The Friday Rumor Mill

If you live in Cox country you are presented with a not-so-unique opportunity tonight. At 5:30 PM you can turn on Padres POV prior to the start of the game in Arizona and have a beer with Bob Chandler, RJ's Fro, and myself.

The Fox program filmed us last month during a Padres and Pints episode we had scheduled with Chandler, the great Padres play-by-play man.

Tune in and watch it. Maybe we'll get invited back like Harry the Heckler who is fast becoming as familiar on FSSD as an SNL show hosted by Alec Baldwin or Tom Hanks.

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Rumor: Adrian Gonzalez is on his way to the Dodgers.
Truth: The Red Sox put AG on waivers and the Dodgers claimed him. This should be interesting moving forward.

Rumor: People think that the Padres wearing blue uniforms is a stroke of genius.
Truth: Bring back the brown, baby.

Rumor: Jed Gyorko will be in San Diego when rosters expand in September.
Truth: Jed Gyorko will be in San DIego when rosters expand in September. Or he won't.

Rumor: I'm 6'3".
Truth: Measurements indicate that I am actually 6'2 1/4" despite generally telling people I'm a shade under 6'2". No links will be provided.

Ripping Craig Elsten's guts out and lighting them on FIRE!

Last night on XX1090 I ripped Craig Elsten's guts out and lit them on FIRE!

I kid, I kid! I am but a merry prankster in the unforgiving world of Padres fandom. There were no guts and there was certainly no fire . . .  except the fire that burns from my heart for undervalued players who attempt to etch out an existence in the vast wilderness of PETCO Park.

This is simply my way of saying that Craig and I had a friendly little debate flavored by Chase Headley's future in San Diego. Let me give you some context first . . .


Craig wrote a column on XX1090 which posted on Tuesday. I recommend that you go read it but if you haven't the time the essentials of his argument are as follows (paraphrasing):

Chase Headley is an average player who is overvalued in the current market and should be traded to improve the Padres chances moving forward.

I only partially agree with Craig's thesis. If Josh Byrnes can make some desperate GM pay through the nose consequently converting Headley into a package of dynamic near-ready major league talent then sure, go for it. But as we know in these parts things don't always work according to plan. It is Josh Byrnes' job to listen and to perform his due diligence, as they say in the industry..

Where I disagreed with Craig was his estimation of Chase Headley as an average player. Chase Headley is not a player to build around but he is an important part of the PETCO Park roster puzzle.

Listen to last night's debate on XX1090: Includes 9 essential vitamins and minerals along with Jedd Gyorko, Dave Staton, and Joe Randa references.

Editor's Note:
Jordan Carruth declared me the winner of last night's debate. You be the judge.

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.