'Striking Out' With The Padres, Volume 1.0 The Padres are off to a fast start in 2008, not surprisingly on the backs of tremendous starting pitching. Adrian Gonzalez continues to be a road warrior and Tad Iguchi and Jim Edmonds have been serviceable replacements at second and center.
2008 Season Preview: San Diego Padres While San Diego waited for Matt Holliday to touch home, the Padres remade many elements of their club and could be even better in 2008.
Strong Bullpen Makes Padres A Tough Out They aren’t flashy or have the superstars people are drawn too, but the San Diego Padres have been consistently good in 2007 under new manager Bud Black.
Grading The Deal: Maddux Stays In Southern California How can you go wrong with signing Greg Maddux? He is going to give you a lot of quality starts and will be a great resource for every pitcher on the team. At $10 million, would you rather have Greg Maddux or Ted Lilly?
Can Anyone Overtake San Diego In The NL West? One year ago, July 12, 2005, the NL West division leading Padres led second place Arizona by 5.5 games. At season’s end, the Padres still led Arizona by five games and won the division. Yes, 82-80 was a pathetic record for a division champion but San Diego still got the banner and made the playoffs. That’s the goal, no matter how ugly it looks. With great pitching and great defense, the Padres are poised to win the West again, but Arizona, L.A., San Francisco and Colorado are in the hunt.
Do The Padres Have The Trade Bait To Bring Back Wells? Going into the off-season, the biggest rumor in San Diego was the return of David Wells. Wells, a local to the San Diego area, spent the 2004 season with the Padres and had a very good season, posting a 3.73 ERA, 12-8 record, over 195.2 innings. He was a great guy for the team, for the clubhouse, and even for the city. But why did he want to leave after just one year?
Same Faces, New Places Ever since the Padres lost Game 3 of the NLDS to the Cardinals, many of the players walking off the field with expressions punctuated by dismay. Kevin Towers and Sandy Alderson have attempted to improve the roster, through numerous trades and signings. However, were these trades actually intended to improve the roster, or were they for the sole purpose of taking a couple bucks off the payroll?
What About San Diego? The San Diego Padres will meet the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series and, because of baseball’s most unappreciated player, take St. Louis to the brink of elimination and with a little health and help, over the edge.
Padres Flying High Into Seattle June is nearly here, and things are starting to shake out a bit in the National League West. The Padres are beginning to live up to pre-season expectations, elbowing and shoving their way up through the competition. Apparently first place was calling.
Last year we created the Hands on Runs formula to determine how much weight an individual player carries in his line-up. Through the first part of May, which players have been most valuable?
