Started yesterday morning with a delicious loco moco breakfast at the hotel. Watched the koi in the pond get fed. Walked over to Ala Moana and had malasadas (portuguese donuts) filled with haupia (coconut custard). Then ate a plate lunch with kalua pig, lau lau (pork wrapped in spinach), chicken long rice, and lomi salmon. [...]

I’m on dial-up this week, so only after I’d composed today’s entry did I learn of the Padres-Red Sox trade. If you missed it, the Pads sent Jay Payton, Ramon Vazquez, David Pauley, and $2.65M to Boston for Dave Roberts and undisclosed amounts of petroleum jelly. Analysis will follow in the coming days, as soon [...]

Congratulations to the San Diego Chargers for clinching the AFC West yesterday. I did not think they’d win more than five games this year, but there they are at 11-3, headed to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Kudos to Marty Schottenheimer, LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Antonio Gates, and all the other unlikely [...]

In the comments to yesterday’s entry, Derek asked about a couple of current rumors involving the Padres. The first (Rocky Mountain News) has Preston Wilson coming to San Diego for Jay Payton and Xavier Nady. Money? Wilson is due $12M in 2005. Payton will get $3.5M next year. Nady, obviously, is young and comparatively cheap. [...]

I’d forgotten how irritated I was when the Padres signed David Wells last January. To quote myself: This is the savior? This is the man to lead the Padres’ young rotation? This is a 41-year-old guy with a good appetite and a bad back. I don’t get it. This was the off-season things were supposed [...]

The good news is, the Padres didn’t participate in the Major League phase of the Rule V draft. They did grab LHP Arturo Lopez from the Dodgers and SS Christian Herrera from the Pirates in the Triple-A phase. They also lost 3B Kervin Jacobo (to Mariners), OF Josh Carter (to Phillies), and OF Marcus Nettles [...]

How ’bout those Chargers? 10-3 and marching toward a playoff berth. Led by a quarterback who hadn’t done much in his first two years and in whom many folks had lost faith. Remind you of anyone? In baseball news, according to ESPN, 58 players have signed big-league contracts so far. All but one of those [...]

According to ESPN, the Red Sox have signed David Wells to a contract that guarantees him $8M in 2005 and could be as worth as much as $16-18M over two years. And the U-T reports that the Padres are trying to move Jay Payton and Ramon Vazquez to Boston for Dave Roberts. I’m good with [...]

These days most of the talk about Bonds centers on steroids and on his involvement with BALCO, which is a shame because he’s launching an all-out assault on one of the most hallowed records in baseball. I don’t know enough about steroids to offer much analysis on that point. However, I do know that if [...]