One of these years I will finish my essay comparing the scrappy indie-rock band Pavement to David Eckstein. While we’re all waiting for that to happen, here are some links you might enjoy…
Padres
- Part of the core? (Inside the Padres). Tom Krasovic wonders about Chase Headley’s future with the Padres.
- Padres Could Have A Loud Off-Season (FanGraphs). This article is eight paragraphs long but really comes down to the first sentence in the third paragraph: “The Padres are very well set up for the future.” [h/t reader Didi]
- Moorad: Padres to increase payroll in 2012 (U-T). More money is good news, but only if it helps improve the team. Hint: Look north to Anaheim and their acquisitions of Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells in recent years for guidance. Do the opposite of that.
- The Padres Bullpen, Yoda, and The Force (LobShots). Huzzah for Space Muppets, er Star Wars…
- Bell and fellow Padres ‘firemen’ visit Cave (Padres.com). Speaking of the ‘pen, Heath Bell, Josh Spence, Erik Hamren, and Anthony Bass recently visited some New York firefighters and wore snappy T-shirts. Bell also talks about trade-deadline adventures.
- Cory Luebke, Starting Pitcher (Roto Hardball). Eno Sarris takes a closer look at the rookie left-hander’s success this year.
- Top 25 Padres Prospects (Padres Prospects). I don’t know who these guys are, but this site recently launched and looks promising. I like James Darnell more and Reymond Fuentes less than they do.
- Hoffman’s Retired Number: What are they planning!? (Gaslamp Ball). Inquiring minds want to know…
- Career destined for stardom cut short for Pace grad (Pensacola News Journal). Quoth former Padres first-round pick Drew Cumberland, who has retired at age 22 due to head trauma:
I want to get married some day. I want to have kids. I want to be 40 years old and able to hold an intelligent conversation with someone.
Here’s wishing Cumberland the very best in his life ahead. [h/t reader Chris K.]
Offense
- Defensive Independent Hitting, Or ShH (FanGraphs). Bradley Woodrum speculates that “maybe there is a better way to predict how well a hitter is doing.” More here.
- Why Strikeouts Stink (FanGraphs). Didn’t J. Geils Band do a song about that once? Yeah, yeah…
- Most Natural Golden Sombreros (Baseball-Reference). Speaking of lousy contact, this is a fascinating list occupied mostly by very good/great offensive players… and Mark Bellhorn.
Defense
- The Error Face (Baseball Prospectus). Cute and fun, but without muppets or space.
- Extra plays made: Should we change our point of view? (Hardball Times). Max Marchi ruminates on how best to evaluate fielders.
- James Shields and greatest pickoff moves (SweetSpot). Would-be base stealers are 1-for-15 against the Tampa Bay right-hander.
Prognostication
- Guessing About Stamps (Joe Blogs). Joe Posnanski tries to figure out which baseball players might be featured on a new set of stamps commemorating the game. Hint: Not Mark Bellhorn.
- Celebrating 40th SABR anniversary by guessing future convention sites (Hardball Times). Chris Jaffe predicts it will come to San Diego in 2018 and Oakland in 2024. So, I guess I’ll be attending once every 6 or 7 years…
History
- The history and mystery of the high five (ESPN). Lamont Sheets? Glenn Burke? What an odd and surprisingly fascinating tale.
- Card of the Week: 1990 Score #84 Tony Phillips (Baseball-Reference). Here’s a cool card of the man who almost but never quite played for the Padres. The 52-year-old Phillips is now playing third base (and fighting with other former big-leaguers) for the Yuma Scorpions of the North American Baseball League.
- Teams Developing Young Winning Pitchers (Baseball-Reference). Clay Kirby, Andy Benes, Jake Peavy: three people who have never been in my kitchen…
Whatever
- A Quick Update On My Health (FanGraphs). Dave Cameron informs us that he is beating leukemia. Go, Dave, Go!
- Your Worthless No-Count Friend Texts You Updates from Historically Significant Baseball Games (Baseball Prospectus). In which Jon Bois asks, “What is porridge?” Indeed. Bonus points for the Star Trek: TNG and Incubus references…
Forsythe, Venable and Blanks look really good. I’m not sure what the Pads are going to do with all of their corner IF/OF, but it sure is nice to have some guys that can play a little.
I really hope the Padres don’t try and go the Hawpe route agian and they just stick with the young talent they have now. I would hate to see a veterain on the tail end of his career take AB’s away from Guzman, Blanks, Venable, Rizzo and Darnell next season. To be honest I would be ok if the Padres went with a pure youth movement next season and had a roster somethign like this:
C: Hundley, Martinez
1B: Rizzo, Guzman, Blanks
2B: Hudson, Forsythe
SS: Bartlett, Gonzalez
3B: Headley, Darnell, Forsythe
LF: Guzman, Blanks
CF: Maybin, Venable, Denorfia
RF: Venable, Darnell, Denorfia
Rotation
Latos
Stauffer
Luebke
Ricahrds
Moseley
Pen
Gregerson (CL)
Frieri (8th)
Bass (7th)
Spence
Thatcher
Scribner
Leblanc (Swing Man)
@Steve C — hopefully, any FAs like Hawpe next year will be for bench depth, which I’m fine with. It would be nice if we could use something from our surplus of corner guys to get someone who can help us up the middle. The tandem of Bartlett and Hudson has not impressed so far.
Although, I recognize that stability is nice at 2b/SS.
The thing that makes me sad about this offensive surge is that I don’t really consider it a surge as much as the players playing to their expected level. Guzman has been the real surprise, but Venable, Hudson and Bartlett are all playing much better, though none are exactly ripping the cover off the ball (Bartlett: .273 in Aug, Hudson: .292). I think Jed must feel a little vindicated, because the offense on the field was substantially worst than they were on paper coming into the season, and now, the team is finally hitting more in line with what he (and I) expected. I think Buddy deserves a little credit too. With as much as he likes to play musical chairs with the lineup, having Maybin and Bartlett 1-2 and the the O-Dog in the 6 or 7 spot has worked.
I think a few, wise FA pickups this offseason, and the team can really compete next year. I think we need to get a few more power arms in the pen, and probably a veteran inning eater in the rotation, and I think the team could be pretty good.