Time for the wacky weekly wrapup that is Friday Links. Here’s what’s going on out there:
- Top 100 San Diego Padres: #100 Akinori Otsuka (Future Friars). Richard Wade and Lance Richardson kick off their ambitious “Top 100 Padres” series with one of my personal favorites. I can hardly wait to see who came in at #99.
- Bullpen still taking shape (Padres.com). Among other things, the Padres are looking at carrying 12 pitchers. That seems a bit excessive to me, but oh well. Also, when did Eric Junge and Jon Adkins become part of the mix?
- Trade of Ross indicates Barfield will be a starter (North County Times). Good news on two fronts. David Ross wasn’t needed here, so the Padres got a decent prospect for him (Baseball America had ranked Bobby Basham as the Reds’ #24 prospect this year — ex-Padre Justin Germano checked in at #21 for comparison). And anything that clears a path for Josh Barfield is okay in my book.
- Top 50 Prospects of 2006: 36-40 (Hardball Times). Aaron Gleeman takes a stab at ranking the prospects. Barfield checks in at #39.
- Hells Bells Ring In San Diego – For Japan (San Diego Spotlight). Rich Campbell takes a look at this week’s WBC finale at Petco Park. As Rich notes, “this World Baseball Classic has provided a showcase for much of what is good about the sport.” I couldn’t agree more. My expectations coming into this thing weren’t much — I thought it would be fun and little else — but it pretty well blew me away. Good stuff, Rich.
- World Baseball Classic Finals Photos (Gaslamp Ball). Pretty much what the title says. Those sandwiches look good.
- Blums grateful for choice made in momentous parental decision (San Diego Union-Tribune). Wow, I had no idea how difficult the pregnancy was. No wonder Geoff Blum was so torn in leaving San Diego last summer. Nice story.
- The 2006 Diamond Mind Projection Blowout (Replacement Level Yankees Weblog). Larry Mahnken has run some pretty exhaustive simulations of the upcoming season using various projection systems. He has the Padres winning 74-78 games this year. [Tip of the Ducksnorts cap to Baseball Musings]
- Baseball Digest interview with REM’s Mike Mills (R.E.M.H.Q.). I love REM, at least I did before Bill Berry left. A band I played in back in college used to cover some of their songs, including “Texarkana,” which featured bassist Mills on lead vocals. Anyway, turns out he’s quite the baseball fan. His favorite player growing up? Rico Carty. [Tip of the Ducksnorts cap to Syntax of Things]
Well, there it is. Have an excellent weekend. If you’re headed to Yuma for the game tomorrow or Sunday, be sure to let us know how it goes.
“With David Ross traded, manager Bruce Bochy said utilityman Geoff Blum would be the Padres’ emergency catcher.”
I had absolutely no idea that Geoff Blum had caught before.
#99 is up.
San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Schmidt (W, 3-0) 7.0 5 2 1 2 4 0 2.00
Uh oh for Pads fans. Schmidts line today for the Giants.
I’m on Outsider Radio if anyone’s interested:
http://www.360thepitch.com/radio/outsiderradio/
My segment starts around 27 minutes in but you’ll want to listen to the whole thing.
Jesse – agree that that is a “Giant uh oh” … as is this “health report” from BP …
green light SP Jason Schmidt: Schmidt, a green? Yes. Beyond the flexor problem (and the compensation injuries to his shoulder and groin that followed), he’s been a four-year workhorse. That flexor problem tends to persist in the short term, but he’s already outside that window.
… if Schmidt makes 30 starts and Bonds get 400 PAs, the G’ints’ll be tough to beat.
re: Giants … on the other hand, here’s a note from yesterday’s USA Today …
RHP Brad Hennessey, a candidate for the No. 5 job in the rotation, surrendered six runs (four earned) and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings Thursday, becoming the third straight Giants starter (following LHP Noah Lowry and RHP Matt Cain) to struggle.
… good news!