Friday Links (29 Dec 06)
Fri, Dec 29, 2006
by Geoff Young
It’s Friday. Time for the last link roundup of 2006. Go crazy:
- A baseball star’s death is shrouded in mystery (Los Angeles Times). Former Padres third baseman Chris Brown is dead at age 45 due to burns suffered in a fire at his home. Very strange, sad story.
- A Brief History (Lookout Landing). In light of Seattle’s recent signing of Sean “Don’t Call Me Wilton Guerrero Because I Don’t Have His Power” Burroughs, here’s an amusing list of players who have played for both the Padres and the Mariners.
- Baseball Digest Daily’s 2007 Top 100 Prospects: #1 - #50 (BDD). Only one Padres player is represented: Kevin Kouzmanoff checks in at #47.
- San Diego Padres Top Ten Prospects (Baseball Prospectus). Speaking of prospects, as many of you have pointed out (thank you!), Kevin Goldstein has published his list of top 10 Padres prospects. No huge surprises, although I think Will Venable might be ranked a little too low.
- Former Padres farmhand Jon Knott has signed with the Baltimore Orioles (hat tip Oriole Post). While we’re at it, Chris Oxspring has returned from Japan and signed with the Brewers. Oxspring was a favorite of mine when he pitched at Elsinore; here’s wishing him well in Milwaukee.
- The Johnson arms race (AZ Snakepit). Jim McLennan weighs in on the Randy Johnson situation. Like me, Jim isn’t real excited at the idea of giving up what the Yankees allegedly want in return for Johnson. With the Giants signing Barry Zito to a terrible contract, it’s up to the Dodgers to bail the rest of us out. Might I suggest sending Matt Kemp and James Loney to the Yankees.
- How Good Is Your #4 Starter? (Hardball Times; hat tip to Ben B. in the comments). Jeff Sackmann shows, among many other things, that the Padres had the lowest ERA in the #3, #4, and #5 rotation spots among National League clubs in 2006.
That’s all for now. Happy Friday!
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December 29, 2006 at 7:25 am
Love the Mariners-Padres piece, brief though it was; my favorite bit, naturally, is Dave Hansen making it on 3 of the 4 lists. Way to go, Dave!
December 29, 2006 at 8:41 am
A couple of stories of interest.
BLaw is being scouted by the Rockies. http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_4916398
Loretta is being considered by the Yankees to assume a utility infielder role. http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....7473c.html
If Loretta’s willing to take a role as a utility player and if Steve, in comment # 26 yesterday is right that we’ve offered him a 1 year $2 million deal, then I’d expect him to sign with SD, since he lives in the area. If I remember right, before we signed NOG, Loretta called Alderson and said he’d sign for a $2 million dollar, one year deal.
December 29, 2006 at 9:18 am
Here’s a strange question, if we signed Loretta what do we do with him? We already have Walker. Loretta doesn’t seem to be an option at SS, which Blum is (I know he’s not great, but still).
I’m not sure why we’d want him at this point unless we plan on trading Walker.
December 29, 2006 at 9:22 am
Re: 2 Loretta would prob end up being the yankees starting 1B.
December 29, 2006 at 12:22 pm
3-I agree. Lorreta is redundant at this point as he and Walker have approximately the same skill set. I wouldn’t mind having a veteran RH bat on the bench, but I doubt that it will be Loretta.
December 29, 2006 at 1:20 pm
We do need another righty on the bench, but we really need someone with pop. Loretta doesn’t really provide that.
December 29, 2006 at 1:25 pm
6 - Sammy Sosa perhaps? I hear he’s making a comeback.
It might be worth a $500,000 flyer or some such.
December 29, 2006 at 2:17 pm
I would like to see Sosa in padres blue and sand even less than I would want to see bonds with and SD on this cap.
December 29, 2006 at 3:09 pm
8 - You kidding, I’d love to see ol’ Sammy in the Gaslamp…especially if he’s back on the juice. C’mon, the guy loves baseball very very much.
December 29, 2006 at 3:12 pm
8: I agree.
December 29, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Sammy had a lot of attitude problems when he was with the cubs (part of the reason why he was shipped to the Oriels). Also Bonds was an MVP even before he started rubbing “flack seed oil” all over his body.
But what I really think turned me off of Sammy was the corked bat, there’s no excuse that’s cheating plain and simple.
December 29, 2006 at 4:28 pm
He’s basically a prima dona, and that fun-loving act was phony.
December 29, 2006 at 7:48 pm
#3
Loretta, before joining the Pads, was a decent SS for the Brewers. He played 328 games at short for the Brew crew, with a 983 fielding percentage (league average was 969 over the same stretch) played He would almost certainly be better there than Blum, and Loretta is by far the better hitter. Plus, he’s right-handed; Blum is weak from the right side, and historically Loretta has been very good vs. LHP.
December 29, 2006 at 8:03 pm
OT: Someone sent me this link to a “San Diego Padres Trade Tree”:
http://reallyawesomethings.blo.....-tree.html
Pretty cool…
December 29, 2006 at 8:47 pm
Geoff,That’s an eyefull. Something to glance at when forced to watch footlball bowl games.You should probably refer to it again next week, when more people are on board.
December 29, 2006 at 9:09 pm
RE 13: Loretta >>>>>>>>>>> Blum. I’d much rather see Mark out there for 30 to 40 games at SS while Khalil takes his annual finger break than Blum.
December 29, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Loretta hasn’t played more than 12 games at SS since 2000. I don’t see a team really expecting him to be a backup SS. If he could be, I’d certainly agree that I’d prefer him to Blum; however, since he isn’t a SS, Blum or another player who can backup Khalil is a necessity.
December 29, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Career games at SS,
Loretta v. Blum
328 172
Most games at SS in a season,
90 48
That 48 games was last season while filling in for the oft injured Mr. Greene. Prior to 2006 Blum’s season high was 44 games in 2000 and he hadn’t played more than 14 in a season since 2000. Between 2001 and 2005 Loretta played 30 games at SS, Blum played 38. In 2000 Loretta played 90 to Blum’s 44 (and it’s 74 to 42 Loretta in 1999, which was Blum’s rookie year).
I think Loretta is easily as well qualified, probably better qualified, to be a backup SS than Blum, even without offense factored in. Factor offense into the equation and I repeat:
Loretta >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Blum
December 30, 2006 at 5:11 am
I’m not sold as Loretta being a viable SS.
December 30, 2006 at 9:31 am
One of the things I remember about Blum is that when he came up, with the Expos, he had to be moved off shortstop because he was so bad defensively, and the Expos thought he would hit enough to play third. I think he made something like 11 errors in 40 games. (I only remember this because my Uncle was a huge Expos fan at the time - go figure. He’s not even Canadian.) Upon looking it up, I was mostly right - he made 10 errors in 42 games, but hit fairly well, with an OPS of 831. Of course, his bat never really got any better, and are we to assume that now, 8 years later, he’s a better defensive shortstop than he was then? He’s also only a year-and-a-half younger than Loretta, so it’s not like Blum is some unproven prospect. What you see with him is what you get. And it includes a.293 OBP.
December 30, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Given the choice, I’d prefer neither at SS.
Lets just hope Khalil stays healthy.
December 31, 2006 at 5:41 am
I think that’s what everybody hopes, but, unlike the Cubs with Prior and Wood, that hope should be tempered by a little bit of planning for the inevitability of injury. Greene hasn’t shown any ability to avoid injury, so it’s important to avoid the Manny Alexander syndrome and have a credible backup shortstop. Considering that the Padres drafted shortstops in the first round (including the first overall pick) twicee in the last 6 years, and neither of those are ever going to make the majors, we have to go outside the system to do so. Blum isn’t really an option. Loretta is better, because he can actually hit and has some measure of success at Petco. The ideal choices would have been Graffanino or Counsell, but I don’t think San Diego tried for either of them. I don’t like the idea that we have to assume an injury risk, but it’s there, and the difference between good teams and championship teams is in the margins - that is, in the way they construct their rosters to deal with injuries or ineffectiveness. The Padres didn’t manage their roster effectively at all last season, wasting hundreds of at-bats on Castilla, Bellhorn, Blum and Alexander on the left side of the infield. With just a league-average 3B over there perhaps San Diego wins the West by 3 games and can actually rest some of their regulars down the stretch. It’s conjecture, of course, but maybe that would have made a difference. With Kouzmanoff and Branyan, they’re immediately better at third, and the important thing now is to try to get better at shortstop, which they haven’t.
December 31, 2006 at 10:51 am
I gotta agree with you on Will Venable being too low. I got to watch him tear up the field in Fort Wayne this summer. Looking forward to seeing him on the pro level.
December 31, 2006 at 10:52 am
I’m also a little surprise that Kyle Blanks is not on that list. He may be a bit on the heavy side, but the kid has some power and is much faster than he looks.
December 31, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Why no SD interest in A Huff? Seems very versatile and durabile.In today’s big revenue market his price seemed reasonable.
January 1, 2007 at 12:07 am
22: Thanks for articulating that david. I think it was in the background and assumed to be understood (at least that was my assumption), but you put it out there in a very clear way.
25: Huff? Is he any better than Sledge? P-Mac? Heck, Branyan? I don’t think so and he’s more expensive than any of them. He’s still living off everyone’s memory of his 2003 season, but his trend has been steadily and unmistakably downward since then; plus, being a lefty in Petco would really crush his already drooping power.