Many years ago I worked with a guy who had been fired from a supervisor position. He sued the company for wrongful termination and ended up getting rehired at a much lower level. He hated the new job, hated the company, and was generally a pretty miserable fellow. I found myself irritated at his attitude a lot of the time, but after a while I mostly just felt sorry for him. It wasn’t really a good way to be going through life.
. . .
I don’t know what more to say about Phil Nevin at this point. In case you missed it, he has vetoed a trade that would have sent him to Baltimore for Sidney Ponson.
Presumably Nevin is doing what he feels is best for himself and his family, and it’s hard to fault him for that. It’s hard to fault anybody for that. But he’s not doing much to help the Padres, and he isn’t particularly wanted by them. I hate to admit it, but there’s a part of me that respects the hell out of Nevin for sticking to his guns and staying where he wants to stay.
But most of me is just baffled by his rejecting another trade so that he can remain and take on a reduced role in an organization that evidently doesn’t see him fitting into their plans. I realize this is where his family is, and where he wants to be. But at some point you have to get up and go back to work. I dunno, I haven’t walked in the guy’s shoes, but I imagine it’d be tough to find much pleasure in doing my job after my employer had made it clear that they no longer needed nor desired my services.
How can I even be mad at the guy? I’m mad at the situation, and exasperated with him. But right now I mostly feel sorry for Nevin. And I suspect that this story is far from over. Should be an interesting summer in San Diego…
Just popping over here from Ruz’s CubReporter. This whole thing is quite interesting. First of all, why would the Padres try and move him to a team that is on the “no-trade” list? Second, what are all the teams on the list? Third, why doesn’t he get the hint? According to the link you have listed, this is the 3rd attempted trade of Nevin in the past few years. Geez.
Somebody needs to start paying attention. Nevin needs to start paying attention to the GM, and Sandy needs to start reading the contracts!
I am actually a fan of Phil Nevin. I would have loved to see him succeed. It’s just not going to happen, though.
That being said, I’m a bigger Padre fan than I am a Nevin fan and this is bad for the Padres so I say screw him.
Just wanted to say that I’m disappointed that the trade didn’t go through. I did expect Nevin to veto it because of his family. I just hope that they do make good on their promise to make Xavier their starting first baseman. I wonder if they’ll try to trade Nevin to any other teams before the trading deadline. How about the Angels? It’s still Southern California and he could DH.
I think the Angels would be a great fit, and I doubt it would take much to get him.
BTW, has anyone looked at the starting pitchers that might be available on non-contenders? It’s a pretty sad list. Casey Fossum? Ryan Franklin? Aaron Sele? Ramon Ortiz? Josh Fogg? I’m just guessing at these but there ain’t a lot out there.
Aaron Harang.
Actually, Nevin didnt reject the trade today, he just continued with what he had already bargained for. That is, that he didnt want to be traded to Baltimore and 7 other places. There was nothing to reject. All the Padres(front office) could hope for was to convince him to WAIVE his no trade rights.
There is a big difference.
I’d love to see Nevin go. He just seems to be picking up a paycheck – no emotion on the field at all. Plus, he’s had mediocre numbers the last couple of years. The padres will be better off the sooner he’s gone.
no emotion on the field? what team have you been watching?
Semantics, Hank. The reason this trade didn’t go through is that Nevin said no.
Yes, Phil said no. And yes, the Padres gave him the no-trade clause (which by the way will be full-fledged next season, so there goes Phil in SD again next year).
I’ve been thinking about this attempt at a trade. I’m glad we don’t have to put up with Ponson (rather the devil you know than the one you don’t kind of thing). I’m wondering if the attempted trade was just a move by the organization to push Bochy’s hands at starting Nady more.
Perhaps, Phil wasn’t hearing it or feeling it and it takes a drastic step by the front office to wake him up and say, Phil, you are a bench player now. Of course, coming off 7-game losing streak (and counting) made the feeling clearer for K-evin that hey, he’s not helping the team much.
I’m just worried about the effect of part time K-evin on the clubhouse.
Here’s to the rest of a better season. Randa/Nady over Burroughs/K-evin. Unlike K-evin, I’m sure Burroughs will regain his .300 hitter self. Now if only he’ll pull those balls more.
Go Padres!
Wow, Geoff, your comments are a display of empathy … they match my feelings … I wish I could express the quandry as well as you have. C’mon, all Padres fans are Nevin fans … he’s a good man and was a good player during a dry spell for the team (and the Padres are team with lots of those … like Nate Colbert, Dave Winfield, Gene Richards, John Grubb, Randy Jones … even the bulk of Tony’s career was “dry” (’85 to ’95)) …
Hey Hawkeye, thanks for stopping by, but it’s clear to me that KT has been trying to move Nevin ANYWHERE … and the only taker was Baltimore … so why not try a squeeze move … the risk, as others have said, is “club house chemistry” … I’m a believer that “club house chemistry” is over-rated, that it’s really a synonym for “winning” (ie. winning teams have good club house chemistry, by defintion) …
I think the 2005 (and beyond) Padres have a better chance of winning with Ponson … now that that’s not an option, I think they have a better chance of winning with Nady being the starting 1B-man …
And I hope Nevin does well off the bench … so that he’s in position to help the team if Nady gets injured …
LM: It took me a while to get to the point of empathy. My wife and I went out for a walk along Mission Bay, and talked about it most of the time (I love that woman). By the end of it, I was sure that I felt frustrated and angry and equally sure that Nevin per se was not the source of those feelings. I truly, truly hope this works out for all involved.