Monday Morning Notes
Mon, Dec 5, 2005
by Geoff Young
Spent a good chunk of yesterday down at Hospitality Point. Didn’t do much, mainly just read some David Sedaris, listened to the iPod, and stared at sailboats on the water. I live about 15 minutes from the beach and can’t be bothered to get down there more than a handful of times a year. That really needs to change.
But enough about me, you came for the links. Here they are, go crazy:
- Padres’ roster a work in progress (Padres.com). The Padres head into the winter meetings looking for help in the bullpen and behind the plate. Adam Eaton and (gulp) Tim Stauffer are mentioned as possible trade bait. Quoth Kevin Towers: “We haven’t shopped Eaton much, but if I was able to fill a couple of needs, it’s something we’d have to think about, moving one of our starters.” The Reds are said to be interested in Stauffer, with Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns mentioned as players they might consider moving.
- In the fold, Giles turns to recruiting (NC Times). Brian Giles tries to keep Hoffman in town, trade talks with the Red Sox and Rangers, and more.
- Tribe lands starter Byrd; is Hoffman next? (Canton Repository). Apparently Trevor Hoffman spent a lot of time with the Indians brain trust this weekend.
- P.O.T.D.: Trevor Hoffman (InsideThePark.com). This one’s been out there a while but I just found it. Nice statistical breakdown of Hoffman, from the perspective of whether the Mariners should/could attempt to sign him. Like I said, it’s a little old — to the best of my knowledge, Seattle isn’t a player for Hoffman. Still, this is a good read.
- (Boston.com). A whole lot of names being thrown around in the potential David Wells trade. Like others in the comments to our Friday Free-for-All, I don’t see how giving up Mark Loretta makes any sense unless there is a lot more to the deal. There’s also a note that the Padres may be interested in Nomar Garciaparra to play second base, which for reasons elucidated in the comments, doesn’t seem like a real good idea either. Here’s hoping this is all just wishful thinking on the part of the Boston contingent.
- A big year for a smaller McAnulty (Scout.com). Last, but by no means least, a little love for P-Mac.
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December 6, 2005 at 4:11 pm
Tuesday’s U-T reported the Padres have signed outfielder Jack Cust. This kid could always mash, but he’s probably a worse fielder than Ryan Klesko.
December 6, 2005 at 6:09 pm
Yeah, I like that signing. Could be a potential replacement for Sweeney.
December 6, 2005 at 9:18 pm
This is as good as a minor league scrap heap signing gets.
Cust is an on-base machine! He posted a .402 OBP at Sacramento last season by drawing 115 BBs.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com.....cust.shtml
Looking at his numbers, his slugging numbers have taken a big hit since he left the friendly, high altitude ballparks of High Desert, El Paso, Tucson and Colorado Springs.
Bochy will dislike his lack of versatility, but he certainly could be a pinch hitting extraordinare like you said.