For our 10th anniversary my wife and I are travelling around Southern California, hitting all the places we ordinarily take for granted ― Palm Springs, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, Temecula. It’s like the Cal League tour, with less baseball and more wife.
Saturday morning we drove up the mountain to Julian, stopping at Dudley’s Bakery for danishes and loaves of bread along the way. The road winds through some beautiful country and goes well with a generous helping of Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American.
Speaking of which, if there is a better constructed pop song than “Sweetness,” I’d like to hear it. Actually, the entire album is well put together. Reliable, consistent, strong.
I’m not sure all of those words apply to Padres shortstops in 2005, but for the most part they were pretty good. And with Khalil Greene just entering his prime, shortstop shouldn’t be a concern for the Padres or their fans in the near future.
[Previous entries in this series: catcher | first base | second base | third base]
| BA | OBP | SLG | BB/PA | ISO | SEC | RC/27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padres shortstops | .237 | .297 | .392 | .069 | .155 | .247 | 4.00 |
| MLB rank | 28 | 26 | 12 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 17 |
| Stats courtesy of ESPN. Color key: green, top 10; yellow, middle 10; red, bottom 10. |
|||||||
| FPct | RF | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padres shortstops | .966 | 4.09 | |||||
| MLB average | .976 | 4.51 | |||||
| Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. Color key: green, above average; red, below average. |
|||||||
As he has since reaching the Show late in 2003, Khalil Greene saw most of the action at shortstop for the Padres. Damian Jackson, Jesse Garcia, and Geoff Blum filled in while Greene was hurt, with Wilson Valdez and Manny Alexander also seeing some time at the position. Even Sean Burroughs played two innings. Hey, if Dave Magadan could get some time at short back in the day, why not Burroughs?
Khalil Greene
Summary
| BA | OBP | SLG | BB/PA | ISO | XBH/H | RC/27 | OPS+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | .273 | .349 | .446 | .096 | .173 | .379 | 5.37 | 112 |
| 2005 | .250 | .296 | .431 | .053 | .181 | .431 | 4.32 | 97 |
| Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com. Color key: green, positive trend; red, negative trend. |
||||||||
| FPct | RF | DP/9 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greene | .971 | 4.14 | .559 | |||||
| MLB average | .976 | 4.51 | .660 | |||||
| Stats courtesy of ESPN. Color key: green, above average; red, below average. |
||||||||
Expectations
From my season preview over at Baseball Think Factory:
Defensively Greene doesn’t have spectacular range but he has good instincts and a quick release on his throws. He also turns the double play well and doesn’t panic. Greene was one of the keys to the Padres’ big turnaround in 2004. If he stays healthy, he should build on his rookie season and be a very productive hitter at the bottom of the order, with 20+ homers a real possibility.
Positives
- Demonstrated that power wasn’t a fluke, improving on rookie numbers.
- Increased consistency on defense.
- Leads by example; young but already a good clubhouse presence.
Negatives
- Made two trips to DL.
- Big step backward in plate discipline; some might attribute this to less time in the #8 hole, but even when he did hit in that spot, he wasn’t drawing walks (8 in 142 AB in 2005; 38 in 262 AB in 2004).
- Showed less range in the field than he did as a rookie.
Outlook
Injuries and declining walk rates are legitimate concerns with Greene. He plays solid defense, has good pop for a middle infielder, and despite his calm demeanor is an intense competitor. His list of comparable players at the same age is all over the map, from guys like Dave Nilsson, Todd Zeile, and Jeff Kent at one end of the spectrum to the likes of Orlando Cabrera, Ernest Riles, and Neifi Perez at the other. And of course his top comp is A’s young shortstop Bobby Crosby.
On a team in transition, Greene is one of the few certainties. He already is the Padres all-time leader in home runs RBI (thanks, Pat, for the correction) at shortstop. If Greene can regain some of the plate discipline he displayed as a rookie and continue to develop his power, he could quickly vault into the top tier of shortstops. Even if he falls a little short of those heights, he’ll be a fixture in San Diego for years to come.
Well, what happened on the rest of the trip, Julian and….?
PM: We’re still on the trip, so I can’t give you all the deets just yet – Santa Barbara yesterday, Temecula today. Here’s a little more on the Julian trip from the cutting room floor (director’s cut, if you will):
In Julian we rummaged through a used bookstore, had barbecue and Hefeweizen at Bailey Woodpit Barbecue, and drifted without purpose through various shops of assorted knick knacks. After sufficient aimless wandering and picking up the obligatory apple pie with crumb topping at Mom’s Pies (http://www.momspiesjulian.com/), we returned home via the southern route that runs through Cuyamaca.
Have a great trip, Geoff.
Love that roundabout Julian-Cuyamaca.
OK, here’s in:
The Mariners have signed Japanese free-agent catcher Kenji Johjima to a three-year, $16.5 million contract. More than I thought the Padres was going to get him for. That third year is a deal-killer.
Speaking of the Mariners, can we swap Klesko for Ichiro. They need a LH bat and we only pay $2.5 mil more for a RF who can lead off and get on base and steal and run bases and throw and score. OK, maybe not the last one but the other stuff are good, right? Good. Heck, they can have Chan Ho too for free.
I just found out:
November 16, 2005 Signed free agent infielder Geoff Blum, who had been with the Chicago White Sox, to a one-year contract.
Geoff, I think you meant to say KG is already the all-time leader in RBI from SS. Tempy still has a slight edge on him in HR. Either way it’s amazing he’s already showing up in these categories in his 2nd/3rd year when the franchise has been around for 36!
Padres just traded for Bobby Hill. Hank and Peggy are very happy, but Boomhauer and Dale are despondent.
Does this mean Luanne is moving west too?
Cool, have a great trip. Take all the two lanes roads to find the cool placse. Look forward to reading you travel stuff. Hey, is being a sports writer doesn’t start paying soon, which to travel stuff.
I’m wondering if Greene’s plate discipline will rebound or get worse… I heard a comment his dad made (not the most neutral observer), “He’s only scratched the surface.”
I like Greene, but if he 1. doesn’t stay healthy, and 2. doesn’t improve, we need to start having some discussions about a potential replacement.
***
On an unrelated note, I sure hope Hernandez & Hoffy get signed (by other teams) before we HAVE to offer arbitration. I want extra draft picks!
Don’t get me wrong – I like Khalil a lot. But does the team think he’s improving/maturing defensively? Right now he’s below average – unless there are — and there usually are — some intangibles that bring him up. His defensive numbers are below those of, say, Chris Gomez, when he was a Pad. Of course, he hits better. So is that what we are looking at – average to below-average defense and a plus hitter for his position? Love the site – Jeff
We have a Peter Friberg sighting! Where the hell ya been, Peter?!?
Yes, we need a backup SS just in case Greene got another weird injury.
Welcome back, Peter. We missed your writing.
Anybody read Korean? Because I’m thinking these have got to be funny:
http://tinyurl.com/86959
http://tinyurl.com/ct9f4
Bench looks pretty good so far. Welcome back, Geoff Blum.
Speaking of bench players, we re-signed EY for $700K, $150K less than his option which we did not pick up. Nice little cost cutting measure there, I guess.
My .02 on the shortstop question: I’m not convinced Greene is the SS of the future. I think he may have more potential as the 3B of the future. I think his range is overrated because of his “highlight reel” rookie year. There were very few balls in 2005 which he laid out for and came up with relative to 2004. He’s athletic and quick though, both of which would hold him in good stead at third, and he has the arm for it. At 3B he could afford to bulk up more than he can at SS, adding to his power which is already pretty good.
None of the above addresses his plate disicipline though. IMO, some of that can be developed by an intelligent, mature player, so I have hope for him in this area.
We didn’t save money on EY. Paid him 150K when we declined his option.
Makes one wonder what the point of not just picking up the option was.
The only thing I can think of is that a buyout of a 2006 option can be applied to either the team’s 2005 or 2006 books, so they must be applying it to the 2005 books. This “frees up” $150k for 2006.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5106080
Ken Rosenthal says that Giles asked the Padres for 3 years/$30 million and the Padres will likely reject it. He also says they would replace him with Jacque Jones at $4-5 mil per and would like to sign Ausmus as the everyday catcher. Does this make any kind of sense? Ausmus and Jones together won’t match Giles’ production, the offense will go in the toilet Say they pay $5 million for Jones and $2 million for Ausmus, why not just pay Giles the 10 and go with Olivo full time? And if they let Giles go aren’t they forced to resign Trevor from a PR standpoint?
I was against resigning Giles if it cost them the kind of money he’ll get from the Yankees but if he’s willing to sign for 3/30 the Padres need to do it. The same article says Johnny Damon will be lucky to get 4/48 and I’d much rather have Giles even at that price.
It seems to me that if Giles would sign a 3/$30 mil, the Padres would be stupid to decline right away, especially if Jones is the replacement. Of course, if the last year’s contract is filled with incentives, I’d feel much better.
I don’t see how Ausmus would be leaving the Astros. Jones is not even a good bunter. My Twins friend told me that he can’t take advantage of his speed to get on base.
Brad Ausmus is a candidate for the “Worst Hitter In Whole Entire Friggin’ World” title, and Jacque Jones is a pretty nice fourth outfielder.
I’d rather go with Olivo at catcher and sign a one year stopgap in the Reggie Sanders/Rondell White mold for the outfield.
The organization is too stupid and cowardly to just stick Ben Johnson out there and see if he can play. Sooner or later you have to decide which of the kids you think are gonna be good, play them, and live with the results.
Seriously, what Lance said. If we get another San Diego native to appease local fans, I’ll strangle puppies. Ben Johnson would be better and cheaper than all of the above and free up money to go after starting pitching. Not necessarily on the free agent market, but we could at least absorb a contract. I think 3/30 is a bit steep for Giles but not undoable, and I don’t think it is realistic on the open market. I think 3/40 is more likely what’ll happen if the Yankees are doing the bidding, so, all things considered, I think we should do it or play Johnson if those are the options. I think this is very much an organization in need of a direction right now.
And under no circumstances should we have Ausmus.
Has there really been any reporting that the Padres were interested in Ausmus?
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