Comments on: IGD: Padres @ Marlins (6 May 07)

By: Sean Callahan

Sean Callahan — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:28:55 +0000

Re 150 – My bad. That’s what happens when ESPN international shows one Padres game a year during the regular season and the playoffs are a bad nightmare that you try to forget as quickly as possible.

By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:51:22 +0000

149: You must be watching your TV in a mirror. Todd Walker is left-handed.

Other stuff:

Whether Cust is better than Branyan or McAnulty isn’t really the question, since Branyan is a semi-starter and McAnulty is in Portland (and doesn’t have Cust’s power). I’m not broken up about trading Cust, but Blum has killed us this season. He rarely even has good at-bats. A properly constructed team would have Cust, or a player like him. He doesn’t need to play a position to play a valuable role on an NL team.

What’s ironic is that the weakness of the bench, caused by carrying 12 pitchers (and not having good bench players) actually feeds the vicious circle. We extend games because we use Blum to not-hit in the late innings, the bully gets tired, we need more arms in the bully, therefore we can’t upgrade the bench. Rise and repeat every four days.

By: Sean Callahan

Sean Callahan — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:57:57 +0000

Re 147: We traded Manny about two weeks ago (to the Nationals, I believe), so you don’t have to worry about him any more!

Re 148: I believe his name was Todd Walker.

By: jay

jay — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:20:07 +0000

We don’t have a RH bench hitter right now. KK, Cruz if they are sitting, but given their PT, not really. Neither Bowen or Blum can really hit RH. I remember the discussion about a sub; no way we need both Robles AND Blum. Loretta would be awesome; decent fielder with some ability. How hard can it be to find a decent RH utility infielder? It’s killing us.

I like that they let Peavy hit in the top of the 7th. He has a better OPS than anyone that can swing right-handed, save Bard.

By: David

David — Mon, 07 May 2007 04:51:09 +0000

#145, 146 -
Blum’s ability to play all over the infield is certainly a more desirable skill set than Cust’s ability to strike out 6 times a week, but I agree that he just doesn’t do enough with the bat to justify keeping him around. (For the record, I argued vehemently on these very forums this spring that the the Pads needed to get someone – anyone – instead of Blum as a backup infielder. I was shot down by many, surprisingly. My picks back then were Counsell and Loretta, and Loretta might be available at some point this season. But I just wanna be on record as saying that I was right about Blum. Nyah.)

While Robles is/may be an interesting option, the only guy SD has right now to replace Blum is Manny freakin’ Alexander, who I absolutely do not want to see anywhere near the major league club.

As the season progresses, I can assume there’ll be more options available as teams fall out of the race. If the Yanks continue to stink, Cairo is a nice player. The Phillies have Abe Nunez, the Tigers have Polanco. Kansas City would probably deal Grudzielanek, and that’s a perfect backup infielder for this team.

By: Geoff Young

Geoff Young — Mon, 07 May 2007 04:35:34 +0000

#145: I have no clue. Blum’s continued presence on the roster baffles me on many levels. Presumably the Padres think more highly of his skill set than I do, but I honestly couldn’t tell you why.

By: Sean Callahan

Sean Callahan — Mon, 07 May 2007 04:15:21 +0000

#143 – If they can’t justify Cust on the roster because he can only hit (and I don’t know enough about the man one way or the other to say that he can), how do they justify Blum on the roster when his only dimension is (supposedly) playing all four infield positions???

We figured Castilla or EY had something on Padres management last year to keep them on the roster as long as they were, what do we suppose Blum could possibly have, especially considering Bochy is now out of the picture? Maybe that was why Bochy was so willing to flee north…

By: David

David — Mon, 07 May 2007 02:49:11 +0000

The problem with keeping Cust around is that he’s redundant. Russ Branyan is the better version, and we have MacANulty, the younger version, in AAA. And we released Todd Walker, the less-powerful version, this Spring.

Cust was once a highly regarded prospect, but in 150 major league at-bats he’s at 222/331/389, with no defensive ability anywhere. Rather than keep guys like that around, I’d rather have a defensive-minded infielder, especially with Greene’s history, or a third catcher, although that would definitely entail losing a reliever.

If the Padres need a LH pinch-hitter, there’s a million of them around – the Sweeney/Klesko/ Mabry/Palmeiro types. And who knows, maybe they’ll end up getting some useful filler from the A’s if Cust does pan out. I’d guess, though, that Jack is only around as long as Piazza is on the shelf.

With regards to sending out Kouzmanoff, the reporter for the Union is being myopic when he refers to KK’s 16 games last year without mentioning his awesome minor-league stats. Having said that, I think he may need a two-week refresher course to regain his confidence.

By: Geoff Young

Geoff Young — Mon, 07 May 2007 02:31:46 +0000

#142: A serious disadvantage of the 12-man pitching staff is that it places a lot of strain on the bench and makes it difficult to justify carrying a relatively one-dimensional position player like Cust. With just four non-catchers on the bench, defense no longer is a “bonus” but a necessity. I don’t think moving Cust is a mistake (P-Mac can do the same job if asked); I’m pretty sure keeping 12 pitchers is.

By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Mon, 07 May 2007 02:06:00 +0000

Cust comments: Where do people get than an NL player has to be able to play a position? A couple of your bench players have to – catcher, the primary backup OF, the primary backup IF. The other bench positions should be hitters who can win or change a game for you when you use them to replace the pitcher. You absolutely know for sure you’re going to do that at least once in 158 games. Maybe more. I’ll be shocked if we have more than 2 complete games all year. There’s a bench spot for Cust and his RH twin. You’d prefer that they play passable defense someplace, but that’s a bonus.

136, especially: Ditto. We’ve lost more games from not hitting, particularly the bench, than we’ve lost from shaky defense.

Black’s game management this far doesn’t seem to be any better than Bochy’s. A little better with lineups, in not benching Kouzmanoff.