The pitch that got Gonzalez thrown out.

Here is the pitch that got Gonzalez thrown out tonight. The ball is off his right hip.

So who can afford to trade for Adrian Gonzalez?

Wednesday April 28, 2010

The bar has been set, the writing is on the wall and an Adrian Gonzalez trade is inevitable.

The question now isn't whether he will be traded or whether the Padres will get a massive haul of prospects for him, the question is who could sign Gonzalez if they trade for him.

No team is going to trade away 4 or 5 of their top 10 prospects, the future of their franchise, unless they are extremely certain that they can sign Gonzalez to a long term deal.

He has to give them mucho value to offset the loss of the prospects they have to give up to get him and two pennant drives at a cheap price is not enough.

So who can afford Gonzalez long term?

The obvious teams are the Yankees and the Red Sox. Both teams have shown both the financial ability and the predilection to sign players to contracts with huge annual sums & for long terms.

Will they be in the mix for Gonzalez?

The Yankees can be dismissed from the discussion before it even begins.

They already have Gonzalez-lite in Mark Teixeira, a gold glove winning, 40 home run hitting 1B who is under contract for 6 more years after 2010 and $135 million. They really have no pressing need for Gonzalez and the team that signs him will have a pressing need.

So at the top of our list we have the Red Sox. They have the Prospects, the money and a desire to trade for Gonzalez that has been well documented in the media.

Who else?

The Mets. The Mets are one of the top 2-3 revenue earning ballclubs in baseball. They can certainly afford Gonzalez.  They have some intriguing, if not exceptional, prospects they can send back in return for Gonzalez including Ike Davis, Fernando Martinez and Jenrry Mejía. A package built around those 3 with couple of other good prospects that are further away from competing in the major leagues would probably get the job done.

The Cubs. The Cubs are a top 5 team in revenue, have a new ownership group that will be looking to make a splash, and with Derrek Lee being a free agent at the end of the 2010 season, they would certainly be a team that would be in the mix for Gonzalez. The Cubs would have to give up two of a group of 4 players they really have not been willing to part with so far in Starlin Castro or Hak-Ju Lee and Andrew Cashner or Jeff Samardzija.

The Giants. The Giants are a top 10 team in revenue and play in the 6th largest market in baseball. They can afford to maintain a $100 payroll that would be needed to sign a player like Gonzalez. The bigger question is whether they would be willing to part with either Posey or Bumgarner, because other than those 2 guys they really do not have the depth in the top 10 or so prospects to interest the Padres without one of them at the top of the trade package.

The White Sox. Kenny Williams LOVES to make a big splash with his personnel moves. Without including Beckham the White Sox don't have the high ceiling prospects that will be needed to make the trade happen, but that does not mean that Kenny won't just ship off a coveted player like closer Bobby Jenks to a third team to come up with enough to satisfy the Padres asking price.

The Mariners. They have the money, the pitching and the outfield defense, now all they need is a big banger. Gonzalez fits the bill. And the Mariners also have the prospects even without including Ackley. Saunders, Triunfel, Mores and two out of a group including of Noriega, Pineda, Cortes, and Franklin. A definite possiblity there.

The Astros. The Astros? Yes. A $100 million payroll is right in line with their $190 million in revenue. But don't they have Berkman at 1B? Berkman threatened to retire if the Astros dont get an extension signed before this season started so buying out his 2011 option for $2 million and bringing in Gonzalez makes sense. Shift Berkman back to the OF for half a season and make a run at the playoffs this year. Berkman is gone after the season as well as Matsui, Feliz, Myers, and several other veteran bandaids. The Astros top prospect is at a position, catcher, the Padres are hurting for and he is ML ready. Do not count them out of the running.

The biggest surprise on this list?

The Nationals. The Nationals are aching to get some identity as something other than the biggest losers in the game. They have been in the running for several big name FA who chose winning over money in signing elsewhere. They are not going to resign Dunn and several other bad contracts for
Guzman, Taveras and Willingham are coming off the books. They have a catcher near the top of their prospects list and a couple of other good looking prospects in Storen and Espinosa that may interest the Padres. In order to get a trade done without including Strasburg, they may have to include a third team.

Well there it is. If the ration I got from Web is any indication, I am sure there will be many of you who will disagree with me on this. So bring it on! Tell me who you think will be in the running for Gonzalez and why.

 - Vic Power

Final Nail in the Coffin?

Monday April 26, 2010


The Twins signing of Joe Mauer earlier this year to an 8 year, $23 million per season extension was one major nail in the coffin of the Padres chances of retaining Adrian Gonzalez beyond 2010.

The final nail may have been struck today with the Philadelphia Phillies signing of Ryan Howard to a 5 year, $125 million extension.

The low budget Padres (even the team record $73 million payroll in 2008 would still rank the Padres 19th or 20th in baseball in 2010) simply cannot afford to sign Gonzalez to an extension that according to media and GM's around baseball would fall somewhere between Mark Teixeira's $21 million per season and Howard's $25 million per season.

From a scouts perspective Gonzalez is the most intriguing player that may come available in the NL. He hits for what amounts to a high average and exceptional power in any other park while playing TRUE Gold Glove caliber defense at 1B.

Gonzalez plays his home games in Petco, so you really only need to look at his road numbers, .301/.370/.572/.943 for his career, when making comparisons to other players around the league.  Overall, only Pujols and Fielders number compare favorably to Gonzalez at 1B, which puts him in very elite company.

So unless Gonzalez is willing to take an enormous San Diego discount, think something like $4-8 million per season discount on a deal like Holiday's 7yr/$120 million contract to stay a Padre, chances are the signing of Mauer, a catcher, to $23 million per year and now Howard to $25 million per year has ended any chances the Padres have of signing him to an extension.

Enjoy him while you can Padres fans. Regardless of how well the Padres play in 2010, and so far they have played pretty well, Gonzalez will not be a Padre in 2011.

 - Vic Power

The next discussion? Which of 8 or 9 teams can afford to sign Adrian Gonzalez long term?

Guillen says no Beckham, I say no Gonzalez

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said in an interview with Mark Gonzalez published today in the Chicago Tribune that Gordon Beckham will not be part of any trades, be it for Adrian Gonzalez or anyone else.

"We plan to have Gordon for a long time," Guillen said. "I don't see why people talk about it." "Every trade the White Sox want to make, people think they're going to make with the White Sox," Guillen continued, "Gordon, Floyd and Danks, those names are going to come up. And we have to deal with that every time they talk about the White Sox trying to make a deal. We got to stay on our toes. There's nothing out there."

To that I say;

Kenny Williams, if you want to trade for Adrian Gonzalez you better get a 3rd team involved because without Beckham, you do not have what it takes to land Gonzalez. Not even close.

The Chicago White Sox system is bare of top level talent. After trades last season that stripped the top talent from the system including their 6 of their top 10 rated prospects, the cupboard is bare.

Only RHP Dan Hudson comes close to having a high upside and he is not considered ace material.

What is left other than Tyler Flowers is not only not even B level prospects, but really does not fit any needs in the Padres system.

The only packages for Adrian Gonzalez from the White Sox that make sense for the Padres would have to be topped by Gordon Beckham. And Guillen says that is not going to happen.

If I were a betting man I would say that Adrian Gonzalez is not going to be joining Jake Peavy in Chicago. At least not with the White Sox.

What do you think?

Padres Payroll and IIATMS

Yesterday Jason over at It’s About The Money, Stupid (IIATMS) brought up some issues in his blog post “Maybe it's time to worry about the Padres” that I wanted to address in more detail than is proper for a comment section.

Let me begin by saying that if you don't read Jasons blog on a daily basis you are mising out on some great commentary on baseball.

I really don't share any of the concerns expressed in his post about the Padres payroll or viability any more than I do for any small market club. The system in baseball as a whole needs to be changed in order for these small market teams to consistently compete.

That is a topic that is worthy of an entire series of blog posts so I am not going to try to cover it in any length here today.

The problem does not lie solely with the Padres.  No small market team today can afford to keep players of Adrian Gonzalez's caliber, players that will earn $20+ million in free agency, and continue to compete with one player taking up such a large of a  percentage of their total payroll.

Why do I say that? Well according to an article by Peter Gammons (and from some lite research of my own), I have found that no team since the advent of Free Agency has won a World Series with one player making more than 16% of total payroll and no team has made it to the World Series (or even the NLCS) with one player making more than 20% of the total payroll.

At a $70-80 million payroll that Moorad and company have told us  they want the Padres payroll to be at in coming seasons, history  tells us that the most the Padres can pay a single player and continue to compete would be under $16 million per season.

Do YOU think Adrian Gonzalez should or would take a contract of  $12-16 million per season to stay in San Diego instead of a  Teixeira-like deal elsewhere? (8 years/$180 million or $21.5 million per season)

As far as the Padres current $38.025 million ML payroll goes there are a couple of points to be made.

The Padres current payroll is more result of conditions that were  court mandated because of the Moores divorce than of market woes or size.

There is ample evidence that the team, the fan base and the market can support a larger payroll as the Padres had a $73+ million  payroll in 2008 and a $69 million payroll in 2006. In fact, before the Moores filed for divorce, every season since the opening of Petco Park the payroll has been higher than it was in any season prior to the park’s opening in 2004.

The Moores divorce has locked the payroll at a size that would preclude any losses that the Moorad group has not volunteered to cover.

In 2008 the Padres organization lost $15 million with a $73 million payroll. The Padres partners (John and Becky Moores and their daughter) had to take money out of their poclets to balance the team budget going into the next season. That is the way a general partnership works. You either borrow money to balance the books or the partner pony it up. This we know from records made public in the divorce.

Until such time as Moorad and his group take majority ownership (2012 season?) and  the Moores divorce is finalized (who knows when) the Padres are in a bind.

They cannot put forth a payroll that would create a cash call for  the partners. In other words they cannot raise the payroll much  above where it is now and are working with their hands tied behind  their backs this season and until Moores divorce is final.

This team will see payroll rise in the coming years and I believe Moorad when he says that he and his investment group are looking to have the Padres major league payroll in the $70-80 million range.

With revenue in the $150-170 million range that is a reasonable amount for the Padres or any team to spend on the players on the field.

What it will not do is allow the Padres to keep a player like Adrian Gonzalez or any other player that rises to his level of performance and worth in the future.


The system is broken. Only about 1/3 of the teams in baseball can afford a player like Gonzalez. Realistically probably only a handful can take on a salary that size and the economy and another headline divorce may have shrunken that number to just 2.


So its not about the Padres ability to raise payroll under normal circumstances or about the Padres market or fanbase to support the team. Its not about a tradition. If you have ever been to a playoff game in San Diego you KNOW we have some rabid and loyal fans here.

Right now its about a divorce. 

Okay I've gotta say it:

It's about the money, stupid!

(There were a few obvious errors in Jason's article. Geoff at Ducksnorts already pointed that Garland was not a Padre in 2009. The Padres payroll was $43,333,700 at the start of the 2009 season and $43,210,258 at the end of the season according to Biz of Baseball and $43,734,200 according to Cots MLB Contracts.)

More Gonzalez Trade Rumors

Wednesday December 30, 2009

There are more Adrian Gonzalez trade rumors floating around and this time they involve the Chicago Cubs in a 3 team deal with the Boston Red Sox.

The rumor seems to have started when Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune posted the following on the 27th of this month:

"Worth watching: If the Red Sox wind up with Matt Holliday or Jason Bay, the Cubs immediately would make a major effort to land Jacoby Ellsbury to fill their center field/leadoff hole, according to sources.

That scenario helps explain why the Cubs have been so patient in studying their options. The best way to do such a trade might be for GM Jim Hendry to facilitate a three-team deal that sends first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres to the Red Sox by packaging a group of prospects, possibly including one or two of their top ones, such as third baseman Josh Vitters, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee and pitchers Andrew Cashner and Jay Jackson."

There have been several blogs including Bleacher Report that have talked about Ellsbury going to the Cubs and Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox and the Padres getting multiple stupid packages. Almost all of the trades I have seen in those blogs involve both Anderson and Vitters, both of who the Padres don't need.

I have read a couple of  trade propositions on a Cubs blog that I thought the Padres might just say yes to.
They included :

Cubs getting Ellsbury and Lars Anderson.

Red Sox getting Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and Jay Jackson or John Gaub from the Cubs

Padres getting Buchholz, Kelly, and Kalish or Westmoreland from the Red Sox and Cashner or Samardzija, and Hak-Ju Lee or Castro from the Cubs.

This trade probably has WAY too many moving parts to ever get done, but it would make sense for all 3 teams.

Buchholz moves into the Padres starting rotation immediately. Blanks then moves to 1B for the Padres. As far as the other pieces go, Castro could be a Padre before the end of 2010, but Kalish, Kelly, Cashner and Lee are all several years away from being major leaguers.

Ellsbury fills the Cubs hole in CF and gives them a true leadoff hitter. Anderson provides the heir apparent for Derrek Lee.

The addition of Adrian Gonzalez makes the Red Sox the favorite to win the AL East.

Is this a trade you think the Padres brass would move on?

Do you think a package of those players would improve the Padres team enough to justify moving Adrian Gonzalez now instead of at the trading deadline?

Should Padres trade Gonzalez? If so When?

Friday December 18, 2009

Should Padres trade Gonzalez? If so When?

I think the following post on a Padres message board expresses the sentiment of most fans and media around the league.

"The idea is that the Padres must trade Adrian Gonzalez. They can't afford him and trading Adrian would make the Padres a better team compared to signing him long term."

I don't think that was ever in question. Eventually the Padres will have to trade Gonzalez.

Small market teams like the Padres simply cannot afford to hold on to any individual player that could make $20-22.5 million per season and that would take up 30++% of their total payroll.

In fact, no team can carry a single player that takes up that much of their payroll regardless of the size of the payroll. A team like the Yankees could no more afford a single player that made $60-65 million per year on their $200 million payroll than the Padres can afford a $20-22.5 million player on the $70 million payroll Moorad is promising is on the way for this team. For that matter a team with a $40 million per year payroll, like the Padres will have in 2010, can't afford to carry a $13-15 million player either.

I don't think there is any question Adrian Gonzalez is a valuable player and will bring a great value to any team that trades for him. Adrian Gonzalez is among the Top 10 hitters in baseball today, an exceptional fielder at his position, and is still in his prime at 27. The Padres should garner a bevy of great players in return when he is traded.

The question is when will Adrian Gonzalez bring the Padres the greatest return?

In the Media and the Blogosphere they are talking about a trade that could reportedly bring the Padres 4-5 top prospects in return for Adrian Gonzalez if they were to trade him this offseason.

To me it seems logical that at the trading deadline contending teams would give more in return for a push to the playoffs than during the off season when there are many more players available to fill positions of need to that team.

The likely hood is the Padres will not be in contention at the All Star break in 2010 so a trade of Gonzalez would not be depriving them of a spot in the playoffs and they could then load up on players to help the team contend in 2011 and beyond.

If the Padres are still in contention come the All Star Break in 2010, then they hold on to Gonzalez until the end of 2010.

His value will be slightly diminished, but will still be exceptional both in terms of return on the trade and in his 2010 production at bat and in the field.

One year of .280-300/.400/.550/1.000 with 40+ home runs (Gonzalez would likely hit closer to 50 in Fenway) is worth a lot more than the $5.5 million Gonzalez will make in 2011.  Fangraphs had Gonzalez WAR at 6.3 for 2009 which equates to about $28.4 million on the free agent market.

There will undoubtedly will still be teams lining up and salivating at the thought of having player of that caliber playing 1B and hitting in the middle of the lineup for them in the off season after the 2010 season. We are still talking about a deal that would probably include 3 of the top ten prospects in any teams system and probably either another prospect or a young ML player.

Past that point his value diminishes greatly. You cannot expect to get a 4-5 for 1 deal that includes only top10 prospects at the 2011 Trading Deadline. The Padres have much less leverage when you are talking about just 2 months and the playoffs, but even a 3 month rental of Adrian is worth some good prospects in return since at bat like Adrian's in the middle of the lineup could turn a good team into one that can make a deep run in the playoffs.

If you don't think the Red Sox would still give up a top prospect like Kelly or Westmoreland for Gonzales to give them a shot at beating the Yankees and going to the World Series in 2011, you are not paying attention. NO prospect is as valuable as a World Series ring.

I guess you could say that no matter when the Padres trade Gonzalez they are going to either have earned incredible return on him by having that much production from so inexpensive of a contract on a contending team or they will get a tremendous haul of prospects for him in trade that will help rebuild the team.

Adrian Gonzalez becomes 4th Padre with 40 HR season

Sunday September 27, 2009

With a 2 run blast to Right Center off Diamondbacks starter Billy Buckner in the 4th inning, Adrian Gonzalez became the 4th San Diego Padre to hit 40 home runs in a season.

Gonzalez joins a list that includes Greg Vaughn (50 in 1998), Phil Nevin (41 in 2001) and Ken Caminiti (40 in 1996).

Considering the difficulty hitting for power in Petco Park, this may rank as one of the more impressive (and improbable) 40 home run seasons I have ever seen.

How hard is it to hit a home run in Petco? 27.4% less home runs have been hit there than in a league average ballpark and more than 50% less than places like Coors Field, the new Yankee Stadium, and Cincinnati's bandbox. For left handed hitters it is closer to 40% less home runs hit in Petco. Gonzalez is a left handed hitter.

Congratulations Adrian! I have really enjoyed watching you play baseball and I hope I get to watch you play in a Padres uniform for many years to come.

2nd straight good outing from LeBlanc in Pads win

Wednesday Sept 9, 2009

Happy 9/9/9!

Looks like Wade LeBlanc was celebrating the day as he collected his 2nd straight victory in the San Diego Padres 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Alphabet Soup Park.

LeBlanc pitched a heck of a good game too allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. 2 of those walks came to start the 8th inning, but Luke Gregerson came in with 2 on and no outs and shut the Giants down.

Adrian Gonzalez provided all the offense the Padres would need driving in 3 runs on a single in the first with Everth Cabrera on 3rb base and a booming home run to left field, his 37th of the season, in the 3rd inning.

Oscar Salazar added an insurance run in the 6th with a solo shot of his own.

Cabrera stole his 22nd and 23rd bases of the season to move him into 4th place on the Padres list for rookies behind Ozzie Smith, Alan Wiggins and Roberto Alomar. 1 more SB and he will tie Alomar's total amassed over 143 games in 1988.

The Padres have now won FIVE straight series including 4 on the road and put up double digit hits for the 4th time in 8 games this month.

Barry Zito took the loss for the Giants going 5 innings and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with 2 k's.

Padres win 4th straight series

Sunday September 6, 2009

Happy Labor Day!

The San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 tonight at Chavez Ravine to take their 4th straight series. Throw out the two series against the St Louis Cardinals, the best team in the NL right now, and the Padres have not lost a series for a month.

After a 15-14 August, their first winning month in 2 seasons, the Padres are now 4-1 in September.

Who would have thunk it?

Its fun watching these kids play. Sometimes you have to look between the fingers you have put over your eyes because you are not quite sure if they are going to get it done, but its still fun.

And you know they are going to make some mistakes, like the 3 errors in one game (and the error tonight) by Everth Cabrera and a bad pitch here and there from the young pitchers, but its still fun.

Tonight we saw a resurgent Tim Stauffer throw 6 2/3 innings of 1 run ball for his 4th win of the season and 3rd straight. In fact if Joe Thatcher had not come in with 2 men on and 2 outs and given up a double on the first pitch to the left handed Andre Ethier the Padres likely would have won this game 4-1. We saw rookie reliever Luke Gregerson come in and shut the Dodgers down for 1 1/3 perfect innings.

We also saw Kevin Kouzmanoff drive in 3 runs, his 81st, 82nd, and 83rd; and Adrian Gonzalez hit his 35th home run. Heath Bell got his 35th save of the season. We saw Cabrera score his 48 run in just 77 starts. That is a 100+ run pace.

Not one Padre I mentioned there is over 30 except 31 year old Heath Bell.

That folks, is exciting! I can't wait to see what these kids and hopefully a couple of key Free Agent or Trade acquisitions this off season can do in 2010.

Latos gets last start of the season

Sunday August 30, 2009

San Diego Padres top prospect Mat Latos gets the start in Land Shark Stadium today against the Florida Marlins.

From what we have been hearing from Padres brass, this should be the last time we get to see Latos take the mound this season.

Latos had just 56 innings pitched in 2008 and the Padres GM Kevin Towers has said on several occasions that Latos would be limited to about 110-120 innings on the season. Young pitchers are much more prone to injury when they more than double the innings they pitched the previous season.

While I don't think it matters much to the Padres organization, many fans are hoping that Latos is limited to just 5 1/3 innings today in order for him to still be eligible for Rookie of the Year voting in 2010.

They may be out of luck, as through 3 today Latos is doing quite well and has throw only 43 pitches.

On a side note:
Adrian Gonzalez gets his second game off at 1st base with what the team described as a strained right bicep. We can only hope that the injury is not serious.

Oscar Salazar gets the start at 1B again today after going 3 for 4 last night.

Adrian Gonzalez gets a day off

Saturday August 29, 2009

Adrian Gonzalez gets a well deserved day off against the Florida Marlins today at Land Shark Stadium.

This is only the 6th game Adrian has not started for the Padres this season. He has batted in all but one game.

Oscar Salazar takes his place at 1B.

Everybody Hits!

Wednesday August 26, 2009

Every Padres position player had a hit and scored a run. Both pinch hitters also got a hit and scored a run. In fact Padres batters had 18 hits in a 12-5 win tonight over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. With the win the Padres locked down a series win against Atlanta.

If it wasn't for the Cardinals, the Padres would have won 6 of their last 7 series, with the only series lost being the one to the Braves at Petco earlier this month. Even with the 2 series lost to St Louis, the Padres have won 6 of their last 9.

David Eckstein and Adrian Gonzalez led the attack going 3 for 5 and Kevin Kouzmanoff added his 16 home run of the season, a 2 run blast to CF in the 7th.

After giving up a 3 run home run to Brian McCann in the bottom of the 1st, Padres starter Tim Stauffer settled down to throw 4 scoreless innings before being taken out for a pinch hitter in the top of the 6th. The Padres 6 run 6th staked the bullpen to a 6-3 lead and Stauffer got the win, his 2nd of the season and 1st win since July 30 against 4 August losses.

Stauffer's line tonight - 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings.

6-6, SIX FOR SIX!

Tuesday August 11, 2009

Adrian Gonzalez went 6 for 6 and the Padres 3-4-5 hitters went 12 for 16 to lead a 22 hit attack to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 13-6 tonight at Miller Park.

It was a season high for hits and runs and Adrian entered the Padres record book by becoming one of only 4 to ever have a 6 hit game.

Of Padres starters, only David Eckstein did not have multiple hits. Will Venable continued his hot streak going 2 for 5 with a solo blast in the 2nd.

The newest Padre, Clayton Richard finally went 6 full innings to earn the win tonight.
His line: 6 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K and 2 HR. His ERA is now 4.15, but an error by Gwynn was later changed and 2 runs added to his tally or his ERA would be lower.

Pads Win, Pads Win, Pads Win

Thursday August 6, 2009

The Padres recorded double digit hits for the 3rd time in this home stand, new Padre Clayton Richard got his first win with the team and they defeat the New York Mets 8-3 tonight at Petco Park.

Adrian Gonzalez continued his hot hitting with a sac fly and a 2 run home run, his 29th of the season, to drive in 3 runs. Henry Blanco went 3 for 4 and David Eckstein walked, hit a double and scored 2 runs.

The only blemishes on an otherwise great game on both sides of the ball was 3 walks by starter Richard and an error by Tony Gwynn Jr with 2 out in the 6th inning.

Richard pitches well in his 2nd outing

Thursday August 6, 2009

In an otherwise outstanding outing against the New York Mets at Petco tonight, 3 walks and an error by Tony Gwynn Jr. in the 6th inning limited Clayton Richard's 2nd start as a San Diego Padre to 5 2/3 innings.

The Padres offense put up 7 runs in the first 3 innings paced by Adrian Gonzalez's 29th home run and 3 rbi to stake Richard to a big lead and he responded with 5 strong innings.

His line - 5.2 IP/5 hits/3 runs/0 earned runs/4 walks/5 k's/0 home runs.
Richard threw 99 pitches, 60 for strikes, before being pulled after walking Omir Santos.

Yahoo seems to think that the runs were earned, but since there was an error, none of the runs that followed are earned. Regardless, if the bullpen can hold the lead, Richard will end the evening with his 2nd win in a Padres uniform.

Why isn't Blanks playing more?

Monday July 20, 2009

So tell me, why isn't Kyle Blanks playing more?

Didn't Bud Black and Kevin Towers say he wasn't being brought up to sit on the bench?
Isn't he supposed to be the Padres next great hitting prospect? So why is he shining the pine?

Its obvious that Adrian Gonzalez has either:
A - Given up
or
B - Hit the wall

Gonzalez is hitting under .200 since June 1st. He has hit .140 for the month of July and tonight he hit his first home run since June 23rd. Trying to say its because he has no one hitting behind him is an excuse and a bad one. He simply looks like hes going through the motions at the plate.

So why isn't Blanks getting an occasional start at 1B?

Headley is not exactly setting the world on fire with his .237 BA, so why isn't Blanks getting a few starts in LF?

Venable is hitting just .218, so why isn't Blanks getting a few starts in RF.

This guy COULD be getting at bats every day at AAA and instead he is picking splinters out of his behind in San Diego.

Why?

Kouzmanoff has more hits than Gonzalez?

July 15, 2009

I just lost a bar bet. Cost me an Arrogant Bastard and a shot of Makers Mark.

I was arguing that there was no way that Kevin Kouzmanoff has more hits than Adrian Gonzalez.

After all Gonzalez is an All Star. The best Padres player by far.

And Kouzmanoff? Well, he has been so bad that the Padres can't even trade him.

Guess what? Kouzmanoff has 80 hits and Gonzalez has 77.

Yes, I know that Adrian has 24 home runs and Kouzmanoff only has 12. But with 12 more home runs, Adrian only has 5 more RBI and he has had 16 more people on base in front of him than Kouzmanoff.

In other words, Kouzmanoff has done a better job of driving in runs. Kouzmanoff is hitting 40 points better with runners in scoring position.

Now the rest of the story.

• Kouzmanoff has hit behind Gonzalez (4-6) in all but 10 of his 328 at bats.
• While Adrian is hitting .209 with runners in scoring position, his obp is .480.
• The sad fact is that other teams are just walking Gonzalez to get to Kouzmanoff (or whomever the Padres bat directly behind him) who is still hitting under .250 with RISP.

Kouzmanoff is going to get plenty of chances to hit with men on base because other teams are going to continue to walk Adrian Gonzalez at a team record pace until some one steps up and gives them a reason to actually pitch to Adrian.

Lets hope the rest of the season for Kouzmanoff is more like the past 10 games where he has hit .310 with 2 home runs, 7 rbi and 8 runs scored than the first 78 games when he hit .232.

If he can do that we can pretty much be assured that Adrian Gonzalez is going to have a better 2nd half than his All Star 1st half

7 of 9 should be in the minors tonight!

Thursday July 9, 2009

Ouch! Have you looked at the Padres lineup for tonight's game at the Giants?

• SS - Cabrera (Asheville Tourists - Low A),
• CF - Gwynn (Nashville Sounds - AAA)
  
• 1B - Gonzalez
  
• 3B - Kouzmanoff
  
• LF - Headley (Portland Beavers)
  
• RF - Venable (Portland Beavers)
  
• C - Alfonzo (Fresno Grizzlies - AAA, Connecticut Defenders - AA)
  
• 2B - Rodriguez (Portland Beavers- 31 games)
  
• SP - Geer (Portland Beavers)
  
  (In parenthesis - minor league teams played for in 2008, not including rehab assignments.)
  

On most teams, 7 of the nine guys penciled into the lineup for the Padres tonight would be in the minors. Maybe a 5th outfielder or a utility guy in the majors at best. An 8th, Kouzmanoff, is borderline. 6 of the 9 spent half the season or more in the minors last year.

Folks, this is ugly.

Having 10 players on the DL has killed the Padres season.

So who do you hold accountable for this teams injury plague?

Ouch! Padres win but may lose Gonzalez

Tuesday June 30, 2009

Adrian Gonzalez was injured sliding into 3rd base and was forced to leave the game in the 4th inning of the San Diego Padres 4-3 win over the Houston Astros at Petco Park tonight.

While we still do not know the extent of the injury that the Padres are calling a strain, losing Gonzalez would be the capper on a season that has been plagued by injuries to key players such as Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Scott Hairston and Cha Seung Baek. The Padres currently have 9 players on the DL and are on pace to equal last seasons MLB record 1244 player days on the DL.

On the bright side, David Eckstein went 3 for 4 and improved his batting average to .274 and starting pitcher Josh Banks went 7 full innings giving up just 5 hits and 3 runs while striking out 4 in his first start and win of the season.

Heath Bell pitched 1 1/3 innings for his NL leading 22nd save.

In other Padres News:
Shawn Hill had the 2nd Tommy John surgery of his career and is likely out for the rest of 2009 and the entire 2010 season. Tommy John surgery is only effective 25% of the time when it has to be repeated and the oft injured Hill may have pitched for his last time professionally.