First, a correction. The other day when I was talking about the Chris Hammond signing, I referred to Antonio Alfonseca as an example of a guy getting around $2.5 to put up worse numbers. I’d missed that Alfonseca restructured his deal due to a herniated disc in his back. Anyway, here’s a quick statistical comparison [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

The Padres have brought back old friend Woody Williams, signing the 38-year-old right-hander to a 1-year deal worth a guaranteed $3.5M. The contract could be worth as much as $14.5M over two seasons if he makes 15 starts in 2005. Williams essentially is a slightly better than league average starter at this stage in his [...]

We’re launching an 800+ page web site tomorrow that I’ve been working on since August and I’m fried, so we’ll keep this short and sweet. According to ESPN’s Transactions page the Padres have offered arbitration to David Wells. Yahoo! backs it up, noting that they now have until January 8 to work out a deal. [...]

Like I said, I’m not real interested in talking about BALCO and steroids. It’s not that I don’t have an opinion or don’t care–obviously this is all pretty disturbing stuff for anyone who loves the game of baseball–but right now there is so much flying around that it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. I [...]