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Bounce or Crash?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
by Geoff Young

This is a guest post by long-time Ducksnorts reader and contributor Tom Waits. Few teams have fallen so far, so fast, as the 2008 Padres. A team that was one out away from the playoffs in September 2007 is now 33 games under .500, with a very real chance of picking first in next year's draft. But is this disaster a systemic failure, the result of poor design and poor execution, or is it more akin to a plane crash caused by wind shear -- a horrific event that nonetheless does not call into question the laws of aerodynamics? Put another, less tortured way: What are the chances that the 2009 Padres are a helluva lot ...

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Posted in Baseball | 7 Comments »

Help Wanted: All-Time Padres Team

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
by Geoff Young

I've been tasked with assembling a 40-man roster made up of the best players in Padres history. It's a pretty straightforward exercise, except for two positions: second base and left field. We're talking about third-stringers here, but I need a little help with these. Second Base: Bip Roberts vs Quilvio Veras GABBAOBPSLG Statistics are courtesy of Retrosheet. Roberts6672258.298.361.387 Veras4151531.270.366.353 Arguments for Roberts Played with Padres longer than Veras Superior offensive player Fan favorite Arguments against Roberts Not a full-time second baseman (although his versatility also could be seen as a positive) Arguments for Veras True second baseman Catalyst for 1998 World Series team Arguments against Veras Played here just three years Inconsistent performer Left Field: Rickey Henderson vs Greg Vaughn GABBAOBPSLG Statistics are courtesy of Retrosheet. Henderson3591132.245.399.354 Vaughn3211075.245.345.510 Arguments for Henderson Otherworldly OBP "This ...

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Posted in Baseball | 21 Comments »

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It’s Funny Because It’s Truthy

Monday, September 8, 2008
by Geoff Young

Reader Malcolm forwards an inspired piece penned by Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers that sings the praises of Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. Ken Tremendous at Fire Joe Morgan picks the article apart nicely (F-bomb warning) and is left wondering whether it is parody or straight reporting. This, of course, is the best kind of humor. If it's easy to understand, the joke just isn't that funny. But when you're left kind of scratching your head and maybe a little unsettled, the person telling the tale has done a masterful job. I love this passage: ...Colletti looked like a goner before [Casey] Blake and [Manny] Ramirez ...

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Posted in Baseball | 18 Comments »

Unfinished Notes on a Bullpen

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
by Geoff Young

Warning: This post is a mess; proceed at your own risk... I was thinking about the bullpen a while back and got to wondering a few things: How have Padres relievers performed this year as compared to the starters? How does this compare with league average? How does this compare with recent Padres teams? How does this compare with all Padres teams? What were some shared characteristics of the good bullpens? Of the bad ones? How was workload distributed (i.e., was it spread fairly evenly or did two or three guys carry most of the burden)? How often were relievers used? How hard were they worked? As is often the case, I got distracted. I ended up tackling (well, maybe not tackling, more like tapping on the shoulder) #3 and #4, and ignoring the rest. ...

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Posted in Baseball | 3 Comments »

One Actionable Item

Tuesday, September 2, 2008
by Geoff Young

It's easy, in a season where almost everything imaginable has gone wrong, to forget that the Padres won 89 games a year ago with comparable talent. The lazy and somewhat impractical suggestion is to say we should blow everything up and start over from scratch. Nice Debut Speaking of the future, we've already seen four members of the 2005 draft class surface in San Diego this year. Monday night marked the debut of second baseman Matt Antonelli, the first member of the 2006 class to arrive. Antonelli started his big-league career in fine fashion, lacing a sharp single to center off 354-game winner (and ex-Padre) ...

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Posted in Baseball | 16 Comments »

Observations from the Weekend

Monday, September 1, 2008
by Geoff Young

First off, if your #2 hitter lays down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning -- as Luis Rodriguez did on Friday night -- then you probably need to find another #2 hitter. Second, for as indifferent as I generally am to the stolen base, it disturbs me that Willy Taveras has more than twice as many by himself this year than does the entire Padres roster. (It also astounds me that Taveras has so many steals despite being a useless hitter -- and people scoff at the notion of there being a continued need for Tony Womack's skill set.) Anyway, it was fun to watch the kids ...

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Posted in Baseball | 21 Comments »

Congratulations, It’s a Center Fielder

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
by Geoff Young

One of the few pleasant surprises in a miserable season has been the resurrection of Jody Gerut's career. Gerut, who hadn't played in the big leagues since 2005, signed a minor-league contract with the Padres back in January. Talk about under the radar. As Mick Jagger once sang, "I've got no expectations." It's not like he was never any good, though. During his rookie campaign of 2003, Gerut had enjoyed a fair amount of success with the Cleveland Indians, hitting .279/.336/.494. After tailing off a bit the following year, he fell off even further in 2005 before missing the next two seasons altogether. At that point, what's to expect? How ...

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Posted in Baseball, Minors | 1 Comment »