Comments on: Friday Links (21 Mar 08)

By: Schlom

Schlom — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:44:20 +0000

I’m not blaming Towers, I think he’s the best GM in baseball for acquiring players — not so good at the draft but so far it hasn’t really hurt the team.

How many of you knew that the Royals outspent the Padres by nearly 20% season? My main problem is that the Padres need to win this season, they can’t afford to take a season off. Their main competition (and now it’s three teams, no other division is as deep as the NL West) has either a lot more young (and therefore cheap) talent or will spend more money (or both). Even the hopeless team (the Giants) will spend money — although as long as they keep Sabean they probably won’t be good.

Moores’ refusal to spend money is really hamstringing the Padres prospects long-term — the Padres payroll was so low they might have gotten revenue sharing money last season. By spending an extra $6m they could have Lohse in the rotation and Rick Porcello as their top prospect. Maybe the Marlins would trade Hanley Ramirez (or maybe now that they have a new stadium agreement they’ll hold on to him). But let’s say they trade him for Headley (blocked by Kouz and not as valuable away from 3B), Porcello and Latos. That would give the Padres an infield of Bard, Gonzalez, Greene and Kouz and an outfield of Hairston, Ramirez and someone else. With the Padres rotation (especially if Prior pans out) that team would be the favorite in 2009 probably. Of course it would mean raising the payroll but unless you bring up your own players good players cost money. Of course maybe the Marlins wouldn’t trade Ramirez but Porcello would be an incredible trade chip (much bigger then the difference between his and Schmidt signing bonus).

The Padres are going to have to be very aggressive over the next couple of years if they want to compete in the NL West, especially with the Dodgers. Basically we are going to have to hope that the Dodgers prospects fail or Coletti either blocks them or trades them. But what happens if they get a GM that trusts young players?

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By: Geoff Young

Geoff Young — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:43:30 +0000

#106: To clarify further, I used the method employed by Bill James on pp. 946-969 of NBJHA. I realize now that I should have included an explanation in the book. That's what I get for throwing something in at the last minute.

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By: Geoff Young

Geoff Young — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:08:17 +0000

#70: WS is for starting LF (i.e., the guy who played there the most), which in 2008 was Terrmel Sledge, who earned a whopping 4 of 'em.

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By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:45:53 +0000

101: “That’s balls.” I’m glad someone finally said it!

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By: Masticore317

Masticore317 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:24:29 +0000

I think if Edmonds starts the year on the DL the guys who are on the bubble for losing their spot when he comes back are PMAC, Gerut, or the extra infielder if we carry one (Rodriguez or Robles). Crabbe seems safe.

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By: Masticore317

Masticore317 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:47:20 +0000

96 - touche, regarding Herndon/Stauffer

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By: Sean Callahan

Sean Callahan — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:02:18 +0000

We’ll be OK in centerfield because Jim Edmonds is athletic….

And another [scout] noted that without Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and David Eckstein, “they’ve lost a lot of athleticism.”

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....ref=si_mlb

If it’s on the internet, it must be true, right?

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By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:36:38 +0000

I don’t see how Padres left fielders compiled just four Win Shares. Milton Bradley had nine by himself. Jose Cruz had five. That’s 14.

Left field was a fairly productive position for the Padres, as evidenced by those totals on Baseball-reference.com. Four win shares would make it the worst position for any team in the majors, or something like that.

56: In essence, you are saying you know how to run a team, at least in the offseason, better than Kevin Towers.

That’s balls.

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By: Chase

Chase — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:24:35 +0000

I read the Hayhurst article, and I must say that I'm impressed. That was very well written, and I'm glad he got to experience the feeling that he did. Championships really are a special moment for any athlete. If you're able to lose yourself into a game, it makes it that much more special.

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By: SDSUBaseball

SDSUBaseball — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:09:18 +0000

Schlom makes the same post every single day: Jody Gerut sucks, we should had signed Loshe, the Padres look like the Royals/Pirates. Moores is cheap. Its been the same thing for weeks on end it seems, and you repeat the comments so often you seem to derail and take over the threads nearly every day.

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