Is it just me or, did it seem like Friday would never arrive this week? Well, it’s here now. Let’s see what we’ve got:

• Brazelton shelled again (San Diego Union Tribune). All I know is that giving up eight earned runs in four innings shouldn’t lower your ERA. As Nick G. pointed out in Thursday’s IGD, Brazelton actually reduced his ERA by surrendering three runs in the first. From the article: “Bochy, who said reliever Brian Sweeney is now a starting candidate, was troubled by the body language and reactions to adversity Brazelton displayed in yesterday’s 9-2 loss to the Florida Marlins.” Mark Grant also mentioned Brazelton’s body language during the television broadcast. I hope we don’t have another Dennis Tankersley on our hands here.
• Gonzalez shows Marlins what they’re missing (North County Times). For the second straight game, Adrian Gonzalez drilled a ball off the scoreboard in left center that probably goes out at Petco Park. His opposite field power is surprising the heck out of me. Also, according to Marlins outfielder Chris Aguila, a former roommate of his, Gonzalez is “a great cook — great Mexican food.” A man of many talents.
• Chandler cooks up tasty tales of Padres (San Diego Union Tribune). This one’s been sitting out there for a while, but former Padres broadcaster Bob Chandler has written a book. If there’s anyone around who knows more about this franchise, I sure couldn’t tell you who it is. Sounds like a fun read.
• There’s a new Padres blog called Padre Postings over at the pay-to-write MLBlogs.com service.
• Another new blog is Baseball Minutia, which claims to be “sifting through baseball’s past, present and future.” It has a bit of a Cincinnati Reds slant, but this one looks promising. [Tip o' the Ducksnorts cap to Baseball Musings.]
• Tigers off to a blazing start (ESPN.com). Speaking of minutiae, there’s plenty for everyone in Jayson Stark’s latest column.
• Opening Day Player Payroll: Inside the Numbers (Hardball Times). Maury Brown takes a good, hard look at payrolls throughout the league this year as compared to last year. In the NL West, only the Padres and Dodgers increased theirs. The Pads median salary checks in at $925k, which is 16th in MLB. Only the Rockies in the NL West are lower, at $350k. Also, if you’re wondering why nobody is going to Marlins games, maybe the fact that they slashed payroll by 75% while raising ticket prices by 7% has something to do with it.

Whoomp there it is. Go Pads!