Right-hander Dirk Hayhurst has been claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. Dirk was gracious enough to chat with us not long ago. Although his Padre career lasted just 16 2/3 innings, it got his foot in the proverbial door. Here’s wishing Dirk all the best in Toronto (one of my favorite cities) as he continues to pursue his baseball dreams.
Also, Josh Bard and Shawn “What Am I Even Doing on This Team?” Estes have filed for free agency. Bard and Estes spent much of 2008 on the disabled list. Despite his struggles this year, Bard ends his Padre career with some solid numbers: .282/.358/.412 in 268 games. Bard turns 31 next spring; if healthy, he should be useful to someone.
Estes? I still have no clue what he was doing on the roster.
In Other News
I may not be blogging here every day this winter, but I am keeping up with my delicious bookmarks. Here are some recent items of potential interest:
- Paul DePodesta talks about the two pitchers acquired in exchange for Greg Maddux — RHP Eduardo Perez and LHP Michael Watt.
- Over at Gaslamp Ball, jbox notes that the Padres have filed a grievance against Khalil Greene, who broke his hand on July 30 as a result of punching a storage cabinet. Once you get past the snark, jbox is dead-on. Greene screwed up, and the team shouldn’t have to pay for his mistake.
- Speaking of DePodesta, he and GM Kevin Towers appear to be staying put. Apparently the Seattle Mariners had shown interest, but Sandy Alderson put the kibosh on that. Quoth Alderson: “Neither would be available to another club.” [h/t LynchMob]
- According to MLB.com, the Padres are “leaning toward” picking up Brian Giles’ $9 million option for 2009. Considering they’d have to pay him $3 million to go away, I can’t imagine that they’d find a better right fielder for the remaining $6 million. As a reference point, the Kansas City Royals will pay Jose Guillen twice that amount next season.
- Tim Sullivan at the U-T talks about the Padres’ approach to hitting. Reader comments are unintentionally (?) hilarious, as usual. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- Maury Brown notes that the Padres’ attendance was way down in 2008. We’ve been watching this for a while, and it’s clear that fans were influenced more by one poor season than the four good ones that preceded it. The fact that the Pads have been unable to leverage their recent success in the same way that, say, the Chargers have must be a source of constant frustration for the organiation. [h/t Didi]
- Evan Brunell takes a stab at rebuilding the Padres. Re-signing Trevor Hoffman makes sense; the rest of these moves, not so much. I can’t imagine a worse time to try and trade Greene than when he’s coming off a career-worst season and involved in a contractual dispute with his employer — talk about selling low.
- Finally, the New York media is lusting after Jake Peavy again. Maybe we’ll get a bag of balls in return. We should be so lucky.
That’s all for now; more as it happens…
Best of luck to Dirk with his new team! He sure seems like a great guy and deserving of any success which comes his way.
It’s always tough, imo, to play armchair GM, but I disagree with nearly all of what Evan Brunnell suggests. I can certainly get behind the idea of bringing in Loretta to fill a Utility IF role, and if the stars align in such a way as to allow him to effectively start at 2B, great.
However, the idea David Ross would replace KG’s power is specious, especially in Petco; Lugo is hardly an OBP machine, although he’s better at it than Greene, but you’re giving up some D there, too; Mike Hampton? Really? Mike Hampton?
I’m OK with letting Trevor leave if he wants to play next year. I was behind him this year when he struggled early this season, but I expect further decline next year and that’s not going to cut it if we want to be competitive.
It’s of little relevance, but I’ve added “kibosh” to my list of “favorite words” …
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kibosh
Of even less relevance is that my favorite word is “pie”
Just trying to think good thoughts as we head into a long winter …
And finally, DePo on pitching prospects …
http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com/2008/10/pitching-prospects.html
Oy, Geoff. I found the attendance article via Baseball Musings.
Darn it. No Dirk next season. I thought he may improved as a long man in the bullpen. Good luck to Dirk Hayhurst and I hope he still writes.
KG @ BP reports this about former Torero Brian Matusz …
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8171
6. Do We Finally Get To See Brian Matusz?
While the upstart Hawaiian League tends to see more of the late-to-the-party signees looking to get their feet wet in professional baseball because of the lower level of play, the fourth overall pick from this year’s draft, Baltimore’s Matusz (Rafters), will be finally making his pro debut—in Arizona. The first pitcher selected this June, Matusz is not a pure power pitcher, but rather a highly-refined product with three plus pitches (fastball, curve, change) who should move very quickly up through the Orioles system.
I’ll keep following Dirk as long as there’s a Dirk to follow – without verging into stalkerdom.
Agent Dale Cooper would agree with you on pie, LynchMob.
Geoff, I agree that the Padres were not able to capitalize on their success of the last few years like the Chargers have, but the Padres absolutely capitalized on their success in 1998. I think a lot of fans felt let down by the next five years, even though it wasn’t completely management’s fault (clearly if it weren’t for the lawsuits we could have been competitive before 2004). That said, I think a lot of fans felt used and that, along with the fact that despite their success the Padres won 1 playoff game the last three years, is why they couldn’t capitalize on it.
Also, I think fans see very little hope for the future with the Padres. Sure, they could compete next year, but they likely aren’t going to win 90 games.
One other thing – does anyone else feel COMPLETELY turned off by baseball right now? It’s not just the Padres crappy season, it’s that we are headed towards a potential Dodgers/Red Sox world series. In other words, once again we are going to have a world champion that spends above and beyond what are Padres are capable of. Other than the Marlins in 2003, this has been the case for the last 10 years. Do the Padres really ever have a shot? And even if they win one, is it a lightning in a bottle-type win that we won’t see again for another 30 years? The Red Sox and Yankees are going to spend EVERYONE into submission again this offseason and quite honestly it’s making baseball a lot less interesting.
That said, GO DEVIL RAYS!
#6@Tom Waits: Agent Cooper! Awesome! Garmonbozia, anyone?
#8@Masticore317: Do we want the Padres to have some Garmonbozia … or not?
http://www.twinpeaks.org/faqfwwm.htm#f20
… I’m confused … and I guess we’re pushing GY’s envelope again …
#7@BigWorm: Yeah, I will discuss the credibility issue in the DS Annual. Right, wrong, or somewhere in between, a large portion of the fan base does not trust the FO. The FO needs to address this, and it isn’t going to be easy because, well, how do you convince people that don’t trust you to trust them?
#9@LynchMob: Twin Peaks references are always welcome.
#9@LynchMob: I say yes to the Garmonbozia. It gives them energy. I think, anyway! With Lynch, you never really know!