0-6 On Road Trip

FF has only one word to describe the play that led to the Padres going win less in their 2 city trip to division rivals, Arizona and San Francisco. That word is: PATHETIC

Hayhurst To Make Debut

If you are asking yourself who Dirk Hayhurst is, you are not alone. The 27 year old hurler will get the start Saturday afternoon in San Francisco after 6 seasons in the Padres organization in the role of "anonymous henchman". Hayhurst has been given this opportunity because he has turned himself into a suspect type prospect after years of having only organizational value and providing minor league depth. The Padres are officially using the rest of this season as a glorified tryout for 2009 and beyond. Hayhurst will be pitching to convince the Padres that he is worthy of being on the 40 man roster this offseason, otherwise the Friars would have to make him available in the Rule V draft.
FF wishes Dirk Hayhurst all the luck in the world, and has some advice for the rookie: don't give up any runs, because your "offense" doesn't like to score...

Bad Moon Rising

We at FF want to apologize for the lack of activity lately. Unfortunately, we're just fed up with this team. We can only hope that rock bottom was the revealed preference to watch mens synchronized diving over the Padres. In the good old days of bad Padre teams, we still kept the TV on watch T. Gwynn's pummel the 5.5 hole. Now we have been forced into a mode that can only be compared with the Kevin Gilbride era. We'll still make some occasional posts, but for the most part, FF, like all Padre fans, just wants the misery to end so we can move on the brighter pastures of the 2009 season - it certainly can't be worse than the '08 debacle. God help us if the Chargers regress.

Maddux To Join Manny?

Greg Maddux and his 350 wins look to be headed to LA to play for the 1st place Dodgers after nearly getting shipped to the Padres rival prior to the non waiver deadline. Maddux was given a full no trade clause and has made it known that the Padres and Dodgers are the only teams he would play for this season. The two clubs are in the process of exchanging names to try to make a match. The Friars stand to save over $2M, and the Dodgers are close to acquiring a true class act for their post season aspirations.

Short At Short

The Padres dig deep in their farm system and unexpectantly pluck AA shortstop Sean Kazmar. The somewhat anonymous 24 year old, a 5th round pick in 2004, is hitting .264 while never playing above AA. The injury to Khalil Greene exposed a huge hole in the Padres organization. Some would blame this deficiency on drafting local product Matt Bush, while others might question the complete oversight by the front office. FF wonders why the Padres wouldn't have a veteran stop gap in Portland for insurance, Khalil Greene has played a full season one time (2007) in the last four years.

The San Diego Discount Paradox

The Padres have become (in)famous for their "San Diego Discount". The basic idea is that San Diego is America's self-proclaimed "Finest City". The fantastic weather, almost brand new ballpark and it's excellent playing surface, as well as the highly regarded training staff do come at a price. The San Diego Discount.

Folks like Jake Peavy, Brian Giles, and Phil Nevin have all taken less money to play in the bastion that is San Diego. Kevin Towers seems to seek out Southern California natives that may be even more likely to come back to the future. The trick here is that any player that really can get big money elsewhere rightfully demands some level of no trade powers to take less money. These (relatively) long terms deals seem to frequently lead to players that cannot be moved (despite the front office's best efforts). At some point, the front office has to ask itself what the opportunity cost of the San Diego Discount really is. Otherwise said, how does the San Diego Discount affect the next best opportunity that Padres could pursue.

Often, the San Diego Discount translates to a few million dollars saved on a yearly basis for a declining, unmovable player. See Nevin and Ryan Klesko. Padre fans should consider that the only true offensive threat in the lineup may never have become a force for the Friars if Klesko hadn't injured himself, opening a position for Adrian Gonzalez. Otherwise put, Klesko's San Diego Discount almost cost the Padre's Gonzalez's bat. The front office may argue that this would have only been for one year, while Klesko's contract expired, but that still means that they would have been fielding Klesko solely to justify his unmovable contract.

In the case of Nevin, the opportunity cost of his no-trade powers ended up being Chan Ho Park. For a mid- to small-revenue club, Chan Ho Park at $14M per season seems a little extravagant. Then again, it really wasn't Chan Ho Park's fault - FF would place the causality on the San Diego Discount. (We would be remiss not to note that Nevin did do the Padres a favor by vetoing a trade that would have brought Sidney Ponson to the Friars, but that doesn't justify the San Diego Discount) Nevin also vetoed a trade that would have brought Ken Griffy, Jr. to San Diego, but we digress. The main point here is that Phil Nevin's San Diego discount ended up being more than $15M spent for a marginal pitcher. That money could have definitely been put to better use, but for the San Diego Discount.

This week we saw another execution of the San Diego Discount with Brian Giles killing a deal to Boston, apparently creating something of an uproar in the clubhouse. Giles plays hard, is having a decent season, and is a good clubhouse guy. That said, he's a big investment for a small budget club. FF doesn't fault Giles for vetoing the trade. Here's a shocker - we fault the San Diego Discount. We'd like to see those statisticians and economists that Padres employ take a good look at the San Diego Discount. Given Sandy Alderson's stated distaste for long term contracts, we suspect that no trade powers attached to those contracts only leaves a more bitter taste in his mouth. It certainly does for us.

The San Diego Discount should be abolished. We suspect that paying the market rate where reasonable is likely worth keeping all options open. Players with five years on the same team and ten years of MLB service get the no trade powers they deserve. Let's just leave it at that.

Giles Decision Friday

Padres right fielder may have played in his last game for his hometown team (this season anyway). The Boston Red Sox submitted a waiver claim on Giles and the two sides are reportedly working hard on putting a deal in place while working with Giles to insure he accepts the move. If the San Diego native accepts his trade he would be propelled into a pennant race with the defending world champs, but lose playing time. The water cooler talk has shifted from the thought that Boston put in the waiver claim to block Tampa Bay or the Angels from a shot at Giles to the idea that the Sox want Giles for depth and injury insurance.

FF feels differently about this waiver deal as we did to last year when it was the Padres who claimed Kei Igawa from the New York Yankees. With that deal it seemed only San Diego really wanted to work out a deal, and in fact, no trade took place. This transaction would allow Giles to compete in the post season and possible return back home to San Diego as a free agent after this year. FF gives this deal a sold 70% chance of happening today. The logic behind that percentage is based on the great relationship between the GM's, Kevin Towers and Theo Epstein, and the fact that Giles would move to a legit contender and could come back in the offseason and roam in front of the Petco Porch in 2009.

UPDATE: Giles blocked the trade, exercising his no trade powers, which included Boston and seven other clubs.

Giles Claimed Off Waivers

Brian Giles has been claimed off waivers by an unidentified team. The Padres and the mystery team have 48 hours to work out a trade that, according to Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com, the Friars want to make. If the two team can't decide on a trade, the Friars may take him back or release him to the team that claimed him.

Maddux Clears Waivers

Future Hall Of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux has cleared waivers meaning he can be traded to any team (that he approves) at any time . The Dodgers are still believed to be the only team that Maddux is willing to play for. The Dodgers have balked at what San Diego feels is a fair exchange in players and now LA is asking the Pads pay $2.5 of the remaining $3 million remaining on the contract. FF would like to see Maddux have an opportunity to win this season and it would be nice to get a quality prospect in return.

Baek, Bombs Provide Win At Shea

A solid outing by Cha Seung Baek gave the Padres a chance to make 3 solo shots and a gift wrapped unearned run stand up in a 4-2 road win. The Pads got 1st inning homers by Gerut and Giles and an insurance blast by Chase Headley in the 9th frame. The Friars will have to earn the series win by beating the Mets ace Johan Santana Thursday morning.

2nd Glance


Edgar Gonzalez misplayed two balls Wednesday and was lifted in favor of Tadihito Iguchi. FF feels that Gonzalez has earned the right to be the starter at second and is pressing due to the uncertainty of playing time. Edgar may not be a Gold Glove caliber infielder, but his presence in the 2 hole is much more formidable than Black's lineup with Iguchi. It will be interesting to see what happens with the second base position through the remainder of the season, there is always the (seemingly logical) possibility of a waiver wire deal shipping Tadihito to a contender in need of a veteran who is masterful in the field and streaky with the stick.

Stolen Season

Just a quick point of poorly this Padres team has been put together. In the month of July the Padres stole just 1 base. In the that same moth 96 players in MLB stole at least 2 bases! To make matters worse the player who swiped second was Greg Maddux, a pitcher who is over 40. I put this on Bud Black and the front office. The Padres rank last in baseball in SB's, and have no speed to speak of on the big club or in the system. Last FF checked on a team with no power and a huge ballpark should have a ton of speed. FF assumes it was an oversight in the computer program used to compile this group of players. FF is as close to fed up with this bunch of Padres as humanly possible.

Tale of the Tape: A 2.69 ERA with 7 Losses

Nothing highlights the 2008 season nor last night's 2-0 loss to the Giants more than Jake Peavy's season line: a 2.59 ERA, 122 Ks, just 33 BBs, and a 1.12 WHIP - to go along with 7 losses (that ERA now leads the National League). Peavy has often stated that he didn't pitch well enough to win after taking the 'L' this season. True to form, after the latest Padre debacle, Peavy offered this (quoted from the previously linked Yahoo recap):

We just have to play better. Everybody has to play better, myself included.

Guess he was upset for taking the collar himself. Regardless, we're tired of hearing it. Jake has pitched fantastically - on a good team with a full season under his belt, he'd be a Cy Young contender - again. How about one of six position players who took the collar last night stepping up and putting the loss on their shoulders - because that's how things really went down. That's how things have gone down for more than 60% of the season. The bottom line is that Peavy ended the game with a higher batting average (.257) than all but three starters - maybe he should play everyday.

We've Seen This Before

The Padres lost in typical fashion Friday night. After an Adrian Gonzalez homer in the 8th tied the game at 2 the game drifted into extra innings where Bud Black used Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman records two quick outs then gives up a couple hits, and a run. The Friars mount a comeback with 3 consecutive 1 out singles to load the bases prior to Kevin Kouzmanoff grounding into a game ending double play.

FF has pointed out how much worse Hoffman is in a tie game and yet, Black continues to run him out there. The lack of run producing at bats with runners on 3rd and less than 2 outs has been alarming for some time...This dreadful season is more than half over.