http://www3.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/02/bn02enberg-joining-padres/

Enberg will call 100 games, Neely will work those that Enberg doesn't, Mud Cat stays as the analyst

Could be very interesting. Brings a BIIIIIG name into the booth with the Padres, but I wanna see what he can do in the booth with the Padres. I do kinda like Neely still, maybe put all three and see what happens. Should be a very interesting year.

I think Gwynn has played great for us since he came to San Diego from the Brewers. He's definitely become alot more then a legacy pick up for us and has contributed quite a bit, even if he has struggled for a while. But the more I ask, the more I don't get a clear answer if people think he could be a full time CF or RF for us. I think people are set with Venable (no doubt he's earned it) and I think people believe Blanks could play well in the outfield because he did for a short period. But the question remains; do you think Gwynn could or should play CF/RF full time for the Padres in 2010, and why?

I think personally he's shown he can cover ground well and has improved tracking the ball through the outfield. He's a decent hitter who could easily slide into that #2 spot (and would be ALOT better then Eck there) and provide us with two guys at the top who can run and get on base for our power guys.

Thoughts?

While I'm not necessarily trying to turn lemons into lemonade, with the 2009 season winding down is anyone else seeing some real positive signs for the next season? I don't know if that means we can compete with the Dodgers in this division (which is pretty competitive with 3/5 teams in the hunt), but it means I don't think we'll just be the automatic cellar dwellers.

Some of the positives

1. New young outfield - We've got four guys for three spots and all of them have shown they can play and hit. Gwynn had a very hot few months and only cooled off when he stopped getting regular playing time. Give him some more and he could once again be very effective at the front of the lineup. Blanks has handled RF better then any of us expected and has provided some great power and surprising speed. Venable has been equally outstanding when he gets regular playing time, something few of us probably saw coming (I didn't). And of course there's Headley who looks to finally be comfortable at the major league level. Four guys, three spots

2. Evereth Cabrera - I won't rehash this because its been spoken about regularly as one of the big positives of the year. He provides speed, defense and some surprising pop on occassion and has real all star potential.

3. Bullpen with help on the way next year - While this group has had its ups and downs there's some real potential and guys really showing they could stick.  Mujica has been pretty decent, as has Gregerson. Thatcher has been better lately. Adams was solid until he got put on the DL. Bell is Bell, and even with some bumps has been very good. Russell its too early to tell. Even perdomo and burke have had moments. And next year we will add Mark Worrell and Cha Sung Baek to the bull pen further strengthening it, with the possibility of adding AAA arms like de la Cruz. There's alot of good pieces here.

4. New rotation - Even with the Peavy deal there's quite a few pitchers here who could be fighting for a roster spot. Latos has been a great surprise, Young will return next year (need to see what he can do), Gallagher probably won't start til 2010 but has potential, Poreda is working on things in AAA, Russell and Stauffer have done well and we can resign Correria who was huge for us when the rotation struggled. Lot of young pitchers with alot of potential.

So does anyone else think that there's the potential to make good improvement next year or am I just blowing smoke?

http://coreybrock.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/07/stephen_strasburg_as_a_padre.html

As it stands now the draft would look like

1. Washington

2. Washington (compensation not signing Strausburg)

3. San Diego

4. San Diego (Compensation not signing Tate)

Its doubtful the Nationals would do the same thing twice and pick Strausburg. So that could mean we would end up with the ability to potentially pick Strausburg.

It is something of a dream, for now there appears to be no motion with the Nationals talk. But that could still happen and if it does it could make for one amazing possible occurrence.

Basically I've been thinking of the need to just tear the entire club down and start over from scratch. Its abundantly clear we don't have much in the way of talent besides a few key players. So a fire sale as well as a firing of key front office figures would have to be involved. At the position we are now, it'll be at least two years before we are competing. So frankly I say fire Black and most of the coaching staff and trade who we have now for some young players who are cheaper and can grow.

Fire Bud Black - he might not be totally responsible for this debacle but I don't think he's capable of motivating or bringing along our young players. Can most of his staff as well outside of Darren Balsley.

Trade Jake Peavy to the Milwaukee Brewers for Alcides Escobar, Brett Lawrie, and a pitching prospect not named Jeremy Jefferies.

Peavy will only go to National League teams, here's one that needs pitching. What we get back is their top prospect who's an incredible shortstop, a catcher/3B hybrid with ridiculous power and another pitcher. You could put Escobar at SS and move Cabrera (who i like) back to his natural 2B position. This would give us incredible range in the middle of the diamond combined with two guys who can flat out fly. A 1-2-3 of Cabrera, Gwynn, Escobar could run around the bases all day long. Lawrie has taken to catching better then 3B defensively, give him time and I think he could be good along with providing pop at a position we haven't had much of. At the very least he provides serious competition to Hundley (unknown) and Canham (I don't like). As for a pitching prospect, well, I just think Jefferies is a bonehead for getting busted twice with marijuana. So pick your pitcher to fill in.

Trade Heath Bell to the Florida Marlins for Sean West (and maybe Jose Ceda)

You want some power? How about a pitcher in High A compared roughly to Randy Johnson? He's big, he throws a mean fastball and has a decent slider and changeup. I think he could be another Mat Latos. And Bell, i do like him but let's face it, he has high value now and he's not used as much. Besides lots of people are clamoring for Schribner to be brought up and I agree he might have the talent to close immediately. With Ceda, if we could pry him, we get a guy back who we didn't know enough about when we sent him to the Cubs. Now we have someone who could close in AAA and could work as another arm or set up guy in the bullpen. At the very least he'll provide a nice change of pace from Gregerson/Worrell/Mujica who don't have Ceda's pure power.

Trade Adrian Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox for Clay Buccholz, Justin Masterson, Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson and another middle prospect

This one hurts because I like Gonzalez and it would take a massive haul like this to trade him. But I don't know how much higher his value could get and its clear the Red Soxs are lusting after Gonzalez, so why not take them for all their worth. I personally am not sure about Buccholz; For all the talk about his amazing make up and talent, he hasn't done much at the major leagues when he gets brought up. Yes he threw a no-hitter BUT since then he hasn't made many good starts. So i'm wary but he probably has to be in the mix. Masterson is a workhorse San Diegan pitcher who is good at control, has a unique delivery and I like alot. I think at the minimum he could be a great reliever and at best could be in the mix for the bottom of our staff.  Bowden is another control specialist who could truly thrive in Petco when he's pitched in some atrocious pitching environments in New England. I think he could be in the middle-back of the staff and again be a good pitcher. Lars Anderson - a powerhitting 1B - would be moved to LF (which he has played more often and better then Blanks). If you disagree with me, hey that's cool. Either way we get a patient hitter who can hit the ball very well. We definitely will need some more hitting after Gonzalez goes and he's the best they have. As for another prospect, I don't know who but take your pick.

Trade Kevin Kouzmanoff to anyone who'll take him for whatever they'll give us

I don't care who gets him and I don't care what they get for him. I've liked Kouz for a long while but its time to go. Move Headley back to 3B and go from there.

LINEUP

2B Cabrera
CF Gwynn
SS Escobar
1B Blanks
3B Headley
LF Anderson
C Hundley
RF Venable

BENCH

OF: Macias
INF: Salazar
INF: Gonzalez/Stansberry
OF: Baxter
C: Alfonzo

ROTATION
1. Young (Experience)
2. Latos
3. Buccholz
4. Bowden
5. Stauffer/Masterson/Correria

BULLPEN
CL: Schribner/Ceda
SU: Ceda/Gregerson
P: Worrell
P: Mujica
P: Gregerson
P: Perdomo
P: Adams

We're definitely younger and I think we supplement our current young guns with a massive wave of young talent. This at least would be more fun to watch then current Padres.

Apparently we just acquired a 31yr old jack of all trades for probably (outside of Heath Bell) our best reliever available for trade. I don't get this whatsoever. This is a major case of selling low and it doesn't make any sense. Where/how/what are we going to do with a guy with singles power only who plays all over the infield??

Someone explain this to me, it makes a bad day worse on the Padres.

MLB Trade Rumors

Amy Brittain Twitter

Wanted to put out a general post and see if, in this insanity of a very poor year with the Padres, there are some good things to think about in this team in the midst of this disaster.

Add anything or agree or whatnot, and I'll start out a few of them

1. Evereth Cabrera - I think he's only going to get better from here on in. He has some incredible speed and is solid in hitting. He will be something very special.

2. Tony Gwynn Jr - Again another that I think will just keep getting better with more and more playing time. He plays solid defense, he can be a slap hitter in this park and has very good speed. He needs to better utilize it on the base paths and learn to steal better but he and Cabrera give us one of the fastest fronts of the lineup we've had in almost a decade.

3. Some bullpen guys - I actually think we've got some young gems in the bullpen that no one is looking at or giving much love. I do like Gregerson and think he has potential. Mjuica has been quietly impressive. Bell needs no extra adjectives, he's been outstanding. And other guys like Perdomo and even Burke have had good times out there. Could be some very good players in that group - especially considering Schrieber and a few others in the minors and Mark Worrell.

4. Some minors talent - I won't include Kyle Blanks in this list. But Mat Latos, Sawyer Carrol, Dan Robertson, Logan Forscythe, Luis Durango, Cory Luebke, James Darnell and a few others are showing some real progress. Yeah I know this is still up in the air, and there's no guarantee. And maybe I'm being stupid but I think there's some real potential down the line.

5. New Ownership - I can only pray that finally we'll get some semblance of order, structure and focus on the team with a new ownership.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/03/padres-acquire-eulogio-de-la-cruz.html

What the heck is an Eulogio de la Cruz? Sounds like something you do in a Catholic Church in Mexico City.

He's part of the Miguel Cabrera deal, and apparently he's a hard throwing right hander (which means for the Padres.....he hits 90, maybe).

I know we need pitchers but come on, this is what we find? Serious?

This is going to be a long year

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/03/shawn_hill_signs_with_padres_a.html?wprss=nationalsjournal

So where does this put our rotation? I thought 4&5 were set with Correria and Silva with players like Nova, Ryu, etc going into the pen. I know its a minor league deal but I somehow doubt he'll really end up in the minors. I think he was picked up to help finalize one of the last two spots. So who goes or where does Hill go?

SullyBaseball

From a writer named Paul Sullivan, I've never seen teams that were home grown and acquired. Some interesting players in that mix for both sides

This is some great stuff, enjoy! And hey it beats talking about this team as it currently is, I call it my own little attempt to push some positivity on this site and about this Padre team.

At this point though, please tell me we've had a better home grown 3B then tucker ashford - i mean hell I'd rather put out Chase headley then that.

Also never knew Peavy was in high school musical, that's reason enough to want to trade him!