Todd Walker is not Aundrea

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 2:10 PM PDT in News

It looks like we ended up with a curb girl. I'm not really sure what Todd Walker is going to do for us.

Sometimes I'll do something just because I feel like everybody else is doing it. It's kinda like peer pressure. If everybody else jumps off of a bridge, then... you know... I guess I'll jump off too. However, I was hoping that maybe Towers would be more strong willed than me and not just make trades to flap his wings.

If somebody can explain this trade to me... Ummm... Please do.

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Me Too

I'm trying to figure this one out as well. Are they really gonna put this guy over at 3rd? They definately didn't notice his lack of offense unless you really like getting a single every 3 or four games. Is that all there is?

Boy did the Dodgers do some strong trading. I still know they will stay in the cellar for the rest of the year but they are pretty impressive at the deadline.

by fairweather on Jul 31, 2006 2:18 PM PDT reply actions

Dodgers did do some dealing

But is anybody in the NL West really scared of Maddux? Seems kinda fluffy to me.

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions

What I wanna know

I'm curious what roster move is going to be made. Are they gonna demote a bullpen guy? Have we seen the last Bellhorn or Blum? Ben Johnson is ready to supplant EY any day now. I think this'll definitely be interesting.

by matthewverygood on Jul 31, 2006 2:27 PM PDT reply actions

Bellhorn/Blum

These guys are the big reason why I'm not sure what the thinking is with Walker. Are they thinking that Bellhorn or Blum couldn't do what a Todd Walker could do at third? I don't get it.

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 2:32 PM PDT up reply actions

At last...

we didn't give up anything. Towers has been known to pull out some stuff in the waivers trading period.

by FUBYU on Jul 31, 2006 2:27 PM PDT reply actions

Going Down

You gotta figure Bowen is gonna go down for now. How can they carry that many catchers all season?

by FUBYU on Jul 31, 2006 2:27 PM PDT reply actions

We Cut Vinnie for This?

We cut Vinnie for this? I do not get it.

by Enzo Hernandez on Jul 31, 2006 2:36 PM PDT reply actions

To make matters worse, we lost Linebrink

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-cottinebrinkcquiredb&prov=rotowire&type=lgns

We gave away Linebrink to the Mets for Oliver Perez (who they just got from Pittsburg) and a reliever Heath Bell. Oliver Perez, sporting a nice 6.63 ERA was also - you guessed it - a fucking Padre just a few years ago.

Todd Walker feels like the "we-couldn't-get-Ensberg" consolation prize while Perez feels like the "we-couldn't-out-trade-the-dodgers-for-maddux" consolation prize.

I don't feel like our team went anywhere today. I'd rather we platoon Blummer and Bellhorn, as Todd Walker is no better than either of them. Hopefully Perez can reignite his career...

by Brad @ Gaslamp Ball on Jul 31, 2006 2:42 PM PDT reply actions

Ugh

I'd like an explanation from Padres management as to why they did these horrible trades. I was so excited to see if we were gonna get some real impact players during this trade time. All we get is a bunch of crap.

by fairweather on Jul 31, 2006 2:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Apologies guys, Linebrink didn't go anywhere

As is starting to become clear, Linebrink apparently didn't go anywhere. Stupid Yahoo!/Rotowire!

by Brad @ Gaslamp Ball on Jul 31, 2006 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions

Enjoy your new clubhouse "cancer."

The Cubs have yours. (Nevin)

Wonder what Todd will complain about next? At least he's got the other no-talent, Williamson -- to buddy up with.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jul 31, 2006 3:55 PM PDT reply actions

I'm a little surprised

that everyone is knocking Walker's offensive ability. As far I know, numbers don't lie and his career marks sure do beat Blummer's marks and Bellhorn's whopping .233 CAREER average.

It's not like we gave away Kottaras or something. Unless someone can tell me there is some serious potential in the minor league guy the traded.

Now if smoothjazzman reports we are picking up a cancer, well, then I'd be worried because I thought we had just finished our khemo with Nevin.

If we are all upset because of no trade, if there was no deal, and the price was too high, then why pull the trigger just to please the fans. KT is not stupid. Every GM on every team has a bagful of stupid trades. This is not one of them, nor is the lack of trades a dumb thing. Plus this whole trade deadline thing is one dumb media hyped thing.

That being said, where is our 3rd baseman??? Personally, I'm sort of hoping we don't get stuck with some high priced 3B because I would love to see Leonne get a shot like Agon and Barfield did.

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 5:47 PM PDT up reply actions

And,

Maddux is through. His fast ball no longer exists. He's surviving by guile and smarts right now. It's time for him to shut it down before he looks even worse than he does now.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Jul 31, 2006 3:56 PM PDT reply actions

he reminds me

of the old guy in Major League

by garth on Jul 31, 2006 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions

You Mean the Guy Who Says

to Pedro Cerrano, "You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"

by Enzo Hernandez on Jul 31, 2006 5:53 PM PDT up reply actions

Walker is a rather significant upgrade...

offensively against righthanded pitching. He's roughly a .370/.410 guy based on his numbers this year (and park factors) against them. Compare that to .310/.370 for Bellhorn (the best of our thirdbasemen this year). Upgrade.

Friar Faithful

by Richard Wade on Jul 31, 2006 5:52 PM PDT reply actions

yeah...

what i was trying to imply above...i love when you throw the stats, except when its against me!

but i dont see how a guy that posts those career marks is an offensive downgrade considering we didn't give up anybody.

isn't KT known for picking up guys for free. doesn't this count as one of them?

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Still not enough offense ...

to replace the defense lost with the cutting of Vinnie.

by Enzo Hernandez on Jul 31, 2006 5:54 PM PDT reply actions

Vinny was the worst hitting...

third baseman in the Majors. The worst. His league average glove didn't make up for that.

Friar Faithful

by Richard Wade on Jul 31, 2006 5:55 PM PDT up reply actions

What it seems to me

It seems like Towers went out and used Blum and Bellhorn as his starting point and tried to upgrade from there.

What he should have done was look at the other likely playoff teams and tried to emulate what they're doing. Ain't no contendor gots no Todd Walker on their team.

It's almost as if Towers was looking for yet another guy to platoon at third base. It takes some doin' to get excited about this.

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions

The padres have said all along they need

a 3B. But you don't give up the farm. Corner him at the next pizza feed. You never know, some team could have been asking for barfield or agon, some of our hot talents for a proven power hitting 3B...would you be so inclined then.

Point is, lets wait until we really find out what teams were wanting for their 3B.

Who knows, maybe we screwed up by showing our hand a little too early and upping the ante prematurely. Hoping we'd pull a LA dodgers move.

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 7:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Realistically though

What did they get in Todd Walker?

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 7:58 PM PDT up reply actions

a better bat.

if i got blummer on the bench, and walker on the bench, i'm going with walker. why, WAYYYYY better bat. That by itself got you something. The fact we gave up no roster players nor hot prospects is even better.

We picked up a guy that the cubbies were trying to unload, and as far as i can tell, his cancer reputation aint nothing like nevin. and even you stuck up for him.

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions

point is...

if he ain't a negative, and hes not blum or bellhorn, then he must be positive.

hes nothing to get excited about, but i sure like him on our bench than some other guys.

hmmm lets take a lookie at our bench:

Bellhorn: .298/.382/.204 (yuck)
Young: .281/.313/.203 (ouch, only thing saving him is he can play outfield too)
Blum: .293/.347/.250 (ick)
B. Johnson: .321/.400/.240 (okay)
Sledge: .300/.333/.222 (okay given # of abs)

Walker 2006: .352/.390/.277
Walker career: .348/.437/.289

How can you not say he's an upgrade. If you're KT and nothings doing on the 3B front, are you NOT going to make this trade if it is staring you in the face.

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions

im not too exited either

but i aint disgusted either. with the exception of a power hitting 3b, i like our team a whole lot better than last years.

and i dare say, im pretty happy with this years padres power production.

by bktabinga on Jul 31, 2006 7:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Silly

Vinnie was in the top 3 of NL third basemen. He wasn't an "average glove." You are right, though, that this year he was not hitting a lick.

by Enzo Hernandez on Jul 31, 2006 6:24 PM PDT up reply actions

Don't take this the wrong way

...But are you related to Vinny? I have no idea how you can say that. If he was one of the top 3 NL third basemen, why hasn't anybody else noticed and picked him up? He must be better than 13 other starters. Again, it's just a very bold claim all things considered.

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 6:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Densively

I conceded that Vinnie was not producing on offense; who knows if he might have heated up with the weather. It should be beyond dispute that Vinnie was still an elite third baseman defensively.

Here are the recent NL defensive zone ratings from baseballthinkfactory.org:

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/rings/discussion/2006_defensive_ratings_through_june_22/

NL    3B    SF    Pedro Feliz    630    9.0    19
NL    3B    Mil    Corey Koskie    484.1    7.6    21
NL    3B    Was    Ryan Zimmerman    618.1    4.2    9
NL    3B    SD    Vinny Castilla    443.1    3.6    11
NL    3B    StL    Scott Rolen    500    2.5    7
NL    3B    Hou    Morgan Ensberg    559.1    1.9    4

You ask why Vinnie hasn't been picked up if he is so great. The answer is his lack of offensive production this year. Personally, I feel that if you start a poor fielding player he better make up for his fielding deficiencies with monstrous offense. No one the Padres have can do that. Now Morgan Ensberg, on the other hand ....

Sincerely,

Vinnie's Brother :)

by Enzo Hernandez on Jul 31, 2006 8:36 PM PDT up reply actions

I KNEW it!

good points. Glad you backed up the wacky talk. ;)

by Dex on Jul 31, 2006 8:40 PM PDT up reply actions

That's good for just under...

five runs prevented relative to a league average thirdbaseman. Compare that to runs below average offensively (just over 16) and he was good for a just over one loss all by himself relative to an average player in only 70 games.

Friar Faithful

by Richard Wade on Aug 1, 2006 2:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Bleed Cubbie Blue

Todd Walker Underrated

by jbox on Jul 31, 2006 6:54 PM PDT reply actions

Another BoSox?

Is San Diego becoming Boston West?

Let's see..........the Padres who were on the 2003 & 2004 Red Sox now include: Dave Roberts, Todd Walker, Alan Embree, Mark Bellhorn, ........anybody else I've forgotten?

by RoyalsFan on Jul 31, 2006 10:27 PM PDT reply actions