Will the real San Diego Padres fans please come forward? In my opinion, this question is usually answered after the second game of the teams opening season series home stand. Those who show up, besides those who are employed by the team, are the fans that didn’t score opening day tickets or just wanted to avoid the riff raff of the opening day festivities. These are the same fans that know there will be no give-a-way, they’re going to get what they came to see, Padres’ baseball.  However this question may not truly be answered until five days after the home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Why? Because it’s the Dodgers. No matter how good the team is or how unfortunate the team may be, Padres fans love to see there team beat the Dodgers. No offense to the Arizona Diamondbacks who follow up the opener against the Dodgers, Padres fans love to see the D-Backs lose as well. I hope I don’t lose you the rest of the way, but this seems to be the state of mind of one Padres fan.

In recent articles I’ve talked about what I think of the Padres, both good and bad and the bottom line is I love baseball and I love the Padres like a many others. Not quite Padres Nation (hash tag), but looking to become one. And maybe with the team’s forthcoming television deal with FOX Sports they will get that national moniker. One day.

As the hot stove league sizzles like a Sunday morning breakfast for some teams, Padres fans are grabbing for their box of Lucky Charms. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La,Da. From this end of the country you can’t help but notice what some of the other teams have done to boost their payrolls around MLB. The Angels continue to stir the pot here on the west coast and over on the east, you can’t look past what the Marlins have done. Yes, the Marlins have added some major talent to their roster, but the Padres will be the better looking team uniform wise. I’m just saying. As Padres fans gather their thoughts of the 2012 season, the team has some bigger issues… will the real owner of the San Diego Padres please come forward. This era of Padres baseball wasn’t supposed to be a transition period. It is but more so for Jeff Moorad and his group of investors. As MLB has put a hold on the transition of ownership of the team, former or maybe current owner John Moores has reportedly already went out spending cash oh his end. According to a recent news story, Moores has bought a very affluent Hospitality Inn for the sum of $30-million.  This is a project that needs millions more in upgrades and renovations. Too bad he didn’t think that way about the team over the past few years. Hey I’m grateful for Moores and former business partner Larry Lucchino for saving and making baseball fun in San Diego, but over the last few years there hasn’t been much to brag about.

The past eight weeks could have or may have been baffling for some including me, such as the Matt Latos trade to Cincinnati, but now I am at ease. The Padres didn’t feel he was going to be the ace of the staff like many thought and there also seemed to be an attitude that only those in the club house saw. Then there is Heath Bell. I am going to miss that guy. While there are those players reporters would rather not deal with, Bell was just the opposite. He came to play everyday with a smile and he was an all-star who loves the game. For the first time in a long while the team will have a different closer in Houston Street. (1-4/3.86/29 Saves last season with Colorado).  His numbers may depend on how the pitching staff fares? Joining the staff will be Edinson Volquez who went 17-6 in 2008 and has gone 13-12 since. I understand why the team let Anthony Rizzo go, but I still scratch my head that he was the cornerstone of the trade from the Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez. With Rizzo gone, Yonder Alonso who came over in the Latos deal will get a shot at first. (.330/5/15) in 47 games. Alonso struck out 21 times in 88 tries.

Last month the Padres said they had some payroll flexibility and since then we have seen them acquire Carlos Quentin who agreed to a one-year deal worth just over $7-million. Volquez and Quentin are among 9 of 11 players who were signed by the team this past week. Others who signed who were arbitration eligible, Tim Stauffer, Luke Gregerson, Joe Thatcher, Will Venable, Nick Hundley, John Baker and Chase Headley. The two still unsigned are pitchers Clayton Richards and Dustin Moseley.

For now, at this moment, all I can say is Go Padres! I will be there for opening day like many other fans as well as the random Monday or Tuesday game with other Padres fans.

The "Boy Wonder"

This (past) Thanksgiving (2011) there is plenty to be thankful for. Here at Baseball Reflections we talk about baseball and usually the world baseball fans live in is a bit different from what else is going on in the world or in our lives. Yet for some of us, baseball is our lives… it’s our pastime. And when it comes to being a fan of the San Diego Padres there are some holes… gaps that need to be answered. I guess fans will have to wait and see what the off-season moves will bring and how thankful we’ll actually be. It reminds me of so many years in the past. In the history of the Padres I can think of a handful of times when Padres fans were pretty excited about the coming year.

In 1968 San Diegans were excited to have landed a Major League Baseball team for the 1969 season. In 1983 the franchise built a team that made its first trip to the World Series the following year and in 1997 they did the same for their second trip to the Fall Classic. Then in 2003 it was preparing for a move into a new ballpark. Yes, there have been some surprises along the way, the most recent being the off-season of 2008. Not many people picked the Padres to have the success they had in 2009. What made that season exciting was the fact there was a young General Manager in Jed Hoyer, who got productivity from a group of young talent. The 2011 season saw the Padres finish with a 71-91 record and the departure of Hoyer, whom I referred to in 2008 as the “Boy Wonder”.

The “Boy Wonder”, has wandered off to Chicago. I am the type of fan who gets over things very quickly when it comes to sports, yet seeing Hoyer leave had a lasting taste of bitterness. I wanted to see him succeed here, more than just what he did in 2009. Now I’ll never know. I understand why he left, bigger opportunities with bigger results. Hoyer has a chance to be part of something very unique. To be part of what the Boston Red Sox did in 2004 and what is possible in Chicago.

Fans are also left with the fact that the team declined to pick up the option of Aaron Harang (14-7/3.64) and as of right now there are questions whether or not fan favorite and All-Star Heath Bell will be back as the team’s closer. They decided not to trade him. Since they did not trade him, now he’s going to walk and the team doesn’t get what they potentially could have gotten for him during the trading deadline last season! Heath Bell wants to stay in San Diego, he loves the community, and he loves the Padres.

I don’t want to take anything away from the team’s new General Manager Josh Byrnes, he has a window of opportunity here and I eagerly anticipate what will happen. So for now, this is what I am grateful for this Thanksgiving when it comes to the Padres.

New uniforms! Yes the team will fashion new duds in 2012. Really? Team President/Chief Operating Officer Tom Garfinkel said, “We spent a lot of time listening to our fans about the uniforms over the past two years,” said Garfinkel. “What we learned is that, while the current design isn’t loved, there is also a strong feeling that this club has had so many radical changes over the years that we didn’t need another one. With that in mind, our staff worked diligently, reviewing every detail to create a more traditional baseball design that San Diegans can be proud of. The new uniforms and logos focus on the unique elements of Padres history.” My thought is, why change the team’s look if the team is winning… oh yeah. If the team is winning consistently is it necessary to have a new look? Shouldn’t we be more concerned about what we are paying for on the field? What is nice to see (and I am thankful for) is the team’s support of the community, they announced that they would supply 10,000 youth baseball players from four local Little League districts, Padres jerseys for the upcoming season as part of the club’s ongoing effort to support youth baseball. As part of this program, the teams representing Little League districts throughout San Diego County will have their choice of selecting one style of uniform worn from throughout Padres history to wear during the 2012 youth baseball season.

There is more to be thankful for, such as former Major Leaguer and Padre Phil Plantier being named as the team’s new hitting coach and the signing of veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay. Plantier had success as the team’s California League manager this past season. He took over the team midway through the season and helped lead them to a championship; he takes over for Randy Ready who was fired following the Padres season. I’m excited to see how Plantier handles the challenge he has for the coming season. Kotsay will add veteran leadership off the bench and help some of the younger talent on the team. And lastly, I am thankful for the team announcing their spring training schedule; I can always get excited about a new season of baseball.

Image taken from Google Images

Let me make this clear. I love baseball. As a kid growing up the other sports seasons started when baseball ended. If there was no game seven of the World Series, whatever the date the last game of the series was to be played was the end of the baseball season. Yes, I watched the Super Bowls, the Rose Bowls, the NBA Finals, boxing but it was only filler until baseball started all over again. Then I landed the ultimate sports fans job… working at an all sports radio station. That’s when I saw sports evolve into a year round business… and if I wanted to keep my job I needed to know what was going on 24/7 in the sports world. My main beat was covering the San Diego Padres, the team I grew up following.

Image via Wikipedia

I covered the Padres for nearly twenty years until things changed for me professionally a couple of years ago. Not that I wasn’t that true baseball fan or Padres fan during those years covering the MLB, somewhere along the way I started to see the game differently. Traditions of the game started to change and at times I felt I had to help sell the direction of the game whether I wanted to see it change or not. There were players I enjoyed seeing play day in and day out and experienced some of the funniest things and not so funniest things. It was a great job! Knowing my last day covering the MLB was inevitable, I wondered how life was going to be, well post MLB job? I think those closest to me wondered the same thing. The following season I sat in the stands on opening day and watched the game as a fan (in the stands) for the first time in nearly twenty years. I had a beer, hot dog, popcorn (not necessarily in that order) sat next to my wife and being a fan came without a hitch. A bit different from what I was use to, but very relaxing and enjoyable. Three years removed from my days covering the team, things are quite normal, now we have a daughter to pass the game on to.

With the curtains almost drawn on another season, I’m prepared for whatever the sports world wants to throw my way; ultimately I am waiting for next year. Which leads me to what was going through my mind as I saw the Milwaukee Brewers play-off run end on Sunday.

I was watching the game with family and friends and as the camera panned its lens around the ballpark you could see the different emotions on the faces of the Brewers fans. I said aloud to those near me, “At least those fans saw there season go as long as it did… for Padres fans our season ended sometime in late May”. Yet, that didn’t stop me from going to the ballpark… I was there until the third to last game of the 2011 campaign… assessing the team and what is to come in 2012.

Image by SD Dirk via Flickr

As the season came to a close, I couldn’t help but look at the light at the end of the tunnel. There is a glimmer of hope. I can see it. A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to chat with a friend of mine, Randy Johnson. Johnson, formally a special assistant to Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, is now the Padres field coordinator. Not only does he run spring training he also has the task of making sure the team’s organization is following through with its game plan. I complimented him on the success the team’s minor league system had and he shed more light in my direction. Johnson reminded me how unprecedented it could have been. Four of the seven minor league teams were in the play-offs. Two of them won championships. They could have had five or six league MVP’s if guys had stayed put, but with the big league club bringing up their young they eventually produced the Midwest League MVP Rymer Liriano (.319/62/12). Two names that fans became familiar with that shined below and had a taste of the big leagues were Anthony Rizzo and James Darnell. Jedd Gyorko, Cory Spangenberg, Alberth Martinez and Yoan Alacantra were names that shed bioluminescence bouncing from one team or another through the system this past season.

Yes, these young players have a lot to prove at the sports highest level, but for now I have no reason to dim the light at the end of the tunnel. Wait til next season!

It seems as if no one in the NL West wants first place. It is truly sad when the Rangers would be in 1^st place if after the All Star break if they were in the NL and they’re only 4 games over .500. No NL West team is above .500 as of July 21, 2008.

So what seems to be the problem? Could it be that most teams in both leagues are having difficulty winning on the road, a 2008 phenomenon? It’s not that these teams lack talent, they’re just not performing.

The San Diego Padres have good pitching with Jake Peavy, Chris Young (before the injury), Greg Maddux and Randy Wolfe, but 40 year old Trevor Hoffman might just be showing his age despite having only 3 blown saves thus far. Their infield is OK with Adrian Gonzalez (1B) having another great year in a non-hitter friendly park, Khalil Greene at SS and Kevin Kouzmanoff is solid at 3B. Where they need help is at catcher (due to injury) and the OF. They’re not even playing .500 baseball at home, let alone only having 15 road wins so far and their runs scored/against difference is a – 99. Geoff Young, author of the Padres blog “Ducksnorts”, if you’re reading this, what is your take on the situation that has plagued them so far this year?

The San Francisco Giants started out well, but now find themselves close to the bottom of the division which is where most people expected them to be this year. Sorry Giant fans, but it’s true. Now don’t get too depressed, look on the bright side. You have two great young pitchers in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum and if Barry Zito can learn to breathe out of his eyelids once again, he might round out one of the best starting three rotation in the major leagues. Your outfield is also in decent shape with Aaron Rowand in center, Randy Winn in right and the young speedster Fred Lewis in left. But your infield is a mess especially after Ray Durham was traded. Now you only have Rich Aurilia (1B/SS/3B) when he’s healthy, but he’s not the player he once was. As for your catcher, Benjie Molina, his better days are behind him although he is having a decent year. He still shouldn’t be a cleanup hitter. That right there should tell you something! J It has recently been mentioned that manager Bruce Bochy has informed SS Omar Vizquel that his playing time will be reduced in the second half so that they can see what they have for young talent at the position. His glove work is still one of the best in the game, even in his 40’s, but he’s below the Mendoza line offensively. Can someone over at Bay City Ball or The Giants Baseball Blog shed some light on the direction their team is going towards.

The Colorado Rockies have a potent line up when healthy, especially at Coors Field, but find themselves 7 games out of first place and smack dab in the middle of this division. What I see as a number one problem is the last of good solid pitching. They lost a few arms from the starting rotation and the bullpen  from their trip to the World Series last year. They do still have their ace in Aaron Cook and their young gunslinger in Ubaldo Jimenez, but he is too inconsistent to be a number two starter in nasty Coors Field. In Coors park, you need a good pitching staff to survive, even with the Humidor. Young SS Troy Tulowitzki has been either slumping or hurt for most of the year so far (2 stints on the DL) and things have gotten so bad that there are rumors of trading set up man/closer Brian Fuentes and/or LF Matt Holliday who was once again an All Star and is even signed through 2009. They still have the speedy Willy Taveras in CF and Brad Hawpe, but even he is struggling as he always does against lefties. Then there’s 3B Garrett Adtkins who is currently playing 1B for the injured Todd Helton (back woes). Their runs scored, by no surprise is the best in the division, but it is dwarfed by their division high runs allowed which leaves them with a negative split (-75) that is worse than the SF Giants. This might be a stretch, but I think this stat tells a lot. Maybe someone over at Purple Row can elaborate more on the state of the Rockies for us. We’re all eyes and ears!

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a new manager this year and with him comes a wealth of knowledge about how to win at this game. As you all know, it’s the well respected Joe Torre, formally the manager of the NY Yankees for the previous 12 seasons. They host the lowest runs against total in the division at 405 and that’s with # 1 starter Brad Penny, RP Scott Proctor, SP Jason Schmidt and closer Takashi Saito on the DL for the better parts of this year. Starters Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and especially their rookie from Japan, Hiroki Kuroda have held the fort so far this year. They have gone to the youth movement for most of the year, a smart move if you ask me, with James Loney at 1B, Blake DeWitt at 3B with Matt Kemp and Andre Either in the OF to go along with fellow outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones, who currently just came off the DL and has been disappointing when healthy. SS Rafael Furcal started off hot as a firecracker, but landed on the DL not too long into the season and is now out for the year with a back injury. Nomar Garciaparra is now back at SS at least until they find a replacement. Nomar just isn’t the same player he was in Boston. His fielding and power have both gone south due to various injuries. Both Jeff Kent (2B) and Russell Martin (C) are having typical years for the Dodgers. In Martin’s case, that means an All Star performance yet again while also filling in at 3B (the position he was drafted in) for a few games due to injuries to DeWitt and Nomar. Typical set up man Jonathan Broxton has also been his typical good self even when called upon to close when Saito’s been hurt or on the DL. What insight can Dodger Thoughts, from the baseball toaster add to this discussion?

The Arizona Diamondbacks are also going young and were lights out to start the year, but soon fizzled out come May and have continued to do so thus far into July, too. As an example, the injury to Eric Brynes not only slowed him down and kept him from stealing bases, but he is now lost for most, if not all of the season. This has forced them to switch 1B Conor Jackson to LF duties and now rookie RF Justin Upton is also on the DL (oblique) as of the 19^th. Upton’s injury has placed utility man Chris Burke into a starting role in RF. The pitching has been very good most of the time with starters Brandon Webb, newly acquired during the off season Dan Haren, Doug Davis (even after his short cancer scare), Micah Owings and 45 year old Randy Johnson. Owings started off  red hot, but has recently cooled off considerably in the past month or so due to control issues and the like. Their relief pitchers are highlighted by Set up man Tony Pena (who might close some day), Chad Qualls, Doug Slaten and current closer Brandon Lyon. The remaining infielders aren’t too shabby either with Orlando Hudson at 2B, Stephen Drew (J.D.’s little brother) at SS and Mark Reynolds at 3B with Chad Tracy back from injury playing 1B, but will now be platooning with recently re-aquired 1B Tony Clark and Chris Snyder behind the plate. Anything to add from the desert on behalf of their team from either AZ Snakepit or MVN’s Out in the Desert?

This is really a two team race right now unless something drastic happens between the two teams who are currently tied for first, but are both still under .500; the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. Joe Torre is an advantage for the Dodgers, but I still like the talent on the Diamondbacks to take this division.

This is a tight division overall and anyone can easily pull ahead of the pack, but they will need to improve without costing them security in another spot on the roster (see the D’backs with trading Jose Valverde). 

1.      Diamondbacks : The difference makers here are the departure of SP Livan Hernandez and the addition of SP Dan Haren via trade from the A’s; a healthier Randy Johnson at the top of the rotation with Webb; the addition of RF Justin Upton from the minors for a full season; and the full time play of 1B Conor Jackson, no longer platooning with the veteran Tony Clark (one of the most classy guys in MLB). They may take a hit from trading their closer Jose Valverde to Houston and being replaced by either Lyon or Pena. Also, you might see improved play from C Chris Snyder in 2008 and that will only help. Chris Young needs to get on base more if they are to score more runs this year, or else move him to the # 3 spot in the line-up. Extra: Personally, what I am eager to see is if pitcher Micah Owings can continue his dominance over all other pitchers at the plate in ’08. Last year, he hit better than some position players. He may even see some time as a DH in his non-starts against the AL. 2.      Rockies : With the exception of 2B and maybe C, this is the best line-up in the NL West. What they need to dominate is a solid rotation. The bullpen, unlike most other NL bullpens, is solid. It’s what got them to the world series back in October. Holliday will be the same, which is an All Star/MVP like performance in 2008, but look also for a better year from Helton (production numbers) and Atkins who had a subpar 2007 due to his early slump and was not as productive away from Coors. 

3.      Padres : Their whole pitching staff is solid, one of the best in baseball! What they lack is power in the OF. To compete, they need another bat in the OF and Jim Edmonds to play like his old self and not like the player that he seems to be, a broken down shell of his former self. Sorry Jim, but you should be a corner OF’er at this point in your career.  

4.      Dodgers : Will Joe Torre make an immediate impact or will his superior managerial ability take time to show fruit in LA? Only time will tell. The big question mark here is who will play 3B. Short term, it looks like Tony Abreu, but the Dodger’s long term goal might not be Nomar nor LaRoche. Look for them to shop around at the deadline for a permanent replacement there. Then there’s the question of when they will trade Juan Pierre to make room for the youngster Andre Either in the OF. They will loose the speed of Pierre, but will gain a much more desirable bat in Either. Their pitching looks good if it can stay healthy, but the bullpen, outside of Saito and Broxton, could be improved upon.   5.      Giants : Although the distraction that was Barry Bonds is no longer a concern of the Giants, they still have a mountain to climb in the NL West. Yes, they added CF Aaron Rowand, but last season’s numbers where not the norm for this hard-nosed CF’er. They still need to improve at 3B and in the bullpen as well as 4/5 starters. They don’t even have a legitimate closer yet (no disrespect to Brian Wilson, he just hasn’t done this job before)! They’re also getting old, even without Bonds. They have 6 out of their starting 8 position players over the age of 33 and 4 of those are over 35. They need to find understudies at 1B, 2B, SS and the OF. Although Rajia Davis is an option, but he’s more like a CF’er (speedster) than a corner outfielder that’s a power producing hitter. On the up side, their top three pitchers are very good (Zito, Cain and Lincecum). Until something drastic changes, they will remain last in this division for the foreseeable remainder of Rowand’s contract. But, we shall see.