adrian gonzalez

One Less Reason

Wednesday, August 20, 2008
by Geoff Young

As you are no doubt aware by now, the Padres have traded Greg Maddux to the Dodgers for two minor-league players to be named later or cash. According to Tom Krasovic at the U-T, "By Oct. 15, the Padres will choose two Dodgers minor leaguers from a list of five already agreed upon by the two clubs." Cash apparently is an option that "would come into play only if injuries weaken the identified trade list." Thoughts? Yeah, I have a few... I'm thrilled for Maddux. He's a class act who has ...

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Posted in Roster Notes, Trade Analysis | 41 Comments »

Breakin’ for All-Stars

Monday, July 14, 2008
by Geoff Young

Regular readers know that I don't do the All-Star Game. Adrian Gonzalez pretty well sums up why: All it is is a reminder of the market we're in. When it comes to voting for the All-Star Game, it's all about publicity, all about what market you play for. It's how ESPN puts you out there. They're a big reason for who gets publicity and who doesn't. As I've said before, San Diego is not ESPN's target audience -- and for good reason. New York, Boston, and a few other markets pay the bills, so it only makes sense that players from teams representing those cities should dominate the rosters. I don't have a real problem with that, ...

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Posted in Open Thread | 119 Comments »

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Here’s to Humble Foundations

Friday, June 13, 2008
by Geoff Young

That was satisfying. We took the in-laws out to the ballgame -- sprung for Toyota Terrace seats, first time this year. They picked a good time to visit. Mom is from the old country, but I was heartened to see that she chose to root for the home team rather than Hiroki Kuroda. She digs the long ball. Jake Peavy looked sharp. He was efficient with his pitches (12 per inning) and made a few terrific defensive plays. Maybe he paid extra close attention to Greg Maddux while he was on the disabled list. Fun with Small Numbers In about 3 1/2 weeks, the Padres have ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 15 Comments »

At Least We’ve Got Adrian

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
by Geoff Young

Right now there is exactly one reason to watch the games, and his name is Adrian Gonzalez. I wonder if this is what it was like to root for the Padres back in '72: PlayerTeamPlayer/Team HRRBIHRRHR/HRRBI/R Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of June 3, 2008. Nate Colbert, 197238111102488.373.227 Adrian Gonzalez, 2008175549222.347.248 1972 Nate Colbert: 38 HR, 111 RBI next two guys combined: 19 HR, 91 RBI 2008 Adrian Gonzalez: 17 HR, 55 RBI next two guys combined: 15 HR, 49 RBI The '72 Padres finished 58-95. That's a .379 winning percentage. This year's squad is pretty much on pace with a .383 winning percentage. Hooray for us...

Posted in Baseball | 65 Comments »

Unraveling

Monday, June 2, 2008
by Geoff Young

That sucked. In case you'd forgotten how 2007 ended, the Padres gave a nice little encore Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. They battled back from a deficit, took the lead in extra innings on a two-run homer, then watched Trevor Hoffman give it back, with the game ending on a bizarre defensive play. As was the case with Scott Hairston last October, Adrian Gonzalez' dramatic home run is now just a footnote, not the story. Nobody cares that he pounded the first pitch he saw from rookie left-hander Alex Hinshaw over the center field fence at PhoneCo Park. Nobody cares that he sat on ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 32 Comments »

When Projections Go Bad

Friday, May 30, 2008
by Geoff Young

What the heck, now is as good a time as any to revisit pre-season projections. I know, OPS and ERA aren't the end-all and be-all, but they're good enough for government work... Projections vs Reality: Hitters OPS PlayerBJ CH MA MI ZI DSAct Statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and are through games of May 29, 2008. Click on column head for more info about projection system. Josh Bard785741791728767767540 Adrian Gonzalez839840842810862879894 Tadahito Iguchi760737756723751732657 Kevin Kouzmanoff882796789740837858741 Khalil Greene762764752747742773599 Scott Hairston833740769721722794714 Jim Edmonds830766782739784756498 Brian Giles820777783732773789815 Gonzalez and Giles are doing as well as or better than expected; Iguchi, Kouzmanoff, and Hairston are underperforming; and Bard, Greene, and Edmonds aren't even close. Projections vs Reality: Pitchers ERA PlayerBJ CH MA...

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Posted in Projections | 42 Comments »

Notes on a Victory

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
by Geoff Young

Satisfying win on Tuesday night. The last two games I've attended have followed the exact same pattern: Randy Wolf serves up a two-run homer in the first, settles down, and watches his teammates play long ball late. To the bullet points: Hard to complain about a victory, but I'll do it anyway. The Pads really should have put Shawn Hill away early. He had zero command. I love watching Adrian Gonzalez play first base. Aaron Boone hit a grounder down the line at third to start the sixth. Kevin Kouzmanoff made a nice backhanded grab, then fired across the diamond well ahead of Boone. The throw came ...

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Posted in Game Recaps | 63 Comments »