IGD: Padres @ Mets (5 Aug 08)

Padres @ Mets
4:10 p.m. PT
Channel 4SD, DIRECTV 726
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 187
MLB, B-R

Tagged as: , ,

91 Responses »

  1. #50@JP: Thing is, it’s not just me. The guys on XX Sports rag on him too.

  2. #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

  3. #52@JP: You’re right. I’m not a bandwagoner.

  4. Wow, that thing took a nasty bounce over 2nd!

  5. Could anything else go wrong?

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. I thought that Tatis did a bit too much show boating when he circled the bases for my tastes.

  9. Tad Iguchi signing a mistake ? He has definitely had a sub par year this year.

  10. #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.

  11. #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.

  12. #58@JP: He’s been showboating for 2 mos now. It’s really annoying.

  13. Well . . . that was interesting. In a bad way.

  14. So uhhhh… I’m going to the game tomorrow.

    Ummm… I really hope I don’t see baseball like this when I do.

  15. #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.

  16. I’m just glad that I don’t have to stay up late to watch this beating.

  17. #65@Nick G: 5/26/90. Cora had three errors, pads got ripped 11-0.

    It was not enjoyable

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199005260.shtml

    On the bright side, I love baseball reference

  18. #66@Turbine Dude: What are you talking about? Gerut goes yard, PADS ARE GOING TO COME BACK BABY!!!!

  19. Jody is the hero of late. OK, don’t anybody jinx this!

  20. Go Gerut!!!

    I had total faith in you and the rest of your team the entire time!!!

    huzzah!!!!

  21. #66@Turbine Dude: You’ve got to say something else like that!!!

  22. Jody Gerut = one of the lone bright spots this year

  23. #68@Nick G: Hey, when I start sounding like Randy Quaid in ‘Major League II,’ they pull off stunts like this.

  24. 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!

  25. Drat. Reverse jinx didn’t work.

  26. #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.

  27. 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.

  28. #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.

  29. #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.

  30. #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.

  31. 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.

  32. #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.

  33. 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.

  34. #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.

  35. #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!

  36. #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.

  37. 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.

  38. #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.

  39. #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.

  40. #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.