Baseball News - Speedy Roberts Headed to San Diego



The San Diego Padres acquired outfielder Dave Roberts from the Boston Red Sox Monday in exchange for outfielder Jay Payton, infielder Ramon Vazquez, minor league right-handed pitcher David Pauley and cash.

"This is a dream come true," said Roberts, who has lived in San Diego County since he was 12. "After winning the World Series you don't think it can get any better, but it has. I grew up a San Diego Padres fan. That's all I knew when I was younger, watching guys like Tony Gwynn. It didn't seem like this could ever happen. It's something I wanted so much my whole life. To be given this opportunity, I'm going to embrace it and do everything I can to be productive and help this team win."

"We are very pleased to bring not only a native San Diegan, but a key piece to Boston's World Championship team in 2004," said Executive Vice President/General Manager Kevin Towers. "Roberts brings us a well needed table setter at the top of our lineup, along with tremendous range in the outfield to cover the spacious gaps at PETCO Park. We felt like one glaring need was a tablesetter, someone who can make things happen at the top of the lineup. Without a doubt in my mind, Dave can steal 60 bases. We needed to inject some speed. I'm also excited about his enthusiasm. He's a guy who's really a spark. He has tons of energy."

Roberts will play center field in spacious Petco Park and bat leadoff, which will allow the Padres to drop Sean Burroughs in the order. If Roberts would have stayed in Beantown, he would not have played regularly.

Roberts, 32, appeared in a combined 113 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox in 2004, batting .254 with 14 doubles, seven triples, 35 RBI and 38 stolen bases in 41 attempts. Roberts, who was acquired by the Red Sox on July 31, started games at all three outfield positions. When Roberts successfully stole a base, his teams' record was 26-3.

In six Major League seasons with the Indians Dodgers and Red Sox Roberts is a career .259 hitter with 39 doubles, 11 home runs and 135 stolen bases. The San Diego native, who recorded back-to-back 40-plus stolen base seasons in 2002-03, is tied for second place with Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford among Major League leaders.

Jay Payton served as the club's primary center fielder in 2004, batting .260 with eight home runs and 55 RBI in 143 games. He has a career batting average of .285 with 77 home runs and 300 RBI in 715 games.

Ramon Vazquez split the 2004 season between San Diego and Triple-A Portland. He played in 52 games with the Padres, appearing at all four infield positions, and batted .235 with one home run and 13 RBI. He has a career batting average of .262 with six home runs and 79 RBI in 313 games.

David Pauley appeared in 27 games at Single-A Lake Elsinore, going 7-12 with a 4.17 ERA. He has a career mark of 24-29 with a 3.97 ERA in minor league seasons.




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