For a team that can’t win many games, there sure is a lot happening. Brian Tollberg, all but forgotten, came back last night and pitched four perfect innings before faltering. The Pads have also claimed former Astros’ pitcher Scott Linebrink off waivers. Great, great pickup–we’ll get to that in a moment. Finally, in an interesting series of events, the Pads have settled their lawsuit over a denied insurance claim for Randy Myers. Reportedly this will give the club $8M more to spend. On the heels of this comes the rather cryptic suggestion that the Pads "hope to add a significant player who is on the trade block for financial reasons."

Surreal, ain’t it?

Corrections

I don’t normally take the liberty of correcting other people’s work, but this one can’t stand as is. It’s the Associated Press’ report on Boston’s abuse of, er trade with, the Diamondbacks. The troublesome spot is paragraph six, which reads:

Kim is best known for his Yankee Stadium meltdowns in Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series, but has had a solid career with Arizona.

As a favor to the editors who originally missed this, I’d like to give you the corrected version:

Kim is best known for surviving the 2001 World Series, despite the best efforts of his manager to destroy the young pitcher.

Anyway, I’m glad to see Kim leave Arizona for a couple reasons. First, the Pads won’t have to face him anymore. Second, the kid deserves better than Bob Brenly. Diamondback fans are going to hate this trade in a couple years (or sooner). Shea Hillenbrand, the career .284/.317/.432 hitter? They didn’t even get the right Boston third baseman!

Wonder if the Pads could move Keith Lockhart for John Patterson. Hey, Lockhart is a good veteran presence.

Scott Linebrink

Great pickup here. What were the Astros thinking? Linebrink‘s numbers aren’t eye-popping but the guy has a good arm when healthy and he’s got some upside. The 26-year-old right-hander was a second-round pick of the Giants back in 1997, out of Southwest Texas State. Linebrink made his Padre debut last night and pitched a scoreless ninth. Tell you what: If I’m Jaret Wright, I’m more than a little concerned:

            IP H  HR BB SO  ERA
Linebrink 32.2 40  4 14 17 4.13
Wright    27.1 40  5 17 25 7.57

Plus, Wright has been particularly brutal of late. His last five outings:

 IP  H HR BB SO   ERA
6.2 14  2  7  7 14.85

Don’t want to get too excited about a guy like Linebrink, but I like the fact that Kevin Towers and company are at least paying attention. Linebrink is a gamble worth taking. Just like Wright was. The fact that Wright hasn’t worked out doesn’t make it any worse of a gamble. With luck, Linebrink will turn out better.

Personally, I’ve seen Linebrink in person once. I can’t give a scouting report, and even if I could it was several years ago so it might not be accurate.

1997. San Jose. The just-drafted Linebrink makes his home debut for the Cal League Giants. The only things I remember from the game are that Linebrink threw hard and struck out 10 in 6 innings (if memory serves), and that the starting pitcher for Stockton was current White Sox reliever Kelly Wunsch.

Just for grins, I went back and looked for an old report on Linebrink. Here’s one, from John Sickels’ 1999 book:

He can get his fastball to 93-95 MPH with movement and also has a good slider and a forkball he uses as a changeup… Linebrink throws hard and throws strikes. He missed time last year [1998] with a sore shoulder, so injuries may be a problem. If he stays healthy he has a good future. Grade B-

For further grins, here are Sickels’ reports from that year on some other current Padres:

Adam Eaton
He has a 93-MPH fastball, a change, a curve and good control, but his performance in the high Class-A Florida State League was lackluster. He also missed part of the season with shoulder trouble. Eaton is your standard projectable young pitcher. He has a good arm and good makeup but will have to prove he can stay healthy… Grade C

This one will break your heart:

Gary Matthews Jr.
He’s a fine athlete with good speed, moderate power, good command of the strike zone and excellent defensive skills in center field… On the downside, he strikes out a bit too much for comfort, but given his high walk rate I don’t worry about the whiffs very much. Matthews has great range in the outfield and can handle center without difficulty. The Padres have a pair of potential Seven Skill talents in Matthews and Mobile teammate Mike Darr. They shouldn’t have problems filling holes in the outfield for some time. Grade B+

By all that is Kory DeHaan and Shane Victorino in this world, I should hope not!

Ramon Vazquez
He seldom is referred to as a prospect but Vazquez has the first thing I notice about a hitter: command of the strike zone. his power is limited and he’s not a .300 hitter, but he draws a lot of walks, doesn’t strike out excessively and is young enough to have growth potential. His defense at shortstop is sufficient. He has decent range and isn’t overly error-prone… I like his walks and his age but want to see him in Double-A. Grade C+

Kevin Walker
Walker was drafted in the sixth round in 1995 out of Kerry Wood’s high school in Texas. A tall left-hander, Walker’s fastball is in the 86-88 MPH range but has good movement. He has a solid changeup and has worked on improving his curve, though it’s still erratic. His control is good but could be better. His stuff doesn’t overpower people and the more command of it he has, the better off he’ll be. There isn’t much that stands out about Walker or his numbers, but he’s young, stays healthy and usually throws strikes. That gives him a chance. Grade C

Hope you enjoyed that little stroll down the well-traveled memory lane.

We’ll wrap things up today with a special weekend edition of the Mailbag. Today’s letter comes from J.B., who writes:

Thanks for the great Pads site. If you looked into your crystal ball, what would Ramon Vazquez be doing in a couple years? Getting stronger and becoming an impactful offensive player, or being shoved aside by Khalil Greene?

Also, does it pain you that D’Angelo Jimenez was given up on so quickly? I’ve seen him play a few times here in Chicago, and he seems to be a very solid player with decent pop for a middle infielder.

Thanks for writing, J.B.! To answer your first question, I have no idea. And I don’t think the Padres do either. This may seem like the easy way out, but bear with me here. Vazquez, in my estimation, is a solid big-league shortstop. He’s also a good top-of-the-order hitter, at least against righties. But there are people in the organization who feel his best position is second base, so it is possible that Greene will move him to the other side of the bag.

Problem there is that the Padres also have Jake Gautreau and Josh Barfield at second in the minors. Gautreau is closer but his colitis is seriously complicating things for him. Barfield’s future, from what I understand (and having seen him play second base on more than one occasion, it makes sense to me), is likely in the outfield.

But here’s where thing get really interesting. Supposedly the Pads are poised to make a run at Oakland’s Miguel Tejada or Japan’s Kaz Matsui to take over at shortstop. What, then, happens to Greene? Can’t move him to third, Sean Burroughs (and, in his own mind, Phil Nevin) is already there. Can’t move him to first, that’s Nevin/Ryan Klesko territory. Outfield? Not likely. Xavier Nady, Mark Kotsay, and one of Nevin or Klesko will be out there. Which leaves second base. Which puts Vazquez to the bench or on another team.

The more I think about the entire situation, the less clear it becomes to me how everything will be resolved. If I had to take a WAG, I’d say that come 2005, Matsui will be at shortstop, Greene will be at second base, Barfield will be playing left field at Portland, and Gautreau and Vazquez will be playing elsewhere. But really, so much depends on what the Pads do this off-season in terms of pursuing a free agent shortstop.

That and a red wheelbarrow.

Anyway, I hope the Pads find a place for Vazquez. The kid can play.

As for your second question, I’ll answer it this way: I’m sorry Jimenez didn’t work out here. I should point out that he wasn’t given up on quickly. Here’s what he did as a Padre:

  G  AB   H 2B 3B HR BB  SO  BA OBP SLG
173 629 162 30  4  6 73 131 258 333 347

Those aren’t bad numbers, but they’re not great. And there were some pretty serious questions about his desire when he was in San Diego. Jimenez got off to a good start this year with the White Sox, and that’s nice to see. I hope it works out for him there.

My only regret is that Kevin Towers wasn’t able to get more of value for Jimenez. On the other hand, he gave up a few months of Watermelon Man to get the guy, so it’s hard to complain too much. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. Jimenez didn’t; maybe he will with the Pale Hose.

That’s my time. Thanks, you’ve been a wonderful audience. Drive home safely!