Comments on: Padres Visit Steel City

By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:45:57 +0000

16: It’s not even been 2 months and Antonelli wasn’t nearly this good last year. He’ll be facing a lot better pitchers in AA. Give him at least half a season.

17: I wasn’t thinking 6 man, but I was thinking some kind of tandem starter, with Hensley knowing he’s coming in for Maddux. It just seems crazy to carry this many pitchers and use them like a regular pen, because you end up with two wasted roster spots. On a team that thinks Geoff Blum is its best pinch-hitter , that’s criminal.

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By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:36:10 +0000

Count me in the pamper Peavy crowd. He has much better career numbers with 5 days rest:

4 days - 3.85 ERA
5 days - 2.76 ERA

All his numbers are better with 5 days rest. Give him the extra day off whenever possible so he’ll stay strong as the season wears on. It’s not too early to think about keeping him fresh for the playoffs.

I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a 6 man rotation when Hensley comes back but that might be carrying it a bit too far.

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By: Ben B.

Ben B. — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:28:18 +0000

Is moving Antonelli up something that’s going to happen in the near future? He’s proven he can mash at Elsinore, and he’s old for his league. I guess we’d like him to be ready for the majors by 2009, assuming all goes well and the option is picked up on Marcus Giles for next year.

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By: KRS1

KRS1 — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:52:29 +0000

Padres #5 on the http://www.sportsline.com power rankings!

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:39:22 +0000

13: The real trade-off for the Dodger series isn’t Wells for Peavy, then. It’s Maddux for Peavy. Still a downgrade, but 1/3 of the way through the season I’d rather pamper Jake. Still lots of chances to skip Wells.

Headley would be the primary 3b. He’s the better defender anyway. Unless and until they’re sold on Kouzmanoff as the 3b of the future, there’s no reason to move him. But Freese is probably not going to have a chance to play 3b for us, maybe not for anybody. And his trade value wouldn’t be hurt by playing LF or 1b, because that’s where most people think he’ll end up and he’d pick up points for being in a more age-appropriate league.

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By: LynchMob

LynchMob — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:27:18 +0000

9 … thanks, John! Yes, I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Emeralds … it’s been very fun getting a sneak preview of Khalil and Headley and Antonelli in recent years!

re: Headley … I’m all for “no rush” on the kid … I think sucess, BIG success, is very valuable at the AA level … perhaps if there’s a need to promote Freese (which makes sense), you bump him to LF then and there … or you start to transition Headley to an OF position (which I think is what TW is saying in #11) …

re: “extra rest now and again” … sure … why not? Well, two reasons why are are …

1. It means he’ll miss the Dodger series … those seem like “high leverage” situations … why not have 4-5-1 pitch that series than 3-4-5?

2. The trade-off is more starts from our #5 starter … and I think he made it clear with his last start that *he* can do better on “extra rest” … so skipping him today is an opportunity to get him that “extra rest” again …

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:19:34 +0000

9: I was going to say the same thing about the draft and roster movement. You don’t see a lot of kids pushed out of High A because of June draftees. The Padres held out promoting Huffman and Antonelli to low A as long as they could last year.

Can you imagine Blanks playing LF next to a scooter like Juan Pierre? They’d be picking Pierre chunks out of Blanks’ cleats. Even a big man like Cameron would be nervous heading towards LF.

The team might be gunshy of moving corner infielders to a Petco corner. So far the record is pretty bad. Klesko was old for the move, but Nady was a pretty good athlete and he still wasn’t very good out there. We have the most demanding outfield in the majors.

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By: Tom Waits

Tom Waits — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:13:00 +0000

8: I could see them leaving Headley in AA all year but promoting a lot of guys from Elsinore halfway through. They might want him to have a full season of solid success instead of hanging out, fairly lonesome, in Portland. They’d have to work out a PT arrangement for him and Freese, but between 3b, DH, LF, and 1b they could find a lot of at-bats for both. That would make for a scary lineup. Antonelli, Freese, Huffman possibly joining Headley and Venable. More scary if Venable turns things around.

There’s no big rush with Headley. The team clearly has a lot of faith in Kouzmanoff. If nothing else, leave Headley where he is so he can pad his stats and build his trade value.

I’m ambivalent about the rest issue. Ideally you’d like your best pitchers to throw as many games as possible, but Peavy has had nagging injuries the last few years.

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By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:00:52 +0000

Doesn’t everyone love Ned Colletti? Marc Normandin took another look at Juan Pierre today: http://www.baseballprospectus......red/?p=381

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By: John Conniff

John Conniff — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:51:33 +0000

6. Peter and I had talked about this earlier, I believe when we were discussing the San Antonio Missions. My thoughts were with nothing really in front of him the Padres may want to move him up to Portland and move Freese up to AA because of his age. But with Kouz doing much better Fuson may want to keep both at the same level for the whole year. Headley has slowed down slightly in May and he’s 23, so there is really no rush. There really isn’t a whole lot of protection around him in Portland and he could fall into some bad habits at the plate.

As for him moving to the OF, it could happen. I also think you could see the team experment with Blanks in the LF in the Instructional Leagues, but they have been reluctant to in the past.

I really don’t think you’re going to see that much movement because of the draft. A few players were brought up from Eugene last year, but only LeBlanc and Freese played significant roles in Fort Wayne.

Eugene should be a very fun team to watch this year with the combination of all the high draft picks and some very good players from the Arizona League championship team last year.

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