It Could Be Worse; Just Ask the Mariners
Thu, Sep 25, 2008
by Geoff Young
Bullet points this morning:
- I’ve got a new piece up at Baseball Digest Daily that talks about the challenges facing the Seattle Mariners this off-season. Here in San Diego, the Padres have their work cut out for them as they attempt to rebuild, but there’s something to be said for not owing Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Carlos Silva a combined $30.35 million next year.
- One idea I have for the Ducksnorts 2009 Baseball Annual is a quick survey of the Padres’ last 10 drafts. I’m thinking of something along the lines of what Scott Lucas has done at Ranger Rundown, with maybe a little more commentary. Interesting? Or not so much?
Finally, I’m working on a cool interview that I think you’ll enjoy. I expect to have it ready for Friday. Stay tuned…
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.
September 25, 2008 at 7:49 am
re: quick survey of the Padres’ last 10 drafts … VERY interesting … and will provide a foundation for us to watch to see if post-Bush era blossoms as we are hoping.
September 25, 2008 at 10:46 am
I like the draft idea — would you need help or would you do it all yourself?
I’m sure looking at the Padres draft would be pretty ugly — look at how poorly the Rangers have done, especially lately. They have only one player drafted since 2004 that has even played for them and probably most people haven’t even heard of him(Travis Metcalfe).
September 26, 2008 at 11:10 am
The Mariners are like the Padres of old. Remember the contract given to Wiki Gonzalez and Kevin Jarvis? Yeah, neither do I.
The draft thing would be cool but what scopes are you looking into? Many of the draftees aren’t going to make the ML just like any other organizations.
Change in organization philosophy over time and depth of talent pools in various years will also determine the success of the drafts.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not too useful to only list what we have drafted over the years and where the draftees are now without further studies or explanations.
September 26, 2008 at 6:23 pm
#2@Schlom: If I decide to move forward with this, I may need some help. Thanks for asking.
#3@Didi: I agree with LynchMob that it would be interesting, but share your concerns about its usefulness. Is a data dump enough? If not, what additional value can be added? I’ll need to think on this a little more. Thanks for the feedback, guys.
September 26, 2008 at 6:53 pm
#2@Schlom: Am I missing something? Since I now live in Dallas, I have been following the Rangers pretty closely and on the surface your claim that “They (Rangers) have only one player drafted since 2004 that has even played for them and probably most people haven’t even heard of him(Travis Metcalfe)”, didn’t seem right at all and after doing the research I have found you to be incorrect on this (2 of the guys below, Teagarden and Davis, are recent draft choices that many expect huge things from):
*German Duran (2005 draft)
* Taylor Teagarden (2005 draft) 15 for 43 (.349) in first mlb taste.
* Chris Davis (2006 draft) 284 at bats in 2008 w/ 850+ OPS