Charles Nagy? He hasn’t been truly productive since 1997. At this point he’s an older, more injury-prone version of Brian Meadows. I don’t see a lot of upside here but I guess the theory is that if you throw enough pitchers up against the wall, some of ‘em will stick.

Like Jesse Orosco, Nagy makes his off-season home in the San Diego area. He turns 36 on, hey, my birthday. Nagy’s best season came in 1996, when he went 17-5, with a 3.41 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 222 innings. Since then, he’s been one of the most hittable pitchers in all of baseball (815.1 IP, 990 H, 5.42 ERA). Nagy might be more done than Brady Anderson. We’ll see.

On the other hand, I feel a little (not much) better about Luther Hackman now that the Braves have given away Kevin Millwood for Johnny Estrada. At least the Padres didn’t hand someone in their own division a legitimate #2 starter for a backup catcher. Ouch.

Rule 5 Revisited

We’ve already talked about Buddy Hernandez (since traded to Oakland) and Shane Victorino. But what about the guys taken in the minor-league phase of the draft? Most of them don’t reach the big leagues (although the Padres’ own Wiki Gonzalez is one who did) and do little more than provide organizational depth.

With that in mind, here’s a quick look at how the Padres were affected. In the Triple-A phase, the Pads snagged Pittsburgh’s Rico Washington, Detroit’s Virgilio De Leon, and Toronto’s Aaron Dean. They lost Junior Herndon and Jeremy Owens, both to Boston.

I had the opportunity to see Washington a few years back in the now-defunct California Fall League. He’s short and a little pudgy, but he can play just about anywhere and has a plan at the plate. He reminded me a bit of Lenny Harris at the time. Although Washington hit just .223 in the Eastern League last year, he showed good plate discipline, as he has throughout his career. He played mostly third base at Altoona, but he also has experience at second base and behind the plate. Washington, 25, could eventually make it to the bigs as a left-handed bat off the bench.

I don’t know much about De Leon other than this: He’s 6-2, 170 lbs; he’ll be 23 next year; he’s an outfielder who played only 18 of 42 games in the field last season; and he hit just .223/.268/.344 at Oneonta in the short-season New York Penn League, with 8 walks against 52 strikeouts. He’s old and he doesn’t appear to have good baseball skills.

My information on Dean is equally sketchy. He’s 6-4, 180 lbs; he throws right-handed; he’ll be 24 next year; and he struggled mightily (99.2 IP, 118 H, 44 BB, 82 SO, 5.42 ERA) in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. Like De Leon, Dean is an extreme longshot to reach the Show.

As for the guys the Pads lost, they’re both former marginal prospects who haven’t developed. I always kind of liked Herndon, mainly because he managed to succeed without great stuff despite being one of the younger pitchers in his league. Unfortunately, this is what he did in the PCL last year:

   IP ERA   H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
159.0 5.26 9.74 2.94 3.34 1.58

Pitchers who can’t strike out four batters a game at Triple-A generally don’t have much in the way of big-league careers.

Owens is a kid who can pretty much do it all except make contact. Unfortunately, his one big weakness has been enough to keep him from making any progress as a player. He struck out in 32% of his plate appearances at Elsinore in 2002 as a 25-year-old. He’s a destitute man’s Ruben Rivera.

Of all the players mentioned above, Washington is the only one even remotely likely to create a stir at the big-league level. And even he’s a bit of a longshot.

And In the End

This is my last post before Christmas, so I’d just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Eat well, enjoy time with your family, and remember that spring training is just around the corner.

Peace…