Padres Pick Up Black’s Option

Wed, Mar 26, 2008Ballhype: hype it up!
by Geoff Young

Bud BlackThe Padres have picked up manager Bud Black’s option for 2009 and reportedly would like to extend his contract even further. Quoth GM Kevin Towers:

We thought he had a great year and he’s only going to get better and better. He’s a pro, he’s smart, he represents the organization very, very well. The players like him. The longer he’s here and the more people get to know him they’re going to realize he’s a special guy.

I’m generally pleased with the job Black did in his rookie campaign, and it’s clear now that he was the right man to take over when Bruce Bochy bolted to San Francisco. Here’s what I said about Black when the Padres hired him in November 2006:

According to his Angels bio, Black hasn’t managed at any level. How much does that matter? Eh, the difference between “has fresh ideas” and “lacks experience” is about the same as that between winning and losing.

Was Black perfect? No. Nobody is. In the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual, I take exception to moves he made (or didn’t make) in games on April 18 and July 3. But that’s twice in 163 games I felt compelled to whine about his decisions. I’m pretty sure I can live with that.

One aspect of Black’s brief tenure that I’ve enjoyed so far is the home runs. If you read many season previews right now, they’re spouting a bunch of nonsense about how the Padres have no power. It’s okay, they’re not well informed. They should be, but they’re not.

Anyway, I don’t know who’s responsible for this, but check out what’s happened under Black’s watch in terms of the big fly:

Padres Home Runs by Manager
    Home Runs Games
Manager Games Padres Opp Diff Wins Losses Pct
Stats are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.
Bud Black 163 171 119 +52 89 74 .546
Preston Gomez 496 371 364 +7 180 316 .363
Greg Riddoch 394 307 304 +3 200 194 .508
Bob Skinner 1 1 1 0 1 0 1.000
Jim Riggleman 291 249 255 -6 112 179 .385
Roger Craig 323 168 182 -14 152 171 .471
Steve Boros 162 136 150 -14 74 88 .457
Alvin Dark 113 81 96 -15 48 65 .425
Jerry Coleman 162 67 97 -30 73 89 .451
Frank Howard 110 32 64 -32 41 69 .373
Jack McKeon 357 254 295 -41 193 164 .541
Don Zimmer 304 210 269 -59 114 190 .375
Larry Bowa 208 141 210 -69 81 127 .389
John McNamara 534 279 373 -94 224 310 .419
Dick Williams 649 392 532 -140 337 311 .520
Bruce Bochy 1926 1747 2085 -338 951 975 .494

Gomez and his .363 winning percentage remind us that outhomering the opposition ain’t the end-all and be-all. That said, Black’s Padres were the first to outscore the opposition at Petco Park. Here’s hoping Black can build on his initial success in ‘08 and make the “experts” feel a little sheepish for picking the Padres to finish fourth in the division.

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92 Responses to “Padres Pick Up Black’s Option”

  1. Phantom Says:

    I completely agree about Black. He was instrumental in Kouz’s success last year, as Bochy would have had Branyan and Blum making every start after April 15th.

    Here’s a great article on Adrian’s defense: http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....adres.html

    I had no idea that he led all ML 1B in assists. That’s pretty awesome.

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  2. Steve C Says:

    Re: 1 Amen!

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  3. michael Says:

    It will be interesting to see if there are any changes to Black’s managerial style this season particularly in terms of pulling starters earlier. Also it will be important to see how he deals with the outfield shuffle and getting at bats for Clark.

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  4. Stephen Says:

    Was the “Geoff (San Diego)” in the Buster Olney portion of ESPN’s “superchat” yesterday a certain DSer?

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  5. Geoff Young Says:

    #1: Great call on his handling of Kouz.

    #4: ‘Twas not I…

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  6. LynchMob Says:

    I’m missing the point of “HRs by Manager” … you even acknowlege that you “don’t know who’s responsible for this” … but presenting it this way seems to imply a cause/effect? It might even be a negative … Black had a powerful team and yet finished “only” 15 games over .500?

    I’d be interested to hear the “Bob Skinner Story” …

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  7. Friar Phil Says:

    However likeable, and more or less adequate as a manager, Bochy was, I do really appreciate Buddy’s intelligence and cool. He’s also a better interview. And I agree with (3); coaxing solid outfield play out of our core of aged, unproven, and recovering outfielders looks like his key challenge for early season.

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  8. Geoff Young Says:

    #6:

    a) It’s cool.
    b) It’s unprecedented in Padres managerial history.
    c) It helps destroy mainstream perception that the Padres have no power.

    I’ve been very careful (I think) to note a lack of demonstrable cause/effect. I suppose the homers could be viewed as a negative, but that seems a stretch to me.

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  9. LynchMob Says:

    8 … ah … well … then consider my point being confirmation of a lack of demonstrable cause/effect ;-)

    I’m still worried a bit about SLS (Sunday Lineup Syndrome) …

    OT … a note here about another 3B-man trying to convert to LF … http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=732109

    Ryan Braun had made a virtually seamless transition from third base to left field this spring, playing a position that can be brutal in the sun and has seen a few visiting leftfielders lose fly balls. Well, Braun finally lost one against the Dodgers when Brad Penny lofted a lazy fly at him. Braun shaded his eyes with his glove and arched his back in an attempt to lose the shine, but he couldn’t and lost the ball, which nearly conked him in the head. “I never saw it,” Braun said. “I’m lucky it didn’t hit me in the head. I almost made it (to the end of camp).”

    And *way* OT, that link mentions this odd occurance in a recent Brewers/Dodger game …

    Dodgers leftfielder Juan Pierre bunted for a double after Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks and first baseman Eric Munson did not communicate on the play and the ball rolled into the outfield.

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  10. Geoff Young Says:

    #9: Sweet, thanks for confirming. 8)

    And I’m working on the SLS question…

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  11. PM Says:

    Bud Black on 1090 yesterday afternoon said he thought Big Mac had an awesome spring and might start in left. The Free McAnulty crowd will be happy. But if Paul swings for the fences at Petco, he will be sadly disappointed.

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  12. LynchMob Says:

    OT … Jack Cust with a brutal Opening Day … http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=280325111 … 0-for-4 with 4 Ks … he did rebound today by drawing a walk in a PH appearance …

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  13. LynchMob Says:

    11 … Paul McAnulty does not swing for the fences … he just puts major wood on the ball seemingly each and every AB … consider me a charter member of “The Free McAnulty crowd” … and, yes, I’m happy!

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  14. Steve C Says:

    FREE P-MAC!!!!!!!

    Im going to order my Padres P-mac shirt soon if he makes the club out of ST!

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  15. Schlom Says:

    Well you know who I’d rather have starting on Opening Day in LF. Whoever starts in LF is only going to a caretaker until they call up Headley so I think it makes sense to start with McAnulty because if he gets hot he might have some trade value unlike Gerut.

    McAnulty’s defense can’t be too bad in LF can it considering that the Padres have tried him at 3B. That makes me think that he has some athletic ability (although he’s never really stolen any bases, his pro high is 7).

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  16. Schlom Says:

    I brought this up last night real late but I thought the decision to keep Rodriguez (if that’s what they are doing) kind of curious. He’s basically a worse hitting version of Crabbe that can’t play the outfield (although that doesn’t matter that much). Why carry two utility players that aren’t great hitters? Since Rodriguez isn’t going to play much in the field and none of the infielders need to be platooned, why not carry a better hitter like Craig Stansberry? Unless Black uses Barrett to pinch-hit (and most managers don’t like to PH with their backup catcher) the Padres won’t have a PH to face left-handers and they are going to need one for Giles, McAnulty/Gerut and Edmonds. I don’t want a repeat of last year when Blum was the first right-handed bat off the bench.

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  17. Geoff Young Says:

    #16: Good question. Robles and Rodriguez are the only legit shortstops among the candidates, and with Robles being optioned to Portland, that leaves Rodriguez. If Crabbe is kept, it’ll be because he has good on-base skills and can play center field. Also, they can’t demote Crabbe without the risk of losing him. As for Stansberry, I have no way to prove this, but I suspect his fate may have been sealed when he mentally checked out of a game earlier this spring. Hopefully he’ll get back on track and be up at some point.

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  18. Field39 Says:

    16, I do not believe Bud will be pinch hitting for Giles and Edmunds, or any outfielders on a regular basis. More than likely Bud will save his pinch hitters for the pitchers, with Clark being the first choice. The question I see is what to do when Jim comes back? Send down Rodriquez and you are a little thin at utility, or lose Pmac/Gerut.

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  19. Friar Phil Says:

    16/17 Rodriguez can be seen as a solid defensive backup 2b,ss,3b , and hit well all spring, so I don’t see how this is surprising. It also frees up Crabbe — also a backup CF - to be used as a pinch runner and pinch hitter, which they might not be able to do in game situations if he was the only backup infielder.

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  20. Schlom Says:

    The thing is that they don’t need two defensive infield backups, one is fine if everyone is healthy. Rodriguez hasn’t hit at all in 445 AB’s in the majors so why carry him? Where and who is he going to play for? The chances of you needed two middle infield guys in a game are small and he’s not good enough to start. I’m not sure that if you carry only 5 players on your bench you can afford to have one guy primarily as a fielder. Plus, by not having a good right-handed pinch-hitter, they are going to very vulnerable against left-handed relievers.

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  21. Geoff Young Says:

    #20: The problem is that Crabbe isn’t really a shortstop.

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  22. LynchMob Says:

    20 … Tony Clark is a switch-hitter … so perhaps you are missing him from your list of “right-handed pinch-hitter”s?

    Who’s at the back of the pen? Assuming they are going to keep 7 RPs (for a 12-man staff), the locks appear to be …

    Closer Trevor Hoffman
    Setup Heath Bell
    Setup Cla Meredith
    Mid Joe Thatcher
    Mid Glendon Rusch

    … and then I think they still have 3 candidates for the final 2 spots: Ledezma, Gonzalez, and Guevara … and that’s assuming that Cameron and Hampson go on the DL.

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  23. LynchMob Says:

    There was a mention in comments recently about Cards’ Anthony Reyes being a “player of interest” to the Padres … I’ve always been a Reyes fan … here’s an update on his status with Cards …

    http://www.stltoday.com/stltod.....enDocument

    … he’s currently a “long relief” guy on the team … and it doesn’t sound like Duncan likes him … hmmm …

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  24. Schlom Says:

    Clark has been stronger batting left-handed then right-handed over the past few years although his career splits are about the same. Over the past five seasons, against RHP, his OPS has been 838, 697, 1036, 848, 471. Against LHP, it’s been 724, 401, 933, 590, 855. Only in 2003 was he better better right-handed. He was good batting right-handed in 2003 and 2005 (when he had the monster year of 30 HR in only 349 AB’s) but bad the other three seasons.

    In regards to the bullpen, I think that Guevara is going to open the season on the DL. In the UT today (or maybe it was yesterday) they said that Gonzalez is probably going to make the team since he’s out of options.

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  25. LynchMob Says:

    OT … a Raul Casanova update …

    http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....ml?ref=rss

    … just for you, GY!

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  26. Tom Waits Says:

    21: Is Rodriguez enough of an improvement for 10 games at short over Crabbe? Carrying 12 pitchers and two no-power utility players leaves us with a very short bench. The backup catcher is almost never going to be used as a pinch-hitter, so we have two spots for hitters.

    Crabbe by himself is a major advantage. He’s all your utility needs rolled into one compact, speedy package. A good part of that gets lost if you keep Rodriguez. I’d probably rather keep Rodriguez alone and make a trade with Milwaukee for Crabbe than take up two roster spots.

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  27. LynchMob Says:

    26 … trade Crabbe for whom?

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  28. Geoff Young Says:

    #26: Yeah, if Crabbe can play a passable shortstop, it probably is better to find someone else to take that other spot. So far, though, Crabbe has six minor-league games to his credit at the position. All came in 2003, and he committed four errors. Not saying he can’t do it, just that the track record isn’t as strong as some people seem to think it might be.

    http://minors.baseball-referen.....i?pid=3222

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  29. Geoff Young Says:

    Also, we’ve just picked up Justin Huber from the Royals for a PTBNL. Could be an interesting RHB.

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  30. Tom Waits Says:

    27: Trade someone for Crabbe so we don’t lose him back to the Brewers for 25,000.

    28: I don’t think his track record is strong. I don’t believe it has to be all that strong to be to play a backup SS when, say, Chris Young is on the mound, or for one game between Greene getting hurt and a flight from wherever the Beavers are playing landing wherever the Padres are playing. It’s more the loss of two roster spots for two utility players without power. Either one, fine. Both, if we had 11 pitchers, not great but still fine.

    The question works the other way, too. If Crabbe can’t play SS, and he’s probably not all that good in CF, either, then is he valuable enough to keep?

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  31. Tom Waits Says:

    29: That’s a solid move.

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  32. Geoff Young Says:

    #30: Yeah, the idea of carrying Crabbe and Rodriguez doesn’t excite me either. Just trying to figure out *why* the Padres would do it. We’ll see if the Huber acquisition (which I also like) affects anything.

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  33. Phantom Says:

    Wild game on our hands today. Padres are up on the Rangers 5-4 in the third inning. Khalil has two doubles. Jake gave up a 2-run bomb to Hamilton.

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  34. Tom Waits Says:

    32: I totally agree that’s why they’re doing it.

    PMac hears the Huber news and says “Damn.” Not that he’ll be the one to move out, but he must be nervous.

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  35. Field39 Says:

    29: He spent his minor league career as a catcher, now he is an of/1b. Where does he fit in? Is this a possible precursor to another move?

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  36. Tom Waits Says:

    35: Right-handed Fick with better defense in the OF. On a heavily LH team, that’s worthwhile.

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  37. Steve C Says:

    Re: 34 NOOOO!!!!

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  38. Pelotero 47 Says:

    Re 29: I wonder if either Barret or Bard is on the move for outfield help?

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  39. Field39 Says:

    36: As a replacement for Gerut?

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  40. Schlom Says:

    I don’t see how Huber can make the 25 man roster, where does he fit in? He might fit in better then McAnulty/Gerut since he’s right-handed but it can’t make that much difference.

    I’d like to see them go after Matt Murton. He doesn’t fit in with the Cubs at all since they just signed Reed Johnson (an older, worse version of Murton with slightly better defense) and his trade value seems to about zero (as the Rangers want him and another player for Marlon Byrd). Maybe there is some sort of ginger backlash against him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Kids

    I hope the Padres go after Anthony Reyes. He seems like the sort of pitcher that would thrive in Petco as he strikes guys out and is a strong fly-ball pitcher. His track record is nearly as good as CY’s before he came here. It looks like he could definitely use a change of scenery.

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  41. Tom Waits Says:

    39: That’s the rub, somebody has to move. Probably not the 12th pitcher.

    40: Another key is his catching experience, but it’s hard to imagine they’d trade Barrett and go with Huber as the real backup.

    Ditto on Reyes. Murton would be a quality player, but he’s probably not the backup CF we need.

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  42. Geoff Young Says:

    OT: Jake’s #22 will be retired at Elsinore on Apr 3. He’s throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. That 2001 Storm season was something special.

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  43. SDSUBaseball Says:

    42: That was a dream season. Is Eric Cyr still playing? Or Ben Howard? They seemed so bright at the time. Cyr and Jake seemed like they were going to be the Padre’s 1-2 for years.

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  44. LynchMob Says:

    Here’s a link to Huber’s minor league numbers …

    http://minors.baseball-referen.....i?pid=6876

    … I’ve never heard of him … I really don’t pay attention to AL teams …

    34 … and all members of “The Free McAnulty” club are bum’d today …

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  45. LynchMob Says:

    Sickels graded Huber as C+ back in November …

    http://www.minorleagueball.com.....172934/273

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  46. LynchMob Says:

    45 … after being a B+ in 2006 … http://www.minorleagueball.com.....42121/0078

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  47. SDSUBaseball Says:

    44: Seems like there was enough to like there. Who knows if he will make the squad, but looks like he can hit. Only problem is we have alot of 1B/OF options already. The catching experience is nice though.

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  48. Geoff Young Says:

    #44: Huber was a big-time prospect for the Mets several years ago. In his 2003 book, Sickels graded Huber as B+ and compared him to Brian Harper. BA had Huber as the Mets’ #5 prospect that year, behind — get this — Jose Reyes, Scott Kazmir, Aaron Heilman, and David Wright.

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  49. LynchMob Says:

    20 … and don’t forget Jake … he can be a RH PH on days he doesn’t pitch :-)

    (note: HR #1 of the spring for Jake today … http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....b_sdnmlb_1 )

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  50. SDSUBaseball Says:

    48: WOW. Thats a nice top 5. The top 4 move on to be not only big leaguers but good ones.

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  51. LynchMob Says:

    KG with 2 hits and a walk today … whew …

    And Yefri Carvajal with a hit today … sneak preview of 2011!

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  52. LynchMob Says:

    Texas’ catcher (Laird) with an SB off Rusch/Bard … and the beat goes on …

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  53. Paul R Says:

    Like Tom, I like the addition as a RH bat off of the bench. I also agree that PMac might be the most likely to go. We need that backup CF and I think that probably gives Gerut the advantage over PMac.

    Maybe we can be a little creative and lose Rodriguez instead of P-Mac. Barrett can be a reserve at 3B, P-Mac and Huber at 1B, Crabbe at SS and 2B as well as CF…When Edmonds gets back, Hairston is your reserve CF and also maybe an emergency 2B/3B. If Khalil or Iguchi gets hurt, we’ve got lots of guys at Portland (Stansberry, Rodriguez, Robles, etc) that could coem up for 2 weeks.

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  54. SDSUBaseball Says:

    Don’t know if this was mentioned, but Germano was names the “official” 5th starter.

    http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd

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  55. Phantom Says:

    P-Mac aint helping his case with an error today. The game has completely fallen apart today in the 8th with the Rangers scoring 6. Ridiculous.

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  56. Kevin Says:

    22: Based on articles from the past couple days …

    Will Ledezma is 90 percent to make the team.

    Carlos Guevera, Justin Hampson are probable to start the season on the disabled list.

    This means the last spot is down to Enrique Gonzalez and Kevin Cameron, and Cameron has had limited work because of injuries.

    Germano named fifth starter:

    http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd

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  57. KRS1 Says:

    If anything I think Huber could spell the end of Jody Gerut as opposed to P-Mac. Bud Black hinted at such in his 1090 interview last night. When asked if Gerut would be the left fielder if Hairston was in center on opening night Buddy said he thought it would be P-Mac in left because as good as Gerut has been P-Mac has been better. I really don’t see the benifit of keeping Gerut over P-Mac. I don’t see Gerut holding any edge because he can supposedly play center. With his 2 questionable knees I think Center is beyond his reach at this point. P-Mac is younger has a lot more upside (IMO) and is out of options. He seems to be the exact guy the padres system is all about and I can honestly see him contending for the RF job next season. I really don’t see the 08 Padres without P-Mac on the team.

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  58. Masticore317 Says:

    Didi, was this a Dune reference and I missed it?

    http://ducksnorts.com/blog/200.....ent-164458

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  59. Masticore317 Says:

    Seems like Huber was a converted catcher and has been playing 1B and some OF since. Looks like a pretty good stick.

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  60. Schlom Says:

    The fact that Gerut has come back at all to play this season is pretty amazing. He hasn’t played in a major league game since August of 2005. I was trying to think of a batter who had missed two seasons in a row to injuries and came back and was productive and couldn’t come up with anyone. Moises Alou has missed two seasons but they were years apart, anyone else come to mind?

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  61. Geoff Young Says:

    Just FYI, my spam filter seems to be eating URLs with sandiego.padres in them. Uh, hello, this is a Padres blog.

    Anywho, I’m trying to catch these as they happen. Eventually the problem should correct itself.

    Stupid computers…

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  62. LynchMob Says:

    60 … How about that Hamilton guy that played for Reds last year (and HR’d in yesterday game vs Ranger, iirc)?

    61 … OK, so I won’t link to Corey’s article at mlb.com about this, but he says …

    The move likely means Huber will replace infielder Luis Rodriguez as the team opts to use Callix Crabbe as it’s primary reserve infielder.

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  63. Tom Waits Says:

    62: Sweet. No disrespect to Rodriguez, but Greene shouldn’t need much time off the first couple months.

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  64. Geoff Young Says:

    #62, 63: Yep, that is great news. :-)

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  65. sdpadrefan.com Says:

    At first, I was thinking Rodriguez would be sent down, leaving Crabbe as the only backup, which is OK because if anything happened to Khalil, L-ROD could be recalled the very next day. After I put some more thought into it, my guess is that Gerut or P-MAC are more likely to be gone, conisdering that is what’s going to happen anyways once Edmonds is ready to play. Even if Edmonds starts the season on the DL, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to miss that much time. Once he’s activated, Gerut or P-MAC are out of here anyways so why even keep the odd man out here for just one or two weeks. Then again, Towers can make another deal in the next day or two and we’ll be talking about a whole different scenario.

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  66. Zagz Says:

    Havent seen a link for it yet, but 1090 reported Padres 1st manager Preston Gomez is in critical condition after getting hit by a truck at a gas station in Blythe.

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  67. Zagz Says:

    Actually, found the link right after I posted.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3314346

    I’m hoping for the best for him.

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  68. Richard Says:

    Huber projected to .255/.322/.420 with the Royals according to PECOTA. His 75th Percentile was a more respectable .269/.338/.453.

    I like the acquisition quite a bit. I don’t see a ton of upside, but he seems like he can be a quality (just above average) bat that can play more than one position.

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  69. rv Says:

    maybe huber’s knee situation is improved enough that he goes back to catcher, and we’ll learn of a michael barrett trade tomorrow morning. occasionally the padres try to save money…

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  70. Didi Says:

    67: Just read that news on Baseball Musings.
    I hope he’ll recover. All best wishes for the family.

    58: Yes, it was. Good catch.

    Like Huber. He should hit. What does this mean for P-Mac?

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  71. Pat Says:

    Good for Justin G. I hope he has a good year. And Free P-Mac. He seems like such a good guy; I really hope he can have some success, finally. :-)

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  72. LynchMob Says:

    TK @ UT’s blog answers several questions …

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....huber.html

    LRod is out … KCam is out … but EnGon is in.

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  73. LynchMob Says:

    It’s been a while since I checked the “Friar John” blog at mlb.com … now I see he’s resurfaced … and has lots o’ good info & links …

    http://padres.mlblogs.com/

    … including this shoutout on March 24th …

    One of the top independent Padres bloggers, Geoff Young of Ducksnorts, quizzed longtime U-T beat writer Tom Krasovic.

    … “one of”??? ;-)

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  74. LynchMob Says:

    ESPN’s Tim K predicts Mark Prior’s return date as June 1st …

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3306773

    … GY, poll topic? (Alternative: who plays for 2008 Padre first … Headley or Prior? :-) )

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  75. LynchMob Says:

    73 … FJ says most recent media reports suggest this will happen …

    Jim Edmonds, Justin Hampson, Carlos Guevara, Clay Hensley, Mark Prior and Tim Stauffer will start the season on the disabled list

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  76. Geoff Young Says:

    #75: Edmonds hasn’t happened yet, but the others have. Prior and Stauffer are on the 60-day DL.

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  77. Ben B. Says:

    The Huber acquisition seems like a direct response to our worries about a right handed pinch hitter off the bench. Huber fills that role nicely and the loss of Rodriguez doesn’t cost us much. I’d guess that when Edmonds comes off the DL the less impressive of Gerut and McAnulty gets sent down or lost on waivers or placed on the DL, because Edmonds is a lefty. When Headley’s ready to come back up full time, Huber would get sent down, because Headley can hit righty. This of course assumes no other injuries which is a ridiculous assumption.

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  78. LynchMob Says:

    Corey Brock today says this …

    If Edmonds goes on the disabled list, the likely starters in the outfield will be Giles in right field, Hairston in center field and McAnulty in left field.

    … and we all know that Edmonds is going on the DL, right? Right …

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  79. Richard Says:

    78: Corey must have meant “When” not “If.”

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  80. LynchMob Says:

    MadFriars summary of today’s moves …

    http://padres.scout.com/2/740945.html

    Bottom Line: the Padres have 26 active players in Major League camp, while the 40-man roster now stands at 40.

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  81. LynchMob Says:

    A *great* look at the financial (ie. service time clock) details about Chase Headley …

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....livan.html

    Bottom Line: Headley logged 19 days with the Padres last year and needs 153 more days to complete his first service year. To do it in 2008, he must be called up before April 29.

    Current score: 0
  82. LynchMob Says:

    Bass didn’t do well again today …

    http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd

    … I’ve not seen his name on the “cuts” … prolly cuz he was never “up” … so I’ll look forward to seeing him in Portland …

    Current score: 0
  83. LynchMob Says:

    There’s a rumor at MadFriars that Edmonds had 3 hits, including an HR, in the minor-league game he played today … hmmmm …

    Current score: 0
  84. LynchMob Says:

    One more “poll” suggestion … pick the date/month that Huber first plays catcher for the Padres … I’ll bet he don’s the tools of ignorance in April :-)

    Current score: 0
  85. Kevin Says:

    82: That’s also on padres.com

    Current score: 0
  86. Coronado Mike Says:

    Sounds like the Padres will try anything to stay healthy…

    http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....adres.html

    Gerut = Electric Shcocks
    OG = Running underwater
    Edmonds = Running Hills
    PMac = Drinking Green Goo
    Hariston = training for the iditerod

    Current score: 0
  87. Lance Richardson Says:

    11: Dammit LM, I’ll hear no more talk of Paul McAnulty and “major wood”!!!

    Current score: 0
  88. Coronado Mike Says:

    Looks like Reyes may even be headed for AAA…GM wants to keep him, but coach/mgr wants him demoted…sounds like we really do have a trade possibility.

    http://www.stltoday.com/stltod.....enDocument

    Current score: 0
  89. Steve C Says:

    Re: 80 so it looks like opening day is set.

    Time to order my P-Mac shirt!

    Current score: 0
  90. Pat Says:

    87: Heh. My Battalion Commander in boot camp was Lt. Col. Woodie, which means before he picked up rank he was Major Woodie for many years. It must have been hell having Major Woodie “call you on the carpet” and trying to keep a straight face.

    Current score: 0
  91. Geoff Young Says:

    Running late, shooting for 8:30 a.m. PT.

    Current score: 0
  92. Phantom Says:

    91: Unacceptable! :-p

    Current score: 0

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