The other day I asked why there aren’t more blogs about the Padres. Well, now there are! Check ‘em out when you have a moment:

• Padres Fans Since ’76 A little TMI in spots, but how can you not like their Keys to the Season. Good start here…
• Richard Bart [Update: Richard has rebranded his blog as Padres Press.] Brand spankin’ new, don’t know what he’s got yet. Stay tuned.

Hot damn, we’re gonna take over the world, I tell ya.

In other news, longtime reader LynchMob points us to this article over at Baseball Prospectus. Seems BPro’s PECOTA projection system sees Dave Roberts as a downgrade from last year’s Padre leadoff hitters. (Not everyone can hit .294/.337/.647 in that role like Khalil Greene did.)

Their system also takes an overly negative view of Mark Loretta and Phil Nevin, among others. My favorite line is this: “Mark Loretta is coming off a career year and isn’t at an age where players continue to get better.” In last year’s book, you may recall, Prospectus called Loretta a “good utility infielder and a mediocre regular”; he promptly took his game to new levels at age 32. One wonders what BPro’s latest comments will inspire him to do for an encore.

The article concludes: “Put it all together and the Padres might have a tough time competing with the Giants and Dodgers in 2005, as the roster stands.” I don’t know about all that, but I do know there are worse things in the world than being underestimated.

A few other items of note:

• Trendlines (Baseball on Blake Street). Rox blog has an interesting look at NL West over next 10 years. Sees immediate success for Pads, followed by a drought.
• Defensive Regression Analysis: Complete Series (Hardball Times). This is dense, and I’ll need some time to absorb all of it. But I’m glad to see folks thinking about defense.
• Fantasy Firefight (Baseball Prospectus). Need a reminder of just how much MLB loves its fans?

That’s all for now. Enjoy the long weekend…