We had another cool riff going but didn’t record it, which is probably just as well since the lyrics consisted, essentially, of an obscene joke involving Oprah Winfrey and leather sofas. It was very offensive but very funny and I was laughing so hard I could barely play the notes…

• Revisiting Pre-Season Projections: Infield (Friar Forecast). Daniel reviews his picks. He also checks in on the outfield.
• TinCaps season in review (pitching) (Watson Files). Everyone seems to like gargantuan (6’9″, 275-lb) right-hander Matt Lollis. Dan sure does: “He throws hard (90-94 mph on the fastball), throws two breaking balls (slider more often than the curve) and a changeup, AND LOCATES(!). Maybe the best part about him is, he gets it. He has big-guy stuff but still thinks the game.” Plus, I’ll bet with him and Kyle Blanks in the game, the quarterback will never get sacked.
• The Top 10 Padres of ’10: No. 09 (Sacrifice Bunt). Hint: He can’t hit.
• The Day the World Met the Ryan Express (Seamheads). Sure, Nolan Ryan may be overrated by some (myself included; I’m a sucker for the no-hitters and strikeouts), but here’s some perspective for you: “His world-leading 5,714 strikeout total is so far out in the stratosphere that 26-year-old Tim Lincecum, already a K-collecting two-time Cy Young winner, would have to strike out 250 batters a year for the next 19 seasons to catch Ryan…and he’d still be 57 short.”
• John Flaherty, Show Them – 262 (The Greatest 21 Days). Flash – a-ah – saviour of the universe. [h/t Baseball-Reference]
• Trying to salvage a tough World Series to sell (Yahoo!) From Jeff Passan’s article: “Beyond the cities involved – two places that are indeed embracing their teams and proving plenty able as baseball towns – this World Series is narcoleptic.” Personally, I think we should divy up the existing 30 teams and stick 6 each in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. I’m only sort of kidding. [h/t BBTF]
• The Complicated History of Baseball Stitching Machines (The Atlantic). From the article: “Obviously, it would make sense to put together a machine for stitching the leather onto baseballs, but, to this day, nobody has been able to successfully pull it off.” Fascinating… [h/t BBTF]
• Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match (Platoon Advantage). Fun with sample sizes.
• Toxicology report — bad contracts to swap (ESPN New York). If the Mets are willing to absorb much of the cost, I wonder if Oliver Perez might benefit from a return to San Diego? Darren Balsley worked with him in the minors, so maybe… just maybe. [h/t SweetSpot]
• Sandy Alderson is getting the old band back together (Hardball Talk). Alderson reportedly is interested in bringing Paul DePodesta to New York. I don’t see it happening, but one never knows. [h/t reader Didi]
• Is Good Drafting Enough? World Series Edition, 1 (FanGraphs). From Matt Klaasen’s article: “The point isn’t whether or not the Giants ‘knew’ these players could do this or that they got ‘lucky,’ but that, even with their excellent recent drafting, they required significant contributions from other players to make it into the playoffs.” Many of those contributions came from Padres players during their 10-game losing streak toward the end of August.
• Fast tracking in Arizona (Hardball Times). Harry Pavlidis examines several young pitchers currently in the Arizona Fall League, including USD alum and current Nationals left-hander Sammy Solis. Go Toreros!
• With 2010 World Series Complete, 142 Players Opt for Free Agency (Biz of Baseball). Several Padres appear on this list, including David Eckstein and Yorvit Torrealba. Second base and backup catcher are two positions the Padres should be looking to fill this winter, and the pickings are slim. Maybe someone can talk Flaherty out of retirement. [h/t BBTF]
• Talkin’ Baseball (Stats) (SI.com). Fun stuff from Joe Posnanski. And hey, Joe Thatcher led the league in something this year. Who knew? [h/t reader Didi]

Man, I wish I could remember how that song went…

Tagged as: bad contracts, darren balsley, david eckstein, free agents, joe thatcher, john flaherty, kyle blanks, matt lollis, nolan ryan, oliver perez, oprah winfrey, paul depodesta, Projections, sammy solis, sandy alderson, tony gwynn jr, usd, yorvit torrealba