The 11th annual list of Sports Weekly’s 100 Names You Need to Know has been published. Who is at #6? None other than Kevin Kouzmanoff. Two passages demand comment:
They have plenty of options there [at third base] if he [Kouzmanoff] fails, among them Russell Branyan, Geoff Blum and Todd Walker.
Those of you who aren’t in a coma will recognize that two of these aren’t actual options at third. Blum can’t hit, and Walker can’t throw. So it’s pretty much Kouzmanoff and Branyan.
Kouzmanoff, who has also played first base and was used mostly at DH by the Indians, might not make Padres fans forget the smooth-fielding Vinny Castilla, last season’s Opening Day starter, with the glove.
Let’s be honest. Does anyone here give a rat’s-you-know-what about Castilla’s fielding? And is anything short of a Neuralizer likely to make us forget the rest of his game? I think it’s safe to say that fans will cut Kouzmanoff significant slack on defense. We’ve survived Phil Nevin, remember?
(Paul McAnulty also makes the list, checking in at #96.)
. . .
Two quick reminders of upcoming events:
- Gaslamp Ball is hosting a pizza party this Saturday evening.
- U.S.S. Mariner is holding their spring training feed in Peoria on March 3. The deadline to RSVP is Friday, February 9 (i.e., tomorrow). Padres GM Kevin Towers will be speaking, so if you haven’t gotten in yet, now would be a good time to do so.
Both promise to be more fun than thinking about Castilla. Get out there and do it. Go Padres!
8 Comments
What is “Sports Weekly”?
Uh, never mind … I clicked on the link … USA Today’s Sports Weekly …
A note there about Paul McAnulty surprised me … from Oct 22nd, 2006 …
Paul McAnulty, who had been training at third base in the Arizona Fall League, probably will return to San Diego next week to have knee surgery.
… so, did he have some off-season knee surgery? I just don’t remember any mention of that back in Oct/Nov …
Here’s an article on McAnulty.
http://padres.scout.com/2/607639.html
I ding the Scout Dot Com people regularly. This article shows their pros and cons. They’re deeply embedded with the Pad organization, with the access of more well-known groups like BA and BP, plus a near-religious focus on the Padres. On the other hand, they’re deeply in bed with the Padre organization. I luvs me some Paul McAnulty, but his bat isn’t special, it’s a solid bat that would be average or below at the positions he’s capable of playing. He could outhit Sledge, I bet, but special is rare.
More love for Kouz:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-10rookies020806&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
TW – thanks for the link … so he did have knee surgery … too bad he couldn’t play winter ball … and I’ll be rooting for him to have a hot spring.
Vinny made it official … http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=AjTz7zIKje.14225PKK8ysQRvLYF?slug=ap-castillaretires&prov=ap&type=lgns
I wish Vinny would have retired prior to last season.
A nice article at MLB.com on the Padres.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070208&content_id=1798517&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb