Creative Financing

From Peter Gammons' blog:

Padres GM Kevin Towers went to Sunday's Chargers game with Brad Ausmus and hopes to bring him back to the Padres as a mentor to Nick Hundley

Towers is smarter than buying into the "veteran catcher" non-sense, at least to the point of Ausmus. With the Padres being a little cap strapped he likely has a different motive in mind. Like so:

Ausmus: Wooo, Go Bolts!

Towers: Go Bolts indeed! Oh, hey beer man! Two more Buds for my friend here.

Ausmus: Sweet! *drinks beer* So,  Kevin, why did you invite me here anyways? I mean, it's not like Brian Giles isn't a bigger fan than myself.

Towers: Well, you see, we have this young catcher, Nick Hundley, who we're probably rolling with next year, and we want a mentor for him.

Ausmus: Oh, okay. So you want me to mentor him? Work with him in spring and such, right?

Towers: Exactly.

Ausmus: So bench coach, or bullpen, or what?

Towers: Huh?

Ausmus: Oh, just spring training instructor? I can dig, I guess.

Towers: No, no.  I want you as our back-up catcher. We think you're the most valuable 39 year old replacement level catcher in the business!

Ausmus: Oh, huh. *drinks beer*

Towers: As you recall, I traded you in '96, and well, I never felt good about that.

Ausmus: It's a business.

Towers:  Hey remember when the Tigers dealt you to the Astros.

Ausmus: Yep. *drinks beer*

Towers: And then the Astros dealt you to the TIgers.

Ausmus: Heh, yeah... *drinks beer*

Ausmus: *drinks beer*

Towers: And then the Tigers sent you right back to Houston.

Ausmus: ....

Towers: So, are we at an agreement?

Ausmus: Totally man, totally. Thanks for the suds by the way.

Towers: Hey, what are friends for? One more thing, how about we match last year's 2 million?

Ausmus: Dude. You're my best friend.

Towers: Okay, so you pay us and we'll play you on Sundays.

Ausmus:  Sweet.

Ausmus: *drinks beer*

Ausmus: Wait.