA, Quentin and his career .362 wOBA will be a much added addition.

2. While it’s proven Quentin can hit, it’s not proven Quentin can stay healthy. Quentin has played in six Major League seasons and has never played in more than 131 games. But here’s the thing. All the Padres had to do was give up two low-level minor leaguers for Quentin. If the Padres can get Quentin through the All Star break in one piece, then they will have themselves a pretty good trade chip come July 31.

I don’t expect the Padres to be a factor in 2012, so if they can get some production out of Quentin, flip him at the deadline, and then get better prospects back than the ones they traded, that’s a good deal for the Padres. Of course, this grand scenario all depends on Quentin staying healthy.

In return for Quentin, the Padres get two pitching prospects in Castro and Hernandez. Castro was once a top prospect in the Padres’ system, but has really fallen off over the years.

He finished the 2011 season with a 5.63 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and a 2.7 BB/9 in 115 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Baseball Prospectus has him as the No. 20 prospect in the Padres’ system. At 23, it’s go time for Castro.

Hernandez is a 22-year-old, left-handed pitcher, who had a 3.49 ERA in 116 innings between High Single-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. He was not a top-20 prospect in the Padres’ system according to Baseball Prospectus.

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