Friday Links (7 Sep 07)
Fri, Sep 7, 2007
by Geoff Young
Thanks for all the kind words on Thursday. I try not to get too sentimental around here, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.
That reminds me, as promised, I’ve got an article on the ‘93 Fire Sale up at Hardball Times. Those of you who suffered through Tom Werner’s dismantling of the team might enjoy remembering just how well then-GM Randy Smith did despite having no leverage. Those who “missed” the Werner era Padres should give it a read also; it will help provide context for the occasional mistrust of subsequent ownership/front office groups.
Enough about me; onto the links:
- Mr. Right (SI.com, via Phantom in the comments). Jon Heyman likes the Padres’ acquisition of Milton Bradley, and why not?
- Q&A with Kevin Kouzmanoff (San Diego Union-Tribune, via LynchMob in the comments). On his darkest moment so far as a rookie:
Probably the headline (’Kouzmanoff, with a K’) in your paper and the pictures the day I had some strikeouts and made an error. That was really tough. I can’t lie, it hurt.
- Padres hitters breaking out the heavy lumber (ESPN, via Phantom in the comments). I tend to ignore ESPN because Padres fans aren’t their target audience and it shows, but Jerry Crasnick delivers a solid effort. Even though this is review material for most of us, it’s good to see the club represented fairly by a national media outlet. In a separate article, Crasnick gives a nice synopsis of the NL West race (hat tip to Clayton in the comments) as it now stands.
- Gathering threat (SI.com, via Stu in the comments). More love from the outside world.
- America’s #1 Management Practitioner Works in Baseball: Sandy Alderson - Part I (Management by Baseball). Jeff Angus speaks with the Padres CEO. What could be better?
- Greer looks like a clone of Lawrence (San Diego Union-Tribune, via LynchMob in the comments). I’m with Lynch on this: It really would be nice if they spelled the kid’s name right in the headline. It’s Joshua Geer. As in, “not Greer.”
- Prospect Hot Sheet (Baseball America, via KRS1 in the comments). The final installment of 2007 places Matt Antonelli at #15. Nice…
- With PCL batting title on way, Myrow glad to get promotion (North County Times). A little ink for Brian Myrow.
- Non-Prospect Diary: Dirk Hayhurst (Baseball America, via LynchMob in the comments). The latest installment from everyone’s favorite “non-prospect” includes his recounting of a little incident about a couple of twits, er I mean, young fans who approached him to get someone else’s autograph. Stories like these make me realize that even if I had an iota of talent, I’d make a miserable ballplayer. I’m pretty confident that I wouldn’t have returned their ball.
- Rich has begun previewing the coming winter’s free agent classes at Baseball Analysts: hitters | pitchers. I hate to say it, but this is a bad time to be a buyer in the center-field market. Some intriguing arms out there. I wonder what kind of shape Matt Clement is in these days.
- minors.baseball-reference.com. Three words: Ho. Ly. Crap. Sean never ceases to amaze. It’s cool enough to know that Kyle Blanks hit .301/.380/.540 at Elsinore in ‘07, but it’s even cooler to know that the Storm as a team hit .284/.364/.452 and that the entire Cal League hit .271/.344/.426. You can do some pretty slick stuff with that kind of information if you’ve got the time and energy. [Tip o' the Ducksnorts cap to UC Michael in the comments.]
- Mieske reflects on minor league days (Midland Daily News, via LynchMob in the comments). Speaking of the ‘93 Fire Sale, here’s a little something on Matt Mieske, who was part of the package that brought Gary Sheffield to San Diego. Sheffield, of course, later landed Trevor Hoffman.
- Air Supply Blog. Airheads represent, yo. This is for Brian G. and all the peeps on the street who just can’t get enough of that mad fresh sound. WTYM.
That’s it. I’m all out of links…
by Peter Friberg
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
AA
San Antonio 5, Frisco 3 (San Antonio leads series, 1-0)
Chase Headley: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR, 2 SO
Chad Huffman: 1 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, HBP
Joshua Geer: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 3 HR - 3 solo HR in 7th
High-A
Inland Empire 4, Lake Elsinore 3 (14 innings; Inland Empire leads series, 1-0)
Josh Alley: 6 AB, 0 R, 4 H, 0 RBI; BB - on base 5X & 0 runs!?!
David Freese: 6 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, 2 SO
Short Season-A
Luis Durango: 6 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; SO
Yefri Carvajal: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI
Commentary:
Pitching Jake on 3 days rest didn’t go as planned. Dang. I am always hesitant to go off plan…
Thursday, September 6, 2007
AA
San Antonio 6, Frisco 1 (San Antonio leads series, 2-0)
Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO
Will Venable: 5 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; SO
Chase Headley: 5 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 3 SO
Cesar Ramos: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR
High-A
Lake Elsinore 10, Inland Empire 7 (Series tied, 1-1)
David Freese: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; BB, 2 SO
Craig Cooper: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2B
Kyle Blanks: 2 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 3 RBI; HR, 2 BB - stud!
Corey Luebke: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
R.J. Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
It’s encouraging when you can convincingly beat your opponent when your best hitter (Chase Headley) has a bad night.
In the middle of the fifth the Storm trailed 5-3. Josh Alley singled. Sean Kazmir and David Freese unfortunately followed the single up with a fly out and a strikeout… Craig Cooper then singled to keep the inning alive. Inland Empire then countered with a pitching change. Kyle Blanks greeted the new Inland Empire pitcher with a three-run tater. The Storm led the rest of the way…
Each Padre affiliate can advance in their league’s playoff with a win on Friday.
Three in Coors Field starting Friday evening. Be here for the IGD, ’cause, you know, it’s what we do. 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.
September 7, 2007 at 7:35 am
Geer doesn’t throw hard, but as I mentioned in another thread, BLaw was striking out 37% more hitters per 9 as a minor leaguer. That’s a big difference, since almost all pitchers see an adjustment downward in their K rate in the majors. Germano was at 7 as a farmhand. It’s not a death sentence, but K/9 is probably the most important predictor of future success.
Matt Clement has asthma, which might preclude him signing with an NL team where he needs to hit and run the bases every so often. SD always has seemed like a low-allergen region, though. If it’s allergy-triggered and not induced by exercise.
September 7, 2007 at 8:00 am
You can see Brian Lawrence’s minor league K rate for yourself at holycrap.com …
http://minors.baseball-referen.....?pid=23265
September 7, 2007 at 8:27 am
What a monster nite Blanks had! I should have gone to one of those games, since I don’t live too far away from either park…
Read your THT article Geoff. It was a nice refresher, as I was pretty young (9) then, and didn’t fully understand the ire of my parents. I was bummed when we lost Sheff, but back then, I truly loved the Crime Dog. I don’t know why, but I was a HUGE Fred McGriff fan. When he left, I was crestfallen, even at 9.
OT, but what did Clay Hensley do to the FO? I’m thinking maybe he hooked up with one of Bud’s daughters. It’s just stunning to see him going from being so highly touted last year to completely out of the plans this year.
September 7, 2007 at 8:33 am
3 … have you seen Hensley’s stats?
http://www.baseball-reference......cl01.shtml
What part of the 6.84 ERA or 1.88 WHIP do you want them to tout?
Meanwhile, folks at madfriars are reporting that on the radio yesterday Sandy Aderson said they will give David Freese some time at Catcher in the Instructional League … and he will also play some first base.
September 7, 2007 at 8:49 am
re 4: It sounds like Freese is going to be making the transition to catcher full time as soon as the season ends.
Great decision by the front office as it is another way to get a bat into the lineup as it certainly looks like Freese is going to hit and it isn’t like the organization is hurting for 3B prospects.
September 7, 2007 at 8:58 am
4: Yeah. Lipstick doesn’t make a pig look good. He’s just been awful, and you can’t pin it on the front office. I still think he might be hiding an injury.
Too bad they didn’t move Freese up. He was too old for the Cal League. It would have taken some creativity with the corner players.
September 7, 2007 at 9:01 am
4: How much of his horrible stats are related to his early struggles? I totally get that his WHIP is terrible, and I agree with Tom that it appears he may have been injured.
Regardless, it seems that they really had a very short leash on him. I can’t remember the last time I saw a manager go out to the mound and berate a player.
September 7, 2007 at 9:04 am
7.
It seems like every time you look at his stat lines he gives up 5 or 6 earned runs. I liked the dude a lot coming into the year but it really looks like he has lost all of his confidence.
September 7, 2007 at 9:15 am
7: In the majors, he’s been flat bad. For 6 innings in July he was okay, although IIRC there was some good defense behind him. The other months, oof. He was bad in the minors. He’s not being Kouzmanoffed.
He was pitching like Dewon Brazelton out there. I’d have been angry if the leash had been any longer.
September 7, 2007 at 9:18 am
9: You do bring up some strong points, and it’s completley feasible that I’m looking at Clay through rose-colored glasses. I really felt that he would have a solid year this year, and it’s just fallen apart for him.
But yeah, his WHIP is really telling. He’s walked way too many people, and that can get you in trouble, no matter how great of a pitcher you are (See Peavy and CY from earlier this week).
September 7, 2007 at 9:38 am
5. They let Freese catch a little last year at Instructs too, but he’s most likely going to be at 3b next year. He caught a little in college, as well as pitched, but its more for an emergency plan than everyday.
Freese would have been moved up to San Antonio at mid-season if the Padres had felt comfortable with putting Headley in Portland, which they didn’t. It wasn’t that Headley couldn’t handle the PCL, they just didn’t want him picking up bad habits there.
Craig Cooper and Matt Buschmann also would have been moved up if there was room as well.
September 7, 2007 at 10:56 am
Gosh, I was just thinking - two days late - how good AZ must be feeling whipping the two ERA leaders on back to back nights.
September 7, 2007 at 11:16 am
11 … David Freese = next Robert Fick?
September 7, 2007 at 11:22 am
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com does a write up on Dave Littlefield. Lets just say that I’m glad that I’m not Pirates fan. Dude made some TERRIBLE moves over the years. Take a look it’s pretty incredible.
September 7, 2007 at 11:59 am
I’m very disappointed in the way that the Padres handled Hensley although it’s true, he has been horrible this season. However, as I’ve said before, he was the Padres best starter in the 2nd half last season. I hope that he has some small injury which is responsible for his horrendous season and that he’ll be part of the team next season.
September 7, 2007 at 12:05 pm
15: Not trying to start a fight, but how should the Padres have handled him? They let him pitch in the majors and he wasn’t getting any better. They sent him to the minors and he didn’t get any better. When he was recalled he hasn’t looked very good.
Outside of putting him on the DL in May and leaving him there all year, what do you do with a guy who walks that many and gives up that many hits?
September 7, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Not that it matters, but ESPN still rates the Padres as the best team in the NL.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....mp;week=23
If you want some laughs, read the comments. The indignant D’backs fans are the best.
“But how could the Padres be ranked higher>?!?!111!? We just beat the two best pitchers in baseball.”
Of course, those two best pitchers were a) rusty and b) on short rest.
The most impressive thing about the Padres is how much ground they’ve gained in the past two weeks. If Hudson goes down with the thumb injury, they’re done.
September 7, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I just think they’ve jerked him around too much. Granted, he’s been bad, but is he any worse than Stauffer, Cassel or Tomko? I don’t think so. I understand that they made those moves since he has options and they didn’t want to burn a spot on the 40 man roster but there was some junk on there (although it’s mostly cleared off, only Clark, Robles and Tomko left) but I think they ruined (or hurt) his confidence. I guess the question that has to be answered is whether it was the 2nd half of 2006 that was the fluke, or this season. It seems that Padres think that it was last year.
September 7, 2007 at 12:34 pm
OT … I just learned that St. Louis plays 31 games in 30 days in September … ouch!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/te.....lP9mAp0bYF
September 7, 2007 at 1:08 pm
18: This season he’s been worse than all 3.
What other course of action did they have? Bury him in the major league bullpen, when we already had 2 guys mostly used in near-zero leverage situations who were doing better than him? Keep letting him start in the majors when he couldn’t get AAA hitters out?
September 7, 2007 at 1:10 pm
19 - yeah, I heard that too. It’s perfect though for a team as young and fresh as the Card-
oh wait…
September 7, 2007 at 1:14 pm
At no point this year has Hensley pitched well. Many of his best performances came with a lot of hits/walks allowed, and suggest that he was fortunate to not allow more runs. I don’t know if he’s healthy or not, or whether his confidence is shot or not, but he shouldn’t be starting any more games in 2007, and arguably should just be shut down.
Give him a chance to get healthy and start from scratch in 2008, but let Cassel or a hopefully-fresh Tomko take the ball for the remainder of this year.
If Tomko/Cassel can pitch against the Pirates and Giants (as has been mentioned), we might win both of those games.
September 7, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Geoff-
I’m “All Out of Love” for the fly beatz from AirSupplyBlog.com! Don’t let anyone tell you Captain and Tenille were better.
BG
September 7, 2007 at 1:29 pm
So Ankiel and Glaus have both been on the juice lately…well HGH but let’s not split hairs…..this is going to be interesting
September 7, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Kevin Goldstein’s prospect column at BPro mentions Jose Ceda of the Cubs as a breakout prospect this year. He struck out 66 in 46 1/3 inning in Low A, allowing only 14 hits. He was the guy traded for Todd Walker last year. We’re still a long, long way from regretting that trade because of Ceda’s performance, though.
Headley, Antonelli, and LeBlanc were the choices for the Padres’ breakout prospects.
http://www.baseballprospectus......cleid=6681
(no subscription required)
September 7, 2007 at 2:06 pm
#21 You must have read my mind Clayton. At no time this year has Hensley been effective. Even when had one “quality” start or two he would still not have much command–it seemed like every start he would walk four of five guys.
I have seen so many Clay Hensley’s over the years, one good year and then then for some reason they are never effective again.No reason to worry though if he can’t make it back, the Pads have plenty coming up through the ranks that could step in.
September 7, 2007 at 2:10 pm
And yes, believe it or not, he has indeed been worse than PCL All Star Jack Cassell, Stauffer has had a fair season at the AAA level, while Tomko, even with his 5.50 era at the ML level : Look at these Hensley numbers at AAA 2 7 6.72 13 13 0 0 0 71.0 102 63 53 10 34 50 2.02 .333 Can it get any worse. His WHIP at Portland was 2 for crying out loud !!
September 7, 2007 at 2:11 pm
27: Aaaaah! My eyes!
September 7, 2007 at 2:16 pm
#28 sorry dude. that was a bit silly to post w/o a graphic organizer !
September 7, 2007 at 2:26 pm
29: No matter how you arrange those numbers, it’s gonna hurt. Either you can’t read it and it scrambles the cones and rods, or you can read it and it shows how badly Clay has done.
September 7, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Now I am laughing even harder than I did after reading #28