D’Angelo Jimenez, 2002

The Padres acquired Jimenez on June 23, 2001, in a trade for right-hander Jay Witasick. Once a top prospect in the Yankees organization, Jimenez broke his neck in a January 2000 car accident. After missing an entire season while recovering from the injury, he became the Padres’ starting shortstop in 2001, with mixed results. The following year, Jimenez shifted to second base to make room for Deivi Cruz. And on June 30, he worked a perfect inning and a third against the Royals in Kansas City. Two weeks later, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Humberto Quintero and Alex Fernandez. After bouncing around the big leagues for several more years, Jimenez spent all of 2008 at Triple-A Memphis in the Cardinals organization, where he hit .244/.332/.353 but did not pitch at all.

Jason Pearson, 2002

Pearson, a left-hander out of Illinois State University, made two appearances for the Padres. On June 4 in San Francisco, he retired J.T. Snow and David Bell in the ninth on a total of five pitches. Then, on June 7 in Tampa Bay, Pearson gave up a double to Steve Cox to start the eighth before coming back to strike out Ben Grieve, Aubrey Huff, and John Flaherty in order. On June 10, the Giants claimed Pearson off waivers, but he never pitched for them. He did make two appearances for the Cardinals in 2003 before returning to the minors for good. Pearson was last seen pitching for the Bowie Baysox in 2006, where he posted solid numbers before disappearing into the ether.

Roger Deago, 2003

Deago, a diminutive southpaw from Panama, made two starts for the Padres. In the first, on May 10 at Shea Stadium, he worked six strong innings, but saw his team lose when Jaret Wright served up a two-run walkoff homer to Mike Piazza. On May 15, at home against the Braves, Deago and the rest of the pitching staff (except for one guy, but we’ll get to that in a minute) got pounded in a 15-6 loss. Deago hasn’t resurfaced in the big leagues. He spent 2008 at Double-A Montgomery in the Rays organization, where he went 2-5 with 4 saves and a 2.95 ERA.

Wiki Gonzalez, 2003

The Padres selected Gonzalez in the minor-league portion of the 1996 Rule V draft. The nominal starting catcher in 2000, Gonzalez enjoyed moderate success the following season before reminding everyone that if the Pirates can’t find room for you in Double-A, you’re probably just not very good. On May 15, 2003, he followed Deago, Wright, and 87-year-old Jesse Orosco into battle and was the only Padres hurler that escaped unscathed against the Braves that afternoon. Gonzalez retired Marcus Giles, Robert Fick, and Andruw Jones, issuing only a two-out walk to Chipper Jones. Presumably Atlanta’s hitters were exhausted by the time Gonzalez took the mound.

Randy Keisler, 2003

Keisler signed with the Padres as a free agent in February 2003. Before that, he pitched briefly for the Yankees, who selected him in the second round of the 1998 draft (the fourth straight year he’d been drafted, incidentally). Keisler started a game at Milwaukee on May 19, and another at Arizona on May 25. The first two batters he faced while donning a Padres uniform were Eric Young and Scott Podsednik. Young drew a leadoff walk and Podsednik — who once went an entire 568 plate-appearance season without hitting a home run — took Keisler deep. The southpaw later served up back-to-back jacks to Geoff Jenkins and Brady Clark in the third. Keisler’s second start didn’t go much better. He gave up three runs in the first and was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth. Charles Nagy replaced him and proceeded to pitch even worse before handing the ball over to Wright and Orosco. (Man, that was a dreadful staff in ‘03.) The Padres released Keisler on June 5. He’s made brief stops in Cincinnati, Oakland, and St. Louis since then, compiling a 4-4 record and 6.63 ERA (66 ERA+) in 55 big-league games. Keisler spent 2008 at Triple-A in the Orioles and Cubs organizations.

Sean Burroughs, 2005

I’m done with Burroughs. The game took place at Coors Field on September 20 if you’re interested.

Randy Williams, 2005

Acquired in a November 2004 trade with Seattle, Williams made two appearances against the Cardinals. In the first, on May 6, he allowed one run in one inning. In the second, on May 8, Williams took one for the team, giving up five runs in three and a third innings. This was Tim Redding’s final start for the Padres — you know, the one where 16 men came to bat for St. Louis in the first inning and the Cards led, 13-0, after two. The Rockies claimed Williams off waivers on May 11, and he got into 30 games for them. Since then he has been kicking around the minors. In 2008, Williams went 0-2 with a 4.33 ERA in 27 innings at Triple-A Albuquerque in the Marlins organization.

Aaron Rakers, 2007

Rakers, a right-hander out of Southern Illinois University (Champ Summers), was selected by the Orioles in the 23rd round of the 1999 draft. After a couple cups of coffee with the big club, he came to San Diego as a free agent in February 2007. His lone appearance for the Padres came on April 19, at home against the Diamondbacks. Rakers worked a scoreless ninth to put the finishing touches on an 11-6 victory, retiring Orlando Hudson, Scott Hairston, and Carlos Quentin in the process. Rakers pitched for York of the independent Atlantic League in 2008, going 11-8 with a 4.52 ERA.

Jared Wells, 2008

The Padres picked Wells in the 31st round of the 2002 draft. After stalling out as a starting pitcher, he shifted to the bullpen at Triple-A Portland midway through the 2007 season. Wells made two appearances for the Padres, in back-to-back games at home against the Reds. On May 24, in his big-league debut, he worked a scoreless seventh. The following day he coughed up two runs in the 11th in a game that the Padres eventually won, 12-9, in 18 innings. On May 28, the Padres dealt him to Seattle for right-hander Cha Seung Baek. Wells made six appearances for the Mariners after the trade.

That’s way more information than you probably needed, but there it is…

Al McBean, 1969

Taken from the Pirates as the 50th player selected overall in the 1968 expansion draft, McBean started his only game in a Padres uniform on April 12, working seven innings and taking the loss at home against the San Francisco Giants. On April 17 he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tommy Dean and Leon Everitt. The Virgin Islands native made 39 more big-league appearances after leaving San Diego, all in relief, and retired following the 1970 season with a 67-50 record, 63 saves, and 3.13 ERA (110 ERA+) in 409 games.

Jerry Nyman, 1970

Nyman, a left-hander out of Brigham Young University, came to the Padres on March 30, 1970, in exchange for right-hander Tommie Sisk. After spending most of the season at Triple-A Salt Lake City, where he went 9-13 with a 4.09 ERA, Nyman came up to the big club late in the year and made two September starts: one on September 7 at home against the Houston Astros, and one on September 14 at Dodger Stadium. In the latter, Nyman gave up four hits and retired just one batter (Wes Parker) before being replaced on the mound by Earl Wilson. It would be Nyman’s final big-league appearance. He spent ‘71 in the minors before calling it a career. Over parts of three seasons Nyman went 6-7 with a 4.57 ERA (80 ERA+).

Dane Iorg, 1986

Oddly enough, the next member of the Padres to pitch in two games or fewer also came from BYU. Iorg was a reserve outfielder who was originally drafted by the Phillies back in 1971 but who spent most of his career playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. He played significant roles for two World Series winners. In ‘82, he hit .529/.529/.882 for the Cards in their victory over Milwaukee. In ‘85, he collected exactly one hit for the Kansas City Royals against the Cardinals, but it was a walkoff game-winner in the infamous Game 6 of that year’s classic. Iorg’s two pitching appearances came in the final season of his 10-year big-league career. On June 23 at Candlestick Park, he surrendered four runs in the eighth — three scoring on a homer by starting pitcher Mike LaCoss, the other on a solo shot by reserve infielder Mike Woodard — to put the finishing touches on an 18-1 loss. Then, on August 30 at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Iorg shut down the Expos for the final two innings of a 10-1 loss, allowing only an infield single to Jim Wohlford and even striking out reserve infielder Al Newman. Both of Iorg’s appearances came in relief of LaMarr Hoyt.

Luis Salazar, 1987

Salazar, the franchise leader in games played at third base, worked two games in relief in his second (of three) stints with the Padres. The first came on June 10 at the Astrodome, when he tossed a scoreless eighth inning in a 10-1 loss. Padres pitchers walked eight and struck out none in that game. In his second appearance, on July 29 at Cincinnati, Salazar gave up one run in a 15-5 loss — ground ball single to Nick Esasky, bloop double to Dave Collins, wild pitch — before retiring Barry Larkin and Buddy Bell to end the frame.

Darrin Jackson, 1991

Jackson was originally selected by the Chicago Cubs out of Culver City High School (go Centaurs!) in the second round of the 1981 draft. He came to San Diego on August 30, 1989, in a trade involving — among others — the aforementioned Salazar. In 1991, as San Diego’s primary center fielder, Jackson hit .262/.315/.476 in 394 plate appearances. He also worked two innings in a May 26 contest at Houston. Jackson gave up two runs in the seventh — on doubles to Steve Finley and Casey Candaele — before retiring Ken Caminiti to end the inning. He enjoyed better success in the eighth, retiring three of the four he faced, including Luis Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell. Jackson spent another season with the Padres before being traded to Toronto as part of Tom Werner’s Fire Sale on March 30, 1993, for Derek Bell… who later became part of the package that brought Finley and Caminiti to San Diego.

Pete Walker, 1996

Walker, a right-hander out of the University of Connecticut, became the first actual pitcher to work in two games or fewer for the Padres in a quarter of a century when he faced five batters in a September 7 contest at St. Louis. Picked by the New York Mets in the seventh round of the 1990 draft, Walker came to San Diego in a trade that sent Roberto “Patron Saint of Baseball Nerds” Petagine to the Big Apple. In his lone appearance for the Padres, Walker was unhittable, if a tad wild: After striking out John Mabry to start the eighth inning, he got Tom Pagnozzi to pop out to third before walking the bases loaded and being yanked for Mike Oquist, who retired Ray Lankford to end the threat. Walker spent the next three seasons bouncing around the minors before resurfacing for three games with the Colorado Rockies in 2000 and two more with the Mets in 2001. The following year, at age 33, he inexplicably won 10 games as a member of Toronto’s starting rotation. Walker last pitched in the big leagues for the Blue Jays in 2006; he owns a career record of 20-14 with four saves and a 4.48 ERA (102 ERA+) in 144 appearances.

Ed Giovanola, 1999

Taken by Atlanta in the same round of the 1990 draft as Walker, Giovanola played his college ball at Santa Clara University (Mike Macfarlane, Randy Winn). An infielder by trade, Giovanola was claimed off waivers from the Braves in October 1997. He spent parts of two seasons with the Padres. On August 25, 1999, at Philadelphia, Giovanola made the first and only pitching appearance of his career. With two out in the seventh inning, Dan Miceli served up a three-run homer to Rico Brogna, extending the home team’s lead to 15-1. Bruce Bochy summoned Giovanola, who retired four of the seven batters he faced and did not allow a run. Of course, two of those batters were future Padre outmakers Alex Arias and Gary Bennett, but still.

Okay, that’s enough for now. We’ll take a look at the 21st century on Wednesday…

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• Remember when we used to lust after Marcus Giles? This was in 2002 — years before he actually arrived and demonstrated an alarming inability to hit baseballs. We kinda had a thing for Jose Vidro and Bobby Hill back then, too. Don’t ask. On the bright side, Royce Clayton signed with Milwaukee, leaving the Padres with their fallback option of… Mark Loretta.
• That same year, we were underwhelmed by the Padres off-season moves, and who can blame us? The big free-agent signings were 39-year-old outfielder Brady Anderson, injured right-handers Francisco Cordova and Jaret Wright, and 46-year-old left-hander Jesse Orosco. I think all of us were expecting big things from the ‘03 team after those moves. Could you hear the snickering there? Did that make it through the tubes?
• Right around the same time, I advocated that the Padres cut ties with Trevor Hoffman:
  

  The Padres are blowing a quarter of their payroll on a guy who works 60 innings a year. As much as it pains me to admit this, because Hoffman is one of my favorite players in the game right now, I’m not sure that’s a wise way for an organization that refers to itself as “small market” to be allocating its resources. Hoffy has done a great deal for the city and the ballclub, and he seems like a heckuva good guy. But he isn’t young, and he isn’t cheap. And on a team that constantly cries “small market” that’s not a winning combination.

  I also found sweet anagrams for Mark Kotsay (Kayak Storm) and Ryan Klesko (Skylark One). Actually, Sean Burroughs had a pretty funny one, too: A Bong User Rush.

• The Padres sure used to have some ugly drafts. Here is a look at hitters and pitchers they picked from 1995 to 2004. This will be interesting to revisit in a few years, when guys like Matt Antonelli, Chase Headley, and Will Venable have a little more big-league experience under their belts (and maybe Kyle Blanks and Kellen Kulbacki, for that matter).
• Finally, back when I used to post more non-baseball stuff, I wrote about 12 albums that changed the way I think about music. The list holds up pretty well, I think, though I might be tempted to something by Frank Zappa or Bjork. Maybe Neko Case. I dunno, I’d have to ponder it for a while.

That’s all for now. Later, yo…

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• Part 1 includes this gem:
  

  I realize I may not be the most objective person when it comes to talking about Phillips. I’ve seen him pitch on several occasions and I even once had the chance to chat with him while he was charting a game at Elsinore. But beyond the fact that he seemed like a nice enough kid, he has a serious arm. You just don’t see a lot of young lefties with that kind of fastball/curve arsenal.

  Except, of course, that he never made it past A-ball.

• Here’s my favorite passage from Part 2:
  

  Trade Phillips if you have to; it’s not the end of the world. But make sure you address a need and get value for him. The Padres did neither.

  Except, of course, that Phillips and Trammell sucked for the Yankees, and White played well for the Padres.

• Finally, in Part 3, I respond to some reader feedback:
  

  [Yankees GM Brian] Cashman essentially threw less-than-first-round money at a former first-rounder who already has professional experience under his belt and who, unlike many former top draft picks, actually has had a fair amount of success as a pro. From the Yankees’ standpoint, this wasn’t about money. This was about opportunity. Cashman saw a stud lefty on the horizon and went out and got him on the cheap.

  Except, of course, that Phillips wasn’t a stud lefty. He only seemed like one at the time.

I’ve talked in this space about being slower to judge now than I once was. Crap like the three posts above should help you understand why. I didn’t know enough then to know how little I knew. I may have had good intentions, but it’s pretty clear that I had no freakin’ clue.

• In 2001, I was impressed by a kid from Rancho Bernardo named Hank Blalock. Incidentally, his name used to appear at Ducksnorts with some regularity. The following year, while comparing a young Adam Dunn to Brian Giles and a young Albert Pujols to Manny Ramirez, we tossed around the possibility of acquiring Blalock to play second base to accommodate Sean Burroughs, whom we later compared favorably to the Rangers third baseman. It was a nice thought, anyway. Actually, it was two nice thoughts — that the Padres might acquire Blalock and that Burroughs might be good. Oh well. Speaking of Blalock, and since this bullet point seems to have taken on a life of its own, remember when the Oakland A’s were trying to extract him as compensation for the Rangers’ signing of Grady Fuson? If you don’t, it’s probably because you were still wondering how well Mel Proctor’s replacement would do alongside Mark Grant:
  

  I don’t know much about Vasgersian but almost anything has to be an improvement over Proctor, who seemed like a really good guy but not a very good announcer.

  Uh, yeah; I’d say that worked out okay. And I’m still gonna miss Matt.

• Hello, we were talking about the AFL? Right, then. In 2004, I was watching Jeremy Hermida, buying some cool baseball books (speaking of Grant, here’s a fun scouting report on him from one of those books), and getting seriously lost on McDowell Road. Good times. That IHOP was pretty funky, although I’ve eaten in funkier places. Cafe Westminster off the 405 at 3 a.m. circa 1987 comes to mind.

Eh, I thought I had more stuff for you. Maybe I do, but I’m too lazy to go find it. Stay funky…

We’re off to Hawai’i for the annual Thanksgiving shindig at my wife’s family’s farm. I’m prepping some articles (mostly annotated reruns) to run in my absence; although discussion is always welcome, comments may be held up in the moderation queue a little longer than usual. I will get to stuff when I can, but my priorities over the next two weeks are:

1. Hang out with family
2. Eat good home cookin’
3. Work on the book
4. Do nothing

Anything else is a luxury, and I make no guarantees.

I also have a couple of articles scheduled to run elsewhere at some point. One is on Padres bench coach Ted Simmons, and the other is my preliminary list of top 20 Padres prospects. The former will be at Hardball Times, the latter at MadFriars. I have no clue when they will be published; just keep checking back because there’s always good stuff at those sites anyway.

That’s pretty much it. Again, we’ll do reruns this week and next, then return to quasi-regular posting around the second week in December. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Peace…

Advertisement: Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual Geoff’s debut book makes an excellent companion for any fan of the Padres.

• Giles and Hoffman (It Might Be Dangerous…). Paul DePodesta offers his thoughts on the re-signing of Brian Giles as well as the latest in the Trevor Hoffman negotiations (or lack thereof). [h/t LynchMob]
• John Moores to give $2.1 million to Scripps Research Institute (Gaslamp Ball) I especially like how some of the commenters begrudge Moores for, you know, doing some good in the world. That takes a special kind of bitter.
• Quite a Haul (Bad Altitude) Mark Donohue isn’t impressed with what the Rockies got in return for Matt Holliday, and who can blame him? Here’s hoping the Padres do better in any potential Jake Peavy deal. [h/t Didi]
• How the Other Half Lives: Jake Peavy Trade Rumors (McCovey Chronicles). Grant doesn’t understand the Peavy rumors.
• The Ghost of Ueberroth… (Hardball Times). John Brattain pens a thoughtful piece on the similarities between current commissioner Bud Selig and former commissioner Peter Ueberroth.

More links are available at the Ducksnorts delicious page, which I update as often as practical.

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I also did a lot of walking this weekend. Four miles to Teri Cafe and back (with a long rest in the middle for sushi) on Saturday, five around Miramar Lake on Sunday. No pain in hip, no pain in knee. My legs haven’t felt this good since the ’90s. It’s kinda freakin’ me out, but I like it.

Anyway, enough of my showing off that I have some semblance of a life outside of baseball. I did manage to get a lot of work done on the book this week. I’ve received some feedback on the Player Dashboards chapter as well as the 1969 chapter (tentatively called “Hatching a Franchise,” which may be too eggy, or maybe not). Most has been positive, which pleases me, but some areas that could be improved also have been identified, which also pleases me because — well, better now than later.

As for the writing itself, I’ll be immersed in the Padres farm system for the next few weeks. I’ve done some preliminary background work on each of the minor-league teams and the leagues in which they play. I’ve also started on the player commentary section, which will make up the bulk of the chapter. Each position will begin with a depth chart, ordered by level, age, then year acquired/round drafted. For example, here’s what the catcher chart looks like:

The “Others” category is pretty nebulous. Generally I’m using 100 plate appearances or 50 innings pitched as the cutoff, but I’m giving myself a lot of leeway if I think someone is or isn’t worth mentioning. For instance, it would be ridiculous to exclude guys like Allan Dykstra and Logan Forsythe, to say nothing of the international signings. These players are in the organization’s plans and you need to know about them.

That said, not everyone listed in the depth charts will have commentary; I’m saving those for the top 80 or so players in the system. So far I’ve gotten through the second basemen, with commentaries on Jose Lobaton, Mitch Canham, Emmanuel Quiles, Kyle Blanks, Dykstra, Felix Carrasco, Matt Antonelli, Eric Sogard, and the intriguing Jorge Minyeti (who walked in 22.3% of his plate appearances as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League; even for skeptics of Rookie Ball numbers, such as myself, that is impressive).

This week I hope to get through third base and shortstop, maybe start on the outfield so I can concentrate on pitchers over Thanksgiving in Hawai’i. I’ve also got a few other projects on the plate right now: I’m working on a piece about Ted Simmons and assembling my chapter of The Hardball Times Season Preview Book, plus — oh yeah, the day job. We’ll see how it goes…

Research Notes

The book is going to have lots of tables and charts. Shock, I know, but this may be my favorite:

Welcome to the organizational philosophy…

Q: What the heck is going on with the Padres?
A: Principle owners John and Becky Moores have filed for divorce. Custody of the team will be a part of the proceedings, although as of early October, “no decision regarding the Padres has been made.” Some reports suggest that total payroll could plummet to as low as $40 million in 2009. This may or may not be the result of a desire to make the franchise more palatable to potential buyers.

Q: Why did the Padres pick up Brian Giles’ option?
A: Because he’s real good and he comes at a reasonable price; the team doesn’t have a lot of players who fit that description.

Q: What’s the deal with Trevor Hoffman? Is he leaving?
A: Looks like it. As for what’s going on, it depends on who you ask. Hoffman’s camp has their side of the story, the Padres have theirs. I imagine — as does Melvin Nieves at Sacrifice Bunt — that both contain elements of truth; have fun looking for them.

Q: Where is Jake Peavy going?
A: I don’t know, but it sounds like the Braves and Cubs are primary targets.

Q: What might the Padres get in return for Peavy?
A: They might get just about anything. Rumors are rampant, but the situation is so fluid that it’s hard to know which to heed and which to ignore. I’m operating under the assumption that all publicly available information at this stage is unreliable, so I won’t offer any names. If you’re curious, though, you can always try Google.

Q: When will Peavy be traded?
A: Very soon. Or not soon at all. Less facetiously, most folks seem to expect movement before the Winter Meetings scheduled to be held in Las Vegas December 8 - 11. With my luck, a trade will happen while I’m off the grid in Hawai’i over Thanksgiving and you will have to wait a while for my scintillating analysis.

Q: This sucks.
A: That’s not a question, but yeah.

Q: If the Padres conduct a full-on Fire Sale, will they be really bad in 2009?
A: Possibly, although they were really bad in 2008 without benefit of a Fire Sale, so I’m not sure how much difference a shedding of payroll will make. Then again, I’m not one to use lack of funds as an excuse for not competing. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see the Padres move Peavy and improve their record next year. That apparent incongruity may cause a few heads to explode. Cleanup on Aisle 4.

Q: Should I panic?
A: Only if you think it will help.

Q: Should I abandon the Padres?
A: If you are serious in asking the question, then yes, you probably should leave.

Q: Okay, where should I go?
A: Try the Red Sox. I hear they’ve got a pretty big bandwagon.

Q: Can I come back when the Padres are good again?
A: Sure. We’re easy that way. We’ll give you a little bit of grief, but it’ll pass.

Q: How long should I stay away?
A: Let’s see, the Padres’ last Fire Sale came in ‘93. They reached the playoffs in ‘96 and the World Series in ‘98. So, what’s that, 3-5 years? Of course, this assumes that any potential new owner is as good as Moores was when he rescued the team from Tom Werner and that the current braintrust remains in place. You may have a different crystal ball.

Q: Doesn’t this all piss you off a little?
A: Yeah, the situation stinks and I wish it didn’t exist. But it does, and my opinion has no bearing on its resolution, so I don’t stress. Here’s hoping the folks in charge do as well as Randy Smith did in ‘93 and get the team back to the World Series so everyone can jump back on the bandwagon and be happy again.

* * *
That’s the situation right now, but it may change at a moment’s notice. Chasing rumors in the hope of gaining insight is like chasing gnats in the hope of gaining sustenance. It could happen, but I wouldn’t want to count on it.

If you value your sanity and don’t want to be taken for a ride by various media wags who may or may not have a clue, my advice is to keep your head down until the decision makers announce something. Then we’ll have actual news to dissect instead of a giant, steaming load of crap that sells copy and satisfies nobody but the advertisers.

Second, I speculated at the time as to how Brenly’s curious decisions might affect Kim:

His manager set him up for failure two nights in a row, first by leaving him in way too long, then by bringing him back exhausted. Honestly, the way Brenly has treated Kim, I’m hoping all he blows is the World Series. I don’t want to put some kind of jinx on Kim but if he does come down with a major arm injury next season, we won’t need to look too far to figure out why.

In case you’d forgotten, Kim threw 62 pitches in Game 4 and 15 more the following night. Seven years later, it still doesn’t make any sense.

As for my concern about Kim’s arm, for a time it looked like he might survive. In fact, 2002 saw him named to his first (and only) All-Star squad.

Kim had one more good season after that, then moved into the rotation, where he rapidly transformed from dominant closer to mediocre starter and eventually faded into obscurity. The guy was washed up by age 25.

It’s easy to forget just how good Kim was when he first arrived. On checking his list of similar players through age 25 over at Baseball-Reference, we find some interesting names, including a few with ties to the Padres:

Selma isn’t a great comp, but he started the first game in Padres history so I have a soft spot for him and I include him here. As for Fingers, some horses start strong while others finish strong. In the period just following the one examined above, from 1972 to 1978, he averaged 9 wins, 25 saves, and 122 innings a year. Those numbers just don’t compute in today’s game.

That leaves McCullers, who threw all of 49 2/3 big-league innings after his 26th birthday, although he’d already shown signs of premature decline on first leaving San Diego in the Jack Clark trade following the 1988 season. Through age 24, McCullers’ list of comps includes some good pitchers (Scott Garrelts, Victor Cruz, Scott Williamson) and a few that are/were better than that (Jonathan Broxton, Huston Street, Ugueth Urbina).

Moving beyond McCullers, I guess what intrigues me is that we never know how things play out until they actually do. This is self-evident, yes, but let me ask you: How many people would have identified Fingers as a future Hall-of-Famer after his first five years in the big leagues? Or, to use an example from my youth and confuse the issue even further, how many would have identified Darryl Strawberry as a guy on the outside, looking in? (Hint: Strawberry’s numbers were better than those of Barry Bonds at the same age and matched quite well with those of Reggie Jackson.)

It’s humbling stuff. And thinking back on the post from years ago that inspired this piece, I suppose that’s why I don’t rant as much as I once did. It’s not so much that I’ve mellowed with age (believe me, I haven’t) as I’ve learned to wait a little longer and gather more information before making judgments.

Some people find value in spouting every thought that pops into their head. I’m not one of them.

Advertisement: Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual Geoff’s debut book makes an excellent companion for any fan of the Padres.