Padres Winter Meeting preview …

Still a few days away from heading to Indianapolis for the Winter Meetings but here’s a story I wrote on Padres.com about what new general manager Jed Hoyer hopes to accomplish next week and this winter.

To break it down for you:

1. A right-handed hitting outfielder
2. A starting pitcher and/or a reliever
3. A backup catcher, especially if Henry Blanco signs elsewhere
4. Depth for the middle infield to back-up Everth Cabrera and David Eckstein

Hoyer does have the luxury of heading into the off-season knowing he doesn’t have any glaring holes or needs that have to be filled.

“We can fill a team tomorrow, and that’s pretty rare,” Hoyer said. “But we’re certainly looking to upgrade at certain areas.
There are areas of improvement [to address], but there aren’t areas of
the team that are tremendously deficient.”

My guess is it will be a late-developing free agent market and the Padres might sign someone later this month rather than next week. They have some money to spend in free agency but not a lot. If they make a splash this winter it would likely be through a trade.

What are your thoughts on what Hoyer should do this winter?

– Corey Brock, MLB.com, Padres.com, Twitter: @FollowThePadres