Quick reminder for those of you in the Ducksnorts 2 fantasy league: We’re drafting Friday at 7 p.m. PT. Be there or be stuck with a crappy team.
To the links:
- MB at Friar Forecast continues his interview with Padres front office staffer Chris Long. My favorite part:
Then the robots kill all humans, but hopefully they’ll still play baseball.
Excellent. As a fellow robot, I very much look forward to this day.
- According to the U-T Padresblog, Greg Maddux is fine after getting drilled by a line drive off the bat of Derrek Lee (he sure hates our pitchers, doesn’t he?). Quoth Maddux:
It’s a minor contusion. No worries — for me, anyway. I ain’t worried about it. Perfect spring training injury. It’s got me out of running the next couple of days.
- Tom Krasovic at the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that pitching coach Darren Balsley has made a minor adjustment to left-hander Randy Wolf’s delivery (hat tip to LynchMob in the comments). Wolf, for his part, says his arm feels great, while manager Bud Black likes what he’s seen of the veteran’s change-up.
- Anthony DiComo at MLB.com wonders who has the best rotation in baseball (hat tip to Phantom in the comments). His conclusion? The Padres. Look, I love my team, but this is asinine. San Diego’s rotation might be top 5, but #1? As much as I want it to be true, there’s just no way.
- Krasovic talks about minor-league outfielder Will Venable (hat tip to Phantom in the comments). The Padres are higher on him than many outside observers. As for whether development time lost due to playing another sport will affect him, maybe we should ask Joe Borchard, Drew Henson, Ryan Minor, etc. Yeah, I did wake up on the curmudgeonly side of the bed; thanks for asking.
- According to Padres.com, right-hander Tim Stauffer is having shoulder troubles (hat tip to LynchMob in the comments). Poor kid.
- Speaking of shoulder injuries, Baseball America lets us know just how damaging they can be (hat tip to LynchMob in the comments).
- Meanwhile, the Padres are in China (U-T, hat tip to Matthew Thompson in the comments). Well, some of them are, anyway.
- Steve Henson covers the trip for Yahoo! (hat tip to Phantom in the comments). As Sandy Alderson says, “There is only one first.” Some folks wonder whether this trip will affect the Padres’ preparation for Opening Day. It’s a valid concern, although one hopes that a team possesses the ability to overcome obstacles. It comes in handy over the course of a long season.
- Corey Brock is there and has the photos to prove it.
- For those who care about spring stats, they’re available at USA Today (hat tip to LynchMob in the comments).
- Jason at sdpadrefan.com has posted his All-Time Padre Rookie Team.
- We’ve talked about Royals left-hander Brian Bannister here before, but now Yahoo!’s Jeff Passan is hip to the cat (hat tip to FriarFanDan in the comments). Quoth Bannister:
One thing sabermetrics and statistics have allowed me to do is relax. I know the odds. I know percentages. I know that three out of every 10 batted balls should go for hits, and I deal with it. It’s helped me be a better player
Passan, meanwhile, is linking to actual blogs. It’s just one giant lovefest, really.
- Jonathan Hale at Baseball Digest Daily examines the relationship between weather conditions and hitting, and then follows up with a look at the conditions of parks around the league.
Whew. That was too many. Is there such a thing? On second thought, it was just the right amount. Happy Friday!
Tell everyone to buy the book. I don’t want to work anymore. 
Bass! With another scoreless inning.
51 … you da Bass-man, Derek