I don’t have anything profound to say after watching the Texas/Anaheim game last night. What else is new, right?

I sure am glad baseball is back. Caught the Pads’ final exhibition game Saturday night at Elsinore. Jake Peavy dominated his old team, as he should have. Xavier Nady hit a long homer to left, for which he received a standing ovation. Nady won the Cal League MVP as a member of the Storm in 2001, a fact the hometown fans won’t soon forget.

The Elsinore squad won’t be as stacked with prospects as it has been the last couple years, but there are still some good ones. Among BA‘s top 30, 2B Josh Barfield (7), RHP Javier Martinez (11), RHP Justin Germano (13), OF Freddy Guzman (24), RHP Mike Wodnicki (25), 3B Greg Sain (26), and C Nick Trzeniak (28) will all be there. All but Sain played against the Pads Saturday.

This is the second or third time I’ve seen Barfield. He has a very quick bat but will swing at anything. Obviously a good athlete. John Sickels, whose book arrived last week, gives him a grade of C+, citing his bloodlines and batting average as positives, and plate discipline as the main negative.

Sight unseen, Martinez was one of my "sleeper" prospects for this year. He’s slender and he has a smooth delivery. His fastball was running 91-93 but didn’t appear to have a lot of movement. Martinez’ command was shaky (he knocked down Mark Loretta to lead off the fourth, plunking him on the left forearm), and he worked almost exclusively with his fastball. Martinez also earns a C+ from Sickels, who says "It wouldn’t surprise me to see him vault forward as a hot prospect in ’03." It’s always nice to have one’s opinion confirmed by a guy with Sickels’ track record.

Germano again impressed with his breaking ball (according to BA, the pitch "has been compared to Roy Oswalt’s". He’s a tough guy to get a read on in terms of ceiling. Some folks look at him and see another Brian Lawrence. Others, such as Sickels, liken him to former Padre farmhand Junior Herndon. Sickels gives him a grade of C. I think he underestimates Germano. We’ll see.

Guzman is very fast but very raw in most aspects of his game. He used to be known as Pedro de los Santos and play second base. He also aged 2 1/2 years this off-season. Guzman doesn’t warrant a mention in Sickels’ book.

Wodnicki came over in the Brett Tomko deal. He only worked an inning or two. Didn’t leave much of an impression on me one way or the other. Threw a little harder (90-93) than I’d expected. Sickels gives Wodnicki a C+. He likes the right-hander’s control and command, but wants to see what Wodnicki does at higher levels before getting too excited.

Trzeniak is a former first-rounder whom BA compares to a young Javy Lopez. That strikes me as optimistic, but I’ve only seen him play twice, so I’ll reserve judgment for now. Sickels doesn’t mention Trzeniak.

Speaking of Sickels

His book, which he self-published this year, is a must read. He’s got reports on over 800 players, including all 2002 first-round picks. The design of the book is radically different from the old Minor League Scouting Notebook, but the information is up to Sickels’ usual high standards.

Back in the early- to mid-’90s, at the peak of the ‘zine revolution, I ran a literary publication that contained work by some terrific writers but which was on more than one occasion accused of being bland. Sickels’ book runs the risk of being criticized on the same grounds. It’s a large (8 1/2 x 11) rust-colored tome with no pictures. The text is nearly uniformly monospaced font.

Personally, being a substance over style type, I kind of liked being bland because it forced attention onto the quality of the work. Sickels’ book is like this. It’s absolutely loaded with information. The Beatles had the White Album, Spinal Tap had the Black Album. Now John Sickels has the Rust Book. If you haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend you do so. Visit his site for details.

Go Watch Some Games Already!

I don’t have anything profound to leave you with either. Hope y’all have an enjoyable Opening Day. I can’t make it out to the Q this year for the first time in recent memory, but I’ll be there in spirit. The Padres may not win a lot of games this year, but as I’ve said before, it’s going to be fun to watch some of these kids develop at the big-league level. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty psyched.

Anyway, here’s to Opening Day. Have a good one…