The media and Carlos Quentin's presence

After Friday night's Padres win against . . . the team they were playing (?)*. . .  Carlos Quentin refused to go on the post-game show. I suppose he didn't really refuse Friday's invitation because the truth is that he hasn't done a post-game show the entire year. Ted Mendenhall of XX1090 called Quentin out for his conspicuous absence and then on Sunday morning Craig Elsten of XX1090 discussed the merits of player interviews and whether or not there is an obligation for these guys to be accountable for their play.

*I'm blanking on who they played on account of not being able to watch the Padres on TV. Still blanking. I'll probably remember it by the time I finish this but I'm going to roll with my ignorance rather than look it up. There's no way a fan should be ignorant of the opponent of a three game series. A three game series! Yet I am. I deserve a little latitude, do I not?


Part of telling the story of a game includes player and manager quotes. These quotes are gathered after the completion of a game and can not be woven into the beat writer's story without the willingness of players and the manager to make themselves available at the end of a long day's work*. Without the beat writer's access to players and manager there is no beat writer and you have only bloggers recapping games for the public. Primary source quotes fill in the dark spots of a game, those spots that need rationales from those involved first hand.

*A long day's work for both player and writer alike.

Bud Black gives a press conference after each game. My assumption is that the Front Office directs Black to appear before the press at designated times. I've never heard of Bud Black no-showing to a post-game press conference so I think this assumption is safe.

What of players and their obligations to the press? I will go ahead and make another assumption and that's that players do not have a contractual obligation to make themselves available. This assumption feels wrong but since Quentin has not gone on the flagship radio station* to do a post game interview then I guess it also safe.

* Distinctions must be made. Carlos Quentin is probably available at his locker and gives quotes to the writers (Again, I don't want to look up Friday's game because I want to maintain my ignorance of the Padres' weekend opponent). But to make it to the radio show takes a little extra effort and I don't begrudge a player having zero interest in the process.

Here's the truth of the matter: Baseball player's, for the most part, have nothing too interesting to say. They speak in Crash Davis cliches to the point where fans can guess what the star player might say* after any given performance. I think that comments from Bud Black are essential to a game summary. Fans need game rationales from the skipper**.

*"He's a good pitcher and I new I had to get the pitch I was looking for. Luckily I hit it well. You just never know if the ball will get out in right center."
** Budbot reference inserted.

Would I like to hear from Carlos Quentin? I actually would. When I heard him on Darren Smith's show prior to the start of the season I found him to be well spoken, intelligent, and very introspective. He's a smart, local guy, educated at Stanford and I'd love to hear him on the post-game show.

Allow me to make an analogy. San Diego is a Nordstrom town and the Padres are somewhere between Wal-Mart and Target. The Nordstrom folk look down their noses at the lowly Wal-Mart/Target tweeners. The Nordstrom folk of San Diego need to be sold on the Padres. How can Padres management do such a thing? Well, they could start by committing $30 million dollars to a player who has a guarantee not to be traded during the next three years. They did that? Sweet, that's half the battle!

People in San Diego still aren't paying attention to the padres though. The Padres are like the tree falling in the proverbial empty woods. There isn't a sound being made. This must change.

I know Carlos Quentin likes his privacy but if I were his boss I would begin to encourage a more visible presence. I would pump out some commercials of him sitting at his locker reading Steinbeck intertwined with some of his PETCO bombs or some other crazy comedy. I'd also ask of Quentin that he appear on the flagship's post-game show at least once a week and put it in his court if he'd like to do more.

San Diego needs to know the Padres are here. Carlos Quentin crushes HRs and catchers. Let him announce the Padres presence.

Holy crap! They played the Mets!

Are we there yet?

Twisting and turning north on Interstate 5, I attempted to quiet my mind.

On a road trip there are no real expectations to have of children other than the frequency in which you will hear the inevitable, "Are we there yet?"

All bets are off on the road. The only given is whether the aforementioned question will be proposed more or less than 19 times.

I had already received the Children's Inquisition twelve times after a mere 45 minutes into what would ultimately prove to be a 6 hour road trip to California's central coast. I could only laugh, the shoe now firmly on the other foot as an adult*.

*This stage of development is often questionable.

Driving through San Juan Capistrano, my mind silent, I thought back to my family's arrival in California.

I looked at Mrs. AJM and said, "Father AJM had initially thought of relocating us to Orange County rather than San Diego."

She submitted a nod and question. "Really?"

Looking ahead at the armada of Sunday afternoon break lights, which become more prevalent as one transitions to Los Angeles, I nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah . . .", my voice trailing off in a reflective pause.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mrs. AJM waiting for more, as if to say, "You're the one who brought it up. What's your point?"

I acquiesced.

"Yeah. If my parents would have moved to Orange County I 'd be an Angels fan. And then my life would have been a lot easier."

Mrs. AJM laughed.

From the back of the car I heard a committed, "Are we there yet?"

Lucky number thirteen! There was little doubt that this trip would be recollected for hitting the "over" on the Children's Inquisition very early in the day.

When we arrived in Pismo Beach yesterday I learned that the Padres had extended Huston Street: Two years at $7M a piece. Surprised that Street would take less than he's earning in 2012 for the guarantee of an extra year on his contract I thought back to Carlos Quentin's contract extension of a week ago.

As a Padres fan I silently asked, "Are we there yet?"

The Padres have more issues to address than just a left fielder and a closer. Of course the Padres aren't there yet! Like the AJM family 45 minutes into a six hour drive there's still driving to be done . . .

***
I watched the Red Sox play the Yankees last night with a sick daughter. She said, "Why are people Yankees fans?"

I didn't have the heart to feed her propaganda in such a weakened state. I opted to tell her the truth...

***
XX1090 comes in perfectly all the way up here in the Central Coast. I haven't met any Padres fans yet...

***
I totally just went Nick "Sez Me" Canepa on you. %&*#! I apologize...

***
...

A tree falling in an empty wood (or how U-T columnists cover the Carlos Quentin extension)

The sports columnists for the U-T, Nick Canepa and Kevin Acee, have each been critical of the Padres during the 2012 season, and fairly so. Each writer also stated unique views of Padres LF Carlos Quentin earlier in the season.

Allow me to take you on a timeline tour . . .


JUNE 3rd
Nick Canepa pens a column critical of the Padres with Carlos Quentin at its epicenter. Canepa writes:

And I say, no. Keep him. Re-sign him. Give the suffering fans in this town a hook on which to hang their hat. Be somebody for a change. Man up. It’s time to stop taking organizational laxatives and eat some cheese, rice and crow — you know, something that binds. 

When you tell somebody to "man-up" you're essentially calling them a girl which is sexist and offensive to the delicate sensibilities of the masses. When somebody does "man-up" it should be acknowledged. A form of "manning-up*", if you will.

*I foresee a Peyton Manning column in our future.


JUNE 6th
Kevin Acee pens a column critical of the Padres with Carlos Quentin at its epicenter: Acee writes:

So it is with much reluctance that I submit Carlos Quentin as trade bait.

 Disagreeing with the lead columnist? I like it.

Bottom line, the Padres aren’t good enough (or that close to getting there) to justify keeping Quentin right now. And besides, I just don’t believe Quentin is a guy you build your team around. Not that he needs to rise to that level to justify keeping him, but I’m not even sure the Padres could afford him at $7 or $8 million a year, which he will certainly deserve after this season.  

So you're saying the Padres don't have money? So it might be a story if they could spend that much? Or that if, by some act of God, the Padres spent even more, it would be a three part series!?

Oh, the Padres will be better if they have Quentin.

 Wait. So they should keep him? I sense conflict and passion, the seed and fertilizer of stories!

Now is the time when we fast-forward along our line of time. The Padres are terrible, Huston Street is an All Star even though Acee think Denorfia should represent San Diego, the Chargers season is on the horizon, blah, blah, blah . . .

July 22nd (morning)
Carlos Quentin signs a three year, $27M dollar contract extension with the San Diego Padres. The contract includes a No Trade Clause.

July 22nd (evening)
Nick Canepa does his best Nancy Drew and writes about Chargers Mysteries.

July 23rd
Kevin Acee writes about Penn State and how it got what it deserved. What it deserved? I'm assuming this column includes descriptive epithets about rape and death.

July 24th
Nick Canepa writes about a football referee. A fricking retired NFL referee!
Kevin Acee writes about Chargers rookie free agents and which ones might make the roster.

July 25th
Kevin Acee writes about AJ Smith signing players to contract extensions and doing it NOW! And as a bonus Acee throws in a little story on what the depth chart looks like on the eve of training camp. Depth charts. Yeah, those never change.

July 26th
Nick Canepa writes about the battle for the Chargers' kicking job. Guys who strike balls with their feet! Guys who can't tackle. Guys who are on the field for an aggregate of two minutes each game.

Kevin Acee's U-T archive
Nick Canepa's U-T archive

For two columnists who held such passionate feelings about the future of Carlos Quentin in early June, I find it astounding that neither has written a story about his contract extension. Don't they think it was a terrible decision to sign an injury prone player who's about to turn 30? Don't they think the extension represents a commitment to fans and ultimately a sign of hope that future dollars will be spent on talent in San Diego? A little of both maybe?

The financial commitment to Quentin represents the largest flow of cash* from the Padres since the great Little League uniform distribution of '12, yet nary a story was written?

* Just kidding. I think it was the remodeling effort for the introduction of a Hodads location at PETCO Park.

These statements and questions from me are merely rhetorical outrage. I'm not really surprised. We've heard both Canepa and Acee tell us how many clicks their Chargers stories get. We know that the Manchester & Lynch regime is but a cheerleader for all things Chargers and that they direct which stories will be written.

Maybe our columnists have directives from above to ignore the story and to instead write Chargers fluff as illustrated by our timeline above. What this amateur knows though, is that the Quentin extension is a story, good or bad.

I wonder if our columnists even had a professional desire to follow up their columns from June. Furthermore, I question that if the Quentin extension story was on their radar, would they have even fought to write the piece?

I hope it's the former. And latter.

Thinking Out Loud: Jedd Gyorko's rear end

Jedd Gyorko's a** is huge. But not in the good way that the ladies and baseball scouts like.

Justin Upton's a** is also huge. I imagine the ladies love his a**. Juston Upton's a** makes him run really fast. That's good for him. And the D-Backs.
 
You know how everyone always says Padres OF prospect Jaff Decker is a "bad body type"? If you had never actually seen Jaff Decker before and you put him next to Jedd Gyorko (who you had also never sen in person) you would bet all of your earthly possessions that Jedd Gyorko was Jaff Decker*. What I'm trying to say is that Jedd Gyorko is a thick dude. He's bottom heavy. But alas, he hits like a witch.

* I played this pretend game with myself during Spring Training 2012.

I'm not really talking about Gyorko's a** in this post but more about the additions and subtractions of speed within the Padres major league line-up. Yes I know that Jedd Gyorko's in Tucson. Permit me to wonder for a moment . . .


Yonder Alonso is slower than molasses and he will be at first base for the foreseeable future. But he does spray the gaps. Slow fella has a lot of doubles.

Yasmani Grandal is faster than his Cuban brother. This is not much of a compliment.

Carlos Quentin: Not a fast man. But this does not matter because he has pull power in the middle of the line-up and he could melt your face with laser beam eyes.

I've just listed three guys who are not fast runners in a line-up that requires speed because of park size.

I'm thinking out loud.

Cameron Maybin is fast and he received a contract extension. So he's the Padres' CF of the future. Let's hope he starts hitting.

Alexi Amarista and Everth Cabrera can both run and they're exciting. But I don't know where they fit. I guess we need August and September's ABs to figure that out.

Will Venable can run but his awkward hairline and Princeton education prevent him from being a long term solution in RF.

And what of Chase Headley? Jedd Gyorko's a** makes me think of Chase Headley which is why I began writing this post.

Chase Headley can hit but he can also run. He's not Vince Coleman but that's a good thing. We don't need Chase getting stuck under a tarp during the Padres next World Series appearance. And yes, I'm saying it: I think Chase Headley needs to be here for that mythical, fantastical, World Series I dream about at 4:38 AM on Tuesday mornings in July.

If Chase Headley is traded (along with his speed) then he will be replaced with a base-clogger in Jedd Gyorko. By all accounts Jedd Gyorko can flat out hit, but how adversely will his lack of speed impact what the Padres are trying to do in PETCO Park*?

*Are they really going to move in the fences? If they do I hope they are brown.

I guess we have a few more days to see if Chase's legs are taken out of the PETCO equation.

Carlos Quentin's NTC is not my biggest fear

In some ways I'm surprised by the Carlos Quentin extension and in other ways I'm just not.

Quentin is a guy who likely would have brought a return of value at the deadline so staying put in San Diego guaranteed for the next three years came as a bit of a shock yesterday. There are also the injury concerns that make this move surprising.


The offense has improved since Carlos Quentin's return from knee surgery and his presence in the middle of the order is a part of that resurgence. He's a guy who can pop it out of PETCO after 8pm* and the batting order needs at least one of those threats. Throwing a little bit of money at Quentin, along with the impending ownership change, provides a message of hope to fans. San Diego Padres fans are in dire need of this. I'm a big believer in hope. And belief.

*I don't have quantifiable proof that this has happened but I sense it. I sense that Quentin has muscles that are capable of such a feat. His 5 o'clock shadow** also portends late hour tower power.
** I don't even know what I mean. I'm just rationalizing now.

As I said,  I'm surprised and I'm not surprised.

So what's the problem? People are concerned about the full NTC* that General Manager Josh Byrnes granted Quentin. Worries from fans seem to be rooted in the days of Klesko, Nevin, and Giles. This is a legitimate worry. I don't think that offering NTCs will become this front office's MO but if it does then I will start sharing your fears.

The truth of the matter is that Carlos Quentin is a legitimate threat** and if the Padres are ever going to retain/lure a hitter like that to PETCO they'll have to overpay in some fashion. The Padres are overpaying with the NTC but that's OK. A major league franchise should be able to survive salaries of $9.5 million, $9.5 million, and $8 million over the next three years. As fans we shouldn't expect the Padres to have the financial flexibility and wherewithal to just begin dumping salary each July if they aren't competing. A major league team who can't aford salaries like this for an entire 162 game schedule should just be contracted.

*No Trade Clause. Not, No Timewarner Cable. Not, North Times County (because that wouldn't make sense).
** At the plate. And in the field but in a bad way. Cameron Maybin? Shade yourself to LF, young buck.

Carlos Quentin will never go the way of Phil Nevin. We won't hear of Park complaints. We won't read curse words from the lips of Quentin as he walks off the field and looks to Josh Byrnes' suite at PETCO. That's not who the Padres signed.

Now if you want to be as fearful as a father of a teenage daughter on prom night* that Carlos Quentin won't be on the field for 60% of all future Padres games due to injury -- well, then that there is a legitimate concern. Join me in that line, won't you?

*This is my future. It could be yours as well. And if you have a son you better teach him some respect. I don't have shotgun. And I really don't need one.

Notes: Interesting Fangraphs write-up on the extension.

The Plunger, Quentin, Cashner, Parallel

Random thoughts raced through my mind as I plunged a toilet at 11:30 pm a few nights back. They began with the acquisition of Carlos Quentin, made their way to the Anthony Rizzo for Andrew Cashner trade, and returned full circle to where they belonged: the plunger in my hand.
After one plunges a toilet what is one supposed to do with this dripping wet, filth covered tool of liberation?

You can't just leave it in the toilet bowl; that would be dangerous. But if you place it next to the toilet you get sewage all over the floor. If you try to transport it to the shower you drip sewage on the floor. If you're lucky enough not to drip sewage on the floor it doesn't really matter because you've just deposited an excrement laden instrument into the area used for cleaning your body. This does not sound like a model of cleanliness.

As I stood in the bathroom during the late hours, finishing the plunging job at hand, this is where my thoughts drifted; What in the world do I do with this?

And then I realized this dilemma wasn't really about the plunger. It was about Carlos Quentin and Andrew Cashner. My question was really for Josh Byrnes and Padres management; What in the world do I do with this?

What do I do with this information you have provided me with? You've made trades. But I'm at a bit of a loss. You gave up arms to get a guy who plays left field, in Carlos Quentin*. But you went and got him a year before a good number of the young guys will be arriving in San Diego from the various farm affiliates. Are you going to try and extend Carlos Quentin? What do I do with this?

*Now let me be upfront. I am in no way equating Carlos Quentin with crap. I think he will perform well in PETCO Park his season and I loved what I heard from him on the Darren Smith Show last week. He sounds like the type of guy with a mental approach that can tackle the difficulties of such a large park. Now that we're clear, let's get back to that plunger and my parallel thoughts . . .

Andrew Cashner for Anthony Rizzo. A bullpen arm for one of the top prospects in the Padres system. How can I still possibly make fun of the Marlins for trading Cameron Maybin to the Padres for Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb? My laughter was predicated on the notion that relievers for position players was dumb. What do I do with this?

I've enjoyed this off season, it's been exciting. But there's a lot to digest and I keep asking myself . . . what do I do with this*?

 *Any suggestions on what to do with the plunger?