Padres lineup taking shape

Monday January 3, 2011

With the confirmation of the signing of former Rockie/Ray Brad Hawpe to play 1st base, the 2011 Padres starting line up has finally taken shape.

And it has a completely different look and feel from the 2010 version w/only 3 opening day starters from 2010 returning - Headley, Hundley and Venable.

So without further ado, your 2011 San Diego Padres starting 8:
SS Jason Bartlett
2B Orlando Hudson
1B Brad Hawpe
LF Ryan Ludwick
RF Will Venable
3B Chase Headley
C Nick Hundley
CF Cameron Maybin

The projected opening day starting lineup has aged significantly (4 players over 30 vs 1 on opening day 2010) and improved offensively even with the departure of Adrian Gonzalez.
Bartlett > Cabrera
Hudson > Eckstein
Maybin > Gwynn
Ludwick > Blanks (at least the 2010 version of Blanks)

And we can expect/hope that the 2011 versions of Headley, Hundley & Venable will be better than the 2010 versions as well.

What we will continue to see is a focus on speed and defense.

The only positions with a significant decline on defense are CF, which had the NL best defender Tony Gwynn in 2010, and 1B, which sees Gold glove defender Gonzalez replaced by Hawpe, who only has 72 innings at 1B in 7 season as a major leaguer.

Team speed may have actually increased a little with the additions of Bartlett and Hudson, who stole a few more bases than their 2010 Padres opening day counterparts. Maybin also has significant speed, swiping 14 bases in 115 games between AAA and the Marlins in 2010.

The Padres bench will also be very different in 2011 with only Oscar Salazar returning from the 2010 opening day roster. Likely it will include as many as 4 players who saw playing time in 2010 - Salazar, Chris Denorfia, Aaron Cunningham and Everth Cabrera.

UT Oscar Salazar
OF Chris Denorfia
OF Aaron Cunningham
Catcher - Rob Johnson
Middle Infield - Everth Cabrera/Jarrett Hoffpauir/Eric Patterson

Gone is the Hockey Coach and his power bat off the bench. Gone are the Hairston brothers. Kyle Blanks is recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely to start 2011 in AAA to regain his batting stroke. Gone is team spark plug and coach on the field David Eckstein. Hopefully what remains is a fire for the game we saw in all the young players in 2010.

What absolutely remains the same is the Padres having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.

With 39 players on the 40 man roster and only a few possiblities for signings or trades remaining (a backup middle infielder, a #4-5 starting pitcher - Chris Young?, and a veteran reliever - Joe Biemel?), a realistic estimate for the Padres 2011 payroll including signing all their rbitration eligible players stands at $42.0 - $42.5 million.

So can the Padres catch lightning in a bottle a second straight season with this very inexpensive and very different lineup?

IMO it depends on the arms. If the performance of the 2011 Padres pitching staff can come close to the 2010 staff and the veteran players can stay healthy, then this Padres club can contend in a largely unimproved NL West.

I've had my say. Now what do you think?

Open Letter to BBWAA Writers Voting for Hall of Fame Induction

Thursday December 30, 2010

This started as a response to ESPN's Jim Caples article on Baseball Hall of Fame voting rules.

In his article Caples says that steroids were not against the rules of baseball so he is going to vote for people that used steroids. Caples is completely wrong about that and that worries me. How many otyher baseball writers are unaware of the facts on steroid rules in baseball.

The rest of this post is as I wrote it to Caples:

Steroids were expressly against the official rules in major league baseball since 1991 and implicitly since 1971. That is something you SHOULD know as a baseball writer and a voter for the the Baseball Hall of Fame. That you don't worries me.

You say you will be voting for people that knowingly broke express rules forbidding the use of anabolic steroids and other banned substances and you are using the specious argument that the use was not against the rules.

In 1971 Bowie Kuhn put in place a rule that said baseball personnel must comply with all federal and state statutes and steroid possession and use has been a crime without a prescription since the 1960's.

In 1991 Fay Vincent prohibited steroid use and possession specifically and in 1997 Bud Selig spelled it out the prohibition against steroid use as well.

What they didnt have was drug testing. So unless they caught a player in possession of Steroids, there was little they could do to punish them. The USE and POSSESSION of steroids was still prohibited, so to say there were no rules prohibiting steroid use is just plain false.

Those men that used steroids like Palmiero, McGwire, Clemens & Bonds knowingly broke the rules of the game and they do not meet the character rules for voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame. They do not deserve to be enshrined in Cooperstown regardless of their performance on the field because they failed to play by the rules.

Period.

If you will sleep better at night by lying to yourself and the public, so be it, but the facts are the facts.

As a journalist you should really do more research into the facts of the case before you cause permanent harm to the game of baseball and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A Belated Merry Christmas to Padres Fans

Monday December 27, 2010

Wooooo Hooooo!

After nearly two months of constant travel, this weary Padres fan is I am finally home for an extended stay!

A brutal work schedule that saw me in 27 cities in October & November followed by an extended trip to watch Caribbean beisbol in the Winter Leagues & then back to Albuquerque for Christmas with my extended family in December has left me fulfilled and plain old tuckered out.

But I am back home in sunny San Diego, energized with enthusiasm for baseball in general and ready to start filling your head with useless trivia and opinions about the San Diego Padres and major league baseball.

I will have a post up in the next couple of days recapping my trip to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico for Beisbol Caribe. This year we spent more time, made more flights to more cities and saw more games than in any year in the past. Mostly fun watching some great baseball and more than a few Padres prospects, some work (there it is again, the dreaded W word) and ALL baseball. It was a blast.

Glad to be home & ready to talk some Padres baseball. How about you?