ryan klesko

All-Time Padres Team

Friday, September 19, 2008
by Geoff Young

Last week I mentioned an all-time Padres team that I've been assembling. This wasn't just an intellectual exercise. Our friends at Seamheads are running a simulation league this off-season with the best players from each big-league franchise, and they invited me to submit a 40-man roster for the Padres. Most of the choices were fairly obvious (I'd already ranked the best players by position in the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual), but some presented a challenge. Usually it came down to questions of longevity versus effectiveness. For example, Luis Salazar spent a lot more time playing third base in San Diego than Gary Sheffield did, but only one of those guys will help you win baseball games. I tried to stick with players who ...

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Posted in Baseball | 6 Comments »

Matched Pairs: Batters

Monday, January 14, 2008
by Geoff Young

I'm addicted to Baseball-Reference's PI tool. For grins I ran a search on everyone who has accumulated 1500 or more career plate appearances with the Padres (39 in total) and ordered them from top (Fred McGriff) to bottom (Enzo Hernandez) according to OPS+. Then I looked for "matched pairs" -- guys who have the same OPS+ (give or take a point). The rankings referenced in each entry are from the upcoming Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual. Let the fun begin: Another Retired Number? PlayerYearsPABAOBPSLGOPS+ Ryan Klesko2000-20063333.279.381.491134 Dave Winfield1973-19804512.284.357.464134 I've got Klesko as the best first baseman in club history and #6 left fielder. Winfield is the #2 right fielder and tied for 10th in left field. Logjam in Center Field PlayerYearsPABAOBPSLGOPS+ Mark Kotsay2001-20031647.283.355.426112 Steve Finley1995-19982640.276.334.458112 Kevin McReynolds1983-19861983.263.319.438111 It's amazing to me ...

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Posted in 2008 Annual | 32 Comments »

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Elias Player Rankings

Thursday, November 2, 2006
by Geoff Young

Following the lead of Jim McLennan at AZ Snakepit, here are the Padres 2005-06 Elias player rankings: Hitters Brian Giles 83.333 A Mike Piazza 76.923 A Mike Cameron 71.333 A Todd Walker 70.996 A Dave Roberts 66.000 A Khalil Greene 62.434 B Josh Bard 54.762 B Ryan Klesko 53.778 B Josh Barfield 49.134 C Adrian Gonzalez 48.261 C Rob Bowen 35.897 Russell Branyan 26.708 Geoff Blum 22.360 Terrmel Sledge 12.222 Pitchers Scott Linebrink 84.231 A Trevor Hoffman 83.298 A Jake Peavy 78.023 A Chris Young 75.490 A Woody Williams 68.137 A ...

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Posted in Baseball | 24 Comments »

A Few Quick Thoughts

Friday, October 15, 2004
by Geoff Young

Oh boy, Baseball Reference has added 2004 stats. Check out the Padres page. You can see that Sean Burroughs compares well to Edgardo Alfonzo and Brooks Robinson at the same age, among others. You can also find weird pieces of information. For example, you probably know that Ryan Klesko hit just 9 homers this year, the fewest he's hit in a full season. But did you know that his OPS+ (OPS relative to league) of 127 was identical to his OPS+ in 1995, when he hit a career-high 34 home runs? Well, now you ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | No Comments »

Greene Day

Monday, March 22, 2004
by Geoff Young

The big news, of course, is that Khalil Greene has won the shortstop job. Rey Ordonez abruptly and unexpectedly left camp, essentially giving Greene the nod. It should be said that Greene was making a strong claim on the position even before Ordonez left (which may also have been a contributing factor to Ordonez' departure). I think I speak for most Padre fans when I say that this is a terrific development. Greene had to come out and take the job this spring, and that's just what he did. The future at shortstop begins right now. And now, as the players stretch themselves ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Spring Training | No Comments »

Trade for Catcher in the Works?

Thursday, October 23, 2003
by Geoff Young

Clearing off the ol' desk real quick. Enjoy... A reader alerted me to these two articles over at Prospectus where Jonah Keri interviews Padre GM Kevin Towers. As usual, Towers is pretty candid and it's a good read. The reader who sent this also noted, "He [Towers] says he's working on a trade for a catcher with 3 of the 8 playoff clubs, 2 AL and one NL. Any thoughts on who it might be?" Thoughts, me? Yeah, I've got a few. The only starting catchers on the eight playoff clubs who aren't eligible to file for free agency at the end of the season are Damian Miller, A.J. Pierzynski, Jorge Posada, Jason Varitek, and Ramon Hernandez. There are also some guys ...

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Operating System Nightmares and the 2002 World Series

Tuesday, October 15, 2002
by Geoff Young

Apologies for the lack of updates of late. I spent most of the weekend working on my computers, not with them. Memory upgrades, hardware installs, OS installs. Big fun. The geek in me hates to admit this, but I've rejoined the evil empire. Yep, I went out and bought Windows XP. On sale, the upgrade (thank goodness for that old Windows 95 CD that's been collecting dust on my shelf all these years) wasn't much more than most Linux distros you see in stores nowadays. I like Linux and still intend to use it (assuming I can get that second hard drive up and running), but at this stage, the concept is more appealing than the reality. I don't like Microsoft's business practices and I don't like ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | No Comments »