After parting ways with Mike Cameron this week, the Padres moved quickly to obtain Jim Edmonds from St. Louis to fill their centerfield vacancy. They sent third base prospect David Freese to the Redbirds in the deal, and will assume most of Edmond’s $8M contract for 2008.

Edmonds has not been horrible the past two seasons when he’s played, but injuries have limited him to 110 and 117 games in 2006 and 2007, respectively. With his defense on the decline, he is not a complete solution for San Diego at this point. The Padres could get lucky and get league-average production from Edmonds in his swan song season, or he could get hurt early and leave them in the lurch.

Freese is a marginal prospect who’s put up great numbers at single-A, but he’s also going to be 25 next year, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in that. He could still pan out and be a decent player at the big league level.