Sunday, March 29, 2009

Cha Seung Baek injures forearm

Sunday March 29, 2009

Padres starter Cha Seung Baek left the game in the 4th inning of today's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at their new spring training facility in Glendale Arizona.

After the game it was announced that Baek injured the forearm of his throwing arm and the extent of the injury was not known. Padres staff said Beak may be sidelined for up to 10 days and will miss his first scheduled start of the regular season.

Baek is still expected to make the Padres starting rotation.

Ohman signs with Dodgers

Sunday March 29, 2009

Will Ohman signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ohman, who threw a session attended by Joe Torre, Ned Colletti, and most of the Dodgers front office this morning, has been courted by many teams this off season.

According to sources within the Dodgers organization at today's game in Glendale, Ohman reportedly signed a one year deal worth $1.5 million.

He is expected to be sent to AAA Albuquerque following extended spring training to get in some game time to make up for time missed in camp.

The Dodgers bullpen has had a very shaky spring and have little depth behind Closer Broxton and spot starter/long reliever Hong-Chih Kuo. Even with the signing of Ohman, the Dodgers only have 4 bullpen positions locked up at this point.

Much like the Padres, the Dodgers invited more than 30 pitchers to camp in hopes of finding 5 relievers beyond Broxton and Kuo in the pen.

Ohman will provide the Dodgers with a steady performer in the critical 7-8th inning slot.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

San Diego Padres Sign Eulogio De La Cruz

Thursday March 26, 2009

Yesterday the San Diego Padres made a real nice pickup.

They traded the proverbial PTBNL or Cash Considerations for a power throwing RHP named Eulogio De La Cruz.

Eulogio De La Cruz was mainly a starter in the minors and he throws 96-98 with occasional 100 mph pitches.

De La Cruz was signed as a free agent at 16 yrs old out of the Dominican Republic and spent the 1st 6 years of his professional career in the Detroit Tigers organization before heading to Florida in the Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis trade.

With the isotopes in Albuquerque in 2008 he was 13-8 with a 4.38 ERA in 25 starts in THE hardest minor league ballpark to pitch in.

He had 6 appearances with the Marlins last season, all in relief, and was hit hard. His 18.00 ERA in 9 innings does not look good, but his stuff is exceptional and he should benefit from pitching in the BEST pitchers park in major league baseball.

In my opinion he will be a great addition to the Padres bullpen and possibly the back end of the starting rotation if Baek, Correia and the rest of the guys in camp cannot get the job done.

Its Official. The Padres have a new ownership group.

Thursday March 26, 2009

Its official.

In a 3:00 PM PDT news conference broadcast live on Padres.com , John Moores and the San Diego Padres announced the finalization of the sale of the Padres to an investment group headed by Jeff Moorad.

While John Moores will continue to act as the majority partner at MLB meetings and be on the boards of many MLB committees, Moorad will act as Vice Chairman and CEO of the Padres and will be in charge of the day to day operations of the team and all player personnel decisions.

The investment group of 12 includes Troy Aikman, Wayne Seltzer of Rancho Santa Fe, John McAvoy, J.D. Stein of Indianapolis, Bob Piccinini - who owns Save Mart super markets, Tom Davin - CEO of Panda restaurant group, Rick Berry - a money manager from northern California and Al Baldwin of San Diego.

Currently, the investment group headed by Moorad holds a 35% share ownership in the Padres with the rights to purchase up to 100% over the next 5 years.

Moorad was previously the CEO and minority partner in the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2004 through 2008.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Padres make more roster moves

Monday March 23, 2009

Padres made more roster moves today sending down 7 players.

Of those 7 players, 3 pitchers (Josh Geer, Joe Thatcher & Scott Patterson) and 2 position players (Will Venable and Matt Antonelli) saw time on the Padres big league squad during an injury plagued 2008 season.

Geer had been a front runner to fill the #5 slot in the rotation, but injuries and a loss of velocity on his pitches made him ineffective in spring training. Look for him to be called back up at some point in the 2009 season.

Thatcher was ineffective as a reliever in 2008 and in 2009 spring training, and unless injuries once again devastate the Padres bullpen, he may have made his last appearance in a Padres uniform.

Venable and Antonelli were both late season call ups in 2008. Expect both to be back in San Diego this season. Neither would see much playing time in San Diego to start the season and they will get regular at bats in AAA. Venable should see time as a #4-5 outfielder and if Antonelli can regain his hitting stroke, he should be the 2010 starting 2B for the Padres.

The Padres also sent down catcher Jose Lobaton and left fielder Chad Huffman.

The right hand hitting Huffman was having a good spring and his power numbers should benefit from playing in AAA Portland this season.

Padres sign RHP Shawn Hill

Monday March 23, 2009

Padres signed Shawn Hill to a minor league contract today.

Hill has started only 37 games over the past 5 seasons for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.

Injuries have cut short each season since 2004 and Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2005 season.

In 2007, Hill started the season as the #2 pitcher for the Nationals but emerged as the team's ace early on. In his first seven starts, he lasted six innings or more six times, and allowed two earned runs or less six times. He went on the DL on May 12th, a day after throwing 5 hitless innings, and did not return until mid-August.

In 2008 Hill made several trips to the DL before being shut down for the year at the end of June after just 12 starts. The off season saw him go under the knife once more, having arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.

In spring training this season, Hill pitched 2 scoreless innings before being released.

For his career, Hill has a 4.93 Era and a 4.11 FIP.

Hill's strength as a pitcher is an incredible, low 90's sinker and a plus curve and change up.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Padres sign Sanchez to provide depth for bullpen

Sunday March 15, 2009

Today the Padres signed former Met righty Duaner Sanchez to a minor league contract.

Sanchez, who was waived by the Mets earlier this month, was a very effective reliever before being injured in a taxi accident in 2006.

He has struggled through 2 shoulder operations in 2 years and missed the entire 2007 season. He has never fully recovered the velocity and control he showed earlier in his career. Even with the injuries, Sanchez appeared in 66 games for the Mets with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.32 whip. He was particualarly effective against left handed batters, limiting them to a .200 BAA.

If healthy, (there is that statement that is heard so often in regards to the Padres) Sanchez could compete for a late innings spot in the Padres bullpen.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Too Many Outfielders Means Trade Imminent?

Saturday March 14, 2008

An article from Corey Brock on MLB.com and linked on MLBTradeRumors.com says that that the Padres signed oft injured and former top prospect Chris Snelling.

Snelling, 27, was signed out of high school by the Seattle Mariners and made his major league debut at the age of 20. Injuries have derailed his once much heralded career.

Brock says Snelling "broke his hand in 2000, his ankle in 2001 and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in 2002 and did it again in 2005. Snelling also broke his wrist and his thumb and has even lost two teeth. All told, he's had seven surgeries on his injured left knee."

After being traded by the Mariners to the Nationals for Ryan Langerhans in May 2007, Snelling bounced around to the A's, Rays and Phillies in the off season and had only 4 ML ab with the Phillies in 2008.

Now the question of the day.

With the Padres already having a glut of good players and prospects in the OF including Chase Headley, Jody Gerut and Brian Giles, who are locked in at their positions and Scott Hairston and Cliff Floyd locked in as the #4 and #5 OF at San Diego and Will Venable, Chad Huffman, Drew Macias, and Emil Brown already slated for AAA Portland, where does Snelling fit in this picture?

This is clearly conjecture as I have not talked to a member of the Padres organization about it, but this may be an indication that the Padres are in the process of working out a trade of Kouzmanoff or Hairston for pitching help before the season starts.

The Tampa Bay Rays are known to be shopping Jeff Niemann, 2004 1st round draft pick (#4 overall), who is the odd man out on a very talented pitching staff in Tampa.

With the additions of Heilman, Gregg and Samardzija to a deep staff, the Cubs do not have room to keep both Angel Guzman and Chad Gaudin, both of whom are out of options and can start or come out of the pen.

Neither of those teams stand in need of a ML 3B or outfielder, so while they have the arms the Padres need, the Padres don't have any ML players they stand in need of.

The Twins have a number of good young arms and Phillip Humber is out of options but the Twins recently signed Joe Crede so they don't have a need for either a 3B or an outfielder.

So if the Padres are trading away either Hairston or Kouzmanoff, where are they going?

The Detroit Tigers have Edwin Jackson (SP) and Bobby Seay (RP) that are out of options and they need a 3B with Inge penciled in as the starter there.

After trading to prospect Matt Joyce for Jackson, the Tigers would need to get a ML player in return to keep there from being a public outcry. Kouzmanoff is a good young power hitting 3B and would be a great fit for them.

Again, I think that the Padres have built up depth in the OF with signings like Brown and Snelling with the intention of trading Kouzmanoff and moving Headley to 3B.

I have had my say. Now what do you think.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Padres Batting Projections for 2009

Saturday March 7, 2009

Padres Batting Projections for 2009.

I have broken down my projections into two different types:

  • Projections based on 2008 stats adjusted to 600 AB equivalents in 2009.
  • Projections based on 600 AB and Adjustments for Historical Improvement and Declines for Players Age and Length of ML Service.
While neither of these are perfect projection methods as injuries and inexplicable declines do happen(see Khalil Greene 2008), but these two types of projections will give you a chance to chose for yourself where you think their performance may end up.

Bench spot projections are based on their 2008 abs with the exception of Burke.

If I don't get to lazy, I will be adding another post for the rest of the NL West Teams one by one in the coming weeks.

I don't know how well these tables will format here and some of my formulas seem to be rounding OPS down but here goes:

Projected 2009 Stats based on
2008 stats and 600 abs per position
(1200 abs total from Bench)


Team Padres
Position Starter BA OBP SLG OPS HR RBI

LF Headley 0.270 0.340 0.420 0.760 16 60
CF Gerut 0.300 0.350 0.494 0.845 21 80
RF Giles 0.300 0.400 0.456 0.856 12 60
4th OF - 300 abs Hairston 0.250 0.300 0.479 0.779 17 32
OF Subtotal 0.280 0.348 0.462 0.812 66 232

1B Gonzales 0.280 0.380 0.510 0.890 35 120
2B Eckstein 0.265 0.343 0.349 0.692 4 52
SS Rodriguez 0.287 0.326 0.351 0.677 0 36
3B Kouzmanoff 0.275 0.300 0.433 0.732 23 80
C Hundley/Other 0.240 0.300 0.359 0.659 10 50
IF Subtotal 0.269 0.330 0.400 0.730 72 338

Bench Abs Starter BA OBP SLG OPS HR RBI
246 Floyd 0.268 0.349 0.455 0.804 11 38
120 Blanco 0.292 0.325 0.392 0.717 3 12
325 E Gonzalez 0.274 0.329 0.385 0.713 7 33
165 Burke* 0.260 0.320 0.273 0.593 2 12
856 Bench Subtotal 0.274 0.331 0.376 0.707 23 95

Fielders Subtotal 0.274 0.336 0.413 0.749 161 665

Pitchers (Current Pitchers) 0.165 0.200 0.182 0.382 2 12

Total 0.247 0.302 0.355 0.657 163 677


2009 Projections Based on
600 abs or 2008 abs (whichever is larger)
with adjustments for historical changes at
age and years of ML service

Team Padres
Position Starter BA OBP SLG OPS HR RBI

LF Headley 0.278 0.350 0.433 0.783 18.540 78.280
CF Gerut 0.306 0.357 0.504 0.861 26.132 80.264
RF Giles 0.292 0.389 0.444 0.832 11.676 61.299
4th OF - 300 abs Hairston 0.255 0.306 0.489 0.795 17.340 31.620
OF Subtotal 0.283 0.351 0.467 0.818 74 251

1B Gonzales 0.300 0.408 0.547 0.935 38.628 127.687
2B Eckstein 0.262 0.340 0.346 0.685 3.669 49.530
SS Rodriguez 0.293 0.333 0.358 0.691 0.000 36.900
3B Kouzmanoff 0.295 0.322 0.465 0.785 24.679 90.132
C Hundley/Other 0.247 0.309 0.370 0.655 15.450 74.160
IF Subtotal 0.280 0.342 0.417 0.750 82 378

Bench Abs Starter BA OBP SLG OPS HR RBI
246 Floyd 0.265 0.346 0.451 0.796 10.896 37.640
120 Blanco 0.284 0.316 0.381 0.698 2.919 11.676
325 E Gonzalez 0.279 0.336 0.393 0.727 7.140 33.660
165 Burke* 0.265 0.326 0.278 0.595 2.040 12.240
856 Bench 0.274 0.331 0.376 0.706 23 95

Fielders Subtotal 0.279 0.341 0.420 0.761 179 725

Pitchers .170 .206 .187 .393 2.06 12.36

Total 0.251 0.307 0.362 0.669 181 737


OPS Figures are rounded down to nearest thousandth.

If there is anyone out there who can help me post actual tables from a spread sheet here, please contact me.

Thanks, Web

Monday, March 02, 2009

Wackiest Trade Rumor of the Year

March 1, 2009

There have been some wacky trade rumors out there from members of the media, ( I would call them journalists, but most aren't) as anyone who reads mlbtraderumors.com can attest.

This one has to take the cake though.

Its from one of those wacky Angels fans who needed a monkey to get them rallied up.
(Sorry goes out to Sean Smith of Halos Heaven, an Angel Fan who is incredibly knowledgeable about the game of baseball and has a great site.

Unfortunately this one is a MLB Blog so most people are going to take is the official media word about the Angels.

The blog is called Rally Monkeys and the post was entitled Daydream Believers.

I am thinking Mr Spencer was smoking something when he wrote it.

Here is my breakdown of this ludicrous trade proposition.

He is proposing that the Padres trade both Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez to the Angels for Nick Adenhart, Dustin Moseley, Shane Loux, Kevin Jepsen, Erick Aybar, Freddy Sandoval, Matt Brown, Kendry Morales, Reggie Willits and Terry Evans.

His reasoning is that it gives the Padres a whole new team.

Here is my take on his proposed trade:
Nick Adenhart has 3 ML starts and he did worse than LeBlanc in that short stint. He doesn't have an overpowering fastball, his is in the low 90's (91-92 mph) and he has not been a strike out pitcher in the minors.

Dustin Moseley is 27 and has never lived up to his expectations. His 5.52 ERA in 61 ML appearances (20 starts) over 3 seasons doesn't speak well of his talent and his high 80's fastball is not exactly exciting.

Shane Loux is not exactly a good prospect at 29 years old. A reliever, Loux had 5 years between major league appearances (2003-2008).

Kevin Jepsen I like. He is only 24 and he is a hard throwing righty out of the pen.

Erick Aybar (24) is the epitome of the all field, no hit SS. I think the Padres can do as well in house within a couple of years.

Freddy Sandoval is a 3B/DH by trade. Don't think the Padres need another one of those, do you? In fact I think the Padres have better in their farm system in Darnell and Dykstra.

Matt Brown. Another 3B. Why?

Kendry Morales is a good young player at 25, but he is a long way from replacing Gonzalez both with the bat and the glove.

Reggie Willits. Speed and that's it. 5 career home runs in 6 professional seasons. Yes, you read that right, 5 career home runs. None in 583 abs at the ML level. Can you say Juan Pierre?

Terry Evans is an average minor league hitter - 0.285 0.344 0.472 0.816 who plays below average defense. I don't think so.

I really see only three players who could even make the current squad - Aybar because he is much better defensively than anyone the Padres have THIS season, Jepsen, and Morales. Adenhart would have a hard time beating out LeBlanc, Geer, Inman, Correia and Prior.

No Way do I make that trade.

I have had my say. Now what do you think?