Friday Links (8 Jun 07)
Fri, Jun 8, 2007
by Geoff Young
What the heck was that? Between the draft and Thursday night’s comeback (recap | boxscore), I hardly know where to start.
Lots o’ links today. Disclaimer: I hate to do this, but with the general craziness of the past few days, I haven’t read all of these in their entirety yet, ergo the lack of commentary. Okay, let’s get busy…
Draft
- Arkansas pitcher is Pads’ No. 1 (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Padres tab lefty Schmidt with first pick (North County Times). Quoth Grady Fuson: “Today, we might throw the dice around a little and take a few chances.”
- Padres 2007 Draft Day Blog (MadFriars.com). Denis breaks down the Padres’ draft so far.
- Drafting high school pitchers (Hardball Times, via Didi in the comments)
Comeback
Incidentally, this and the game in Pittsburgh now make up for the two losses in Atlanta so we can stop griping about those…
- Ninth-inning rally brooms Dodgers (Padres.com)
- Walk off walk (FriarBall)
- Wow (Friar Forecast). Hey, I just realized that “WOW” is an acronym for “Walk off walk”…
Trevor
- Embroidered gloves, Trev? Hey, stitch in mine saves 500 times (CBSSportsLine, via Didi in the comments). I can’t decide whether I love that headline or hate it.
- How Hoffman’s career was saved (Padres.com, via Mikey in the comments)
- Game notes: Dodgers at Petco 6/06 - Trevor gets number 500 (Friar Watch)
- Trevor Hoffman: 500 saves! (Gaslamp Ball). More photos from Wednesday night’s game.
- Trevor Notches 500th Save (San Diego Spotlight)
Jake
- Healthy Peavy able to shoulder the load (ESPN, via Marsh in the comments)
- Country and Western (SI.com, via Stu in the comments)
Other
- Prospect Q&A: Matt Antonelli (Baseball America, via KRS1 in the comments)
- Strong return lacks dividend (Yahoo! Sports, via Didi in the comments)
- Adam Dunn for Clay Hensley (Gaslamp Ball). The estimable jbox indulges in a little speculation. Dunn’s bat will play in any ballpark.
Deep breath. Ready for more information overload? Great, here comes the PPR:
by Peter Friberg
You will not see the notable performances from the players who were just drafted. You’ll have to actually wait until they start playing professionally.
AAA
No notable performances
AA
Will Venable: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
Cesar Ramos: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR
Jonathan Ellis: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR
High-A
David Freese: 5 AB, 4 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; 3B, BB
Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 5 RBI; 2B
Nic Crosta: 4 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 4 RBI; HR, BB
Manny Ayala: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 5 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; 2B
Rayner Contreras: 5 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; 2 SO
Aaron Breit: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
That was a good outing for Breit?
Draft Wrapup
I’m watching the bottom of the ninth while I’m writing my Day 1 wrapup. And I can’t help but wonder if this comeback is a fitting analogy for the Padres’ “boring” day first day.
Consider:
- After first review, a bunch of the day one draftees don’t look like they’ll be much help to the big-league club. And… down by four heading into the bottom of the ninth the Padres’ meager offense left a lot to be desired.
- As the ninth developed, you could feel the Padres coming on. With the bases loaded it seemed certain the Padres would win; we just didn’t know how. And… after re-reviewing the Padres selections, they look a lot more playable than they did at first blush.
Baseball America may not give us much love, but this is a solid draft so far.
On to the analysis!
Pick 1 (1st round, 23 overall) Nick Schmidt, LHP, Arkansas
Schmidt is a classic Grady Fuson pitchability-guy. However, unlike pitchability-LHP in the last two drafts (Cesar Ramos and Wade Leblanc), Schmidt does not have a back-of-the-rotation ceiling (Schmidt profiles as a third starter). After a solid sophomore campaign, Team USA stint, Schmidt’s junior year and SEC playoff performances had some experts suggesting Schmidt could go as high as 11.
11-3 with 2.69 ERA in 124.0 IP, 84 H, 42 R, 37 ER, 51 BB, 111 SO, 9 HR
Pick 2 (Compensatory A, 40 overall) Kellen Kulbacki, OF, James Madison
In early 2006, I began looking around for potential draft picks. I stumbled upon Kellen. He was in the midst of a 1.400+ OPS season. I was shocked to find out this hitter extraordinaire was a sophomore. Physically he’s a less-athletic version of Brian Giles. Kellen probably won’t ever earn a gold glove; his defense has been described as “average” to “well below average.” Kellen’s bat, however, will play.
.398/.538/.785 with 15 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR and a 56/29 BB/SO ratio
Pick 3 (Comp. A, 46 overall) Drew Cumberland, SS, Pace H.S.
A pure “70″ runner, Cumberland is compared by Baseball America to the Orioles’ Brian Roberts. Some reports question his arm-strength (and therein his ability to stay at SS), but those questions are not universal.
.505 BA with 10 2B, 1 3B, and 3 HR
Pick 4 (Comp. A, 57 overall) Mitch Canham, C, Oregon St.
Canham was part of the ‘06 National Champion Oregon St. Beavers (and his team is still alive in the ‘07 playoffs). His ability to stay behind the plate is widely questioned but his bat is just as widely praised.
.323/.454/.535 with 13 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, and a 37/36 BB/SO ratio
Pick 5 (Comp. A, 63 overall) Cory Luebke, LHP, Ohio St.
Another collegiate lefty, Luebke does not have Schmidt’s acumen, but he does impressive statistics. His 1.95 ERA in the regular season was almost a full run lower than the next closest Big 10 starter. Luebke was a bit of a reach here, but at worst he’s a valuable organizational soldier (more on that later). Luebke’s high unearned rate worries me, but his low hit-rate and low HR total are encouraging.
9-1 with 2.07 ERA in 117.2 IP, 93 H, 45 R, 27 ER, 28 BB, 97 SO, 5 HR
Pick 6 (Comp. A, 64 overall) Daniel Payne, OF, Georgia Tech
Payne is a grinder who gets the most out of his abilities — sort of a David Eckstein in center field. He does have above-average speed and went 20 for 26 in stolen base attempts while generally making a pest of himself in the batters’ box. In an organization that lacks a “sure thing” in center field, Payne is an understandable selection.
.370/.509/.543 with 20 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, and a 62/41 BB/SO ratio
Pick 7 (2nd round, 81 overall) Eric Sogard, 2B, Arizona St.
Another grinder (like Payne), Sogard has a little power. His tools don’t excite, but he does get the most of them. Fittingly for an ASU player, Sogard reminds me of Boston’s Dustin Pedroia (albeit a poor man’s version). Like virtually every Padre hitting draftee, Sogard has solid on-base skills.
.390/.485/.610 with 12 2B, 4 3B, 10 HR and a 38/23 BB/SO ratio
…more later…
Thanks, Peter. I think a lot of us were expecting more at the front end (hello, Rick Porcello), but I also think a lot of us don’t have the knowledge that Fuson has demonstrated in Texas and especially Oakland. Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed, but the Padres are doing a lot right these days, so I’ll defer judgment until later. I love the Kulbacki pick (yes, you’ve sold me on him), and Canham and Payne intrigue me as well.
The Mariners are in town for the weekend. Friday night’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. PT (you were expecting something else)? IGD yadda yadda yadda…
Finally, a few tickets are still available for Saturday’s doubleheader at Petco. Drop me a line by 11 a.m. PT on Saturday if interested; we’d love to see you there. Go Padres!
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
June 8, 2007 at 8:25 am
Today is why baseball is tough for fans and good for players when things are going well. As fans, we’d love to have the NFL-style full week to bask in the glory and attention paid to the now league-leading Pads. For the players, strapping on the spikes and getting it on again today is much better than sitting around for a week getting a big head.
Of course, opposite is true when things are going poorly - as a fan we’re glad to have another game to look forward to tomorrow and the players maybe need some time to regroup.
Fantastic comeback last night, very opportunistic. Now the hated Mariners! Dodgers were just a warmup to the REAL rivals, like MLB tells us.
June 8, 2007 at 8:27 am
Draft challenge: Reaction on this blog seemed to be unfavorable. To all those disappointed, post your substitute draft selections in this comments section. For purposes of your substitute draft, if you replace a picked player with your choice, assume the picked player will not be available when you pick again.
I know it could take several years to see if you are a better drafter than the Padres, but it would help to inform those of us who are not draft savvy as to who were better choices.
June 8, 2007 at 8:32 am
Hey GY, I’m heading to my first game at the Diamond tonite. Is there anything in particular I should check out while I’m at LE?
Great, fantastic, unbelievable, indescribable victory last nite. I can’t believe the rolller coaster ride of emotions that game visited upon me. I’m not sure if I scared my animals (and my fiancé) more when Jake got squeezed vs. Betemit or when Branyan walked in the game winner.
I can’t wait to meet all of you that show up tomorrow. GY, since our tix are technically for the nite game, have you determined where the Ducksnorts crew will sit for the LE day game?
June 8, 2007 at 8:38 am
Before I show you what I posted yesterday, let me remind you that I would not have picked Headley where the Padres picked him (and thus may have lost him), and I also would have passed on Leblanc, Huffman, & Hunter. The Padres’ brass deserves a suspension in judgement on our part.
I posted this yesterday:
My draft so far:
23 - Porcello if I think I can afford him/Schmidt if not
40 - Kulbacki - I’ll stay w/ the pick because I wanted him and because Noonan and d’Arnaud are gone
46 - Kyle Blair RHP, Los Gatos H.S.
57 - Jordan Zimmerman RHP, Wisconsis Stevens Point
63 - Grant Desme, OF, Cal-Poly
64 - Zachary Cozart, SS, U Mississippi
81 - Travis Mattair, 3B, Southridge H.S.
87 - Nevin Griffith, RHP, Middleton H.S.
117 - Sam Demel, RHP, TCU
Beyond that, I’m grasping at straws…
June 8, 2007 at 8:39 am
Geoff, your poll today should be who turned off the game (headed to the car) when Kent made it 5-1.
June 8, 2007 at 8:44 am
What if we just play the ” what if we took the guyselected immediately after we we picked game?”
If we’d done that we would have ended up with the folowing players:
Michael Main, HS RHP
Sean Doolittle, College 1B/LHP
Jonathon Bachanov-a HS rhp that Peter liked
Samuel Runion HS RHP
Jordan Zimmerman, RHP
Eric Eiland toolsy HS CF
Arkansas #2 starter–he sounds fringy
and Matt Harvey-acclaimed HS RHP
It woudl hve been a young and risky draft, but I’m not sure that I don’t like it better than ours…
June 8, 2007 at 8:45 am
At least we just took a HS catcher-there’s no way anything could go wrong with that
June 8, 2007 at 8:51 am
when fuson said that they may take some shots today, he must have been referring to guys with high potential that have slipped late a la Latos. (Esp. seeing that our draft doesn’t seem too expensive yet…) Does anyone know who the guys are this year who have slipped tue to signability concerns?
June 8, 2007 at 8:55 am
#2: I’m not as well versed as others, but my main disappointment comes in passing on Porcello at 23. I’m not ecstatic about Cumberland but I haven’t looked at who all was available there.
#3: Not that I can think of; we usually just hit the ballpark and the gas station. Sometimes stop at In ‘N’ Out or Pechanga on the way home. As for Saturday, I’d like to sit behind the plate if possible, but with GA, it’s hard to know what will be available. I’ll shoot you an email.
June 8, 2007 at 9:11 am
Some folks at Dodger Thoughts have different, uh, thoughts about that pitch to Branyan. Huh.
June 8, 2007 at 9:15 am
Forgive me if I’m asking a question that’s already been hashed out — When Giles comes back, who goes: Sledge, Bocachica, the twelth pitcher or someone I haven’t considered?
That is, if Giles is on the DL. Is he?
June 8, 2007 at 9:17 am
Re: 11 based on past history as much as I hate it, I would Imagine P-Mac
June 8, 2007 at 9:24 am
I keep thinking back to this draft and I really like it. Okay, not much of the raw, sexy upside that can give us a quick goose as we think about ourselves 5 years out, but I think we picked up some quality guys. Take for instance our first pick Schmidt. I just watched the #4 pick overall (Matt Moskos) pitch for Clemson and seemingly in every way he’s behind our boy. Velocity - lower today. ERA - higher. Opponents Avg - Higher. Record - Way worse. WHIP - Higher. I dunno, seems like our boy was a lot better pick. Futher, just to be redundant from yesterday, I really like what I saw from that Toledo kid on the scouting video. 90+ mph with a very, very lanky frame. I don’t care what BA says, this kid is bound to fill out. Anywho, I also really like the speedy shortstop and the OPS-freak from JMU. Overall, I’m pretty stoked about the draft thus far. Not as stoked as I usually am after Charger’s drafts, but hey, not everyone is AJ Smith and Buddy Nix..
June 8, 2007 at 9:25 am
#3: If you like Chicago style Hot Dog, there’s a place right before the Diamond as you exit I-15 called the Wild Weenie. The best hotdog around with the tastiest fries. It’s right at the intersection where the Shell gas station is to the north. Wild Weenie is across the street. Enjoy!
June 8, 2007 at 9:26 am
8: Here’s BA’s list of the top slips through the first five rounds. I haven’t looked to see if any of them were taken so far today:
Chris Carpenter, rhp, Kent State (31)
Yasmani Grandal, c, Miami Springs HS (42)
Kentrail Davis, of, Theodore (Ala.) HS (54)
Cole St.Clair, lhp, Rice (56)
Nick Tepesch, rhp, Blue Springs (Mo.) HS (62)
Kevin Patterson, 1b, Oak Mountain HS, Birmingham (67)
Gary Brown, of, Diamond Bar HS, Walnut, Calif. (77)
Taylor Cole, rhp, Bishop Gorman HS, Las Vegas (79)
Matt Thompson, rhp, Santa Rosa (Calif.) JC (83)
Chad Jones, of, Southern Lab HS, Baton Rouge (92)
Victor Sanchez, 3b/c, Norwalk HS, Gahr, Calif. (93)
June 8, 2007 at 9:36 am
We just took Christian Colon (a top H.S. SS who is committed to Fullerton) in the 10th round. If we can sign him, he’s a nice late pick.
June 8, 2007 at 9:36 am
thnx tom. looking through the 10th round we havent picked up any of those guys yet.
June 8, 2007 at 9:37 am
And USD OF Shane Buschini in the 11th…
June 8, 2007 at 9:37 am
Did anyone catch the video of Nick Schmidt on last night’s pregame? I don’t profess to be a biomechanics expert but I really like what I saw. He has a nice easy motion and what I really like is he keeps his pitching elbow below his shoulder when he brings his arm back. A lot of a young pitcher’s development is just staying healthy and every report I’ve heard on Schmidt talks about his durability so that may have been a big factor in the selection.
10: The pitch was outside. I’ll write up a post about it later this afternoon.
June 8, 2007 at 9:38 am
The 2 names on Tom’s list (BA’s list) that jump out at me are Cole St. Clair & Gary Brown…
June 8, 2007 at 9:45 am
BTW, I forgot to link to MLB.com’s draft tracker. You can see all the Pads’ picks here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/.....&fv=sd
Buschini and Lance Zawadski (ex-SDSU) have local ties.
June 8, 2007 at 9:51 am
Here’s something Geoff & I talked about last night.
We can aregue about Porcello - he may in fact be one of the special talents, but chances are, Boras will have another guy like him slipping next year, and the year after…
Let’s look at Michael Main. Main will likely take 3-4 years to get to the majors. If he gets there that quickly, he still has to get through the injury nexus (age 24 - he’ll be just 21-2) and we’ll have his rights up until he reaches his prime 27-8…
Schmidt on the other hand is already 21, he’ll probably take a year less to get there (because he’s older and more mature - physically & mentally) which means he’s making his debut at 23-4. Then we hang onto his rights until he’s 29-30 with less injury risk. Even if we look at Porcello and dream on Josh Beckett,
In four+ big league season (trading him one year before reached free agency) Beckett put up the following numbers:
41-34 w/ a 3.46 ERA in 609 IP
We can throw out the win-loss total because he played on some bad teams, but in 4+ seasons, he had three years of pitching…
Does anyone think we’ll get less than 609 IP out of Schmidt? And keep in mind, Porcello would have taken up a slot on the 40 man roster and cost 3-5times as much (Schmidt should sign for $1.3m or so).
Schmidt is less sexy than Main, but he’s really a no-brainer over Main. Even Porcello has risk attached that should make us think twice.
I love the Schmidt pickup.
June 8, 2007 at 9:55 am
2.
Not that I claim to know a ton about the draft or all the players but here is how mine would have gone.
23. Rick Porcello - He was the 2nd best pitcher in the draft! If we could not sign him (I don’t know specifics but I think you could have gotten him for less than what the rumors were for) I would have gone with Michael Main, Josh Smoker, even Andrew Brackman and maybe even have reached for a guy like Michael Burgess or Nick Noonan above Schmidt. I don’t think Schmidt is horrible but we drafted him last year when his name was Wade Leblanc. Our minor league arms are starting to look an awful lot alike.
40. & 46. Michael Burgess - I don’t really hate either of these picks but I would have gone with Michael Burgess with one of them.
63. Jordan Zimmerman
That is really as far as I can go. I don’t know enough about players to keep going. I think we got a bunch of decent players but not real stars or potential difference makers. I hope I’m way wrong!
June 8, 2007 at 9:56 am
2, 4: There’s way more to evaluating a draft than where the players are five years from now. If Jake Peavy had fallen out of a tree hunting in Alabama the winter after we picked him, he still would have been a good selection. Similarly, Matt Bush was a bad pick as soon as the “sh” sound escaped. Even if he’d turned into a 275/350/380 hitting shortstop currently playing in High A, we passed on too many guys with far more upside.
As for who I’d have picked:
Schmidt: I’d have taken Main or Porcello there. You had to take Porcello at 23 if you were going to take him at all, because there were too many big-money, aggressive teams between that and our next pick. Schmidt’s not a bad player, but he doesn’t have anything like the upside of the other two.
Kulbacki: No problem with him here. You might have grabbed him at 46, but you might have lost him to the A’s at 41. The only player I would have wanted between him and 46 is Justin Jackson, picked 45.
Cumberland: Michael Burgess is much preferable. They both have bust potential. Cumberland’s boom potential is a leadoff hitting middle infielder with great speed. Burgess’s boom potential is a 40 HR right-fielder. We could have also taken any of the high-end arms who hadn’t been popped yet, such as Harvey or Nevin Griffith.
Canham: Good pick on its own.
Luebke: The biggest blah pick so far. There were still a lot of HS arms, even college arms, with more upside. Signability pick of another polished college pitcher who should be fine in Low A but have little trade value until he gets to AA, where he could easily get whacked around.
Payne: Overdraft of a CF because we lack CF in the system. What happened to not drafting for need?
Sogard, Chalke: Here’s where the bones start to get picked. Why do you pick the 2b when Horton of UNC has a similar offensive profile and might be able to stay at SS? Why draft a player who can barely get the ball to the gaps with aluminum? Griffith was taken 89. Harvey was still on the board here and at 117.
June 8, 2007 at 10:10 am
22: The time difference isn’t that great, and it flips in favor of the HS kids when you’re talking elite talent. Peavy, drafted 1999, major league debut 2002. Hughes and Bailey, both drafted 2004, both making major league debuts this season.
As for Beckett’s innings, Jake Peavy threw only 660 innings his first four ML seasons, only 51 more than Beckett. Do 51 innings make that big of a difference?
For every HS pick who flames out, we can find a college player who hit the ceiling in A or AA or got hurt just like a high schooler. Daniel Moore? Mike Bynum? Tim Stauffer?
June 8, 2007 at 10:13 am
I certainly don’t have the knowledge the rest of you have about the draft, but the pattern I’ve seen during Fuson years is college players, less reward, but less risk, and, if you’re going to take a flyer, do it during the later rounds.
It seems to me that we had nothing (virtually) in our minor league system. We needed to fill it fast with people who could get to the majors faster (i.e. college players) to fill positions or be trade chips shile re-stocking the entire minor league system.
I guess my question for the draft guru’s is: “Will our system be better next year than this year?”
June 8, 2007 at 10:17 am
I was talking with a neighbor last night about potential upgrades to the big league Padres. Would a package like Hensley, Headley, and Ramos/Leblanc/other pitcher be enough to tempt the Pirates to deal Jason Bay? If we’re going to make a deal this year, I’d like to get a guy who can really help us a lot-
Dunn doesn’t seem to me like he fits into our lineup really well. I don’t know that we need another lefty who strikes out a lot and isn’t a great defender. Bay would be a stud, but I it would take quite a package to pry him away from Pittsburgh. However, his right-handed power and athleticism are exciting. I’d also still pursue Rocco Baldelli…
June 8, 2007 at 10:20 am
22: PF, as much as I enjoyed the change to the introduction of PPR today, I’d rather have Main than Schmidt. The pick was a safe pick for a fast track LH SP for the Padres for all the reasons you provided.
I’m with Paul (#6 above) that the draft wouldn’t have been worse with his list.
Of course, I don’t know anything about the players other than from what I read.
On other note: is the Baltimore pick at 129, Tim Bascom, the same RHP the Padres picked last year?
And why do the Padres keep picking LHP?
June 8, 2007 at 10:23 am
26: This is now our 3rd consecutive draft with that approach. If we’re still at the point of having a weak system, albeit better than it was after the 2004 debacle, maybe we should ask if its the right way to do things.
The problem with drafting college kids to be draft chips is that every other team knows they’re college kids. They’re not going to be worth much until they’re in AA, and even then they’re going to have to be really good.
June 8, 2007 at 10:24 am
Re: 27 No way the Pirates trade Bay, he is making $3.25 mil this year, $5.75 Mil in 08 and $7.5 Mil in 09. Bay is also the only reason why anyone in Pittsburg would go to a game.
June 8, 2007 at 10:24 am
28: LHP in the higher slot, I mean.
26: You are right. Will the farm system be better next year than now after the draft is all done?
June 8, 2007 at 10:38 am
26, 31: It will probably be somewhat better as we continue to push the detritus of the 03-04 drafts out of the system. But will it be as better as it could have been?
We heard time and time again that the Padres would seize this chance to rebuild their farm. They didn’t rebuild. They added some decorative pieces to the existing structure. Or, to use another metaphor, they did not diversify their portfolio. They didn’t have to go full-bore into dreamworld. But was it too much to ask for them to take even a couple of risks on upside?
We’re going to hear an awful lot about Latos in this draft. You can only stretch one player so far, though.
June 8, 2007 at 11:32 am
Good stuff on Hoffman breaking 500 and hearing from other closers..
http://insider.espn.go.com/esp.....ILC-INHEAD
June 8, 2007 at 11:45 am
Keith Law answered my question!! I admit that “safe” would have been sufficient.
Keith, Did the Padres really just go the boring and safe “pitchability” route by drafting the left-hander from Ark.?
SportsNation Keith Law: (2:15 PM ET ) Yes. I would have taken a shot at Poreda over Schmidt.
He also said Kellen Kulbacki reminded him of Jack Cust.
June 8, 2007 at 11:50 am
Padres #1 in ESPN power rankings, wow alot of love from the east coast.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....mp;week=10
June 8, 2007 at 11:58 am
35.
WOW!!!
June 8, 2007 at 12:03 pm
A few notes from those power rankings:
The NL west is by far the best division in baseball the average ranking for the NL west team is 10.6 the next closest is the AL west at 12.8.
The NL west is the only team not to have a team in the bottom 10 (Rockies are at 19)
The NL west is also the only league to have 3 teams in the top 9 (Pads #1, AZ #7 & Dogs #9)
Wow its nice to go from worst to best division in baseball in only 2 years
June 8, 2007 at 12:27 pm
35: That is simply amazing to see the love from ESPN. Let’s hope we can take another series (I’d love a sweep, but I’m not gonna be greedy) and continue our dominance of the best division in baseball.
June 8, 2007 at 12:33 pm
They love the Padres. They really REALLY love the Padres!
June 8, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Giles Brothers:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=2893637
June 8, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I have a question about the draft: the thing is like 40+ rounds every year, but there are so many roster spots available. How many of the players who are drafted wind up on a minor league roster in the following year? How can there possibly be room for 40+ new players every year with only a limited number of spots available? I know that some of the players will defect to college or not sign or not make it past some sort of preliminary assessment, but how does that work and what are the numbers like?
June 8, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Some of the high school kids drafted late won’t be assigned to Rookie ball, they will stay at extended spring training(see Bush, Matt biting a bouncer before his season started) along with the kids who don’t sign as well as the college guys who start at higher levels it takes it down to 22-25 fairly quickly.
June 8, 2007 at 2:59 pm
If a Jr in college gets drated in a late round can he choose to go back for his SR year?
June 8, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Another milestone for Trevor. XX pointed out 2 more saves for 500 as a Padre. Here’s my entry : total saves plus wins lifetime, currently held by Dennis Eckersley at 197+390=587. Trevor has 551,passing Lee Smith at 549 in the first LA win,CY Young had 511=17 in 4th place.
June 8, 2007 at 4:18 pm
44 … wow, Cy Young had 17 saves, who knew? http://www.baseball-reference......cy01.shtml
43 … yes … mitch canham was drafted last year and went back … he was drafted last year, i think, because he was old enough to be drafted … called a “draft-eligible sophomore” … yet another reason I’m not that high on him …
41 … players drafted will most likely be assigned to one of 2 “short-season” teams that the Padres field … the lowest-level is a team in the AZL, a league that plays at the spring training facilities in Arizona … this is where Cedric Hunter, etc, played the end of last season … the highest-level is a team in the NWL up here by me in Eugene, OR … this is where the college kids typically start … I saw Khalil play his first pro home-game here a coupla years ago, then Headley in 2005, then Antonelli last year … and I’ve got my Opening Day tix and am hoping to see Latos on June 24th … from there, those players advance to low-A @ Ft Wayne or high-A at Lake Elsinore … so there’s lots of roster spots to fill …
June 8, 2007 at 4:21 pm
41 … the best place to see all the minor league affiliations is at milb.com … http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....ations.jsp … hmm, Padres have a “VSL” team? That stands for “Venezuelan Summer League” … hmmm, can’t say that I’ve followed that … naw, I don’t see a San Diego in the current league standings … Padres must have punted that … perhaps in favor of the Dominican Republic camp?
GY … topic idea for next book: what’s up with DR camp?
June 8, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Yo, the Cal-League All-Star has been announced …
http://www.minorleaguebaseball....._carcal_07
… lotsa STORMers … as I would have expected
June 8, 2007 at 4:32 pm
One thing I do miss since Alderson took over is the immense amount of information KT used to share…..the new regime, although much better baseball wise, isn’t big on sharing information
June 8, 2007 at 4:36 pm
47 … another link about the Cal League All-Star team …
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
June 8, 2007 at 5:43 pm
48: You don’t find Wednesdays with Sandy on XX informative? I used to make sure to hear every one. Now I forget it’s still around. Maybe I answered my own question.
June 9, 2007 at 7:47 pm
1. I don’t care what Keith Law says, I’ve watched Schmidt pitch and I am happy with the selection. Sure, I would have rather had Porcello, but this guy is a bargain at #23. A proven college lefty with a good (not great) fastball and good secondary pitches. My only concern is how much work he has already had.
2. Like the Kulbacki pick after talking to some friends in the industry. I am also a big fan of Eric Sogard.
3. For the life of me, I don’t understand how they can pass on Matt Harvey for Brad Chalke and Corey Luebke. I love Chalke as a college player, but the guy is a poor man’s Brett Butler at the college level.
4. After we took a chance on Latos, I was hoping the organizational commitment would have been there.