It’s a frustrating time to be a Padres fan, for sure.

But it is also a fascinating time to be following the Padres.

The transition is underway. It has been for a while, but it shifted into another gear on Sunday when the team allowed pitchers Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles to walk for nothing after they were claimed on waivers by the Cardinals and Brewers, respectively.

The Padres talked to those teams about a trade after the waiver claims. But there was virtually no incentive for the Cardinals or Brewers to give up even a decent prospect. And decent would even be below the standard the Padres are looking to acquire these days.

The choice was easy. Continuing to start Ross would conceivably give the Padres a chance to win those games. But to what end? Those victories are essentially meaningless.

Instead, the Padres will promote Brett Kennedy from Triple-A El Paso on Tuesday and give him his first major league start Wednesday in Milwaukee.

That’s where I’m headed, by the way. On a train!

The train is a great place to get work done. I highly recommend it.

It’s also a good place to get a mailbag done. Because, you know, that’s not work.

This is being discussed. It was a remote possibility from the time they signed Galvis, and it has become more likely. I am not certain it is likely, however.

The arguments against it are simply to get Fernando Tatis Jr. his time at shortstop and Galvis’ virtually nonexistent power and .288 career on-base percentage, which is actually six points lower than this season’s OBP.

The argument for trying to keep Galvis is that he is a savant at shortstop and a sort of baseball preacher in the clubhouse.

As long as the price is right, Tatis can play third for a bit.

That’s the thinking.

Not happening.

That’s my opinion based on recent reporting – not just because they gave him a contract extension a year ago. However, that contract extension is important because this ownership group obviously doesn’t just change its mind with the wind. Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler believed in Green then and believe in him now.

That said, I wrote last week that baseball operations is doing a review of everything having to do with its process. That includes Green and his staff.

There is no reason to think Fowler, A.J. Preller and Co. will discover anything different from what they believe now – that Green is the man to not only shape this roster but also deal with the hills and valleys on the way to the mountaintop.

Manuel Margot is getting better on the bases, too. But it has been wild, that’s for sure.

The best explanation I have is that they had to allow him to work through it and learn in real time. That’s the reasoning I got over and over. I also saw and heard about the work he’s put in.

I can’t profess to tell you whether some of his bad decisions and bad slides will ever be remedied.

But he has gotten better.

Here’s a list. It’s not everyone, but it’s the guys not on the 40-man they must decide whether to have on there come December:

Austin Allen; Pedro Avila; Anderson Espinoza; Michael Gettys; Jacob Nix; Chris Paddack; Luis Urias.

And yes, to some extent, you are correct regarding trading some players — both some of these and some currently on the 40-man roster. The Padres will try to get something for them rather than the close-to-nothing they’d receive if they leave a player off the roster and he is drafted.

Finding out which guys they want to keep, which ones they might want to trade and which ones they will let go has been a big thread running through this season. I first wrote about it in May.

That is discouraging.

I love my job, and I am enjoying getting to know these Padres players and chronicling their efforts. And I know this down time will make any payoff better.

The Hard makes it Great - A League of Their Own

(One of the tenets of my life I learned from the wise baseball man Jimmy Dugan.)

That said, one of the things I value is the privilege of watching a guy like Javier Baez for three or four days at a time. And it sure would be nice if we all got to watch that type of player every night and got to watch a good team every night and be part of a playoff atmosphere where it seems like every pitch matters.

Now, on Myers being Verrett … Come on.

You can say he’s not worth the contract he received. You can have a lot of opinions about him. Heck, you can even say he’s injury prone based on this season and – after two full seasons – his health issues in 2014 and ’15.

But Verrett? No.

I respect the question. So let’s talk about it.

But first, with all due respect to the work both these guys put in, which is immense, neither is the future at the position. So it really doesn’t matter.

My answer is Asuaje. He has more upside and could be part of the team in some capacity if/when they are good.

Problem is, Asuaje has not been able to maintain any level of brilliance. I love the kid – everything about him. He works hard. He hustles. He has a good eye. And I wish you could see him in the clubhouse. Honestly, it’s awesome.

I believe strongly – and I think the Padres want this to be true – that he has a place on a championship team. It probably is not as an everyday player. But he can help a good team with timely hits, good defense and chemistry.

All I can assure at this point is that he will be up this year. I won’t be shocked if it’s tomorrow. I won’t be shocked if it’s September.

There was a time early in the season where it seemed virtually certain he would be here by summer.

The Padres have been waiting for him to dominate. And he simply hasn’t.

I believe he will step up and be an excellent player in the big leagues, that he has the talent and mentality. But the fact is he has not been what they expected at the plate this season. There have been periods where he’s gotten on base almost half the time for a week, two weeks, even three. But it hasn’t been sustained, and his power numbers are down – in a hitter-friendly league.

Believe me, I went through a period in June and July where I was obsessed with why he wasn’t up. I monitored his progress, asked questions all over the place.

The Padres aren’t forthcoming (or at least in agreement) with what the issue is. I’ve heard everything from mechanics with his stride to a possible letdown that he is still in the minors.

This is A.J. Preller’s call. He wants to make sure Urias succeeds. For that, you can’t blame Preller.

As frustrating as this is, we must admit there is time. He’ll be up soon, and we will see what he’s got.

There are a couple things that go into this.

The Padres will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2019 in a number of ways. It would be silly to think their various uniforms through the years will not be part of the celebration. (I happen to think that’s kind of cool. I don’t like that they’ve had 147 uniforms, but since they have, let’s celebrate ‘em.)

Would it make sense to make the change in that season? Sure. It also would have made sense to change any of the past number of seasons or to have never changed at all.

The league is changing uniform suppliers in 2020, which is significant in part because that means the actual uniforms will likely be altered in 2020.

More goes into a uniform than we know. The cut and silhouette of every team’s jersey will likely change, which could affect how current uniforms look. It might not change much, but it might.

At this point — since they waited this long — the Padres might as well wait until the supplier changes and have that supplier be the one to make the new-look jersey.

If that is not sufficient and your aim is to change the team’s mind and hasten the change, you should know it is impossible. To change for the 2020 season, they will need to notify the league in spring of 2019. That’s how it works. So it’s already too late to change for ’19.

Stella. I am sure that somehow makes me even less likable. But hey.

And it’s the hat that makes you look cool.

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

6:02 p.m.: This post was edited to correct a mistake in the answer about the Rule 5 draft. Trey Wingenter and Brett Kennedy’s names were eliminated from the list of players eligible. Wingenter was added to the 40-man roster on Sunday, and Kennedy will be added on Tuesday.