Links for 8 Nov 08

Saturday, November 8, 2008
by Geoff Young
What the heck, I'm up anyway. Let's have a little Saturday morning linkfest... Organization picks up $9 million option for right fielder in 2009. Tom Krasovic at the U-T reports that the Padres have picked up Brian Giles' option for 2009. Score one for common sense. Adrian Gonzalez-Jim Stone Extravaganza Golf Tournament & Fiesta. Adrian Gonzalez is hosting his annual charity golf tournament on Friday, November 14. Celebrities scheduled to attend include Chris Young, Brian Giles, Randy Jones, Phil Nevin, Willie Buchanon, Maury Wills, Alan Trammell and many more. Minor League ...
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Posted in Notes and Links | 10 Comments »

The Perils of Projecting

Friday, September 5, 2008
by Geoff Young
Five years ago today I was extolling the virtues of one Sean Burroughs, noting the similarities between his second big-league season and that of Derek Jeter. It sounds ridiculous now, but the comparison seemed valid at the time: Sean Burroughs vs Derek Jeter, Sophomore Season  AgePABAOBPSLGOPS+ Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Burroughs22578.286.352.402105 Jeter23748.291.370.405103 The key word here is "seemed." It's important to remember (and something I have to remind myself of constantly) that no two snowflakes are alike, even though they may look the same. It's also important to remember that there are no "sure things" when it comes to prospects. How does this apply to the current rebuilding project? Well, a lot of times -- ...
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Posted in Minors | 24 Comments »

Padres tickets  Chargers tickets  Sports tickets

Padres Farm Report (7 Apr 08)

Monday, April 7, 2008
by Geoff Young
Before we get to the minor leagues, a few ruminations on the weekend's activities at Petco: Jake Peavy spun a masterpiece on Saturday. Bugs and Cranks thinks he may be doctoring the baseball. With any luck, word will get back to opposing hitters, and they can have one more thing on their minds when they step in against Peavy. In that same game, Josh Bard made a terrific sliding catch on a pop foul near the Dodgers dugout. Unfortunately the slide took him partially into the dugout, invoking the horribly misguided Rule 7.04(c): If a fielder, after having made a legal catch, should fall into a stand or among spectators or into ...
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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | No Comments »

Weekend Winter Wrapup (10 Dec 07)

Monday, December 10, 2007
by Geoff Young
Mind is heavily on the book these days. Finished a first draft of the minor-league chapter over the weekend: 42 pages filled with profiles of 74 players. Kind of insane, if you ask me, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Somewhat related, I'll be unleashing my list of Top 10 Prospects this week -- either Tuesday or Wednesday depending on... stuff. Meanwhile, here's what's going on in the Caribbean leagues: Thursday, December 6 Late results from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela: Estrellas 2, Escogido 0 (box). Vince Sinisi, batting third and playing left field, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout for Escogido. His team notched just two singles all game, one each by a couple of former Padres catchers, Raul Casanova and Miguel Olivo. Gigantes 3, Azucareros ...
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Posted in Minors | 67 Comments »

Why I Don’t Trust Rookie-League Numbers

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
by Geoff Young
I spent most of Monday piecing together the minor-league chapter for the Ducksnorts 2008 Annual. Mainly I worked on the pitchers -- Mat Latos and a whole lot of strike throwers with minimal upside. Part of what I'm doing is trying to provide context for individual players. When you look at a stat line, you need to know something about the environment in which it was produced in order to make sense of it. Comparable Players To that end, I'm playing around with comparables for key position players in the Padres organization (haven't decided if I'll do the same with pitchers). These have no predictive value but hopefully give some indication of how well a player performed relative to his current league. For example, Cedric Hunter hit .282/.344/.373 in ...
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Posted in 2008 Annual, Minors | 84 Comments »

Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual Preliminary Outline

Wednesday, October 10, 2007
by Geoff Young
So this has been in the works for a while. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Also, if you're interested in reviewing chapters, drop me a line and I'll get you added to our super secret list. 2007 in Review -- Brief examination of past season at big-league level: Roster construction (distribution of talent in terms of pitching vs hitting, trade vs draft/FA, etc.; how this compares to seasons past) Bud Black's first season as manager (what were his tendencies, etc.) Monthly recaps (statistical breakdowns, key games) Revisit Petco Park effects Revisit Bullpen on a Shoestring Player Commentary Dashboard (visual representation of relevant statistical output) Profile (brief scouting report) Forecast (what to expect in 2008 and beyond) Minor Leagues Recap by level (team results, individual highlights) Draft summary and analysis (philosophy, early returns, etc.) Depth chart...
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Posted in 2008 Annual, Minors | 30 Comments »