Padres (15-26) @ Cubs (24-16)
Greg Maddux vs Ryan Dempster
11:20 a.m. PT
no television
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 183
MLB, B-R
The Padres showed some good fight at the end of Wednesday evening’s game. Unfortunately they spent much of the early part digging themselves into a deep, dark hole. Still, I liked the matchup of Brian Giles against Kerry Wood with the bases juiced in the ninth. Too bad it didn’t work out for us this time. Oh well, we turn the page…
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The Cubs have signed Jim Edmonds and he will be in uniform for Thursday’s game. He looks as done as anyone this side of David Wells, but maybe it was just a matter of coming back from injury too soon. With the Padres’ luck, Edmonds will return to 2004 form and cause us all to second guess our second guessing…
#95@Coronado Mike: Here are the three guys with decent trade value that I think the Padres would deal if the right offer was on the table: Kevin Kouzmanoff, Khalil Greene, and Chris Young. Gonzalez, Peavy, and Bell obviously have the most value, but they’re all staying put, in my opinion. Here’s my analysis, if anyone cares.
http://www.sdpadrefan.com/tradeablecommoditiespart1.html
Wolf and Maddux are back of the rotation starters. I don’t think we would get much for them. Remember, the Cubs traded Maddux for Cesar Itzuris. And that was two years ago. I wouldn’t expect much in return from either guy. Giles is another guy that teams would look at, but that $3 million dollar buyout makes him less desirable. Tad Iguchi would bring back two fringe prospects. Anyone else I’m missing?
JMAR…probably not anyone. Maybe P-Mac for a fringe minor leaguer…
Could you imagine the way this team would look w/o Kouz, KG, CY, and Maddux? Would be like the early 90′s all over again…well, probably not that bad, but for the casual fan it might be.
Count me as one that thinks it is the wrong move to put Headley in the OF…either move him to another team or move Kouz…decreasing the value of your best prospect by moving him to LF makes no sense to me.
Wow, where did that ball four pitch to fuku miss? Outside? A little low?
At least we have Jimmy Edmonds coming up…how about a nice 4’6’3 DP?
#100@Coronado Mike: CM, he went from 0-2 to a full-count and fouled off a few pitches. Why don’t you get all over Adrian for waving at sliders?
Phantom – Cause he does not do it with the frequency of KG and does not make the amount of outs KG does.
So, at what point do the Pads bring Headley up and send P-Mac back to Portland? (or Huber?) Does his BA have to dip below .200? .185?
#105@Coronado Mike: But what’s the point in relishing his K there? That was a damn good AB from him. To get down early 0-2 and make Dempster throw as many pitches as he did is helpful. It’s not like Khalil is the only person to fail at the plate today against Dempster. We’ve got a couple guys that have K’ed against him twice today, and Khalil only K’ed once.
#107@Phantom: I am not arguing with you on that…I am just saying it is fairly predictable that he would flail at a slider down and away…
Why any pitcher would throw ANY pitch middle in to KG baffles me.
#102@Coronado Mike: I agree. Keep Headley at 3rd. He is probably a plus defender there instead of below average in LF and he is more valuable to the team and to other teams at 3B.
#102@Coronado Mike: That’s why I don’t think they’re going to do much unless someone makes an offer for one of those guys based on last year’s performance, not the first 40 games of this season. If a GM really believes that KG or Kouz would be a 30-homer guy if taken out of Petco, they might offer some good talent in return. Or if a GM remembers how dominant CY was before last year’s injury and thinks he could be that guy again, they might offer something worthwhile. Whatever they do, the Padres just cannot afford to leave a hole at SS or the #2 spot in the rotation.
#108@Coronado Mike: Exactly. Throw him 3 pitches down and away every AB. They dont even need to be in the zone.
JMAR…you are dead right…
#108@Coronado Mike: Better to wave at the slider or watch a called third strike?
11 Ks by Dempster. I think Lilly had 11 yesterday too. We are making this Cubs staff look awfully good.
#111@SDSUBaseball: I am so frustrated with KG…I know, everyone is shocked…he has a .259 obp and k’s 20% of the time. AGon is k’ing 20% of the time as well, but he has 9 bombs and is getting on at a 345 clip…that is why I am more tolerant of his bad ab’s.
#113@Phantom: both are bad, especially when the sliders he normally flails at are out of the zone.
#116@SDSUBaseball: As were the sliders that Kouz, Iguchi, Adrian, and Carlin flailed at. Yet it’s not a routine pile-on when they K.
It just gets old guys. You think he sucks. We get it.
#113@Phantom: Phantom…that is a great question…for KG, I think I would be equally upset.
#115@Coronado Mike: I agree, I feel your frustration. He hasnt looked good at the plate all year. he had a mini streak earlier this week, but nothing like his normal streaks where he hits like crazy for 10 games.
#106@Geoff B: about two months
#117@Phantom: The whole team has looked bad the last 2 games. They are all flailing, but KG has done it all year. If pointing out his K’s gets old, how old do you think defending his k’s with “it was a good AB though” gets. He still makes more outs (lowest OBP) than any regular on the team right now.
come on guys al we need are 3 bloops and one blast!
#110@JMAR: I don’t think they’d trade Young unless they were getting a lot of good young pitching back. He may not be durable, he may not even really be a top-of-the-rotation starter, but he’s above average and signed for a great deal.
Wolf, Maddux, Kouz are all replaceable. Wolf and Maddux would need to be replaced next year anyway. Khalil….that’s harder.
#121@SDSUBaseball: Having good ABs is better than swining at 3 straight balls. Having good ABs shows that there might be some promise.
Emphatically piling on whenever he Ks is useless. Please tell me who you think we could plug in at shortstop. You guys obviously want him out of town. So please, come up with a credible solution for maintaining the level of defense and improving our offense.
I’ll wait.
#123@Tom Waits: He may be the only peice they have that will get them a good young CF…
I have to say, I am enjoying watching OG play this season…he is a bright spot and I have always enjoyed his humor.
With the possibility of the Pads playing at a little better clip (they have won 3 of 5 coming into today, right?), I am still so happy to be a Padres fan.
And Phantom…KG’s D has been consistantly good since last season. I feel much better these days with him out there with the glove.
#113@Phantom: Watch the called 3rd strike, if, like Giles, you’ve proven for years that you know the strike zone.
Do you really see people piling on Greene? I think the reaction to what has been an atrocious season at the plate has been fairly muted.
Another K with RISP for AGon. Talk about getting old.
#123@Tom Waits: I think CY should be dangled out there, but he wouldnt need to bring good value back. I think he is replaceable, but we would need to get enough in return for him. Teams at the deadline may overvalue him and the Padres should definitely listen. I have no problem keeping him if they cant get a decent haul for him though.
#124@Phantom: we have gone over this a number of times…there is no credible replacement…if we want to up the Offense, we could go with just about anyone out there, but the sacrifice of D would be bad.
The only thing I can say at this point is even Jack Wilson has a higher career OBP than KG…and a better glove.
#127@Tom Waits: It seems that he gets a disproportionate amount of the angst. He’s not the only person on the team struggling this year, and yet his offensive woes are pretty consistently the only one’s cited. As I said, it gets old.
Here is a chance for KG to show something. A hit against Kerry “Mr. DL” Wood.
#125@Steve C: I believe they can find a CF without using Young, and I doubt they’d make that move if it were true. A good young CF that costs you the only above-average starter we have besides Peavy isn’t a net win.
DeJesus still looks like a good fit, if they can find something that KC wants.
#133@Tom Waits: I would agree that DeJesus is probably a good call. I’m not familiar with KC, so I have no idea what their needs could be.
Nope, just another K for KG.
#131@Phantom: Come on now, Phantom. Just in today’s threads people have lamented a lot of woes. People have pointed out Agon’s propensity to swing at balls. Edmonds was a daily topic of derision.
He’s not the only one struggling, but he’s struggling the most. Of course people are going to talk about it more.
Wood missed location bad on that pitch he k’d Greene with…if he throws it middle in like his catcher wanted, I bet it is a different story.
#133@Tom Waits: I don’t think it would be a straight swap, maybe a CF and a younger starting arm. I guess it depends on if Carillo and Le Blanc will be ready by 09.
And, another K for Bard. So, another L for SD.
14 K’s, you’re not going to win many of those.
and thats game…
Well…maybe we can take 2-of-3 against Seattle this weekend…
I’m counting five Padres on pace to strikeout over 120 times. Edmonds would have made it six. That is freakin’ brutal.
142: I’m sure that our “natural rival” will bring the best out of us…..
#131@Phantom: I think it only seems that way because he is your favorite player. It gets old because he has the same struggles every year and this year so far it has been magnified.
Adrian has struggled, but he is still being productive that might be why you hear less on him. People have been talking about Bardo all year, Edmonds got a ton of flack, so did Kouz during the whole month of April.
#133@Tom Waits: Do you think Gerut is a capable CF. He has looked good in the field and at the plate so far. If he performs throughout the year is he an option?
#136@Tom Waits: That’s one day worth of thread. And good on people for criticizing Adrian for K’ing 3 times today.
Look, I’m not saying the guy is off to a great start. He’s not. But he’s not our only problem offensively. There are several people who have looked more or less useless at the plate this year, and especially more recently. However, he is still seen to be the litmus test for the offense, for some reason.
In my eyes, it’s just like Schlom bringing up Estes sucking or Kyle Lohse on a daily basis. I understand your (in the group sense, not singling you out) perspective, but routinely bitching about it doesn’t do anything for the discourse. I get it. A lot of you don’t think he should be on the team. I’ve yet to see a reasonable solution to that issue though. In that way it’s a lot like bitching about Kyle Lohse. We didn’t get him and there’s nothing we can do about it. Until someone comes up with a credible solution for the perceived KG problem, what’s the point of continually pointing out that he can’t hit a slider or that he strikes out a ton?
FWIW, he’s got a ridiculously low BABIP this year in the .240s.
#138@Steve C: I don’t see the Padres taking the risk that either of those kids is even average, let alone good, in 2009. They still need 5 starters and they’ve been burned by a lack of depth the last few years.
It would not shock me if a hot topic in the Padre offices these days is whether to move Antonelli to CF. Or even shortstop.
Anyone else heading to Seattle this weekend? Anything in particular I should check out at Safeco?
#147@Phantom: He does have the low BABIP, but his BABIP has always lagged behind the norm compared to his LD rate because he hits so many fly balls and strikes out so much.