1969: Padres Capitalize on Fuentes Error, Rout Giants

by Geoff Young on Jul 15, 2007 (0) Comments

July 15, 1969, San Francisco: Padres 10, Giants 3 (box score)

Clay Kirby and Juan Marichal battled in the first of a brief two-game series at Candlestick. Not much happened in the first three innings. The Giants got two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the third, but couldn’t score.

In the fourth, the Padres broke through against Marichal. Roberto Pena and Ollie Brown started the frame with singles. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Nate Colbert fanned. Van Kelly then grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Pena to put San Diego up, 1-0.

The fifth inning should have been an easy one for the Giants. Two grounders to third, one to short — three batters, three outs. Only problem is that Tito Fuentes made an error on what should have been the final out of the inning. Five singles, a walk, and a hit batsman later, the Padres had extended their lead to 7-0 and knocked Marichal from the game.

The Giants scored a run in the fifth on a Willie McCovey groundout and added two more in the seventh on a McCovey home run. The Padres, though, responded in the eighth. Brown pounded a three-run homer to make the score 10-3, which is how this one ended.

IGD: Padres @ Diamondbacks (14 Jul 07)

by Geoff Young on Jul 14, 2007 (126) Comments

Game #89
time: 6:40 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Chris Young (8-3, 2.00) vs Livan Hernandez (5-5, 4.54)
pre: Padres.com, SI.com

I can’t stand watching Livan Hernandez pitch, but I have tremendous admiration for the guy. He has successfully taken Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope strategy and applied it to baseball. The results may be “aesthetically challenged,” but in the end, Hernandez has assembled a nice little career.

Chris Young, meanwhile, gets to pitch in a real game again, which hopefully means no more cheap-ass home runs. Go Padres!

IGD: Padres @ Diamondbacks (13 Jul 07)

by Geoff Young on Jul 13, 2007 (91) Comments

Game #88
time: 6:40 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Greg Maddux (7-6, 4.19) vs Doug Davis (5-10, 4.26)
pre: Padres.com, SI.com

Over the All-Star break, between episodes of Enterprise, I visited the Museum of San Diego History on Free Tuesday. I didn’t spend a lot of time there (a few too many busloads of kids), but it was enough to gain an appreciation of what the Historical Society has to offer. Among many other things, the Society boasts an impressive collection of sports history photographs. Two of my favorites are a shot of a local team from 1887 and one of Lane Field.

I always enjoy viewing old photographs. They help me keep things in perspective.

Welcome to the second half of the season. Let’s get it started on the right foot. Go Padres!

Friday Links (13 Jul 07)

by Geoff Young on Jul 13, 2007 (60) Comments

Where were we? Ah, yes, talking about baseball. Okay, then…

  • Q&A with Khalil Greene (San Diego Union-Tribune, via Phantom in the comments). Love this quote:

    I want to be as good as I can be. To me, a good play in practice is just as important as in the game because you should strive to do it right all the time. Satisfaction is in giving it your best, no matter the circumstance. It doesn’t make any difference if five people are watching you or 50,000.

    His response to a question about how others perceive him is great, too: “How someone views me has more to do with them than me, or anyone…. Forming opinions of someone, anyone, off a small sample is not healthy or unifying.” Funny, I don’t remember Crash Davis mentioning that particular cliche.

  • Wells handed seven-game suspension (San Diego Union-Tribune). David Wells has been suspended for basically showing up plate umpire Ed Hickox last Saturday. Of course, if it happened to Wells, it must be someone else’s fault:

    They are changing the game of baseball. We should all put on skirts and throw underhand. If they’re going to do that, call it softball. A seven-game suspension is absolutely crazy. I don’t get it. I doubt I ever will.

    I doubt he ever will, either.

  • Backin’ Black — New manager’s approach a hit so far with players (North County Times). The players like Bud Black, they really do. Actually, except for a few annoyances here and there, so do I.
  • Padres midterm report (Padres.com). Corey Brock likes the Pads’ chances for a third straight NL West title.
  • Bush Slides To Mound With Ease (Baseball America, via KRS1 in the comments). Nice article on Matt Bush. The Dr. Seuss subplot seems a little out of place, but once you get past that, there are some good quotes here from Bush’s pitching coach, Dave Rajsich, including this gem: “He throws a lot better than I anticipated . . . His command is much better and his velocity is a little more than I expected. (He’s) much more polished than I was expecting.” We remain cautiously optimistic.
  • Operations ‘whiz’ DePodesta fits in fine with Padres (San Diego Union-Tribune). Nice little piece on Paul DePodesta, who among other things, tosses this nugget:

    Most people look at Moneyball and say it’s all about on-base percentage and walks. I look at Moneyball as the never-ending quest for new ideas. The whole idea is to try and get to the next horizon.

    Bullseye. For the record, I no longer care whether most folks “get” the whole Moneyball thing as long as the Padres front office remains hip to the jive.

  • NL West: Midseason Grades (SI.com, via Phantom in the comments). Jon Weisman gives the Padres an A-minus, which seems about right to me.
  • Peavy worth his weight in gold — and likely a lot more (San Diego Union-Tribune, via Ben B in the comments). You know the team is doing well when we start wringing our hands over what Jake Peavy might do after the 2009 season. I’m all for thinking ahead, but — what is that expression I want? Right, keep it real.
  • Randolph’s Sling Is No Match for Martin’s Cast (New York Times, via Nick G in the comments). An eyewitness to the event recounts the September 1985 fight between ex-Padre Ed Whitson and former Yankees skipper Billy Martin. Bonus points for working the word “fracas” into the story.

And what is going on in the world of Padres prospects? Hey, I just happen to know someone who knows. Sweet…

Padres Prospect Report

by Peter Friberg

I will not see Matt Antonelli and Chad Huffman at Lake Elsinore when I go the game Friday night. They were both promoted to San Antonio.

Monday, July 9, 2007

AAA

No games scheduled…

AA

Chase Headley: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 2B – 3 2-out RBI
Will Venable: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1 RBI
Manny Ayala: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 5 RBI; HR, BB, SF
Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 3 RBI; 2 HR, SB
Yordany Ramirez: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2B, SB

Low-A

Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SO
Rayner Contreras: 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; SO

Short Season-A

No significant performances…

Rookie

Yefri Carvajal: 4 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 3 SO
Keoni Ruth: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; SO – first pro strikeout
Angel Mercada: 4 AB,1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2 2B, SO

Commentary:

Blanks put on a show Monday night; power and speed from the 270-lb 20-year-old. Last year in Fort Wayne, Kyle was limited to 308 at-bats, and he batted .292/.382/.455 with 20 doubles, 10 home runs and a 36/79 BB/SO ratio. This season, Kyle has amassed 309 at-bats so far and is now hitting .327/.406/.589. He has exceeded last year’s double total (22) and hit seven more homers (17). He also has four triples (he went without a triple in 2006), giving him 43 extra-base hits (out of 101 total hits) to go with a 30/67 BB/SO ratio.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

AAA, AA, High-A, Low-A, Short Season-A

No games scheduled…

Rookie

Keoni Ruth: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; 2B
Yefri Carvajal: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 2B, BB

Commentary:

Ruth was obviously embarrassed by his strikeout on Monday and wanted to prove something… …Or maybe it was just a good game.

Last year I called this the Cedric Hunter report. I’m beginning to think we need to call this the Yefri Carvajal report. He does something significant virtually every game.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Happy Anniversary, honey! 9 years!

AAA

AAA All Star Game – nothing significant…

AA

Nick Hundley: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2B, 2 BB, 2 SO
Brett Bonvechio: 3 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 5 RBI; 2 2B, 3 BB

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, CS
Chad Huffman: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B, BB
David Freese: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
Colt Morton: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2 2B

Low-A

No game scheduled…

Short Season-A

Eric Sogard: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; BB
Mitch Canham: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; BB
Danny Payne: 2 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, 2 SO, SB, S
Cory Luebke: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR
Robert Woodard: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR

Rookie

Dylan Axelrod: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR – that hurt

Commentary:

I do not think Bonvechio is a significant prospect, but wow, what a game!

When Colt Morton was drafted scouts said he had major-league defensive ability already. However, going into 2006 Colt’s career minor-league numbers are .241/340/.459 with 352 strikeouts in 1179 at-bats… Because of the high whiff rate, I have a hard time thinking of Colt as a prospect. But if that bat progresses (not likely; he’s already 25) he could be an interesting catching option in a couple years.

[Ed note: I have a soft spot for Bonvechio and Morton. The former caught my eye in Yuma a few years ago, while the latter has tremendous home-run power and also is featured in one of my favorite baseball books, The Last Best League.]

Danny Payne is interesting. Good? I don’t know. Interesting? Ab-so-freakin’-lutely. In 19 games, Danny has:

  • 20 strikeouts
  • 25 walks
  • A .449 on-base percentage
  • A .222 batting average and .270 slugging percentage
  • 8 steals in 8 attempts
  • 2 extra-base hits (1 double and 1 triple)

What do you make of that? Seriously, what?

Thursday, July 12, 2007

AAA

Mike Baxter: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; 2B, SO, SB

AA

Matt Antonelli: 3 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO – AA debut
Chad Huffman: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI – AA debut
Wade LeBlanc: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

High-A

Matt Buschmann: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 0 HR

Low-A

No game scheduled…

Short Season-A

Luis Durango: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 3B, BB
Eric Sogard: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2B, BB, SO, SB
Mat Latos: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

Rookie

Jeudy Valdez: 5 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, 2 SO
Yefri Carvajal: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, 2 SB – .379/.462/.561

Commentary:

It probably doesn’t speak highly of Baxter that he was called up from High-A to AAA when he wasn’t a full-time starter in Lake Elsinore… However, that’s a nice game from the athletic New Yorker.

[Ed note: Hey, at least he didn't hit Kevin Towers in the face with a foul ball.]

Thanks, Peter. The Padres are in Phoenix for the weekend. First pitch in Friday night’s opener is 6:40 p.m. PT. We’ll have the IGD up and running about an hour before then. Happy Friday, folks, and go Padres!

1969: Niekro Beats Niekro, Padres Win

by Geoff Young on Jul 13, 2007 (0) Comments

July 13, 1969, San Diego: Padres 1, Braves 0 (box score)

One run. Not a lot of margin for error there.

The last time the two Niekro brothers had faced each other, Joe won in relief for the Cubs at Wrigley despite older brother Phil’s three-run homer earlier in the contest. This time, the two hooked up as starters, and each put on a terrific performance.

The Padres scored the game’s only run in the fourth. Nate Colbert led off with a double to left. With two outs, Ivan Murrell singled him home.

Atlanta, meanwhile, could do nothing against Joe Niekro. They came close in the sixth, when Phil Niekro singled to start the inning. Felipe Alou followed with a single, and ex-Padre Tony Gonzalez did the same, but the elder Niekro was thrown out at the plate to keep the score 1-0. Hank Aaron and Orlando Cepeda then flied out to end the frame.

Aaron came up with runners on base again in the eighth, but again was retired. The Braves then went down quietly in the ninth. The Padres, after getting their homestand off to a dismal start, had finished with two straight wins.

Kevin Towers’ Trades of 1999

by Geoff Young on Jul 12, 2007 (63) Comments

In the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual, we examined Kevin Towers’ best and worst trades. As it happens, two of his five best and two more “honorable mentions” were made in 1999. Here’s a quick review of Towers’ trades from that year:

February 2, 1999
Traded Mark Sweeney and Greg Vaughn to the Cincinnati Reds for Damian Jackson, Reggie Sanders, and Josh Harris

Player Win Shares
1999 2000 2001 Total
Sweeney 2 - - 2
Vaughn 24 - - 24
Cin total 26
Jackson 11 15 11 37
Sanders 19 - - 19
SD total 56
Difference +30

Jackson was infuriating to watch at times, but he also provided more value than you might remember. Sanders, for all of his flaws, has been a productive player for the better part of the past 15 years. He also was part of the package that brought Ryan Klesko to San Diego.

March 29, 1999
Traded Andy Sheets and Gus Kennedy to the Anaheim Angels for Phil Nevin and Keith Volkman

Player Win Shares
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total
Sheets 1 - - - - - - 1
Nevin 19 22 31 12 9 21 8 122
Difference +121

Pure genius. The best deal not involving Kevin Brown (or possibly Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young — too soon to call just yet) that Towers has made.

July 8, 1999
Traded Juan Melo to the Toronto Blue Jays for Isabel Giron

The most interesting aspect of this trade is that “Isabel” turned out to be the younger sister of the pitcher acquired. Neither player made any impact at the big-league level.

July 26, 1999
Traded Greg Myers to the Atlanta Braves for Received Doug Dent

Player Win Shares
1999 Total
Myers 3 3
Dent - 0
Difference -3

I wonder if Dent wore #42?

July 31, 1999
Traded Jim Leyritz to the New York Yankees for Geraldo Padua

Player Win Shares
1999 Total
Leyritz 1 1
Padua - 0
Difference -1

Leyritz may not have been the most charming individual, but he certainly provided some great moments in ’98. I’ll never forget the home run he hit off Billy Wagner — one of my favorite Padres moments ever.

November 10, 1999
Traded Andy Ashby to the Philadelphia Phillies for Adam Eaton, Carlton Loewer, and Steve Montgomery

Player Win Shares
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total
Ashby 2 - - - - - 2
Phi total 2
Eaton 9 5 - 7 6 5 32
Loewer - - - - - 0
Montgomery - - - - - 0
SD total 32
Difference +30

Very good trade that had the potential to be great. Ashby did nothing in Philly, while Eaton perpetually teased with his talents before being shipped to Texas in what I expect to become Towers’ best deal when all is said and done.

November 15, 1999

Traded Dan Miceli to the Florida Marlins for Brian Meadows

Player Win Shares
2000 Total
Miceli 5 0
Meadows 2 0
Difference -3

Mark Smith and Hal Garret begat Trey Beamon and Angelo Encarnacion; Beamon and Tim Worrell begat Miceli, Donne Wall, and Ryan Balfe; Miceli begat Meadows; Meadows begat Jay Witasick; Witasick begat D’Angelo Jimenez; Jimenez begat Humberto Quintero and Alex Fernandez; Quintero begat Tim Redding; Redding and Darrell May begat Paul Quantrill; Quantrill retired, thus breaking the cycle of mediocrity.

December 22, 1999
Traded Brandon Pernell to the Chicago Cubs for Dan Serafini

Whoopie!

December 22, 1999
Traded Wally Joyner, Reggie Sanders, and Quilvio Veras to the Atlanta Braves for Bret Boone, Ryan Klesko, and Jason Shiell

Player Win Shares
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total
Joyner 7 - - - - - 7
Sanders 6 - - - - 6
Veras 13 6 - - - 19
Atl total 32

Boone 15 - - - - - 15
Klesko 23 29 30 13 19 17 1 132
Shiell - - - - - - 0
SD total 147
Difference +115

Just think of how great this deal could have been if the Padres hadn’t blown giant wads of cash on the useless Randy Myers and were able to re-sign Boone (who became an MVP caliber player in Seattle) after the 2000 season. Now stop thinking about that, because this was still an absolute steal.

The Padres may have been pretty lousy from 1999 to 2003, but in one respect, ’99 has to be considered a success (two respects, actually; Jake Peavy was drafted in the 15th round that year). Two franchise players (Klesko and Nevin) were brought onboard, and another (Eaton) eventually was flipped for two more.

A guy could do worse…

1969: Unlikely Sources Power Padres Past Braves

by Geoff Young on Jul 12, 2007 (0) Comments

July 12, 1969, San Diego: Padres 7, Braves 5 (box score)

Losers of five straight, the Padres wasted no time in scoring. John Sipin singled to lead off the first, and Roberto Pena reached on an error by Atlanta first baseman Orlando Cepeda. With Sipin and third and Pena at second, Ollie Brown laced a single to left, scoring both men and giving the Padres an early 2-0 advantage.

The Braves cut the lead in half the next inning courtesy of a Clete Boyer homer. In the fifth, they tied the game on a single, wild pitch, and two grounders.

San Diego responded in the bottom of the fifth. Jose Arcia led off with a triple to left, and Pena followed with a rare home run. After singles by Brown and Nate Colbert, Al Ferrara hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Brown and put the Padres back on top, 5-2. They added another run the next inning on a solo homer by Ivan Murrell, his first of the year.

Atlanta wasn’t done, though. In the eighth, with starter Al Santorini still going for the Padres, Boyer hammered his second home run of the game. This one was a three-run shot that pulled the Braves to within 6-5.

The Padres tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a sequence I’d like to see. Murrell led off with a single against right-hander Cecil Upshaw. Chris Cannizzaro then flied to right, scoring Murrell from first thanks to errors by right fielder Hank Aaron and second baseman Felix Millan.

Frank Reberger, who had come on to get the final out the previous inning, tried to nail down the victory but ran into trouble. A single by Rico Carty and a double by Felipe Alou knocked Reberger out of the game with one out in the ninth.

Billy McCool came on to restore order. He struck out pinch hitter Bob Aspromonte, then intentionally walked Aaron to load the bases for Upshaw’s spot in the order. Aaron’s little brother, Tommie, batted for Upshaw and popped to Colbert at first for the final out. The Padres had held on to win, 7-5.

Trivia: For whatever reason, this game was officiated by a three-man crew.

Fun with Win Shares

by Geoff Young on Jul 11, 2007 (58) Comments

On page 970 of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (aff link), James uses win shares to compare several teams throughout history. He suggests many reasons for doing this, among which are “comparing groups of players” and “studying how pennants are won in one era as opposed to another.” With that in mind, here are win shares by position for every Padres team that has reached the post-season (I’ve included the ’07 team for grins):

Yr C 1B 2B 3B SS LF CF RF S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 RA Bn Stf Tot
Statistics are through games of June 28, 2007, and are courtesy of Bill James’ Win Shares (pre-2005; aff link) and The Hardball Times. RA = relief ace (closer); Bn = bench players; Stf = pitchers other than S1 – S5 or RA.
’84 12 15 23 16 16 21 25 35 12 12 11 10 1 15 22 30 276
’96 7 16 11 38 9 16 27 17 11 11 10 10 7 20 30 33 273
’98 10 22 23 20 15 30 15 19 26 15 9 8 0 20 35 27 294
’05 10 8 15 4 17 17 15 35 17 5 3 1 0 8 56 40 251
’06 12 17 18 1 13 20 28 23 12 12 10 10 4 11 37 39 267
’07 6 14 11 3 9 6 10 4 11 9 6 5 1 6 12 20 133

Some random observations:

  • The ’84 squad was incredibly balanced. The only real weaknesses were a lackluster bench (Tim Flannery, Luis Salazar, Bobby Brown) and fifth starter Andy Hawkins.
  • It’s easy to forget how completely dominant Trevor Hoffman used to be. He still gets the job done these days, but anyone who doubts Hoffman’s greatness needs to watch tapes of him from ’96 and ’98.
  • Brian Giles gets a lot of grief for not being the player in San Diego that he was in Pittsburgh, but he pretty much carried the Padres into the playoffs in ’05. The list of Padres who have posted 30+ win shares in a single season is a short one:
    Player Year WS
    Tony Gwynn 1997 39
    Ken Caminiti 1996 38
    Tony Gwynn 1984 35
    Brian Giles 2005 35
    Dave Winfield 1979 33
    Mark Loretta 2004 33
    Gary Sheffield 1992 32
    Jack Clark 1989 31
    Phil Nevin 2001 31
    Tony Gwynn 1989 30
    Greg Vaughn 1998 30
    Ryan Klesko 2002 30

    Just something to bear in mind the next time you’re hating on OG.

  • I’d forgotten that the Padres essentially didn’t have a fifth starter in ’96. Sean Bergman, Scott Sanders, and Tim Worrell all split time between the rotation and bullpen, doing a surprisingly good job in both roles. Bruce Bochy probably deserves more credit than he’s given for the way he handled that pitching staff.
  • The ’98 squad was so good. Two horses at the top of the rotation, balanced lineup, dominant closer. If they’d faced anyone but a historically great Yankees team…
  • I hate to say it, but the ’05 squad probably didn’t belong in the playoffs. Giles, Jake Peavy, and a great bench is a nice start, but it’s not enough.
  • The ’06 squad, except for a gaping hole at third base, was pretty darned good. Last year’s team matches up well with the ’84 and ’96 versions. Note the rotation’s consistency from top to bottom.
  • I still haven’t seriously studied the market, but I’m starting to think it would be a mistake to dismiss Mike Cameron as a long-term option in center field. He’s got the same lean, rangy build that Steve Finley had, and like Finley, he keeps himself in great shape. Cameron is a streaky player who has been one of the Padres’ most effective weapons over the past two months and who was an absolute terror in ’06 once he got healthy. Cameron is a year older than Finley was in his walk year, but given what I know about both players, I have a hunch (and that’s all it is) that Cameron will age well.

A little food for thought. Chew slowly…

1969: Braves Score Late to Overcome Padres

by Geoff Young on Jul 11, 2007 (0) Comments

July 11, 1969, San Diego: Braves 6, Padres 3 (box score)

After the two teams traded zeros for the first two innings, San Diego broke through against right-hander Pat Jarvis in the third. Ivan Murrell walked and Chris Cannizzaro singled, with Murrell scoring and Cannizzaro advancing to second on an error by right fielder Felipe Alou. Pitcher Dick Kelley struck out and John Sipin grounded back to the box, but Roberto Pena knocked a two-out double to plate Cannizzaro and give the Padres a 2-0 lead.

Kelley coughed up the advantage immediately. Three singles and a double off the bat of Rico Carty resulted in three runs for the visitors. The Padres, though, tied the game in the bottom half of the fourth on a Van Kelly single and a Larry Stahl triple.

The score remained 3-3 until the top of the ninth. Then, with Jack Baldschun on the mound for San Diego, things got ugly. Orlando Cepeda led off with a single. After ex-Padre Tony Gonzalez flied to right, Bob Tillman drew a walk.

Billy McCool then came on to face the punchless Gil Garrido (more than 90% of his career base hits were singles). Braves manager Lum Harris sent Tito Francona up to bat for Garrido, and Francona walked to load the bases.

With the pitcher’s spot due up for Atlanta, Preston Gomez replaced McCool with Tommie Sisk. Bob Aspromonte batted for Jarvis and singled home Cepeda and Tillman. Another single by Alou made the score 6-3, which after an uneventful bottom of the ninth became the final.

Who Are the Padres’ Marquee Players?

by Geoff Young on Jul 10, 2007 (86) Comments

One factor in determining a player’s worth is his “marquee value.” On page 95 of his book Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball (aff link), Vince Gennaro calls marquee value “the point where the baseball department and the marketing department intersect” and notes that “players with marquee value contribute not only to their team’s win total, but also to the value of the team as a brand.”

Gennaro identifies four components in determining a player’s marquee value:

  1. Personal qualities
    • Positive image
    • Recognizability
    • Accessibility
    • Articulateness
  2. Performance Factor
  3. Continuity Factor
  4. Team Brand Value

Each of these is quantifiable, although it appears to be somewhat subjective in places. Which current Padres have the greatest marquee value? Without getting into the heavy math, here’s my stab:

  1. Trevor Hoffman
  2. Jake Peavy
  3. Khalil Greene
  4. Mike Cameron/Adrian Gonzalez/Chris Young

A case could be advanced for Brian Giles, too, but I suspect his skills have slipped to the point that they no longer offset his relative lack of visibility. Like I said, there appears to be a degree of subjectivity involved here; calculate at your own risk. I’ll note that the above meshes pretty well with my intuition, for whatever that may be worth.

Practical application? Well, marquee value could come into play when deciding whether to re-sign or pursue a free agent. Incidentally, if you find this sort of discussion interesting, you might also check out the Baseball Economics Roundtable from May 2007 over at Biz of Baseball…