Wed, Jul 2, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres @ Rockies
6:05 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD, DIRECTV 742
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 187
MLB, B-R
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.
Filed under In-Game Discussion.
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July 2, 2008 at 8:32 am
It appears that the Padres did agree to terms with the Latin American players. This is a great step in the right direction: http://www3.signonsandiego.com.....d-/?padres
July 2, 2008 at 8:57 am
1: This is a pretty exciting day for Padres fans. We likely won’t see the results of this $$ outlay for at least 5 years, but I’m glad that the Padres are becoming players in the international market. Lots of high-ceiling talent has been signed young out of the DR (Vlad Gurerro, Pudge Rodriguez, etc) and I’m excited that the Padres are at least a part of the discussion there. More info on some of the guys that we signed is available at saberscouting.com
July 2, 2008 at 9:59 am
Found a little more complete story: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....mp;c_id=sd
July 2, 2008 at 10:17 am
DePo’s got a post up on the international signings:
http://itmightbedangerous.blog.....enjoy.html
July 2, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’m wondering whether the international signings will have any effect on the three “tough” signs that they drafted: Kipnis, Figueroa and Mooneyham. You would figure that if you were going to spend to $5m on 16 year olds (allegedly at least), you would spend money on players that are a little further along in their development. I mean, why else did you draft them if you weren’t planning on signing them? Plus I suspect that they will sign Dykstra for significantly less then they were originally going to give him and that will free up probably another $1m.
July 2, 2008 at 10:42 am
How long until Blanks is considered a serious prospect? Is he already there? 4 for 5 last night with another HR. He needs to show a little more power, but he is hitting pretty well.
July 2, 2008 at 10:48 am
#5@Schlom: Do you have any back-up to the feeling that they are going to sign Dykstra for less or is it really just a feeling?
July 2, 2008 at 11:01 am
#7@Coronado Mike: Just a feeling, mainly due to what they did with Stauffer. I don’t see why they would offer him anywhere near slot money because they won’t really lose anything by not signing him. Unless he is willing to sign for a few hundred thousand dollars, the Padres best option is to not sign him and take the 24th pick next season.
July 2, 2008 at 11:13 am
#8@Schlom: That assumes his injury is something that has long term concerns. Nobody has said that yet.
July 2, 2008 at 11:22 am
#4@Geoff Young: Damn, you beat me to it. Great stuff there.
July 2, 2008 at 11:24 am
#9@Coronado Mike: Well, isn’t that why they didn’t sign him yet? Because they had long-term concerns about his hip? The Padres have leverage on him now, it would be foolish for them not to use it. There is no negatives if they offered him $400k to sign. Either they’d get him for a lot cheaper or they’d get a pick next season which they could use on someone without injury concerns. It’s win-win for the Padres.
July 2, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I have a feeling that a player like Mooneyham was insurance against the Latin Americans/other picks not signing. It’s a good move but it always comes across as disappointing.
If Grant Green were in our system right now…
Still, I’d rather have Mooneyham than a quarter of a year of Iguchi.
July 2, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Really, if we manage to be sellers and not take on salary, we should free up some cash for even Mooneyham.
July 2, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Boras won’t let that leverage affect him. Boras will get the full $1.4m. If the Padres don’t pony up for Dykstra, Boras will do what he did with LaPorta (bring him back and get full price as a senior).
July 2, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Mooneyham is a long-shot at best.
July 2, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Off the subject, has anyone read the SI story this week about Lincecum ?
July 2, 2008 at 1:00 pm
#14@Peter Friberg: I wouldn’t be too sure about that. LaPorta was generally considered better all the way through school, had a down junior year due to a strained oblique, then went off his senior year in a way that Dykstra may not be capable of. If Dykstra’s hip is that scary, and many people already saw him as a reach at 23, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him in the supplemental or even lower next year. But I’ll be surprised if we don’t get a below-slot deal done with him. Maybe not even a typical below-slot, something like splitting the bonus over more time.
Mooneyham: Unless we give him all of Dykstra’s money, I don’t see it happening.
July 2, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Since we’re talking minor leaguers, a reminder that Peter’s blog is back in business. With GY on the road I don’t want to risk the link filter holding up my post, but Peter’s name will (I believe) always take you there.
July 2, 2008 at 1:25 pm
17: I agree that Mooneyham would take all of Dykstra’s money. I wouldn’t be that surprised if concern over Dykstra’s hip led to the Mooneyham pick.
July 2, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Jaff Decker with yet another 2-for-4 plus a walk day for the AZL Padres …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....p;did=milb
July 2, 2008 at 1:32 pm
#19@Paul R: If they were that concerned about Dykstra’s hip, they shouldn’t have taken him. Every player in the country less 22 was available. They could have just picked Mooneyham and given him the happy feeling of being a first-rounder.
July 2, 2008 at 1:34 pm
GY saw the Eugene Emeralds score 4 runs in each of the first 3 innings last night …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....x_eugasx_1
… then the game went scoreless after that … Ems win 12-2 … Sawyer Carroll went 1-for-4 (a double) … and Angel Mercado hit a grand slam …
July 2, 2008 at 1:43 pm
#20@LynchMob: Those AZL games are sure played early. Decker has had five 2-hit games in his first seven played. Pretty impressive.
July 2, 2008 at 1:51 pm
#23@JMAR: They’d probably schedule them for 4am if it was possible. Hey kid, we think you’re gonna be a terrific ballplayer…..if you live through an Arizona summer!
July 2, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Re. 17: TW, IDK, Dykstra has SERIOUS power. It’s his #1 calling card. And LaPorta’s defense was described at about the same level as Dykstra’s is/was… I’m not saying the comp is perfect, but I expect Boras to get at least the $1.4m we’re hearing and that much next year if we fail to sign the big hitter this year…
July 2, 2008 at 3:24 pm
#25@Peter Friberg: Oh, no doubt, Dykstra has power. LaPorta had plus-plus power and was coming off a season that left Dykstra’s junior campaign in the dust. And the big key is that LaPorta’s oblique healed; if the Padres are worried about Dykstra’s hip being a chronic thing, and something that possibly prohibits a position change, I doubt we pay full price. Otherwise, why isn’t he in Eugene? It sounds like he would have signed if they’d faxed him the papers five minutes after calling his name.
He’d have to put up a LaPorta-style monster senior year to get paid next year. Sometimes seniors don’t suffer (Khalil and LaPorta), but they lose a lot of leverage. It’s typically slot or close to it.
July 2, 2008 at 3:40 pm
#22@LynchMob: The most impressive guy out there, to me, was shortstop Jeudy Valdez. Dude has a very quick bat.
July 2, 2008 at 4:01 pm
#25@Peter Friberg: I don’t see how Dykstra has near the power as LaPorta. LaPorta hit 26 HR as a sophmore at Florida (park factor 95), 14 as a junior when he was terrible and then 20 as a senior. Dykstra has hit 15, 18 and 16 his three years in a slight batter friendly park (PF of 101). I also doubt that Dykstra can play the outfield as well as LaPorta as he’s significantly bigger, listed at 6′5″ 240lbs vs. LaPorta’s 6′2″ 212lbs.
Why would the Padres offer $1.4m? With the injury concerns plus the fact the Padres could probably get just as good of a player in next year’s draft, it just doesn’t make sense to give him that much money.
July 2, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Rob Neyer blogs about today’s signings:
http://insider.espn.go.com/esp.....=neyer_rob
July 2, 2008 at 4:30 pm
*VERY* nice pic of Adrian posted at FJ blog …
http://padres.mlblogs.com/P8-9.....norama.JPG
July 2, 2008 at 4:33 pm
#29@Kevin: For us non-insiders, can you provide a nut-shell version of what he says?
July 2, 2008 at 4:36 pm
#31@LynchMob: He didn’t say much. He just mentioned how highly the player were ranked by ESPN and how those fans with the long view of things ought to be happy. Also, that this shows a commitment by ownership.
July 2, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I made a comment on Paul DePodesta’s blog on whether or not the amateur free agent signings will have any effect on the potential signings of Kipnis, Figueroa and Mooneyham. Doubt that I’ll get an honest answer though.
July 2, 2008 at 5:15 pm
28: Dykstra did hit with quite a bit of power with wood bats in the Cape Cod league, which some view as a significant indicator of big league success. For example, in ‘06 La Porta hit just .250/394/463 while Dykstra in ‘07 hit .308/444/481. That’s not to say that Dykstra has more power or is a better hitter than La Porta, but that he has had early success with a wood bat against All-Star competition.
I won’t be upset if they sign Dykstra for around slot-I think he’s a pretty good player to have in the organization. On the other hand, I also won’t be too upset if they don’t sign him and end up with a top-5 pick and a pick at 24.
Maybe I’m just really cheerful because of the good news regarding int’l talent acquisition today. I think today was a big step for the future of the organization. It really starts to demonstrate that the days of passing over amateur talent because of dollars are coming to an end. With all of the money that we’ve put into that Dominican facility, I’ll be shocked if we’re not big players for int’l talent for the next few years as well.
July 2, 2008 at 5:17 pm
BTW, Figeroa is not helping himself much in the Cape Cod League. In 50 AB’s (Yes, small sample size warning-which should go with any CCL numbers) he’s “hitting” 157/218/196. Ouch…
July 2, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Kipinis is improving his stock in Cape Cod-he’s hitting 366/469/415 and is 8th in the league in hitting. I’d like to sign him, and I think that we will be able to get him. I’m a little more concerned about Figueroa.
BTW, Grant Green is second in the league in hitting. Ah…the one that got away
July 2, 2008 at 6:22 pm
WTF? Bases loaded in the 1st inning. And a run already scored. I’ll be going to bed early.
July 2, 2008 at 6:27 pm
We got lucky.
July 2, 2008 at 6:35 pm
That was an impressive swing from Chase, taking Jimenez out to opposite field and tying the game.
July 2, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Wolf doesn’t seem to have very good command tonight, but he’s doing just enough to get by. Things are getting hairy though and it seems like you’re just waiting for an implosion at any second.
July 2, 2008 at 6:46 pm
and Atkins delivers said implosion.
July 2, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I’ve opted to watch Andy Griffith re-runs.
July 2, 2008 at 7:50 pm
A broken nose off his own foul ball?!? I wanted Barrett to sit a bit, but seriously folks, what else this season? what does broken furniture go for at a fire sale?
July 2, 2008 at 8:07 pm
PMAC is 0 for his last 19 with 9 K’s.
July 2, 2008 at 9:30 pm
#44@JP:
He is brutal right now but I actually feel kinda bad for him. How hard do you think it is for a guy in his first full year in the bigs to be coming off the bench every night and get one AB maybe? I mean we all knew this was coming once Headley came up but P-Mac obviously needs more looks but there just are not any on this team.
July 2, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I think its game over for the Padres’ 2008 season, emphatically
Only thing I’m cranky about is that the trade values of Wolf and maddux have plummeted these last few weeks. Don’t know what if anything we could get for them, which would mean we have to rely entirely on our
July 2, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I think its game over for the Padres’ 2008 season, emphatically
Only thing I’m cranky about is that the trade values of Wolf and maddux have plummeted these last few weeks. Don’t know what if anything we could get for them, which would mean we have to rely entirely on our farm system for help but that worries me.
July 3, 2008 at 12:54 am
Photos from Sacramento:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g.....953971319/
and Eugene:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g.....954203447/
Will organize ‘em better when I have more time.
July 3, 2008 at 8:00 am
#48@Geoff Young: For some reason, I’ll always remember T. Steverson’s one major league at bat at Wrigley (Game #2 of season -1996).
July 3, 2008 at 9:41 am
Thanks for the pics, GY … looks like you were able to get a front-row seat in Eugene … so that you could stick your camera thru the fence and get some clean pics …
And in Sacto … looks like you were sitting behind the pitchers doing the charting?
July 3, 2008 at 9:54 am
#50@LynchMob: We were a few rows back at Eugene, but I’ve got a good zoom lens. Excellent burrito at the ballpark, BTW; thanks for the tip.
As for Sacto, we were maybe 8-10 rows behind Hensley, who was charting, and Ramos, who was manning the gun.