MVN - Most Valuable Network

Dismal Padre Season Is Mercifully Over: What Went Wrong, Part One

By the end, this season was hard to watch and even harder to write about.  Anais Nin once said that we write to live life twice, and there was very little of the San Diego Padres 2008 season that I wanted to re-live.

Of course, a lot of it was due to injuries.  It’s the golden parachute of excuses, the one that makes you feel better.  The Friars spent enough time on the disabled list that I kept watching for an announcement that one of the single gys was gonna marry a nurse.  But despite that, there were other issues that turned a team that won 89 games the year before into a cellar dweller.  Let’s handle one per post over the next couple weeks.

Front Office Mistakes:

It’s well documented that I am a fan of Kevin Towers and Sandy Alderson.  I think the Padres are as talented in the fron office as any team in baseball.  Add De Podesta and Chief and the scouting staff and we’re pretty stacked.  So what happened in 2008?

A few things.  The decision not to pursue Milton Bradley hurt.  Bradley had given the impression of a guy that turned a corner in his attitude right up until his final game of 2007, when he completely melted down.  The front office, and me, took the meltdown to be an indicator of what was coming in 2008 and did not make him a top priority. He signed with the Rangers and had a very solid year.  Mike Cameron was also not pursued.  The Padres never made him a serious offer, or an actual official one, and he went on to post decent numbers for Milwaukee.  More importantly, he provided leadership there.

Retaining either of these two players means the deal for Jim Edmonds never happens.  Edmonds was way down the list for San Diego and they never expected to get to him.  When they did, they gave up a prospect for a guy that just never did much of anything in a Padre uniform.  He was a complete and total bust.  The money spent on him could have gone elsewhere and the confidence placed in him ended up hurting the team when he failed to perform.

During his tenure with San Diego, Towers has rolled the dice on older players and injury recoveries and won big.   Mike Cameron was an example of that.  Also, there was Ricky Henderson, Fernando Valenzuala  and many others.  This year, his luck hit a nasty streak.  In addition to Edmonds, who was one of these, the team gambled on Mark Prior and Shawn Estes and lost both bets.  Plus they let a Doug Brocail, a winning wager from the year before, leave to anoter team.  True, the Jody Gerut play worked out wonderfully.  So let’s say Towers was 1-4 this year.That’s far below his historical success rate.

In additon, some of the mistakes in recent drafts are coming to the point in time where we could have expected them to pan out at the big league level.  A healthy Tim Stauffer or a decent career from former number one Matt Bush would have been huge this year.  When Khalil went down, Bush should have been ready for the call.  And Stauffer could have eased the pain of injuries to Peavy and Young.

Next post, we’ll talk bullpen.

Josh Bard Done As A Padre

Josh Bard, who along with Cla Meredith provided dramatic returns from a desperation deal for Doug Mirabelli, has injured his right triceps and will apparently miss the remainder of the 2008 season.

Since a source within the organization has told mlb.com that the Friars will not offer Bard arbitration, that mean that Josh has played his last game in a Padre uniform.

The news means that Nick Hundley will  go into spring training with the starting catching job as his to lose, barring an unexpected trade or free agent signing.   Early speculation is that Luke Carlin is slotted for the backup catching position.  Another possibility is former Friar and current Astro Brad Ausmus.  The 39 year old has indicated to Houston that he wishes to play closer to home next year. (Ausmus lives in Del Mar.)

I like Josh Bard and have admired the way he plays the game, but I am alright with this decision.  I don’t think that Bard is likely to have another campaign like 2006, when he hit.338 and won the admiration of the Friar Faithful.  He hit a very acceptable .285 last year, but his 2008 season has been beset by injuries and he has been a feature of the disabled list more often than the lineup card.

Luke Carlin started behind the plate for San Diego on Tuesday in a 10-3 loss to the Rockies.

LeBlanc Wins First Over Rockies

Wade LeBlanc allowed a grand slam but still got his first major league win as the Padre bats backed him up with nine runs.  The Friars added a couple more after LeBlanc departed as San Diego beat Colorado 11-5 on Monday night,  Adrian Gonzalez hit his 33rd home run, a three run shot in the third inning and rookie Matt Antonelli added a couple with his first big league dinger.

The 24 year old was staked to a nine run lead before Rockie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki knocked a grand slam to narrow the gap.  But LeBlanc didn’t panic, getting out of the fourth inning without further damage and managing to settle down. That may be a good sign of things to come, since the venue that nationally-syndicated Jim Rome calls “Williamsport” can be damaging to a young pitcher’s confidence.

The victory for Wade comes in his third major league start and gives a glimpse of what may come next season.  The Padres are actively auditioning young talent for next years roster and Wade LeBlanc would love to break camp with the big league club next year.

Even As A Dodger, Maddux Can’t Win In San Diego

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 29th homer of the season in the first inning off former teammate Greg Maddux and the Padres held on behind the strong pitching of Cha Seung Baek to beat the Dodgers 4-0 Monday night.  Kevin Kouzmanoff added 2 RBI’s on a sacrifice fly and a single, as well as starting a fearless double play on a fake bunt in the third inning.

Greg Maddux experienced the longest win drought of his career as a Padre earlier this year and San Diego continues to be a frustrating place for him to pitch, despite the fact that he has repeatedly expressed how much he enjoyed his time here.  Once again, he could not get a win in Petco Park as he is currently searching for number 355 to break a tie with Roger Clemens and move him alone into eighth place.  Kid Nichols is next in his sites at 361, a number he seems sure to achieve if he returns for at least one more season.

With Trevor Hoffman having come out publicly saying that he wants to return and knowing that a youth movement is likely in store next year, I still hope the Friars make a run at signing Maddux.  He will be chasing that top five and it could bring some extra excitement in a rebuilding year.  Plus, we know Greg enjoys the city and the fans.  Finally, it would also be a good thing for our young pitchers.