Friday Links (15 Nov 07)
Fri, Nov 16, 2007
by Geoff Young
Wait, didn’t we already do a link post this week? Marketing spin: Two for the price of one. Yeah, that’s it…
- Padres build top bullpen through smart shopping (SI.com, via Brett in the comments). Tom Verducci has noticed what we’ve long known: that Kevin Towers has a gift for acquiring cheap arms. It’s weird that Verducci doesn’t dismiss the phenomenon as a function of Petco Park. Isn’t that pretty much a requirement these days?
- Speaking of potential cheap arms, here are a few minor-league free agents with interesting statistical profiles (don’t know anything about their repertoire, etc.): Lee Gronkiewicz, Dan Giese, Scott Patterson, Charlie Manning, Felix Romero, Travis Hughes. Maybe there’s nothing to these guys, but they sure did okay in the minors last year.
- Will frugal Padres shell out bucks? (San Diego Union-Tribune, via Steve C in the comments). Ah, the irony. Now that the Padres finally have payroll flexibility, the free-agent market stinks.
- Barry Bonds indicted on perjury, obstruction charges (ESPN). Hey, here’s a guy who should come real cheap. Sigh. What a freakin’ moron. Not to get on a moral high horse, but it bothers me that the all-time leader in hits and the all-time leader in home runs are known cheaters. Baseball deserves better. Then again, everyone looked the other way when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were hitting all those homers in ‘98, so maybe it doesn’t.
- Web based PITCHf/x tool (Hardball Times). In decidedly happier news, Josh Kalk has developed a tool that just rocks. Really, go play with it.
- Padres making pitch for Clement (MLB.com, via Anthony in the comments). Not a horrible back-end option. Just remember that this is not the Matt Clement we last saw in San Diego. The current version is 33 years old, hasn’t pitched since 2006, and hasn’t been good since 2004. Still, he’s better than Shawn Estes. Right?
- Padres talk extension with Peavy as Cy awaits (San Diego Union-Tribune, via Peter Friberg in the comments). I’ll believe it when I see it, but I sure hope the Padres and Jake Peavy are able to get something done.
Speaking of Peavy, didn’t he win an award or something?
- No doubt, it’s Peavy (San Diego Union-Tribune). My favorite part of Tom Krasovic’s article is a quote from Peavy: “You’ve got my word. I’m going to come back as hungry as ever and try to repeat this performance.” Really? You think? Because if there’s one thing that concerns me about Peavy, it’s his lack of intensity.
- Sun Rises in East; Peavy Wins Cy Young Award (Baseball Prospectus, via Richard in the comments). Joe Sheehan weighs in with his thoughts.
- Now, pay me (San Diego Union-Tribune). This article is mostly fluff but check out the photo of Randy Jones in full ‘fro. Sweet!
- San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy wins NL Cy Young Award in unanimous vote (Yahoo!). AP coverage.
Also, if you do the Facebook or Twitter thing:
And I’ve been playing around with a Wiki site for Ducksnorts. Feel free to play around with it if you’re so inclined.
Why do we need all this stuff? Look, I don’t know; I just work here, okay? Hey, it might be fun…
Winter Leagues
Wednesday, November 14
- Surprise 6, Saguaros 5 (box | recap). Will Venable, batting eighth and starting in right field, singled and struck out in four at-bats.
- Estrellas 4, Escogido 2 (box). Vince Sinisi singled in four at-bats for Escogido. Incidentally, there’s a minor-league free agent pitcher on this team who fascinates me. His name is Warner Madrigal, and I know nothing about him beyond the fact that he’s a former outfielder who struck out more than 11 batters per 9 innings in his first full season as a pitcher. Granted, it was the Midwest League, but this caught my eye.
- Navojoa 6, Culiacan 2 (box). Oscar Robles singled, walked, and struck out in five trips to the plate. Luis Cruz started in center field and finished at third base, going 2-for-4 in the process.
- Obregon 4, Mazatlan 3 (box). Brian Myrow, batting cleanup, doubled and walked in four plate appearances.
Thursday, November 15
- Mesa 6, Saguaros 5 (box). Venable, batting sixth, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Nick Hundley and Matt Antonelli also went 0-for-3, with Antonelli drawing a walk. John Hudgins (2.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) had another rough outing, although he threw a season-high 59 pitches. Will Startup worked a perfect eighth.
- Navojoa 6, Culiacan 5 (box). Robles went 0-for-3 with two walks. Cruz knocked three singles and a double in five trips to the plate.
Mazatlan 12, Obregon 0 (box). Myrow went 1-for-2 with three walks. - Magallenes 9, Caracas 8 (box). Paul Abraham worked a perfect ninth in a losing cause. Ex-Padre Eric Cyr started for Caracas.
Yes? Yes? Yes, I do believe that covers it.
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.
November 16, 2007 at 7:51 am
With all the Peavy extension talk I wonder if they don’t get something done by the end of the off season if they will trade him during ST.
November 16, 2007 at 7:57 am
The Matt Clement we saw in San Diego was not very good either, which was annoying:
1999: 94 ERA+
2000: 83 ERA+
his only good years were in Chicago, ‘02-’04
November 16, 2007 at 8:58 am
Sorry for my rant on Keith Law.
November 16, 2007 at 9:04 am
re: Now, pay me … hmmm … I didn’t find that piece fully at all … it’s good to be reminded that a player’s salary is not as simple as “I’ll hold out for as much as I can” versus “I’ll just take what they offer” … there are other factors in the contract-dance … “union solidarity” … bleh … I don’t like the sound of that, but it’s real, it’s there, it’s a factor … and I must admit that the alternative is the owners getting a bigger and bigger piece of the MLB revenue pie, and that’s not appealing to me either … I think what this article has done for me is make me realize that the Padres have to decide if they are willing to pay Peavy “market value” … there’s just no way to duck that … and it seems there’s 2 barriers to doing so (ie. reasons they may choose not to): 1) they really don’t want to risk that high of a percentage of payroll into any one player, or 2) they really don’t think Peavy himself is a good long-term health-risk.
I do appreciate Sullivan’s bottom line: It’s not only about the money. Just mostly.
November 16, 2007 at 9:07 am
4 … typo alert … “fluffy” came out as “fully” … odd …
3 … now don’t be backin’ down, Jack … we like the passion!!!
November 16, 2007 at 9:11 am
#2: Good point. At least there was the threat of his improving back then.
#4: Yeah, “fluff” might have been overly harsh. I just didn’t see much new here.
November 16, 2007 at 9:17 am
I still dont agree with him but calling him a phony may have been a little harsh.
November 16, 2007 at 10:52 am
#7: Thanks, Jack. I agree that Law a) is doing an honest job and b) is misinformed about Matt. The good news is, Matt can influence his own future more than Law can.
November 16, 2007 at 10:55 am
Hey, no worries, Jack. I think it must be extremely difficult to be related to a public figure and have to read others opinions about your loved one.
November 16, 2007 at 10:58 am
Why I don’t like Josh Rosenberg: He just said outside of A-Rod, Matt Holliday is arguably the best player in baseball. (A caller compared SD and Peavy to Colorado and Holliday.)
November 16, 2007 at 11:04 am
It is tough Pat but what upsets me is there is no merit to what Law says because if he has seen matt play it was maybe once how do you form an opinion on any athlete without watching him play for a while. His first comment this year was Matt couldnt hit , Matt showes he can so Law changes it to he cant field
November 16, 2007 at 11:46 am
woo hoo, facebook.
November 16, 2007 at 11:49 am
“Lee Gronkiewicz, Dan Giese, Scott Patterson, Charlie Manning, Felix Romero, Travis Hughes. Maybe there’s nothing to these guys, but they sure did okay in the minors last year.”
travis hughes never could make it with Tampa Bay…but hey thats a hard division.
i’d take a spring training invite/minor league deal on any of these guys just to see em in spring training to see if they are any good. couldnt hurt right?
November 16, 2007 at 11:57 am
actually now that im looking, scott patterson, if hes the reliever for the yankees that u are referring to, just got the call up to the 40 man roster, so hes not available.
and rotoworld.com is reporting Travis Hughes could get a Major League deal rather than a minor league deal
“Free agent Travis Hughes picked up his 12th save in the VWL by pitching a scoreless inning Thursday.
Hughes has allowed one run and posted a 19/4 K/BB ratio in 19 1/3 innings. He finished with a 1.91 ERA for Triple-A Pawtucket last season, so the former Nationals reliever could be a candidate for a major league deal this winter.”
“Yankees purchased the contract of RHP Scott Patterson from Double-A Trenton.
The 28-year-old Patterson gets his 40-man spot after all. He earned it by posting a 1.05 ERA and striking out 92 batters in 77 1/3 innings, most of them coming at Double-A. If he had better stuff, the Yankees would have taken a look at him in September, if not before. Still, it’s worth the roster spot to see if he can succeed in middle relief.”
November 16, 2007 at 12:01 pm
#13: Pretty much. If they suck, thank them for their time and move on.
#14: Ah, thanks for the update. I was working off a list published by BA a few weeks ago:
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....cts/?p=644
November 16, 2007 at 12:51 pm
yeah i was going off that list too, its a bit off i think, had a couple people on the wrong squad and whatnot, a couple of guys got repeated on different teams as well.
but its nice they(baseballamerica) even do all that. i saw some pretty intriguing names on there
November 16, 2007 at 1:37 pm
10 … re: Holliday … I don’t agree with it either … but Josh Rosenberg (whoever he is, link?) is not alone in that evaluation … I was floored by this at BA … National League Best Tools … as compiled from surveys of National League managers
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....64582.html
… Matt Holliday a better hitter than Albert Pujols? … no … No … NO … I don’t think so …
11 … re: how do you form an opinion on any athlete without watching him play for a while? If you’re being paid to do just that, then you do just that … you do what you can based on what you know and what you have seen in the past … ESPN must think he’s doing a good job of it … “we” must think he’s doing a good job of it because we keep talking about what he’s written … ie. in general, a lot of folks must think what he writes is informative and/or entertaining … I know I do … AND … along the lines of what GY says in #8 … what Keith Law says doesn’t matter nearly as much as what is true … nor as much as what the real MLB decision makers (particularly the Padres FO in this case) think …
November 16, 2007 at 1:53 pm
yordany ramirez was just signed by the astros.
Yordany Ramirez-OF-Astros Nov. 16 - 4:38 pm et
Astros signed outfielder Yordany Ramirez to a one-year contract.
It’s quite a surprise to see Ramirez land on a 40-man roster. The 23-year-old hit .269/.298/.385 in 286 AB for Single-A Lake Elsinore and .315/.353/.433 in 127 AB for Triple-A Portland last season. The A-ball line better describes him as a hitter. He is a terrific defensive outfielder, so if he comes along offensively, he could have a career as a reserve. He’s a long shot, though. The Astros will have him open the year in Double- or Triple-A.
rotoworld.com
November 16, 2007 at 2:04 pm
How does this sound:
Chase Headley and some low-level pitching prospect for Tim Lincecum & Kevin Frandsen. It fills the g’nats need for a 3rd baseman and our need for a somewhat useful, short-term 2nd baseman (until Anotonelli is ready) and a SP with a lot of upside.
November 16, 2007 at 2:04 pm
19: Sorry that should be Antonelli.
November 16, 2007 at 2:08 pm
#18: Funny, I did Ramirez’ writeup for the book yesterday. Guess that’s coming out. I’ll put it here instead:
#19: The Giants are not going to trade Lincecum within the division, if at all. The guy is a stud.
November 16, 2007 at 2:12 pm
21: I agree, I just saw his name mentioned as a possible multi-player for Miguel Cabrera and it got me thinking. Maybe if we add in a top reliever (they need some help there).
Also, I thought we were not going to try to resign Barrett. Check this out (regarding Torrealba signing with the Mets:
“Now, Florida will focus on free agent Michael Barrett but will have to compete with offers from the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies, among other teams.”
This came from the Palm Beach Post via Pro Sports Daily
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/m....._1116.html
November 16, 2007 at 2:20 pm
19/22 … first, GY is right that SF is not going to trade Lincecum due to “he’s a stud” … but … I think any team would trade almost any player for Cabrera … so just because you see some players name mentioned in a possible trade for Cabrera does *not* mean you can substitute Headley for Cabrera in a trade idea … that’s not realistic … it sounds RedSox-ish …
November 16, 2007 at 2:26 pm
re 21.
astros have little use for him. they have a lot of similar prospects. kinda hard to see what they see him as….
they just picked up Reggie Abercrombie like a month ago…
November 16, 2007 at 2:45 pm
23: I agree, it was a wicked bad idea!
November 16, 2007 at 2:47 pm
25: make that “a wicked-bad ideer” no offense to Jack from Boston.
November 16, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Padres Minor League 2007 Recap
fun read http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
and
Padres Prospect Recap
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
good read as well.
tell me what you guys think about the articles.
November 16, 2007 at 4:16 pm
No more Yordany, yay!
November 16, 2007 at 7:33 pm
“No more Yordany, yay!” ??? Hell, he didn’t even have a chance to mess up at the major league level in a Pads uniform and you have a passion to see him gone.
November 16, 2007 at 8:13 pm
29: Yeah, what’s that about?
November 16, 2007 at 8:40 pm
It’s weird to see the Astros picked up Yordany Ramirez when they had Josh Anderson in the system that they just traded to the Braves.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
November 16, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Any chance that Matt Antonelli moving to CF and Eric Sogard playing 2B?
November 17, 2007 at 3:48 am
I’m just happy to see him gone. Aside from his small-sample AAA performance, he never hit a lick. Sure, he’s a great defender, but by all accounts the guy was uncoachable. I prefer a player like that is someone elses problem, so we’re not always waiting and hoping for him to turn it around.
November 17, 2007 at 3:49 am
This may be old news now, but the 6-year minor league FA’s have been listed:
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....cts/?p=644
November 17, 2007 at 4:23 am
I just checked over the minor league FA list. There are several guys on there I wouldn’t mind giving a shot to (minor league deal, of course):
P - Ezequiel Astacio, Franklyn German, Rob Bell, Elizardo Ramirez, Bobby Brownlie, Eddy Rodriguez, Anastacio Martinez, Ben Hendrickson, Matt Riley, Adam Pettyjohn, Eude Brito, Justin Lehr, Adam Bernero
1B - Valentino Pascucci, Lance Niekro,
2B - Keith Ginter, Joe Thurston
3B - Yurendell de Caster
OF - Joe Borchard, Charles Thomas, Jorge Piedra, Jason Ellison, Todd Linden, Mike Restovich
Utl - Mike Kinkade
Also several ex-Padre farmhands were on the list - off the top of my head:
Cesar Crespo, Carlos Almanzar, Bobby Scales, Ryan Bukvich, Wiki Gonzalez, Adam Shabala, Ernie Young, Kevin Walker, Dennis Tankersley, Kenny Baugh, Todd Sears, Chan Ho Park, Eric Cyr, Brad Baker, Brian Lawrence, Jake Gautreau, Jose Cruz, Vince Faison, Bubba Nelson, Chris Rojas, Dewon Brazelton, Alex Fernandez, Tagg Bozied, Rico Washington, Dan Giese, Justin Leone,
Steve Andrade, Michel Hernandez, Luther Hackman, Randy Williams, Dave Matranga, Blaine Neal, Kevin Barker, Manny Alexander, Jonathan Johnson, Jon Knott, Ricky Stone, Miguel Asencio, Jason Shiell, Jon Adkins, Wil Nieves, J.J. Furmaniak, Marty McLeary, Randy Keisler, Howie Clark, Bernie Castro
November 17, 2007 at 7:50 am
#35: BA’s list may not be entirely accurate. See #14-16.
Vince Faison. Ugh.
November 17, 2007 at 9:34 am
Faison sure was a bust.
November 17, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Uh oh, Geoff Blum is going to sign with the Astros. We are really in trouble in 13 or 14 inning games now.
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/my.....geId=6.4.1
November 17, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Ha man we just lost the team whipping boy!
November 17, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Cool, best news of the off-season so far. No more Silent L.
He’s their fans’ whipping boy now.
November 17, 2007 at 4:27 pm
38: That makes me happier than it ought to.
November 17, 2007 at 5:07 pm
38-41: Seems a bit harsh
November 17, 2007 at 5:20 pm
B(l)um was ok (got more **** than he probably deserved), but we all kind of took him on as the team whipping boy. That said I’m glad to see him go because he was a complete **** to my wife, my self and about 6 or 7 kids at spring training the year after he hit the big HR for the white sox.
November 17, 2007 at 10:18 pm
43: No kidding? I wouldn’t have guessed that about Silent L.
November 17, 2007 at 11:25 pm
43: Must have cauf=ght him on a bad day. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes last year at ST.
November 18, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I think it’s wierd that stories are saying “Boras misread the market” resulting in A-Rod going back to the Yankees …
And I think this report is wierd about Torrealba and the Mets …
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns
What makes them wierder is that MLB revenue = $6B … that’s $200M per team … which seems to me says that there is more money out there to pay higher players salaries …
November 19, 2007 at 3:50 am
Did anyone see this yet?
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
November 19, 2007 at 10:01 am
42, 43: You are right. Silent L has been the most valuable utility guy for the Padres, taking over for Greene and NOG in two seasons. Still the news made me happy.
That’s unfortunate, Steve. I’ve heard good things about Blum with fans.