As the Twitterverse explodes with the news...
It's a nice move. 2014 will be enough time to see what our farm system is producing out of Yasmani Grandal, Austin Hedges, etc. And it keeps one of the more productive players on the team happy.
In the grand scheme of things, any San Diego Padre worth his salt is either getting paid or transformed via trade into multiple, more useful long term pieces. The team has dealt prospects in exchange for more immediate needs without sacrificing the system. We have what looks like a new TV station all shiny and presumably paying money out to the team. And they're going to have Hodad's Burgers in the ballpark.
Imagine what the Padres would be doing if they weren't handcuffed to the ghost of Frank McCourt. I'm thinking we'd have free cupcakes by now.
Go Padres!