The Padres embarrassed their franchise with the team they fielded last week in Yankee Stadium. No...

The Padres embarrassed their franchise with the team they fielded last week in Yankee Stadium. No power, no speed, no defensive range, no bullpen, no ability to keep the opponents' running game in check. So far this season, San Diego opponents have stolen a staggering 100 bases in 114 attempts. No team in baseball has more than 85 (Tampa Bay). The Padres could turn John Kruk into Carl Lewis.

"A lot of fourth and fifth outfielders and some extra infielders," says one NL scout of the '08 Padres. "That's what that team is made of."

Weekend Buzz by Scott Miller

5 months ago Axion Comment 47 comments 0 recs |

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Scott Miller - you're right, whoever you are

I remain particularly embarrassed with our trotting out P-Mac – he of the sinking .214 avg, a few flair hits and highly touted walks – to the fifth spot in the order. Ouch. I don’t get the extra infielders line though, since Edgar is now clearly one of our best players.

by Billy Almon on Jun 23, 2008 8:33 AM PDT 0 recs

Stansberror

I know we suffered an injury to Kooz, but we trotted out Craig Stansberry.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 10:06 AM PDT up 0 recs

Scott Miller - you're an idiot, whoever you are

Somehow this amateur’s name keeps popping up. He must spend like 30 seconds a week trying to think of something bad to say about the Padres. I bet he can’t even name 5 Padres. Well, that is unless a “scout” had a quote for him that included 5 Padres in it. I’m not sure I even follow the logic of the 4th and 5th outfielders and extra infielders thing. I get that we have a platoon in left that may be ideal, but only one guy starts and whoever isn’t is by definition a 4th or 5th outfielder. So far this year both Gerut and Giles are in the top 15 at their position offensive ahead of both the Yankees CF and RF. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t see Headley/Kouz as an extra infielder, and because Greene is having a down year I don’t think he is suddenly backup caliber (although offensively he would never be better than Jeter). 2B is kind of a wash (starter is injured, so how could we not have a backup there?), EGon may have started the year as backup, but he’s in the top 20 offensively (Yankee’s 2B is the second worst offensive 2B in the league this year). Now if they had even mentioned catcher, that would make sense. That is a giant void of suck. I can feel the sucking as we speak and it’s an off day today. Basically the Yankees beat us because they have ARod and no one else does. Their 1B was good, while ours have a few bad days, we were banged up, and their bullpen held it together better than ours. But you know, if Scott Miller’s “scout” said otherwise, it must be true.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 10:06 AM PDT 0 recs

So he's wrong?

You are proud of the team that the Padres put on the field in New York?

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 10:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

I went to 2 of the games.

It was a pretty embarrassing display.

PMac and Hairston are 4th outfielders.

And for all the talk about our pitchers just focusing on the guy at the plate, because that’s what’s important blah blah blah….the Pads let entirely too many people steal. I refer you to Thursday’s game. Melky Cabrera: Walk, SB, SB, R. Pads lose 2-1.

by Dalton on Jun 23, 2008 10:18 AM PDT up 0 recs

I agree it was an embarassing display

I just don’t think it sums up the Padres or the National league. It was probably the worst we played in a while and we were suffering injuries left and right.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 10:22 AM PDT up 0 recs

At least I can have an informed opinion about it

This guy hides behind his magical “scout”s. And actually, after looking at the 2008 numbers. The main difference in offensive levels between the two teams is ARod and Posada and the left field spot. I am not proud of what we put out at catcher, bullpen and LF, which would have been better if Headley didn’t have to cover for Kouz. I am realistic enough to know we will never have an ARod type player. I don’t know that the Yankees bullpen is especially better, but it played well for that series.

I’m just saying Scott Miller’s little tidbit is an under-analysis of the Padres (and the Padres-Yankees series in particular) and it’s not even close to the best way to sum up the National League (which is basically what he is saying: Padres suck in NY = NL bad).

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 10:19 AM PDT up 0 recs

But the Padres do suck

and they did embarrass themselves that series, flat out. I agree – Chase, Gerut and Giles is theoretically a decent outfield. P-Mac as a ‘fourth outfielder’ is generous.

by Billy Almon on Jun 23, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up 0 recs

I've come around on PMac

His offense is slightly below average for a LF and his defense is barely acceptable as a LF. That makes him a 4th OF in my book. Hairston plays better defense and has more power. With a healthy team that makes for decent 4th and 5th OFs, which is exactly their roles. In NY, we were not even close to a healthy team, as evidenced by Stansberry, who is an adequate 3rd choice at 2B, which is exactly his role as well.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

How many games you see in person at PETCO this weekend, Wonky?

Because Scott Miller attended at least one (Sunday), if not all three.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 11:13 AM PDT up 0 recs

Between Petco and Safeco

I have seen 11 games, I believe. I have watched every televised game I have not attended (I record games I can’t see live). Scott Miller attended the Yankees games does not make him more of an expert, in fact, I believe he saw a distorted representation of the team on those days. Also, I must point out that teams do lose in them major leagues and if you only attend games they lose you will get a distorted view of that team. Scott Miller needs to work a little harder when he breaks down teams instead of taking one quote from somebody he can’t mention the name of and basing his analysis off of that. This is the second time in the last week I have seen quotes from him where he does the say lazy “analysis”.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 11:45 AM PDT up 0 recs

*same lazy "analysis"

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 11:45 AM PDT up 0 recs

Like the kind

where you mistake thinking Scott Miller attended one game in New York where I just told you before that: he spent the weekend in San Diego and was in the Press Box of PETCO Park on Sunday?

All Scott says is the Padres are embarrassing: Check.
And that opponents have stolen 100 bases on the Padres: Check.

What NL scouts tell Scott Miller is what they think of the Padres, and they don’t seem to be proving anyone wrong.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 11:56 AM PDT up 0 recs

Scott doesn't say that they were embarassing

He says that they embarrassed the franchise. I think there is a difference. When you’re team gets hurt they have to play backups. Thems the breaks. When the backup don’t play up to the caliber of a $200 million payrolled healthy team it is embarrassing, but it doesn’t say much about the franchise.

So when is the wedding date for you and Scott Miller? You better hope your future kids get your genes because I have some doubt about his gene pool.

BTW, did any else notice that this discussion about some comments under the section heading “Hank Steinbrenner is right”?

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:05 PM PDT up 0 recs

And when is the wedding date for you and P-Mac?

Calling him a slightly below avg left fielder – you have to be looking at the world through Padres blue and sand colored glasses. Whatever his on base percentage is. .214 and 3 hrs over a lot of bats for what should be one of the best hitting positions?

by Billy Almon on Jun 23, 2008 12:14 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm just going by the defensive metrics

He’s produced like a decent defensive LF and this past weekend I imagine he only improved those number because I believe he made at least 3 Out of Zone (OOZ) catches (although they were in RF). His OBP is .355 which gives him value as a okay 5th outfielder, which is his role. I’m not sure I’d marry a guy who I like as a 5th OF though. I’ve got higher standards.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:19 PM PDT up 0 recs

Embarrassed

were embarrassing, are embarrassing… does it really matter?

5. Hank Steinbrenner is wrong. It’s called context.

When the man’s right, the man’s right.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:28 PM PDT up 0 recs

i also

sorta feel that the article is unnecessarily harsh. i had to put up with 5 and a half years of new england sports arrogance that sounded exactly like this when i lived out there. “quadruple A team” etc.

and yes, his article is poorly written and not backed up by evidence, just a baseball guy talking trash about a weak team.

but i gotta agree with him on some fronts. the fielding and baserunning of our team in New York was absolutely god awful and embarrassing. we didn’t look like we were fielding a professional team out there. i blame buddy black for his complete inability to get any kind of quality play out of an otherwise pretty talented young team. i hope he doesn’t hold back their development.

oh and michael barrett is terrible. i blame him for stuff too. you should try it its very fun…

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 23, 2008 10:49 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm right there with you

I was yelling at Barrett all day on Sunday. Not that Bard or Carlin are much better, but Barrett’s overthrow and his drop of the ball at home plate on a perfect throw by Khalil were icing on the cake for me. The game has passed him by (and it’s kind of sad, because I think the concussion last year may have been the main mitigating factor in his demise).

As much as they try to blame our pitchers for some of the baserunning issues, there have been statistical studies (I think Bill James did one) that show that catchers are the primary factor in holding baserunners. We need a catcher that can hit.200 and get some of these guys out. I will add that I think our numbers look even worse because teams try more against us. If teams tried a little more against other teams, their numbers would start to look worse because I don’t think catchers throw out guys as well as teams think they do. The book is out on the Padres though and nobody is afraid to test it.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 11:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

Whether or not the guy is unnecessarily harsh

This isn’t the year I get indignant about coverage of our team.

by Dalton on Jun 23, 2008 12:08 PM PDT 0 recs

Ha...I'm with you Dalton.

There are some emails I sent out it in March I’d really like to get back.

"My mind has wandered...from the flock you see. And the flock has wandered...away from me."

by Drama on Jun 23, 2008 12:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

"Dear Jon Heyman..."

“(not ‘Jon Assface’ as I referred to you in my previous letter).....”

by Dalton on Jun 23, 2008 12:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not indignant about our coverage

I’m indignant with this Scott Miller guy. I’m not a fan. I’ve got an axe to grind. Plus it annoys Axion that I dislike him so (the real reason :-O ).

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Correct me if I'm wrong

But is it you or I that has a word count in the thousands here?

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:28 PM PDT up 0 recs

I know

I’m surprised I’ve spent so much time ranting about Scott Miller (who is some nobody I should care nothing about), when I REALLY want to be ranting about Michael Barrett (who has forced himself into my life on a daily basis).

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:32 PM PDT up 0 recs

Let me roll over and ask Scott

what he thinks of Barrett. :)

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

Cut out the middle man

Ask Scott’s scout instead.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:34 PM PDT up 0 recs

I don't sleep with anonymous cowards

I expect a first name, hell, even a nickname will do.

Oh, and a reacharound.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

Oh

and you’d better believe Scott Miller links are gonna be posted here from now on as quick as I can get ‘em. :)

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

Bring it on

Let’s seen him and Rosenthal duke it out in a stupid beat writer contest.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 12:44 PM PDT up 0 recs

They are not "beat writers".

Like them or hate them….they are not beat writers. Corey Brock is a beat writer. Tom Krasovic is a beat writer. Guys like Scott Miller and Ken Rosenthal are not beat writers.

"My mind has wandered...from the flock you see. And the flock has wandered...away from me."

by Drama on Jun 23, 2008 12:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

Know thine enemry

Scott Miller: A wayward Midwesterner transplanted dangerously close to several In-N-Out burger locations in Southern California, Scott Miller has covered baseball for a variety of publications during the past 13 years before becoming the national baseball writer for CBS SportsLine.com in October 1999.
A native of Monroe, Mich., Miller graduated from Hillsdale (Mich.) College in 1985 and soon thereafter began covering sports for the Los Angeles Times, San Diego edition. After covering the San Diego Padres and the then-California Angels, Miller returned to the Midwest as the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press beat man covering the Minnesota Twins from 1994-1999. There, he chronicled six consecutive losing seasons, listening to tales of the Twins’ glory days of 1987 and 1991 all the while.

Miller is a past chairman of the Twin Cities’ chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, and he also served on the BBWAA’s national board of directors in 1998. In addition, he has won several writing awards, including two national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for event coverage in 1996 and 1997, as well as Society of Professional Journalists’ writing awards in both Minnesota and in Southern California.

He now lives in Southern California with his wife, Kim, also a writer, and daughter, Gretchen.

And his title is Senior Writer.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 12:54 PM PDT up 0 recs

Apparently he lost his touch in the 2000s

The 1990s sound like it was a good decade for him though.

I guess a beat writer only covers one team. I figured baseball was his “beat” but that definition doesn’t work.

Senior writer? Boy I hate to see the swill their junior writers put out. Yikes. Maybe it’s like being the tallest midget or the senior village idiot?

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 1:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Twins Lover

I bet he can’t wait to shred us when the Twins come. If it makes anyone feel better I didn’t know who Scott Miller was before I read this, and frankly I don’t give a damn. I know our team isn’t really good right now, but I gotta beilive the front office tries to put the best team on the field with the resources they have, but this guy need to take in account all the injuries that we have had. We all can’t be as deep/lucky as the Cardinals.

Padres Baseball. Feel the Frustration!

by offspeedkills on Jun 23, 2008 2:06 PM PDT up 0 recs

That's approximate

9 years covering the Padres and Angels (85 to 94), five years in Minnesota… (94-99). He votes for the HoF, ffs.

I am seriously disappointed more Padre fans do not know national baseball writers other than those featured on the Four Letter Network.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 2:31 PM PDT up 0 recs

Dissappointed?

I’m glad they don’t read the dribble that comes out of most of the BBWAA writers. With mlb.tv and Extra Innings there is hardly a need for this dieing breed. If I’m going to take the time to read someone’s article I want to see him put some thought or analysis into it or have in on a blog like this one where there can be a discussion (or some That’s What She Said comments). Guys like Miller and Rosenthal and the 4 letter network writers basically just parrot the information the MLB organizations want out there and mix in quotes from stuff I could read off the AP wire. Miller’s writing has no place in the avid baseball fan’s reading repertoire.

I watched all 22 innings and all I got was this lousy signature.

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 3:00 PM PDT up 0 recs

In your haste to blast someone

you just recently learned the existence of, you failed to notice the comments section at the bottom of every page, the comments section on his blog, both of which aren’t filtered, and the direct feedback link.

You are going to the record in failures at comprehension in this thread.
Let’s recap: Scott Miller attended games at Yankee stadium (oops, no he didn’t, that was PETCO, this weekend)
Scott Miller is a beat writer (oops, he’s not)
Scott Miller puts no thought or analysis into his writing and does not have it on a blog like this one where there can be a discussion. (oops, yes there is.)

What do you do for yet another encore?

Not that I need to throw out more qualifications, but he was also a weekly guest of Coach John Kentera’s on the flagship station you may have heard of called XX Sports Radio, home of the Padres, as recently as the last two years.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 3:30 PM PDT up 0 recs

Please...

Those lame comments sections at the end of the articles are akin to the UT comments and you know it.

I’m not going to buy into this guy until I see a link to a GOOD article he has written. The link here is to an article that is long winded, insight-light and jumps all over the place. It’s something an intern should be writing.

I still don’t get why you keep defending him. He’s obviously not as cool as you think he is.

Michael Barrett for Retirement in '08. Bring back Piazza!

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 3:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

Bear with me for a minute

Believe me this is totally hypothetical but… what if you aren’t nearly as cool as you think you are?

It blows your mind doesn’t it?

by jbox on Jun 23, 2008 3:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

You've lost me

Michael Barrett for Retirement in '08. Bring back Piazza!

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 3:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

Also

Where does it say he went to Petco Park? He talks about the Padres embarrassing the franchise against the Yankees, which was at Yankee Stadium, but yet you keep talking about Sunday’s game at Petco (which was against the Tigers). So sorry if I seem to be a bit confused about which games he attended and where. I also apologize that I misunderstood the term beat writer (but it doesn’t mean I don’t know what Scott Miller does for a living).

Michael Barrett for Retirement in '08. Bring back Piazza!

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 3:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

It was on the radio yesterday

Kentera spoke with him in the press box.

I’m not putting any effort into defending him, I’m poking holes in your hilarious attempts to discredit someone you just recently heard of.

“How dare someone talk bad about the Padres who I haven’t heard of!”

Keep it coming, this is a comedy goldmine.

can you cure us of this fate
mock the litany in its face

by Axion on Jun 23, 2008 4:02 PM PDT up 0 recs

No problem with him talking bad about the Padres

I just wish his stuff was more coherent and made sense. He complains about the Padres not being able to throw out runners then randomly inserts a quote about our team being a bunch of 4th and 5th OFs and extra infielders (which still doesn’t make sense to me). And the other one had some hilarious thing about trading Kouz because Headley couldn’t hack it in LF, which was based on almost no information/analysis at all.

He’s seems like a bad writer, who happens to be saying stuff about the Padres. If it were good stuff that made no sense I would have the same complaints.

Michael Barrett for Retirement in '08. Bring back Piazza!

by Wonko on Jun 23, 2008 4:08 PM PDT up 0 recs