Many of you might know that I am no Michael Barrett fan. Some might even suggest my Michael Barrett hate borders on unhealthy obsession. So, it would be no surprise to learn that I was just about doing cartwheels the morning of June 20, when the Cubs sent Barrett to the Padres for Rob Bowen and Kyler Burke. Since then, the Cubs are 19-9 and all of a sudden in the race. Rob Bowen got two hits as a Cub — one of them coming in that crazy win against Colorado — and then was sent to Oakland last week for Jason Kendall.

Kyler Burke has played better since being dropped down a level to short-season A Ball. He’s only 19, and the Cubs will know more over the next two seasons. Kendall’s two years older than Barrett and there are legitimate questions over whether he can still play

Still, the Daily Herald’s Barry Rozner maintains that sending Barrett packing was a turning point for the Cubs:

Since June 2, when the Cubs were 9 under .500 and 7� games out in fifth place, the common denominator has been the absence of Michael Barrett, who caught in only 10 of the next 43 games, while the Cubs have gone 29-14 (.674).

The Cubs were 5-5 in those 10 Barrett games, leaving them 24-9 (.727) in non-Barrett games since early June.

How’s the trade gone for the Padres? If you read the venerable Gary Post-Tribune or the San Diego Union-Tribune, you’d think very well. From John Mutka’s July 20 notebook on the Cubs:

While the Cubs continue to play musical chairs behind the plate, former Cub Michael Barrett is supplying offensively challenged San Diego with needed punch.

In his last 10 starts Barrett is batting .303 with six RBI and caught everybody in the Padres’ rotation, including ex-Cub Greg Maddux (twice) [sic].

With the White Sox heating up at the plate the Padres have slipped into last place in the majors with a .242 average.

Barrett, adding desperately needed punch, rapped three hits and threw out a baserunner Tuesday to help David Wells beat the Mets.

If the season ended today the Padres would qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card. They started the day with a 52-41 record, mainly because of a pitching staff that leads the majors with a 3.13 ERA.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have spun seven receivers through the turnstyles [sic], including Barrett. Since Henry Blanco went on the disabled list on May 31, Rob Bowen, Koyie Hill, Jason Kendall, Geovany Soto have caught and Jake Fox was just promoted from Double-A.

Never mind the fact that Mutka plays fast and loose with the facts or that he throws in a gratuitous White Sox reference. (Who cares if the Sox are no longer the worst-hitting team in the majors?) Instead, let’s check in with the Union-Tribune, where hometown writer Tom Krasovic is squarely in the new Padre’s corner:

Take Barrett. Now think of Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who repeatedly buys low and sells high. That’s what the Padres have done often, and what they said they did when they got Barrett from the Cubs last month for reserve catcher Rob Bowen and a fringe-at-best prospect. Yesterday, the Cubs traded Bowen, who for them had gone 2-for-31 with 13 strikeouts (the minor leaguer the Padres dealt to the Cubs, Kyler Burke, started out 1-for-26 with his new club). Bowen was hot when the Cubs traded for him. He had just had a good series at Wrigley Field. Barrett was in the doghouse of Cubs manager Lou Piniella.

But Padres CEO Sandy Alderson considered Barrett’s bad rap �overblown� in the Windy City. The Padres liked that Barrett had a sturdy track record for hitting, relative to other NL catchers.

Last night, Barrett had three singles out of the No. 7 spot. The Padres were never caught after Barrett lined a single off Jorge Sosa (7-4) to score two runners, the first of them Milton Bradley, another recent low-cost acquisition.

�I’m elated to be here,� Barrett said.

Wells (5-5) handed a 2-1 lead to Heath Bell, who threw a scoreless seventh. Barrett singled and scored later in the seventh. His third single scored Bradley in the eighth for the final run.

�(Barrett) puts the bat on the ball with the best of them,� said Cameron, whose 12th home run made it 4-1 in the eighth. �He’s like (Brian) Giles; he’s a tough out. He’s going to be very helpful. And he does a good job with the pitching staff. He’s always positive.�

Barrett isn’t known as a good thrower, but he nailed Ruben Gotay attempting to steal second base, a critical play that got Bell the final out of the seventh….

I’m not sure where to start with those two, but before I do, let’s look at Paul Sullivan’s blog entry from today:

Michael Barrett. The controversial ex-Cub had another meltdown on Sunday over a called strikeout, leading to the ejection of manager Bud Black. In a glaring case of d�j� vu, Barrett’s game-calling is now under scrutiny. How long he’ll be catching Padres ace Jake Peavy is a question they’ll soon be asking in San Diego. Peavy was pounded by Philadelphia on Sunday and has a 5.09 earned-run average with Barrett behind the plate, as opposed to a 1.98 ERA with Josh Bard as his catcher. Padres pitchers overall have a 4.18 ERA with Barrett catching, and a 2.82 ERA with Bard catching.

Sullivan separates himself from the boys here with some spot-on reporting. He and Rozner both omit one telling stat: the Padres are 4-13 with Michael Barrett in the starting lineup. On the day the trade was made, the Padres were the best team in the National League, 12 games over .500. Since then, San Diego is 12-15 (or 8-2 in games Josh Bard has started). They are also clinging to a two game lead in the wild card over the surging Cubs, who Mutka would have you believe are scuffling trying to find an answer behind the plate.

Sullivan talks about Peavy’s numbers with Barrett catching. Here are Maddux’s numbers in the four games Barrett caught this year: 1-3, 4.91 ERA, 1.5 WHIP, six walks, 9 K, 27 hits and 22 innings pitched. Maddux is 17-20 with a 4.73 ERA in the 271 2/3 innings that he has pitched to Barrett.
As for Barrett’s bat: it’s been rather quiet since the trade. In fact, the Cubs have enjoyed comparable production from Koyie Hill. Since June 20, Barrett has eight RBI (Koyie Hill has 12), two runs scored (he didn’t score yesterday, despite the San Diego Union-Tribune’s insistence that he did; by the way, Koyie Hill has scored four times), no homers (Hill has two), four doubles (Hill has three), a .329 slugging average (Hill’s is .378) and a .600 OPS (Hill’s is .628). Hill also five walks to Barrett’s zero and just seven strikeouts to Barrett’s 11.

Barrett will begin to hit sometime this season. But his ejection might contribute to a suspension of his manager, his pitch calling continues to be suspect, and his offense will suffer in PETCO Park.

Whisper this aloud if you dare: The Padres were fleeced. And don’t feel too badly about it. Remember the Padres brought us three very traumatic moments:

Bill Murray once remarked: “I try to litter in San Diego whenever possible.” I do too. I suppose sending Michael Barrett to San Diego is Jim Hendry’s way of doing the same.