I’m a little behind in my links, so some of these might be oldish. Hey, better late than never…

• Organization free of bad contracts and long-term financial obligations (San Diego Union-Tribune). Good stuff from Tom Krasovic:
  

  The Padres certainly are familiar with toxic player contracts… The low-revenue Marlins and Twins almost never made such mistakes, but the mid-revenue Padres, compromised by an underachieving farm system and ballpark construction delays, made a habit of it.

  If anyone wonders why I remain optimistic about the Padres during these challenging times, it’s because they don’t shoot themselves in the foot as often as they once did.

• Top 50 Prospects for 2009. MLB.com unveils its top 50 prospects for 2009. The Padres’ Kyle Blanks checks in at #47. Nice to see folks finally getting wise to the big kid from New Mexico.
• San Diego Padres Top-15 Prospects of 2009, No’s 1 – 5. Alex Eisenberg at Baseball Intellect has posted his Padres top 15 prospects. He’s got Kellen Kulbacki at #1, which is a gutsy call. I adore Kulbacki, but I couldn’t bring myself to push him ahead of Kyle Blanks. Alex’s 6 – 15 can be found here. I like that he hasn’t given up on Matt Antonelli. Smart move. [h/t Steve C]
• The THT interview: Terry Kennedy. Steve Treder chats with the former former Padres catcher.
• Golden Baseball League Makes Rickey Henderson $1M Hall of Fame Offer. This is awesome. I loved watching Rickey play for the Padres and the Surf Dawgs. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]

Khalil Greene Trade Reaction

• Enigmatic shortstop appears to be a victim of his lofty ambitions (SDUT). Tim Sullivan pens a nice piece on Khalil Greene. Quoth Greene’s former skipper, Bud Black: “I wish he would let go and enjoy how good he is. But for whatever reason, he can’t do it.”
• Greene acknowledges feeling frustration at letting the team down. Khalil Greene, as quoted in the U-T: “I felt like I let the team down and wasn’t doing what I needed to do, and that was hard.”
• Trade will be Judged on Greene’s Ability to Bounce Back (There are Better Deals in August). Daniel offers his take.
• Scout.com: Greene ships sails a year late. Is it safe to say that Denis Savage is no great fan of Khalil Greene? Yes, I believe it is.

From the Ducksnorts Archives

• Why the Rumored Nevin for Griffey Deal Made No Sense

  This was in December 2002. Just for the record, here’s how Griffey and another outfielder the Padres actually acquired have fared from 2003 to 2008:

  Brian Giles vs Ken Griffey Jr., 2003 – 2008

  	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS+	$M
  Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.
  Brian Giles	3915	.287	.393	.456	128	53.5
  Ken Griffey Jr.	2774	.267	.355	.503	119	64.7

  Yeah, I know Giles didn’t come to San Diego till the end of ’03 (and neither did they pay most of his salary that year), but you get the idea. Be sure to thank Phil Nevin for exercising his veto power on that one.

New/Updated Blogs in the Blogroll

Go say hi to these folks:

• TinCaps Blog. The Fort Wayne Wizards are now the Fort Wayne TinCaps, and Lamond Pope has them covered.
• Raise the Jolly Roger!. It’s all about the Pirates. Aargh!
• BaseballGB. This site describes itself as a “hub for the best British baseball writing.” I know we’ve got readers here from all over the world, and it’s always great to see folks catch baseball fever regardless of geographic location. Plus, they have really good beer over there; helps make up for the food, I suppose.

That’s the fact, Jack. More links are available at the Ducksnorts delicious page, which I update as often as practical.

Tagged as: alex-eisenberg, Baseball, baseball digest daily, brian giles, bud black, bud selig, denis-savage, golden-baseball-league, hall of fame, hardball times, john-brattain, kellen kulbacki, ken griffey jr, khalil greene, kyle blanks, matt antonelli, mlb, padres, payroll, peter-ueberroth, phil nevin, prospects, rickey henderson, steve-treder, surf-dawgs, terry kennedy, tim sullivan, tom krasovic