David Wells is gone — the Padres are still figuring out what, exactly, to do with him, but he’s gone… I have to tread lightly here, because he was a popular player and I don’t want to kick a guy when he’s down. That said, this was a long time coming. Wells had coughed up seven runs in three of his last four starts (he gave up five in the other), and his ERA was hovering around 8.00 away from Petco Park.
From the U-T:
Entering last offseason, Wells said it would take “stupid money” to persuade him to continue his pitching career. Towers lured him with a $3 million salary, plus an incentive plan that paid Wells $176,471 per start from his 11th start through his 27th.
In retrospect, that was stupid money. Wells won’t make a 27th start for the Padres, but here’s how he’s done since the incentive plan kicked in:
David Wells, Starts 11 through 22
| IP/GS |
ERA |
H/9 |
HR/9 |
BB/9 |
SO/9 |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
| Stats are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. |
| 5.10 |
6.28 |
12.79 |
1.76 |
2.79 |
4.41 |
.328 |
.372 |
.536 |
That cost the Padres a shade over $2.1 million in 2007. You don’t need me to tell you what kind of investment this is. Suffice to say, the Padres need to be a bit more careful with their money.
I appreciate the work Wells did here in 2004, and I’ll miss watching him try to drag bunt for a base hit. But the rebel-without-a-cause thing doesn’t suit a man of his age, and his constant bickering with umpires made me cringe more often than not.
The good news is that George Kottaras, whom the Padres gave up to acquire Wells, is turning out to be more of a spare part than bona fide prospect. Much as I hated to see him go at the time, it’s hard to lament the loss of a 24-year-old who can’t crack a 700 OPS at Triple-A. Once again, it appears that Kevin Towers had a pretty good feel for the players in his system.
On a more sobering note, the Padres lost again Wednesday to a lousy pitcher and now find themselves in a four-team race in the NL West. Honestly, when is the last time all five members of a Colorado rotation had ERAs under 5.00?
Padres Prospect Report
by Peter Friberg
You will not see all me whine about the absence of our top prospects… Several made today’s PPR…
AAA
Pete LaForest: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 5 RBI; 2 HR, BB – .229/.349/.545
AA
Matt Antonelli: 6 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2 HR, SO – .367/.468/.667
Chad Huffman: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2B, HR, 2 SO – .300/.370/.463
High-A
David Freese: 4 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 RBI – .301/.402/.492
Kyle Blanks: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; HR
Matt Buschmann: 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR
Low-A
Postponed…
Short Season-A
Mat Latos: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR
Rookie
Edinson Rincon: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 3 SO – still hitless (21 AB)
Commentary:
David Freese has scuffled of late. He is 4-for-34 over his last 10 games… However, looking at David’s season numbers gets me excited. Lake Elsinore has an expansive right-center field (425 feet). As such, it is a rare pitchers’ park in the hitter-friendly Cal League. David has 18 doubles at home vs 7 on the road. He’s obviously taking advantage of the deep right-center alley. I can’t help but dream on how he’d do in Petco.
Nice to see Latos spin a gem.
Thanks, Peter. National League ERA leader Chris Young returns from the DL to start in St. Louis on Thursday, as the Padres seek a split of their series with the Cardinals. We’ll have the IGD up around 4 p.m. PT. Go Padres!
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