Barfield Takes Second
Tue, Mar 28, 2006
by Geoff Young
Josh Barfield officially has won the starting second base job for the Padres thanks to a monster spring. Reminiscent of what Khalil Greene did in 2004, Barfield came out and took charge immediately, never letting up until there was no choice but to name him the starter.
Just 23 years old, Barfield compiled a .300/.351/.445 line in over 2400 minor-league at-bats. He has hit 25+ doubles and 15+ homers in each of the past three seasons.
Although Barfield could control the strike zone a little better, there is cause for optimism in that department:
| Age | Lvl | BB/PA | BB/SO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | A/A+ | .045 | .248 |
| 20 | A+ | .081 | .410 |
| 21 | AA | .083 | .403 |
| 22 | AAA | .090 | .481 |
This isn’t radical improvement, but it is steady. And most impressively, Barfield has been getting better while he’s moving up levels. I don’t want to read too much into anything or place undue expectations on the kid, but this is a good sign. It suggests that, as he did this spring, Barfield is ready, willing, and able to respond to challenges.
Padres officials have raved about Barfield’s defense, which is another area where he has improved greatly over the years. By his own admission, “I was terrible at second when I got drafted.” And it wasn’t so long ago that there were rumblings of moving him to a corner outfield spot. Such talk is now a distant memory.
Barfield has impressed the brass with his demeanor and his ability to perform under pressure. He attributes his even keel to his father’s influence (Jesse Barfield hit 241 big-league homers between 1981 and 1992):
My dad was always the same when he came home after a game, whether he’d had a great game or a bad game. I learned a lot from that.
Middle infielder with gaps power and maturity beyond his years? In the words of Galahad, “He says they’ve already got one.”
In the words of yours truly, now we’ve got two.
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March 28, 2006 at 9:35 am
Excellent news on Barfield. Doesn’t make the Loretta trade any better, but at least we’re preparing for 2007.
Now can we trade Sledge to the Angels for McPherson? The Angels want a LH bat and McPherson might not make their 25 man roster.
I wouldn’t give up Ben Johnson for McPherson. Dallas isn’t that young.
It’d be great to do an expanded deal - Klesko, Sledge, 5 million dollars for McPherson and Yan. The money would have to be fixed better than that. Trade Castilla somewhere else and take back Alfonzo?
March 28, 2006 at 9:43 am
Hooray for Barfield.
Can’t wait for the season to start.
GO Padres!
March 28, 2006 at 9:55 am
I dunno. I take Sledge over Ben Johnson (and Dave Roberts for that matter if we had a leadoff alternative). Sledge has proven he can perform at the major league level. Let’s be honest, Ben Johnson is no Jason Bay. He’s been languishing in our system since we got him in ‘99 (for Carlos Hernandez, if I remember correctly). Yeah, not sold on McPherson, either. Angels seem to overhype their prospects (sound familiar
). We have some prospects down the pipe and there will be some FAs in the market (check Baltimore for potential future third baggers), if they need more time. All the same, I give them Johnson and Ashby (great guy, BP pitcher - make me eat my words, Ash!) for McPherson, for insurance anyway.
March 28, 2006 at 10:04 am
Sledge is 29 years old himself. For all his languishing, Johnson is 4+ years younger than Sledge.
Johnson’s not only younger, he’s never torn his hamstring, is a better athlete, plays better defense, and has more power. Less service time than Sledge, too. I’d rather not give him up for someone as suspect as McPherson.
Do you think we’re going to give Melvin Mora 10 million a year for 4 years to play 3b? Why would we do that if we have some prospects down the pipe? McPherson and Castilla platoon this season, McPherson plays full-time next year, we don’t have to rush Headley. Sounds like a winning idea. If we trade Johnson, we should at least get one of their spare bullpen arms too.
March 28, 2006 at 11:34 am
Agreed, Geoff. That sort of progress on plate discipline while moving up quickly through the minors is a good sign. May not translate right away at the big league level, but Barfield is looking good and should solidify the middle infield for a few years to come.
March 28, 2006 at 11:59 am
Brief change of subject to rant: I can’t confirm it other than what’s on ESPN’s transaction page, but apparently the Padres tried to pass Stephen Andrade through waivers and he was claimed by KC. I hope that’s an error, but for a team that lacks bullpen depth at the moment, this seems like a silly move. Andrade was having a solid Spring for a Rule V pick. For every step forward this team seems to take, it takes two steps back when it comes to roster management.
March 28, 2006 at 12:29 pm
I had heard that they were going to try and pass a few guys through waivers, so that’s within the realm of possibility.
Seems kind of weird though.
March 28, 2006 at 12:34 pm
GY - I appreciate this news … but let’s not move on from the “Repeal Garvey’s Number” conversation … what do you think Matt V’s plans might be? ie. Why did he spark this conversation?
March 28, 2006 at 12:52 pm
At the risk of further straying from Garvey … here’s a note for y’all in SD … Nate Silver, of Baseball Prospectus, will be the radio down there tonight, on XPRS 1090 AM (The Mighty 1090), Tuesday, March 28th, 8:35pm PT … I’ll bet he’ll be interesting … I know his writing is!
March 28, 2006 at 1:12 pm
At further risk of further straying from Garvey … here’s a note from a Kevin Goldstein article @ BP today … about spring good’s & bad’s …
Disappointing: Dallas McPherson, 3B/DH. While he’s no longer officially a prospect, McPherson is anything but an established big leaguer either, and now he’s an injury-plagued slugger returning to Triple-A. The trend lines are all going in the wrong direction here.
PLAYER AVG OBP SLG AB R H 2B 3B HR BB SO
D. McPherson .161 .235 .226 31 3 5 0 1 0 3 11
March 28, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Bruce: No misprint, Andrade has been claimed by the Royals.
LM: I can’t remember what exactly sparked the conversation other than the Pads were down 10-2 in the eighth and it was time to talk about something other than the game.
March 28, 2006 at 2:39 pm
Weird bullpen happenings. Padres have traded for Aquilino Lopez:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....type=story
March 28, 2006 at 2:45 pm
We couldn’t use Andrade, but we trade for an older reliever who walks 4.5 per 9?
March 28, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Let’s be a bit fair:
Andrade is 2 years older than Lopez, has pitched a total of 13 innings at AAA and 3.0 BB/9 in the minors. He had never pitched more than 61 innings in a year
Lopez has 100+ major league innings, 14 saves. 2.55BB/9 in the minors.
Given they would have had to keep Andrade on the 25 man roster all year, I think the decision is reasonable.
March 28, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Yes, let’s be fair.
Andrade is 2 years YOUNGER than Lopez. He was drafted in 2001. Climbing to the majors in 4 seasons is a reasonable pace.
He strikes out 4 for every 1 he walks. Better than Lopez, but not by a bunch (3.75).
He strikes out 13, that’s 13, per 9. That’s much better than Lopez’s 9.6.
His minor league WHIP is .94. Again, substantially better than Lopez’s 1.14.
Seems like the only minor league numbers you want to use are the ones that make Lopez look a little better. You can’t on one hand promote Lopez’s major league experience as a plus but turn a blind eye to his major league walk rate. But let’s say that Lopez and Andrade were the same. Why is Scott Cassidy still around? They’re both better than Cassidy.
March 28, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Whoops, he seems to have Dominican multiple age syndrome. Baseball cube lists him as being born in 1980 (hence my comment), everyone else shows 1975.
March 28, 2006 at 5:38 pm
1980 would make a big difference.
March 29, 2006 at 4:45 am
For what it’s worth, the Phillies website says 1975. We should probably go with that. Sure would be nice if he was 26, though.