nl west

Reshaping the Padres: Let’s Make a Deal (or Three)

Friday, May 23, 2008
by Geoff Young

On Thursday, we examined what the Padres have and what they need. Now we turn to the question of which teams might make good trade partners and then consider some possible scenarios. As of this writing, about half the teams in baseball appear to be in contention. Some will fall of the pace, although it's impossible to know which ones. Others may not be interested in adding payroll despite their hot starts -- Oakland, Florida, and Minnesota come to mind. The NL West teams are probably out as well -- Kevin Towers has made a total of four trades (one with each team) within the division in 12 1/2 years. That's out of 139 total trades, at last count. Almost everyone needs pitching to some degree. ...

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Posted in Baseball | 173 Comments »

Series Preview: Jim McLennan Talks Diamondbacks

Friday, April 18, 2008
by Geoff Young

Yeah, it's Friday, but we've got something way cooler than links. We've got Jim McLennan, of AZ Snakepit fame, with us, and he's going to give us the dirt on this year's Diamondbacks. Ducksnorts: I picked Arizona to win the NL West in 2007 on the strength of its good young position players. The team took the division, but without much help from said players. Now that these kids have a year of experience under their belts, what are your expectations for the Diamondbacks in 2008? McLennan: For obvious reasons, the experience is certainly going to help. This time last year, Chris Young had just made his major-league debut, Mark Reynolds was in Double-A and Justin Upton was all the way down in High-A. Now, ...

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Posted in Interviews | 88 Comments »

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Series Preview: Rox Girl Talks Rockies

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres and Rockies hook up for the first time since that fateful Game 163 in Denver last October. I recently had a chance to chat with Rox Girl of the excellent Rockies blog Purple Row about her expectations for the 2008 season, the challenges of marketing a team that plays half its games west of Connecticut, and more. Ducksnorts: Coming off their first World Series appearance, I'd imagine the Rockies are a hot item in town right about now. How optimistic are fans that this team can return to the playoffs in a very competitive NL West? How do you see this club doing in '08? Rox Girl: The mood around Lodo is very optimistic. Well, at least it was before we got pummeled ...

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Posted in Interviews | 54 Comments »

Your Predictions for 2008?

Sunday, March 30, 2008
by Geoff Young

From esteemed reader LynchMob comes this excellent idea for a post on the eve of Opening Day: "provide us with a list of questions which you want us, the commenters, to go 'on the record' with"; he then poses several questions, which you will find below. This might be fun to peek back at throughout the season. I'll lead off with my responses; feel free to follow... How many wins for the Padres in 2008? They'll go 86-76. Is this 2008 team better or worse than the 2007 team? Why? About the same. Randy Wolf and Tadahito Iguchi should represent upgrades over David Wells and Marcus Giles, while Jim Edmonds won't produce like Mike Cameron. Where will they finish in the NL West? Second place. What are ...

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Posted in Baseball | 25 Comments »

Sportswrappin’

Thursday, March 27, 2008
by Geoff Young

As I've mentioned, Derek Togerson was kind enough to have me on as a guest of NBC 7/39's "SportsWrap" this past Sunday evening. Our segment was the Padres preview, so there wasn't really an opportunity to pimp the book. Still, we had a great time talking baseball. Some highlights: I cited the continued development of Chase Headley as the most exciting item of the spring and said that we'd see him at some point during the season, but that the left field job probably was Scott Hairston's for now (we taped this on March 15). I also noted that the Padres wouldn't bring Headley up as a stopgap solution ...

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Posted in Baseball | 87 Comments »

Friday Links (15 Feb 08)

Friday, February 15, 2008
by Geoff Young

Food safety tip: "carpaccio" is Italian for "sashimi," which is Japanese for "it ain't cooked." Just so you know. Super quick links today. You provide the commentary... It's spring: Brew yourself a piping hot pot of optimism Tom Krasovic identifies five story lines to watch in Peoria (h/t LynchMob) MadFriars.com talks to Corey Brock (h/t LynchMob) Corey reports that Josh Bard has signed, avoiding arbitration Tony Clark ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 18 Comments »

Friday Links (8 Feb 08)

Friday, February 8, 2008
by Geoff Young

I've been meaning to thank everyone for submitting such great links for these every week. Not to sound all "big league" or whatever, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep track of the conversations taking place out there in the ether. So to those of you who drop links (or any comments, really) into the daily discussion, I offer a hearty thanks. Now that I've kissed your collective backside, I'm going to hit you up for more money. One project I've been working on this winter is the Hardball Times Season Preview 2008, and it's almost here. Why do you care? Read these ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 43 Comments »