NL Notes: Padres, Grichuk, Gsellman, Loney

In his latest Padres mailbag, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune runs down a number of trade-related topics, beginning with taking stock of the team’s top chips. Lefty Brad Hand’s name has already surfaced as an early trade candidate, and also calls infielder Yangervis Solarte perhaps the likeliest position player to be dealt by San Diego. Lin also notes that after absorbing significant money in the trades of James Shields, Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton and others, the team isn’t interested in taking on a bad contract as a means of coercing a trade partner to surrender young talent. Unsurprisingly, Lin goes on to note that the Padres remain on the hunt for a longer-term option at shortstop. Allen Cordoba has hit surprisingly well for a 21-year-old making the jump directly from Rookie ball, but Lin suggests that the Friars don’t yet feel he’s ready to be an everyday MLB shortstop based on a small sample of work at the plate (and an even smaller sample at short).

…