Smells Like Padres in Here - Thursday Edition

by Winfield's Ghost on Jun 26, 2008 7:35 AM PDT

Many thanks to Drama for taking over while I was experiencing technical difficulties.

I was gone from the Internets for five days, but it seems things are still the same. Can we PLEASE get serious about 100 losses now?

Canepa wakes up from his nap to give us his take on booing Trevor. He also uses a cliched headline from perhaps fifty years ago.

Gooch is ahead of schedule, but still not close to returning.

Do not disturb Shawn Chacon when he's eating. (Sent via Drama who seems sad that he had to give up this gig. You'd think he'd be busy with everything else he has going on.)

In the series finale, Josh Banks takes on Scott Baker. DAY GAME ALERT!!! Game time is 12:35pm PDT.

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How close are Alderson and Selig?

“We are going to study Maple bats”
“We are observers of our own team”
Somebody needs to make some decisions. Where’s the outrage? Why are there no rumors that Bud Black’s neck is on the line? How about KT? Depodesta’s obviously waiting in the wings, establishing a “repoire” with his blog. Do something to indicate that your paying attention other than simply assuring us that you’re paying attention. I say we get Shawn Chacon, and tell the players that for every error or strikeout, they have to have dinner with him.

"If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place." - Cicero

by Boilermaker19 on Jun 26, 2008 8:39 AM PDT 0 recs

It'd be dumb to fire KT in favor of DePo

Why get rid of talent in the front office? We need all the best minds we can get.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:27 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not advocating it,

Just predicting it.

"If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place." - Cicero

by Boilermaker19 on Jun 26, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

its times like these that really make me miss milton bradley

i feel like there’s no way he’s putting up with all this BS. i can only imagine the hilarity.

on a sidenote, has there been anyone in a long while MORE deserving of their own reality show than uncle milty?

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 8:56 AM PDT 0 recs

Unfortunately for you

Milton Bradley doesn’t miss you. He still thinks you don’t want him.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:27 AM PDT up 0 recs

wow

way to piss in my cheerios. between this and WG’s “tanking padres” rants in the other thread my day is really starting out in the crapper.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:43 AM PDT up 0 recs

I know

Milton Bradleys a dick huh?

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:45 AM PDT up 0 recs

yes

but he used to be OUR dick…

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

(setting that one up on a tee for someone to knock home)

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

But then he decided we didn't want him to our dick anymore.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:48 AM PDT up 0 recs

*to be our dick anymore

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:48 AM PDT up 0 recs

Exactly.

I’ve said it before…if Milton had any desire to be a Padre whatsoever, he’d be in San Diego. He used our offer to get where he really wanted to be: in the AL and in a decent hitters park.

"We are observers - - of our own team."

by Drama on Jun 26, 2008 10:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

ANALogy

What’s going on, as KT says, is bad, often dumb, baseball. And this - with major help from CEO Sandy Alderson, who oversees the entire operation - is Towers’ creation. In a way, it’s like an architect designing a $70 million building, looking at it upon completion and saying: “This is awful.”

Except that when you buy bricks and mortar for a building, they will continue to perform at the highest capacity that bricks and mortar possibly can achieve.

Baseball, kinda different.

A better analogy would have been a movie director… at least that involves a human element.

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

by Axion on Jun 26, 2008 9:16 AM PDT 0 recs

Canepa left out a part

What’s going on, as KT says, is bad, often dumb, baseball. And this – with major help from CEO Sandy Alderson, who oversees the entire operation – is Towers’ creation. In a way, it’s like an architect designing a $70 million building, looking at it after a hurricane has hit it and saying: "This is awful."

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:29 AM PDT up 0 recs

What hurricane?

The Padres have been demolished by the light breeze of indifference.

"If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place." - Cicero

by Boilermaker19 on Jun 26, 2008 10:37 AM PDT up 0 recs

Interesting

do go on.

How does indifference account for what was a winning formula falling flat?

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

by Axion on Jun 26, 2008 10:41 AM PDT up 0 recs

IOW

You think that the Padres are playing at their normal capabilities. Michael Barrett and Josh Bard are really .180 hitters? Khalil Greene is a powerless .230 hitter? Chris Young normally has a broken face? Everyone knew Jim Edmonds would suck like he’d never sucked before and require release at the end of May? Cla Meredith is really a 5.00 ERA pitcher?

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:42 AM PDT up 0 recs

i want christ young to wear the schnozeroo face mask like richard hamilton of the pistons

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:45 AM PDT up 0 recs

*chris

unintentional Headley reference. apologies.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:45 AM PDT up 0 recs

WWSD?

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

Absolutely

As I said yesterday, I’d be in favor of lots of armor for pitchers.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 10:46 AM PDT up 0 recs

i photoshopped a pic

of CY fighting D Lee with a stormtrooper mask on a few weeks ago, i was quite proud of it.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:49 AM PDT up 0 recs

for some reason it won't paste to here, so you'll have to link over

(cheap hits cheap hits haha)

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 10:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

Indifference is not a disease limited to management

I cannot be the only one who believes that some part of the lack of performance is due to a lack of motivation.

"If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second, or even the third, place." - Cicero

by Boilermaker19 on Jun 26, 2008 11:03 AM PDT up 0 recs

I agree that they could use someone who'll fire up the troops

But I doubt it would give them more than a couple extra wins. Which, at this point, doesn’t mean much.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:07 AM PDT up 0 recs

WRONG

A couple extra wins could mean the difference between 98 losses and 100 losses.

No firing up the troops.

KILL THE HOPE. COMMIT TO SUCKING.

by Winfield's Ghost on Jun 26, 2008 11:13 AM PDT up 0 recs

Another extension for Harry!

Make him even more comfortable! Get him a recliner in the dugout! Maybe a flat-screen so he can watch ET during the games.

"We are observers - - of our own team."

by Drama on Jun 26, 2008 11:15 AM PDT up 0 recs

Headphones

so he can’t hear the booing.

"It is only by an unimaginable chance that our world circles just close enough to and just far enough from a single, constant star."

by ABY on Jun 27, 2008 10:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hitter Productivity

I did some quick VORP calculations (for those not familiar, VORP is an objective measure of a hitter’s ability to create runs, 10 VORP is equivalent to 1 win above what a AAAA player produces). The combined efforts of our 4 hopeless catchers is so unproductive (-17.6 VORP) that it basically cancels out Giles’ very good season (18.6 VORP). Edmonds’ crapworthy performance (6.4 VORP) was nearly enough to cancel out Gerut’s surprising resurgence (8.0 VORP). So basically that renders 3 positions the Padres have to replcement level (the statisical equivalent of AAAA). Combined that with our replacement level production from SS and near replacement level production in LF and you get: 1 Stud (Ago: 30.6 VORP), 1 average player (EGon + Iguchi = 10.0 VORP), 1 barely adequate player (Kouz: 5.7 VORP) and 6 replacement level scrubs. No wonder we suck.

I think this emphasizes that our vast amount of sucking (hitting-wise) is all related to catcher futility, Edmonds suckitude, Greene’s collapse, and the in-ability to get production out of LF. If you remove two of those problems and we probably where the DBags are.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:21 AM PDT up 0 recs

scratches head

so thats bad right?

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:24 AM PDT up 0 recs

Yes, it is generally a bad thing...

to only have 3 of your 8 hitters performing at a level where you couldn’t replace them with a minor league without losing something.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:29 AM PDT up 0 recs

ahh so thats what it means.

ok. all these moneyball stats confuse me. probably why im the worlds worst fantasy baseball player.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

What's moneyball?

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:33 AM PDT up 0 recs

its a new game show i think

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:43 AM PDT up 0 recs

sweet

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

i mean i always figured we sucked

because the other teams were better at hitting, pitching, fielding, baserunning and bunting than we were.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

Managing, coaching....

"We are observers - - of our own team."

by Drama on Jun 26, 2008 11:31 AM PDT up 0 recs

knew i was forgetting something.

thx

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:32 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hey don't get too hasty

We are decidedly average when it comes to defense and we are only mildly bad at pitching.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:32 AM PDT up 0 recs

good point

when we are fielding well, we are REALLY good out there.

but when we are fielding poorly, we look like a damn tee ball team out there. epitomized by EGon fielding that potential inning ending DP ball and deciding to drop trou and poo all over the infield dirt, thus losing the game and making a giant mess.

as for pitching. well at least ledezma is gone. so thats a plus.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:37 AM PDT up 0 recs

And Germano

And Thatcher
And Cameron
And Rusch
And Henn
And En Gonzalez

all those guys contributed to our suckitude as well.

Unfortunately Hampson is still kicking around. (And for all you Hoffman haters, Trevor is still holding his head above water as far as performance goes. Your typical AAA pitcher doesn’t get a 10.38 K/9 or a 4.85 ERA)

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 11:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

glendon rusch was my nemesis

buddies and i had been heckling him every time he came to san diego for years. we just arbitrarily chose him. good times. its great to heckle no name schleps because at first they get excited you know their name. then it slowly turns to depression as they realize i am going to ridiculously applaud every thing they do.

WOO HOOO GOOD WARM UP PITCH YOU PEDOPHILE! etc.

ahh i miss the good old days.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 11:49 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hold On

VORP is a measure of how much better a player is over a replacement given the same amount of playing time. So even though Gerut is only at 8.8 VORP (almost one win) better than a replacement level player, it is only over 174 PA, and he is contributing pretty good defense (not included in VORP). He is also posting a .282 EqA, which is well above average. Egon is posting a 6.0 VORP over 113 PA, and has a .283 EqA, well above average, and much better than Iguchi before he went down (although Iguchi was hitting much better at that time). Those guys combined with Giles(.306 EqA), Kouz(.260EqA), and Adrian(.322 EqA), give us a pretty good 1-6 lineup. McAnulty is slightly above average, and I wish they would have given him more playing time. All that should be more than enough to make up for Greene’s poor season and the suckitude of our catchers(who, you are correct, have been awful by any measure this season). I don’t think our offense has so much been the problem lately as our bullpen. If our bullpen was even ALMOST as good as last year, we are where the Dbags are.

by osbug on Jun 26, 2008 1:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not talking about our current lineup

I’m referring to the season as a whole. I agree that our current lineup is a mildly productive unit that has been torpedoed by some bad bullpen work.

On a side, PMac is slightly above replacement, not slightly above average as you say.

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

by Wonko on Jun 26, 2008 2:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

Oops

By VORP, he is slightly above replacement, by EqA he is slightly above average. Pick your poison I guess. VORP is more of a rate stat, so if he got more at bats, I think even by VORP he would qualify as slightly above average over the season.

I agree with your analysis of the lineup, just wanted to point out that some guys VORPS are a bit skewed due to minimal playing time so far.

by osbug on Jun 27, 2008 8:50 AM PDT up 0 recs

Is anyone else not concerned with when Gooch comes back?

Edgar has been far better in that spot.

by RBS on Jun 26, 2008 9:30 AM PDT 0 recs

I am

concerned we’ll trade Egon.

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

by Axion on Jun 26, 2008 9:31 AM PDT up 0 recs

that would be a quality FU to the city of San Diego

people love that kid

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 9:36 AM PDT up 0 recs

Towers

said in his travels, Egon has gained a lot of attention from other FO’s.

Scary.

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

by Axion on Jun 26, 2008 9:39 AM PDT up 0 recs

im making a cartoony sad face right now

that would really push me over the edge.

edgar cracks me up when he’s running the bases, he looks so determined.

and with this team being the colossal sh!tbox that it is, i need to find amusement where i can.

http://www.wellbelowthemendozaline.blogspot.com

by justdave on Jun 26, 2008 9:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

If they let Edgar go

I’m gonna go to KT’s house and sh!t on his lawn.

Speaking of utility infielders that I love, I’m gonna be in M.E.M.P.H.I.S. (makin’ easy money pimpin’ hoes in style) at the beginning of next month and the Nashville Sounds are gonna be in town. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go down there but when I found that out I jumped at the chance to go see Callix Crabbe. I never thought I’d say this about him but I hope he doesn’t get called up anytime soon.

www.PadsAndEnds.blogspot.com
"jbox does not drink coffee, as it makes him clean house big time." ~Kev

by TheThirdGonzalez on Jun 27, 2008 3:14 AM PDT up 0 recs