Back in the day, before we had comments, I used to run a mailbag feature every so often. Here are a couple of fun ones from Novembers past:
- Mustang Sally, Bolero, and Spam. Self-indulgence at its finest. This is perhaps my “La Villa Strangiato” of all postings. It goes everywhere, whether it needs to or not. Also, while I was inadvertently working “Bolero” into “Mustang Sally,” I’d forgotten that Joe Walsh already pulled that trick in “The Bomber.” Still, if you’re going to rip someone off, it might as well be a guy like Walsh. And Ravel, for that matter.
Then the rest of the post is devoted to answering spam:
First up, B.D. from Loserville writes:
Get your College Diploma today! No books, tests or interviews.. no classes either! No one is turned down.
Thanks for the offer. Sounds totally legit and something I’d really like to be a part of, but I’m going to pass.
Presumably I thought it was funny at the time.
- Mailbag: Special Vinny Edition. Ah yes, who can forget Vinny Castilla? And remember when we were so excited about the thought of Clay Hensley, Tim Stauffer, and Cesar Carrillo behind Jake Peavy in the rotation?
Two things stand out to me here:
- We were waiting on news of a potential Adam Eaton to Texas deal at the time. As I recall, that worked out okay for the Padres.
- I said something that turned out to be shockingly true (if this is overly self-congratulatory, it’s only because I get so few opportunities to say I was right about something):
It sure looks to me as though the Padres are making themselves as lean as possible now to position themselves well for 2007. That may not bring comfort to everyone, but with the division as weak as it is, the Padres could still be competitive next year despite not fielding a great team; and as you say, ’07 should be exciting.
Seems to me the Padres were competitive in ’06, and ’07 was exciting. I am the blind squirrel, and these are my acorns.
There you go. Happy, happy…
I know this is OT but….
Buster Olney was on 1090 this morning and mentioned that the Padres and braves have agreed on three players in the Peavy deal…Escobar, Gorkys Hernandez, and either Chad Morton or Jo Jo Reyes and they are hung up on one or two smaller pieces of the deal.
My question is why do they want Gorkys Hernandez? He is still 2 years away from seeing Petco, the same age as Hunter and has put up far worse numbers in his ML career and he is the second piece in the trade for one of the best pitchers in baseball?
Olney also mentioned that any cubs trade would involve Josh Vitters and a third team to get better younger pitching than what the cubs can provide.
Anyone read the UT story about Padres pulling their offer to Trevor?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081111/news_1s11padres.html
Sounds like Trevor Time may be over. I’m not sure what to think about this. On one hand, the Padres may be cutting ties at the right time. Trevor is 41 on at the end of his career. On the other, I was kinda hoping Trevor would retire as a Padre.
Then there’s the meeting request with Moores. I know Trevor is a veteran good guy and has earned some legend status, but demanding to meet with John Moores kind of goes around SA and KT. Just because he “knows Moores and his family” doesn’t entitle him to lobby the owner for a better contract. This is a business decision.
So if he goes, I can’t deny part of me will miss him. He is the only active Padre future hall of famer, except for maybe Khalil Greene (KIDDING).
Good luck Trevor. He’s a class act.
#1@Steve C: Here’s a link to Olney’s column that covers much of the same material.
I don’t know how much stock to put in it, but Wilbon and Rick Reilly on Pardon the Interruption today agreed that the salary dumping is tied to Moores’ divorce. I guess that’s a glimpse at the national media POV. I wish Hoffman could leave as a Padre. If not, I think I would cheer for him if he got a save against the Padres at Petco (since it’s unlikely the Pads would have anything on the line…).
Thanks Geoff for the years of fun. Trevor’s kicked to the curb, our Cy young winner is washed out for a few useless minor leaguers and with them goes my loyal following of this pathetic excuse of a baseball club.
Best of Luck, Cuz the Padres Suck.
Mad Friars offers a pleasing distraction in trying times with their top 60 prospects list. The list begins with Kyle Blanks, ends with Stiven Osuna, and features Dan Robertson right in the middle at number 30.
I’m not sure how the depth compares to other teams’ or to years past, but it was pretty cool for me to read through the list and know 59 of the 60 names (darn Jose DePaula, hiding out in the AZL).
http://padres.scout.com/2/810783.html
#2@Oside Jon: Trevor probably wanted to know the longer-term outlook for the team’s finances before committing to a short-deal. If Moores could look him in the eye and say “I’m cutting payroll for the next year or two, until my divorce gets straightened out,” then maybe Trevor takes the shorter deal. There’s no mention in any story about Trevor trying to end-run the front office for more money. He was looking for information on the team’s direction.
So the Padre money valve isn’t totally sealed from Moores’ other ventures, as several of his more fervent backers have claimed. It’s a one-way valve. When his other ventures are doing well, the valve is closed, and the Padres need to survive on baseball-only revenue. Even the most ardent Moores supporter would put a baseball-only supported payroll in the mid-50s. But when his non-Padre affairs are in shambles — Hey look, this valve DOES open!