New Padres GM Jed Hoyer made his first trade on Friday Saturday, shipping third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and minor-league second baseman Eric Sogard to Oakland for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham. I’ve thought about this trade a lot, and the word that keeps coming to mind is “fair,” which is one I didn’t tend [...]
Search results for ‘brian giles’
Reviewing the 2009 IVIEs
In the interest of accountability and because there’s not much else to do in January, I thought we’d look back at our community projections made in March 2009. First, the hitters: Projected Actual Player PA BA OBP SLG PA BA OBP SLG Comments Matt Antonelli 224 .237 .322 .343 0 - - - [...]
Obligatory and Somewhat Awkward Year-End Summary
I’m supposed to write something about baseball here. That’s my recollection, anyway. First, a quick programming note: The long, once-a-week pieces from last year are done. Turns out they required a lot of work, and I’m lazy, so no mas. I’ll be publishing more frequently this year and the articles will be shorter. If 2009 [...]
Youngsters and Salary Dumps
We’ve been tracking a few key young players since the All-Star break using Modified Box Scores (explanation). Let’s see how these kids are doing as measured by more conventional metrics. Bear in mind that we’re talking about 31 games, a tiny sample. First, the Padres as a team: Padres Offense, First and Second Half [...]
Smooth Jazz and Other Questionable Ideas
According to Google Maps, my work commute takes 14 minutes. In reality, where the freeway is unusable when I need it, the trip takes more like 40 minutes. It’s a stimulating drive, though, as I pass a municipal airport and MCAS Miramar along the way. Sometimes I’ll see jets landing or giant helicopters hovering overhead, [...]
Is Life Ever Good Enough?
I use baseball to mark the passage of time. The memory of specific events helps keep me grounded in a world that often makes less sense than I’d like it to make (forgive the fact that I grew up rooting for the Dodgers): 1981 — Fernandomania; Rick Monday’s homer off Steve Rogers in Montreal 1988 [...]
Brutal Is As Brutal Does
The Padres are boring. That’s the word on the street… a street apparently filled with people who don’t like baseball. Just give me a game to watch and the rest will take care of itself. There is no pressure with this team, no expectation of success. Every win is a surprise, a gift. Sometimes I [...]
Is It Giving Up if You Never Believed?
I met a girl at summer camp when I was nine. Laura was 16 and the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. We exchanged letters for a while, then got on with our lives. In my dream, we meet again for some forgotten reason. “It’s great to see you,” she says. “You, too.” We stare [...]
Winning Half Is Like Losing Half, and Vice Versa
When last we spoke, the Padres had won 10 straight games. They finally lost on Tuesday, but not without a serious fight. Kevin Correia breezes through 4 2/3 innings, then runs into trouble. Ryan Roberts bloops a single in front of Chase Headley that a more accomplished left fielder might have caught. The inning continues, [...]
Recent Comments