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Links for 28 Oct 08

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
by Geoff Young

Mmm, linkity link links... Padres remain a preferred spot for pitchers staging comebacks (U-T). Mark Mulder, Mark Prior, and Matt Clement all have expressed an interest in pitching for the Padres or, failing that, at least wearing the uniform. Mark Prior Halloweeen Update. Speaking of Prior, Planet Padres caught up with the right-hander at a local pumpkin patch, of all places. Petco Fences Moving In? For those who enjoy the occasional conspiracy theory, Melvin Nieves at Sacrifice Bunt delivers the goods. Padres hope their core of young players ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 2 Comments »

Writing the Book (13 Oct 08)

Monday, October 13, 2008
by Geoff Young

I'm still making good progress on the Ducksnorts 2009 Baseball Annual. This week I worked on player profiles and dashboards. My goal was to complete eight of 'em, but I ended up doing 13. Next up: a few more full profiles to write, plus several shorter pieces on guys who didn't contribute as much; I should finish those later this week. I've also started piecing together a quasi-philosophical essay on the challenges that lay ahead for the Padres as they try to gain the trust of a fan base and media that show little interest in trusting them. I started thinking about this back when support was waning even as the team won 88 and 89 games in '06 and '07, but more recently I've been ...

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Posted in 2009 Annual | 4 Comments »

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OBG08 Revisited: Hitters

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
by Geoff Young

Back in February we did some community projections for the 2008 Padres. In the interest of accountability, here's how we measured up to reality. Catchers Josh Bard, 2008 PABAOBPSLG Projected425.278.357.410 Actual198.202.279.270 Yuck. Our most pessimistic projection had Bard at a 725 OPS. Michael Barrett, 2008 PABAOBPSLG Projected246.263.323.419 Actual107.202.274.298 We need a synonym for "yuck," preferably something that rhymes. If only there were such a word... Infielders Adrian Gonzalez, 2008 PABAOBPSLG Projected641.293.362.517 Actual700.279.361.510 We totally nailed this one. Imagine how many batting titles Gonzalez could win if he didn't play half his games at Petco Park and weren't Molina-brother slow. Khalil Greene, 2008 PABAOBPSLG Projected561.257.309.464 Actual423.213.260.339 Greene and Bard killed the offense this year, but we already knew that. Tadahito Iguchi, 2008 PABAOBPSLG Projected532.263.341.391 Actual337.232.292.306 Iguchi was actually a little worse than Marcus Giles in 2007, which just boggles the imagination....

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Posted in Projections | 19 Comments »

Here, There, and Everywhere

Thursday, September 4, 2008
by Geoff Young

My latest article at Hardball Times looks back at a 1989 game in which the Cleveland Indians collected six hits, all home runs. Joe Carter knocked three of them. Carter, you may recall, came to San Diego the following year and gave a convincing demonstration of how utterly useless the RBI statistic is. Ten men in MLB history have driven in 100 or more runs with a sub-90 OPS+. Carter is the only one to do it twice. Way to go, Joe. Turning to the present, the good folks at Right Field Bleachers have taken the time to chat with me about the Padres as ...

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Posted in Minors, Notes and Links | 5 Comments »

Congratulations, It’s a Center Fielder

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
by Geoff Young

One of the few pleasant surprises in a miserable season has been the resurrection of Jody Gerut's career. Gerut, who hadn't played in the big leagues since 2005, signed a minor-league contract with the Padres back in January. Talk about under the radar. As Mick Jagger once sang, "I've got no expectations." It's not like he was never any good, though. During his rookie campaign of 2003, Gerut had enjoyed a fair amount of success with the Cleveland Indians, hitting .279/.336/.494. After tailing off a bit the following year, he fell off even further in 2005 before missing the next two seasons altogether. At that point, what's to expect? How ...

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Posted in Baseball, Minors | 1 Comment »

Padres Farm Report: Spotlight on San Antonio

Wednesday, August 13, 2008
by Geoff Young

I once caught a game at San Antonio's Wolff Stadium, back when the Missions were a Mariners affiliate. It's a nice ballpark in a nice town -- definitely on my short list of places to return to one of these years, especially now that the Padres have their Double-A team there... San Antonio Missions in a Box: Record: 63-56 Runs Scored: 557 Runs Allowed: 479 BA/OBP/SLG: .265/.349/.392 (Texas League: .269/.341/.410) ERA: 3.46 (TL: 4.33) DER: .656 (TL: .647) Source: Baseball-Reference. This is a good ballclub with some solid young talent. The pitching has been superb (San Antonio leads the league in ERA by a healthy margin -- the second place team is closer to last than first), although we need to attach a ...

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Posted in Minors, Playoffs, Roster Notes | 81 Comments »

Please Help, My Shortstop Is Broken

Thursday, July 31, 2008
by Geoff Young

My latest article at Hardball Times deals with Khalil Greene's disappointing season. Here's something I uncovered in my research that didn't make the final cut. These are Greene's home/road splits in seasonal notation (i.e., per 162 games -- thank you, Baseball-Reference, for making it so easy): Khalil Greene at Petco Park, 2004-2008 YearABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLG Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of July 29, 2008. 20045135612315666583108.241.345.338 200557359146302159728110.256.285.399 200655356116212167251137.210.282.346 200762076134316258531164.216.258.412 200859151129183214251129.218.295.365 Khalil Greene away from Petco Park, 2004-2008 YearABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLG Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of July 29, 2008. 2004618101186582298738111.301.353.543 200559478145502258939139.244.308.465 20065499215447223745395.280.356.507 20076731111936103111935107.288.322.519 20086124212929396816181.212.225.317 Just for grins, I dug up comparable player-seasons while I was under the metaphorical hood. This is kind of esoteric, ...

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Posted in Baseball | 97 Comments »