Tue, Aug 5, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres @ Mets
4:10 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD, DIRECTV 726
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.
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Due to repeated violations of the Comments Policy and a lack of time by yours truly to adequately moderate the discussion, comments have been temporarily disabled. There is no timetable for their return. Thanks, Geoff.
August 5, 2008 at 8:01 am
Kulbacki in a comedic moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDhhGonLbWA
August 5, 2008 at 8:23 am
#1@Field39: Not Kulbacki’s finest moment.
On another note, I understand the Padres not promoting him, but I’m looking forward to some JP-shot video of his swing next year.
August 5, 2008 at 10:35 am
Do you guys agree with the UT’s top 5 reasons for the Padres failure this year ? Below is my question posed and the answer from the UT. Comment please and I will later as well.
10:58 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2008
Jeffrey Pilch - Plano, Texas
Question:
When you say that the Padres front office made “bad decisions” what do you consider those “bad decisions” to be ? Give the top 5 bad decisions if possible
UT Answer:
Start with going for Jim Edmonds over Mike Cameron in center. Opening the season with a catching platoon of Josh Bard and Michael Barrett. Opening the season with a hole in left field for the second straight season. Opening the season with Rule 5 pick Callix Crabbe as the only backup infielder. Not re-signing Geoff Blum as the backup infielder. . .
August 5, 2008 at 10:46 am
#3@JP: I have no issues with their compaint regarding CF or LF, but I would put it as a general discussion regarding a lack of players for those two positions…I do not agree with them regarding the catcher situation. Crabbe (VIRGIN ISLANDS!!!) is a very valid point. I don’t want to talk about Blummer.
August 5, 2008 at 10:54 am
1: I would place bullpen at the top
2: Cameron priced himself out of the market and is not having much of a season in Milwaukee. My issue is that they waited around too long for Fukudome, then after giving up on Mike, they made what looked like a panic move in getting Edmunds.
3: Starting left fielder
4: Fifth starter
5: I do not see how expecting Bard and Barrett to hit as per their career norms is a mistake, but not addressing the opposition’s running game was.
August 5, 2008 at 10:59 am
How about starting the season with out a viable 5th stater? and a bullpen with 3 proven pitchers when you have 2 starting pitcher (wolf and Maddux) who are not expected to get past the 6th on a regular basis.
I liked the idea of having Bard as the every day C but I didn’t like that they brough back Barrett, the guy was a disaster here last year and showed no signs of being able to turn it around in 08, but to be honest I think they were planning on moving him before the season started and just could not find any takers…
This season has been the culmination of poor long term planning, poor off season moves and a little bad luck. It seems like there is a lot of bad luck but to be honest injures and slumps happen to every team every year and you can’t go into the season without a plan B.
August 5, 2008 at 11:18 am
#3@JP: There are a lot of reasons for the failures this year: The bullpen (and honestly, the results so far would have been impossible to predict), the outfield, Khalil Greene performing so poorly, Bard, etc. . .but I would say the biggest component has been poor drafting / development at the beginning of this decade. That’s more of a long term issue, though, and not one that will get as much focus as Jim Edmonds.
August 5, 2008 at 11:22 am
#3@JP: Reflecting back, they were so close to being an elite team at the end of last season, it’s disappointing that they didn’t do anything to make themselves better but I don’t think any of us know what other direction Towers could have gone with his limited resources.
I think they were put in a tough situation because of Bradley’s injury (he still hasn’t played much outfield and has sat out quite a few games because of knee issues) and Cameron’s contract negotiations and suspension.
Blum and Brocail both left for more money and the team couldn’t compete with the Cubs in the Fukudome negotiations and never will be able to compete with the Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox when going after a highly-regarded free agent.
They settled for Edmonds and although he’s playing great now for another team, not many of us disagreed when they released him earlier in the season. He looked done.
BUT, if they thought they were going to compete this season, I don’t understand the reasoning behind drafting three rule V guys and trying to keep two of them on the roster.
And they probably had too much confidence in young relievers Thatcher, Cameron, and Hampson. In retrospect, one of the worst decisions that came back to haunt them in ‘08 was not protecting Joakim Soria in the ‘07 offseason. They’d still have one of the best bullpens around right now with Soria, Bell, and Adams.
This Padres team hit its peak in August-September 2007 with Bradley in the lineup and they might not be that good again for a few years. That’s what happens, though, when you don’t have a big payroll and have about 10 drafts in a row that produce almost zero talent.
August 5, 2008 at 11:31 am
#8@JMAR: One thing I could not understand about the offseason choices was that they signed Maddux to a $10 mil/year contract and offered Barrett arbitration knowing that he would get around $4.5 mil contract, thast 20% of their payroll tied up into 2 below average players part of that 15 mil could have gone into signing Fukudome, Loche, a true backup IF, and maybe a veteran arm in the pen. For a team that has limited resources they sure did not seem to manage them well in the offseason.
August 5, 2008 at 11:51 am
#3@JP: The top 3 make some sense, at least in the sense that something meaningful and bad did happen at those positions. I wouldn’t necessarily classify them as mistakes. Edmonds is a special case (more later).
The last two items on that list are just plain stupid. Crabbe got 34 at-bats. You could give me 34 at-bats and it wouldn’t amount to jack squat . It might not even be a top 20 mistake. And Geoff Blum is having yet another sub-par season in a career full of sub-par seasons, but he seems to have caught the fancy of UT staffers. Wow, his 70 OPS+ and inadequate SS defense would have really lightened the load on Khalil!
My top pre-season mistakes would be:
1. Failing to add quality rotation depth. Simply listing names in the 5th starter role doesn’t get it done.
2. Over-reliance on journeymen, waiver wire pickups, and Rule 5 draftees in the bullpen. Guys like Hampson and Thatcher, for example, did not have very good peripherals last year even though they didn’t give up many runs. Relievers are volatile, but one more veteran high-K arm (Brocail) would have made a big difference. He didn’t leave for more money; we didn’t even offer him a contract.
3. Edmonds. There’s a mistake with him at some point. Either it was a mistake to get him or a mistake to let him go without more vigorously exploring the options……like “How about not taking that medication you say is making you fuzzy headed?”
August 5, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I don’t agree with all 5 of the UT reasons. I think CF was filled poorly. Although with 20/20 hindsight it sure looks like Edmonds would have been fine if given more time to recuperate, I didn’t like the signing at the time. But it’s hard to say the team blew it by not brining back Cameron becasue of the various reports about how negotiations went.
I don’t have a problem with the way they went in LF. Between P-Mac, Hairston, Huber and now Headley it seems reasonable to expect they could get decent coverage/production there.
Definitely have no problem with the catching decision. It’s totally second guessing at this point to say that was a problem. No reason, imo, Bard couldn’t have been productive and Barrett a decent backup. But Bard crashed hard and then was hurt.
Crabbe was not a good decision, but not re-signing Blum was.
I see other significant factors being injuries to Bard, Young, Peavy spending time on the DL, the failure of the 5th starter experiment (again!), and a bullpen meltdown, which I tend to cut the FO slack on considering their past success in the area.
August 5, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Last week, Scott Kaplan said letting Blum go has killed the Pads this season, so if he said it …
He’s the same radio guy who told Blum that he should attack Ed Wade to gain a trade back to San Diego.
August 5, 2008 at 12:33 pm
This whole discussion speaks to the razor-thin margin for error the FO is working with right now… of course, then the question becomes, why is the team so constrained?
– The Giles contract was a panic move, because they thought he was going to the Dodgers, so they were stuck with a guy on the tail-side of his career, for 3 years.
– The Hoffman contract was the same off-season… did you really need to guarantee him the ‘08 season at that price? Why not give him 2 years (06 and 07) and go from there?
– I question the Maddux contract, a lot. He’s a league average pitcher, but he’s making staff ace money. At the start of the season, the number 3 starter was the highest paid starter. I don’t see why you bring Maddux back at $10 million to be the number 3.
Just my stupid opinions… I’ll be interested to see where all the above discussed money (almost $30 million) goes THIS offseason.
August 5, 2008 at 12:38 pm
#13@Richard D.: Hoffy was not guaranteed for 08, he had an 08 option which was automatically vested based upon appearances.
August 5, 2008 at 12:47 pm
The $30 mil free’d up this offseason will go like this:
Giles: $9 mil (option)
Bard: $4 mil (arbitration)
Tomko: $3 mil FA deal
Prior: $1 mil FA deal
Estes $1 mil FA deal
Gonzalez $2 mil (increase from $.75 to $3 mil in 09)
Young $2 mil (increase from $2.5 to $4.5 mil in 09)
Blum $1 mil FA deal
Kotsay $5 mil FA deal
August 5, 2008 at 12:48 pm
#14@Steve C: Didn’t realize that… but still, that option was negotiated into the deal.
August 5, 2008 at 12:49 pm
#15;
So we’ll have lots of money to basically do nothing with again this offseason, right?
August 5, 2008 at 12:51 pm
#17@Loren: just like last offseason and the one before that…
August 5, 2008 at 12:52 pm
In case you missed it … yesterday at Portland …
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....a_poraaa_1
… HRs by Jack-AAAAnulty (#7) … AND Matt Antonelli (#4) and Chip Ambres (#18) …
August 5, 2008 at 1:01 pm
#15@Steve C: I should add that there will be some talks that the pads are interested in Manny, kind of like the Andruw jones talks this offseason and the Jason Schmidt talks 2 offseason ago but will ultimately come up short, which I’m not against because as much as I would love to see A-gon in the 3 hole and Manny in the 4 hole I think he will end up getting a contract that is 2 years too long and $30 mil too much…kind of like the other 2 guys I mentioned.
August 5, 2008 at 1:12 pm
#15@Steve C: Jake Peavy 2008 $6 mil, 2009 $11 mil.
August 5, 2008 at 1:31 pm
#21@Field39: good catch I knew I was forgetting someone!
August 5, 2008 at 2:04 pm
#15@Steve C: Hm, I’d guess no on Tomko, Blum and Kotsay. But we’ll see. Too bad the hot stove is getting warmed up already when it’s only August. But when you’re this far out, I guess it’s the logical thing to talk about.
August 5, 2008 at 2:14 pm
#23@Pat: By Blum I really meant any veteran back up IF, Blum works because he lives close and is familiar with the team. I think they will sign Kotsay still lives in SD, is not a power hitter who will be worries about his #’s a petco and can handle petco’s CF so it may be easy to sign him to a 1 year deal with a 2010 option to keep the seat warm for Hunter or possibly Blake Tekotte or possibly Perry and it seems like Tomko always ends up on the Padres roster at some point in the year.
August 5, 2008 at 2:19 pm
#24@Steve C: I’d be surprised if they go with Kotsay or someone like him until Cedric is ready. I imagine they’ll sign Gerut to like a 2 year/6 million deal and keep platooning Gerut and Hairston, which has worked out pretty well for us thus far.
August 5, 2008 at 2:27 pm
#25@Phantom: I think they will have Gerut and Hairston play LF, trade Kouz for a young starters and bullpen arm and move headley to 3B.
August 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm
#15@Steve C: If the Pads spend $10 million on Tomko, Estes, Blum (or an equivalent option) and Kotsay I will cancel my season tickets. I am not in the slightest bit exaggerating - that would be the final straw for me.
My guess is that Towers pulls off another big trade - something along the lines of Kouz, Greene, a pitcher and Blanks for some major league ready OF / SS prospects and a pitcher. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Young head out in a big trade that brings us back some starting pitching. I think the FO realizes that they are backed into a corner big time and they don’t have many trading chips. Fortunately, Towers seems to do well in those situations.
August 5, 2008 at 2:59 pm
#27@BigWorm:I hope your right but that has not been the Padres MO so far…the seem to like to fill their hoes with bargain basement vets and hope to catch lightning in a bottle, some times they get Alan Embree, Doug Brocail, David Wells (the first time) and Mike Piazza other times they get Jim Edmonds, Vinny Castilla, Sterling Hitchcock, and David Wells (the 2nd time).
They got lucky with the CY and Adrian deal and Bard, Meredith deal but I’m not even sure if they have the chips to even make those kinds of deals again.
August 5, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I think the pads have another year or two away before things turn around, they have started to re-build the farm system and it is really starting to take shape and produce some very good major league players but it takes time. I actually dont mind if they keep a lower payroll during the re-building process because it will give them some flexibility if/when they do turn it around to add the one or two pieces needed to become a major contender. I’m just tiered of this treading water thing that they are currently doing, make a commitment one way or the other and I’ll support it. Either add the big pieces you need to the roster now or go into full re-build mode (whicn is what I would prefer).
August 5, 2008 at 3:12 pm
#28@Steve C: You’re right, in general they fill a couple of holes with bargain-basement types. But I think there will be too many holes to fill this offseason, unless they are fully committed to rebuilding next year. If they want to compete, they are going to have to do something fairly drastic.
I’m not sure I’d call the CY / Adrian and Bard / Meredith deals “lucky”. . .it seemed to me that just about everyone agreed that those trades were good trades for the Padres before the players started playing. . .that doesn’t seem like luck to me, just good deal making. Well, I guess in the CY trade we got lucky that the Rangers GM was such an idiot.
Regardless, including the Kouzmanoff trade and the Linebrink trade, those are four impact trades made in the last few years. It just seems to me that when dealing with big trades and a lot of players moving around (or at least more than one impact player changing sides), Towers does well. When trying to beef up at the trading deadline, on the other hand. . .
August 5, 2008 at 3:14 pm
#29@Steve C: Agreed - and I think that was kind of my point. Filling in with aging vets doesn’t work all the time. At some point you have to commit to either a higher payroll or a rebuilding year. I’d like to see what Towers can pull off this offseason, but if we get down to March and the team looks no different, I don’t want to throw a 75 win team on the field that gives us no flexibility for 2010.
August 5, 2008 at 3:14 pm
#30@BigWorm: By luck I meant KT talking another GM into making them.
August 5, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Also I dont think anyone expected bard and Meredith to become as high of impact players as they have become, or Adam Easton tanking as much as he did.
August 5, 2008 at 3:26 pm
#24@Steve C: Gotcha. You have some sound reasoning and my very well end up being right. My reaction was just my off the top of the head thoughts. I am very much anticipating this offseason; I think it will be interesting to see what the club does. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
August 5, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Lineup posted at FJ blog …
Jody Gerut, CF
Tadahito Iguchi, 2B
Brian Giles, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B
Chase Headley, LF
Nick Hundley, C
Luis Rodriguez, SS
Chris Young, P
August 5, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Down on the Farm … Pelzer and Kulbacki are July pitcher and player of the month …
http://padres.mlblogs.com/arch.....y_pad.html
… it was a good month for Padre minor leaguers, not just these 2!
August 5, 2008 at 3:46 pm
#30@BigWorm: Perhaps the Ranger GM was indeed brain dead on that deal but with the direction that the Rangers are going, I am not so sure that Jon Daniels is a bad GM. My big question of the day is : Did the Padres make a mistake hiring Grady Fuson after the Rangers axed him ? Time will tell.
August 5, 2008 at 4:00 pm
#37@JP: Yeah, one bad trade doesn’t make him a bad GM. He got a lot for Tex and made a bold move for Hamilton, even if he gave up a lot.
I generally like Fuson’s work, but the scouting organization seems to need a better grasp on injury evaluation and predictions. If they can somehow swap Mooneyham for Dykstra, the latter’s hip will be a dim memory for me.
August 5, 2008 at 4:01 pm
#37@JP: Did the Padres make a mistake hiring Grady Fuson after the Rangers axed him?
The Padres could have hired Chris Gwynn to be their scouting director and it still would have been better than what they had in place before the SA era.
August 5, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Just heard this on the Mets TV Network : Kouzmanoff has swung at 54% of the pitches thrown to him. The highest % in all of baseball.
August 5, 2008 at 4:39 pm
#40@JP:
Question: Why will Kevin Kouzmanoff be tradeded?
Answer:”Kouzmanoff has swung at 54% of the pitches thrown to him. The highest % in all of baseball.”
August 5, 2008 at 4:46 pm
#41@Field39: Question why was Kouzmanoff not traded at the deadline ?
Answer : Kouzmanoff has swung at 54% of the pitches thrown to him, the highest % in all of baseball, therefore no team really offered much for him.
August 5, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Kouzmanoff’s approach to hitting reminds me of another Padres third baseman of yesteryear. Luis Salazar.
August 5, 2008 at 5:02 pm
So much for the KK hitting topic.
August 5, 2008 at 5:05 pm
83.7% of the time when I rag or tear down a player, they usually come up big shortly thereafter.
August 5, 2008 at 5:06 pm
#44@Turbine Dude: Probably a aberration, but hopefully not, but did you notice that Kouzmanoff took the first two pitches of that at bat ?
August 5, 2008 at 5:11 pm
This is the CY we’ve been missing for two months… unscored upon since coming off the D-L.
August 5, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Nevermind.
August 5, 2008 at 5:21 pm
#46@JP: Yeah, I did. Could you beat down a few more players? Maybe we could win this game!
August 5, 2008 at 5:27 pm
#49@Turbine Dude: Your record this year is quite different. Every time you tear down Cla Meredith he will go out that night and get rocked. So lay off the sidewinder. ok ?
August 5, 2008 at 5:28 pm
#50@JP: Thing is, it’s not just me. The guys on XX Sports rag on him too.
August 5, 2008 at 5:30 pm
#51@Turbine Dude: Those XX guys are bandwagoners - they liked Cla Meredith when he was performing well - but you never like him
You hated him through the glory and the misery
August 5, 2008 at 5:35 pm
#52@JP: You’re right. I’m not a bandwagoner.
August 5, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Wow, that thing took a nasty bounce over 2nd!
August 5, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Could anything else go wrong?
August 5, 2008 at 5:56 pm
It is what makes baseball interesting : every year guys like Fernando Tatis, Jody Gerut or Ramon Vasquez come from no where and have good seasons. Especially Vasquez, his OPS is 137+ with quite a few at bats.
August 5, 2008 at 5:58 pm
13. Richard, I’m a bit late here, but in #13 are you implying re-signing Giles was a mistake? Time will tell overall, but he’s been very good for us this year.
August 5, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I thought that Tatis did a bit too much show boating when he circled the bases for my tastes.
August 5, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Tad Iguchi signing a mistake ? He has definitely had a sub par year this year.
August 5, 2008 at 6:17 pm
#57@Alan: Giles is a fine player, at 4 or 5 million, but do you want to spend $10 million per year for 3 years for no power, no RBI’s, league average defense and the ability to walk?
I wouldn’t, that’s the point I was making.
August 5, 2008 at 6:22 pm
#40@JP: And as the Mets announcers just stated, he makes many throwing errors so everyone should bunt to take advantage of his defensive faults. Not sure if I agree with that…..but again I’ve only watched about 30 games this year.
August 5, 2008 at 6:38 pm
#58@JP: He’s been showboating for 2 mos now. It’s really annoying.
August 5, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Well . . . that was interesting. In a bad way.
August 5, 2008 at 6:40 pm
So uhhhh… I’m going to the game tomorrow.
Ummm… I really hope I don’t see baseball like this when I do.
August 5, 2008 at 6:43 pm
#64@Steve from Boston: I went to a game at Shea in ‘88 or ‘89 where Joey Cora made four errors and the Padres got smoked. Final score was like 13-2.
Tomorrow may be bad, but it probably won’t be that bad.
August 5, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I’m just glad that I don’t have to stay up late to watch this beating.
August 5, 2008 at 6:51 pm
#65@Nick G: 5/26/90. Cora had three errors, pads got ripped 11-0.
It was not enjoyable
http://www.baseball-reference......5260.shtml
On the bright side, I love baseball reference
August 5, 2008 at 6:52 pm
#66@Turbine Dude: What are you talking about? Gerut goes yard, PADS ARE GOING TO COME BACK BABY!!!!
August 5, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Jody is the hero of late. OK, don’t anybody jinx this!
August 5, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Go Gerut!!!
I had total faith in you and the rest of your team the entire time!!!
huzzah!!!!
August 5, 2008 at 6:53 pm
#66@Turbine Dude: You’ve got to say something else like that!!!
August 5, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Jody Gerut = one of the lone bright spots this year
August 5, 2008 at 6:55 pm
#68@Nick G: Hey, when I start sounding like Randy Quaid in ‘Major League II,’ they pull off stunts like this.
August 5, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Nah, no comeback. No way. This team sucks. Sucks really really bad.
Bullpen sucks, OF sucks, IF sucks, C sucks, starters get hurt. Yep, no hope of winning this game whatsoever!
August 5, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Drat. Reverse jinx didn’t work.
August 5, 2008 at 7:35 pm
This is the Mets/Padres game I went to last year:
http://www.baseball-reference......8210.shtml
And this is the one I went to the year before that:
http://www.baseball-reference......8100.shtml
August 5, 2008 at 7:55 pm
#60 at Richard.
There’s very little power there but a great BA and OBA for a player in Petco. So, yeah, I think he’s worth a $10MM salary.
Giles is half the reason that Adrian is Top 5 in RBIs.
August 5, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Does anyone remember or have access to a history of tonights game as far as Iguchi’s 7th inning at bat. Was the count 3-1 when he grounded out weakly into that crucial double play ? To me, in that situation he had to bunt those runners over with anything less than 2 strikes. He squared around to bunt on the first two pitches and then when the count went 3-1, I focused elsewhere.
Another key to the game, which didn’t seem like much of the time, was Luis Rodriguez’s failure to let the ball through on the outfield throw from Gerut which let in the 6th run. Not only did Rodriguez not let the ball through but he didn’t even come up with it cleanly, he deflected the ball into no mans land.
On another note, the City of Dallas is coming alive with baseball fever. The Rangers are killing the Yankees again tonight 8-1. The Rangers have no pitching and a ton of hitting. They are the baseball version of the SD Superchargers of the early 1980’s.
August 5, 2008 at 8:14 pm
#77@Alan: It would be somewhat scary to let a OBP player like Giles go when the Padres already have the lowest OBP in all the majors.
Also, I am reconsidering on Felipe Lopez. it probably would not hurt to bring Lopez in here for an audition as a back up infielder. He can play short and second and as the Padres don’t have anyone on the farm that is ready for this role, Lopez probably would be a better bet than a Luis Rodriguez or Oscar Robles.
August 5, 2008 at 8:56 pm
#78@JP: Most managers will take the bunt off with a 3-1 count since it’s a hitter’s count. But you’ve got to at least hit-and-run if you’re going to let Iguchi swing away. Especially with the only two guys on the team who can run at 1st and 2nd base. Bud’s definitely a ’sit back and wait’ kind of manager as opposed to a ‘let’s make something happen’ kind of manager.
On a radio interview before the game, Corey Brock and the host were discussing the team’s ridiculous stat of 1-for-4 in stolen bases in the last 30-something games. And that was by Maddux. The host was insinuating that maybe Sandy Alderson tells Black to not let his team steal bases. I wouldn’t go that far but it sure is disappointing that Black hasn’t pushed this team to be more aggressive on the basepaths. When Gerut replaced Edmonds earlier in the season, I can remember a few games where the team was running wild. They had a game where they stole 4 or 5 bases. It seemed to jumpstart the team at the time. Not sure why Black has gone away from that approach. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to sit back and wait with a team that doesn’t get a lot of extra base hits.
August 5, 2008 at 9:17 pm
#80@JMAR:Nothing frustrated me more than seeing Iguchi roll over and hit that weak grounder for the DP. I know the count was 3-1 and non pitchers almost never bunt but I still find the energy in a foolhearty fashion to second guess that particular decision in what amounts to a very sad year.
Does Black ever start the runners to avoid a DP ? 25 stolen bases on the season is a TOTAL joke.
August 5, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I believe that the second base position is a hole that has to be filled as well for 2009. I’m not sure what the options are though as the free agent market looks pretty bare as far as second baggers goes and I am not sure that the Padres will risk going the FA market again and grab an Aaron Miles or a Ray Durham. Both of whom could end up being another Giles or Iguchi flop.
I do think that the Pads could keep Egon around as a utility guy and a good bat off the bench but I am fairly sure that he is not an everyday player.
August 5, 2008 at 9:41 pm
#82@JP:For my money they need at least: A second baseman, a short stop, three starting pitchers, a bullpen, and a partride in a pear tree.
All of that leaves questions marks in Center and left fields, and an aging right fielder.
August 5, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Someone on this blog was talking up Mark Ellis (2b)the other day. Superlative fielder but looks like Iguchi offensively. A wash it seems.
Meanhwhile, Jody Gerut is climbing his way (VORP 15+)(OPS + 120) into the upper 1/3 of center fielders in the NL. His value (at least for 1/2 season) is close to that of an Aaron Rowand . I was one of Gerut’s biggest doubters….glad to be wrong on this one….definitely one of the few bright spots this year. Good for him, he’s a cool dude and super smart too. When I see him I want to talk to him about Russian History.
August 5, 2008 at 9:58 pm
#82@JP: You’re right. They are going to need another second baseman next year as Antonelli is far from ready to take over. From the group of FA’s, I like Aaron Miles. He is a pesky hitter that can give an opponent fits by working the count and fouling off a ton of pitches. He probably fits best with the what the Padres should be looking to add … a guy who doesn’t strike out twice as much as he walks, which is what Iguchi and Giles did. The only thing I don’t like is that he doesn’t run at all. He has 5 SB’s in the last three seasons.
Besides Orlando Hudson, who is going to get a huge contract, the guy with the highest celing in the group is probably Felipe Lopez. However, I don’t know that the Padres should be adding another potential 100-strikeout guy to this lineup. They have enough of those. But considering what the options are, I wouldn’t mind having a guy that can steal over 20 bases (not sure why he only has 4 this season) and there would always be hope that he can once again be the player that batted .291 with 23 HR’s, and 85 RBI’s just three seasons ago and stole 44 bases two seasons ago.
Or they can just trade for that Josh Barfield guy. It amazes me that the guy batted .280 with 13 HR’s, 32 2B’s, and 21 SB’s, in his rookie season for the Padres and now he can’t hit AAA pitching.
August 5, 2008 at 10:09 pm
#85@JMAR: Barfield might not be a bad pickup. Sometimes a change of setting and a return home can turn a guy around.
As negative as I can be sometimes, the negativity on the UT blogs make me feel like I am in Philadelphia or that I am reading the thoughts of Squeaky Fromme. However, I did enjoy this summary of a play tonight that I tried to recap on this blog earlier but this dude did a much better job on the UT blog by a blogger named Showbizz-
“Anyone see the disaster tonight? Hmm, wonder how many ways we can find to implode! 8th inning and saw some of the most pathetic play I’ve seen all year. Left fielder gets the ball, anticipating a play at the plate, he throws it in, only to be cut off and bobbled by somebody, who in turn, attempts to throw it to the plate, which ends up a half mile offline, and instead hit’s the pitcher’s mound, bounces twenty feet in the air, and is then caught by the catcher (after bobbling it), but too late, the runner, who should have been out at first, scored. I mean, it was like the Key Stone Cops revisited. “Which way did he go, which way did he go?” I mean, come on San Diego, that’s not even single “A” play!
August 6, 2008 at 1:15 am
#13@Richard D.: The Giles’ contract has bee great.
$10 million this year for Giles, who has a .391 on-base percentage (ninth in the league) and plays excellent defense.
I hope the Padres panic like this every offseason.
August 6, 2008 at 1:23 am
re:Kouzmanoff
Here are his season splits:
April: .259/.293/.353
May: .289/.331/.491
June: .269/.333/.487
July: .299/.324/.474
Yes, he has stunk in his 12 at-bats in August. But his May, June and July has been about at an All-Star level, considering Petco Park.
Headley needs to prove he is better than Kouzmanoff at the major league level before he is anointed the next Mike Schmidt.
If Headley is so conveted and Kouzmanoff is seen as so terrible, then Headley is the better trade bait.
August 6, 2008 at 1:32 am
#60@Richard D.: In 2007, 98 players made $8 million or more.
$10 mil is not elite player money. Salaries were so ridiculous the offseason that Giles signed that he is a bargin.
Bad players, replacement level players, serviceable players make $4-5 mil. I think your standards are a bit outdated.
August 6, 2008 at 2:12 am
#88@Kevin: Not even close to All Star level for any of the months. Both Kouzmanoff’s VORP and OPS+ (which takes into account the park factor) are in the top of the lower half of the National League. Ronnie Belliard, Jorge Cantu, Edwin Encarnacion, and Ty Wigginton are all having a better offensive years than Kouzmanoff.
Kouzmanoff has performed as his track record in the minors has indicated as far as drawing walks and being selective at the plate. He has never walked. On the other hand, Headley has shown selectivity at the plate in the minors.
August 6, 2008 at 1:39 pm
#90@JP: Are you talking about his OPS+ for each month? I know his OPS+ for the year is not at an All-Star level.
Kouzmanoff is above league average for his position.