Cuckoo for Nick Canepa: Subjective payroll analysis

Nick Canepa wrote a column about Phil Mickelson's role in the new Padres ownership group. And if you can imagine, I took umbrage with a small part:

Many San Diegans who voted for the building of Petco Park feel they were victims of a bait-and-switch by Padres ownership, believing Moores and management had not delivered on their promise of a solid, contending franchise. The Padres never said they were going to spend like the Yankees, but player payroll has been among the lowest in baseball for some time and the results haven’t always been pleasant.

In many ways I agree with the first part of this excerpt. Proposition 98 passed after the Padres' World Series appearance against the Yankees and then Moores packed it in until 2004. This (in)action was horribly unfair to Padres fans.

My issue is with Canepa's last sentence. It feels lazy. Canepa writes:

 ...player payroll has been among the lowest in baseball for some time...

When Canepa writes this I feel it's lazy because it is written in a way that says, "I don't really care to do any research."


Payroll has been the lowest for "sometime"? It's such a subjective frame of reference, what does that even mean? And what defines "lowest"? This is also subjective. Are we talking bottom half, third, or quarter of the league in payroll? With 30 teams in MLB, one could say that team number 15 is part of the lowest.

What do Padres fans know right now? We know that payroll has been brutally low since John Moores decided to put a mistress on the books. His subsequent divorce diminished the product on the field from 2009-2012. But the Moores divorce is not the entire story of payroll history in the East Village. PETCO Park existed from 2004-2008 and if my memory serves correctly I don't think that payroll was among the lowest in MLB at that time.

Let's define "lowest" payroll. It's completely subjective but I'm going to say that it is defined by being in the bottom 3rd of the league. So:

Teams 1-10 are the top third -- Well-to-do types.
Teams 11-20 are middle third -- Floating along, accidental like on the wind.
Teams 21-30 are the bottom third -- Living off revenue sharing.

I have yet to research this so I run the risk of making Nick Canepa look like he was correct but I think the exercise is valid regardless.

Let's take a  look at opening day payroll and where the Padres ranked amongst their competitors. (Here is a second source, and probably a more reliable one, which shows nearly identical dollar amounts).

2004 -- 18th place -- Middle Third -- $54, 639, 503
2005 -- 17th place -- Middle Third -- $62, 888, 192
2006 -- 17th place -- Middle Third -- $69, 896, 141
2007 -- 24th place -- Bottom Third -- $58, 110, 567
2008 -- 19th place -- Middle Third -- $73, 677, 616
2009 -- 29th place -- Bottom Third -- $42, 796, 700
2010 -- 29th place -- Bottom Third -- $37, 799, 300
2011 -- 28th place -- Bottom Third -- $45, 869, 140
2012 -- 30th place -- Bottom Third -- $55, 244, 700

So what does this information tell us?

During the PETCO Park era, payroll has fluctuated between the bottom middle third of MLB teams and the absolute bottom of the bottom third.

The first 5 years in PETCO Park (almost first 5 years . . . damn you 2007 for ruining my narrative!) the Padres were in the middle third of payroll. I believe this is where payroll should be*.

*A run of sustained success where attendance is thriving and people in San Diego actually care could allow the Padres to push the upper threshold of the middle third in payroll. Merely an opinion, thinking out loud.

We see that the dramatic shift in payroll occurs in 2009 at the time when John Moores began going through a divorce and sold the team on layaway to the Jeffrey Moorad group.

This all comes down to the use of subjective reasoning to shape narratives. Padres fans have the right to be perturbed at the team and for their thrifty ways in a new ball park but a newspaper's job is to provide adequate information to illuminate its readership.

I think Canepa fails here by using what I've termed "lazy" language. The type of language that says, "I don't care to do any research because it takes too long and god damn it, I have a narrative that I'm sticking too and for cripes sake this whole article is about Phil Mickelson, who is not Mike Schmidt, anyways! Geez! Don't you people have a sense of humor?"

African Proverbs: The Padres Front Office Edition

While using African proverbs to identify Orlando Hudson's numerous missteps in a Padres uniform I also found a few others to explain the happenings down on 19 Tony Gwynn Drive. They didn't quite fit with the discussion of San Diego's second baseman so here they are in a post teeming with optimism...

 

If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Pygmy proverb

 

What better way to explain the Padres decision to move their AAA club from Portland to Tucson with the endgame being a subsequent move to the Escondido area. Alas, California is a mess and with no redevelopment money coming the Tucson Padres are stuck in-- well, Tucson. Currently it is unclear if the birds represent the dry desert air that destroys the minds of pitchers and the mechanics of hitters or if the Nippon-Ham Fighters have advanced scouts in place. We may need a Pygmy to solve this one.

 

One cannot both feast and become rich.  ~Ashanti proverb

 

This is clearly a proverb never considered by teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. They need not consider it because they live in another dimension. It's a fantasy world, one in which money does fall from trees. The Padres, on the other hand, face a far different plight. The San Diego club in many ways serves as a microcosm of the lifestyle most Americans must choose. Sacrifices must be made before rewards can be reaped. Slowly the Padres payroll is creeping upwards. Responsibly.

 

Blind belief is dangerous. ~ Luyia proverb

 

While blind belief is dangerous belief in and of itself is not. Belief accompanied by probing questions. Belief in the process. Belief in your people. Belief in the belief that "Believe SD" was a winning marketing slogan for an overachieving 2010 Padres team that played meaningful ballgames until game #162. What I'm saying is, that it's essential to believe in belief. Not blind belief, mind you. Just to be Big Believers In Belief. Ask Josh Byrnes.

 

A messenger cannot be beaten. ~ Luyia proverb

 

In 2009 Padres President and COO, Tom Garfinkel, proclaimed that San Diego was and forever shall be a Breakfast Town. This was not his message. He was merely the messenger for what Rolf Benirschke had conveyed to him over, conveniently, breakfast. While Garfinkel received a lambasting for the insinuation that he knew San Diego after such a brief tenure in town, something funny happened. We (I) decided that as lovers of breakfast perhaps San Diego is a breakfasttown. Now in the AJM household every Tuesday night is Breakfast for Dinner night and the omniscient Garfinkel sits back and smiles. While Mr. Garfinkel receives holiday cards from the Vocal Minority he sends his to the Luyia in Kenya. He took a beating and survived.

 

You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. ~ Congolese proverb

 

In late 2011 and early 2012 two pivotal moments occurred for the Padres. They signed Mark Kotsay to serve as a bench player and as mentor to a young club in need of leadership. The experienced clubhouse gorilla, if you will. 

 

Then Jeff Moorad attended the Baseball Owners meeting to seek approval for the full purchase of the Padres from John Moores. He was publicly rebuked. Moorad took the news calmly even though that no good bastard Ken Kendrickson of the Diamondbacks was doing everything possible to block the purchase. While John Moores flipped out and refused to vote for Bud Selig's continued stewardship of MLB, Jeffrey Moorad continued to stay the course. Calmly. Moorad understands the path.

 

Stolen things bring in misfortune. ~Kenyan proverb

 

On November 13th of 2010 the Padres obtained Cameron Maybin for Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. On rare occasions African wisdom must be rejected.

 

Two male hippos do not stay in the same pond. ~ Azania proverb

 

After acquiring Yonder Alonso in the Mat Latos trade Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes decides that he doesn't want a Quarterback Controversy at first base with Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo is shipped to Chicago on January 6th for Andrew Cashner.

 

Money is sharper than the sword. ~ Ashanti proverb

 

In early 2012 the Padres decided to make a concerted effort to accumulate more monetary reserves. The first step in this process was to return all swords for cash-- a controversial decision to be sure, as everyone knows that swords are cool. First the trade of Adrian Gonzalez and now the Padres' surplus of swords. Nobody said it would be easy as a Padres fan.

 

Armed with the wisdom of proverbs the San Diego Padres' pilgrimage into 2012 continues.

Moores and Moorad: Good Riddance To Alliteration

The following excerpts were taken from Padres: Team sale to Moorad nearly complete by Dan Hayes of the North County Times on Monday:

Jeff Moorad's purchase of the Padres from John Moores is nearly complete.

Moores confirmed Monday morning that Moorad's final installment to complete the $525 million sale is in escrow. 

Moorad announced his intention to buy the team from Moores in January 2009 and made the first of three payments in March 2009. 

Moores still had controlling interest after Moorad made a second payment in March 2010, but the two were essentially co-owners. 

Moorad's final payment, which was made in December 2011, ends Moores' tenure as Padres owner. 

The sale to Moorad was precipitated by Moores' divorce from his wife, Becky Moores.

 This transaction being finalized is fantastic news for no other reason than it has become increasingly difficult to read both the Moores and Moorad names in the same sentence. Look at those excerpts. Not easy to maneuver through at all.

I'm being quite serious in my critique of the ever present and unintentionally forced alliteration.

This news should be finalized tomorrow and it will be the moment of truth for AJM. I have been vocal in relaying the message that my criticism of Padres payroll decisions would be fairly muted as long as the ownership was in transition. With Jeff Moorad making his final payment to John Moores it looks as though that day shall be coming much sooner than later.

I'd like to thank Moorad for making myriad magical moves to mobilize an investor group of magnates to obtain the Padres from Moores. 

Let us move forward. Without alliteration.

FJM'd: Hacksaw refuses to do the math that could be done on his fingers

Against my better judgement, I am going to give Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton the Fire Joe Morgan treatment. I'm trying to convince myself that it's NOT a waste of time. But like you, I know that it is.

Hacksaw is terrible. And since he has been given a platform he needs to get called on it.

And all this started when the incoming owner, Jeff Moorad, moved Jake Peavy two summers ago to the White Sox for... guess again, more kids.

Jake Peavy was actually moved for a bag of balls, an Italian beef sandwich, an ex-QB from the University of Michigan, three warm bodies, and a ridiculous agreement by the Chicago White Sox to assume a gazillion dollar contract for an undersized power pitcher with a history of injuries.

Isn't this one of the things for which we should be thanking Jeff Moorad?


When will there be some type of reward for long suffering fans, who have now seen six losing seasons in the last nine campaigns?

Math. Let's do math. Six losing seasons in the last nine campaigns? When I read this it just didn't compute so you know what I did? Like all good Mathematicians, I used my fingers! Go with it!

RIGHT HAND
Thumb: 2011: Losing season
Pointer: 2010: Winning season
Middle: 2009: Losing season
Ring: 2008: Losing season
Pinkie: 2007: Winning season

LEFT HAND
Thumb: 2006: Winning season
Pointer: 2005: Winning season
Middle: 2004: Winning season
Ring: 2003: Losing season

That was fun. (don't believe my fingers? go here)

OK. Firstly: when you're talking about "the number of winning seasons" in the last "x number of seasons" you go back to the last winning season in the string of years, which would be 2004. PETCO Park also opened in 2004, so really, Saw should have been speaking about 8 campaigns rather than 9.

What about Saw's math?

Have the Padres only had 3 winning seasons in the last 9? Let's go back to our fingers.

Ahhhh, nope.

According to my fingers the Padres have had 5 winning seasons in their last 9 campaigns. Or 5 out of 8 in PETCO Park, which isn't too bad considering how angry the fan-base has been.

Miller Park debuted in Milwaukee, which led to a spending spree and playoff appearances.

Miller Park opened in 2001. The Brewers rewarded their fans with 4 consecutive losing seasons, 1 .500 season, another losing season, and a .512 season, before they won the Wild Card in 2008. In three of those losing seasons they finished dead last in the NL Central. And with 6 teams vying for a championship in the NL Central, this is where last place truly means something!

What about the Brewers' payroll during those initial years after the opening of Miller Park?

Here it goes: (2000: 23rd*) (2001: 23rd) (2002: 21st) (2003: 28th) (2004: 30th) (2005: 27th) (2006: 24th) (2007: 19th) (2008: 15th) (2009: 17th) (2010: 18th) (2011: 17th)

The ballpark didn't really lead to increased payroll for Milwaukee. Maybe if Saw took the time to research he could have used Milwaukee as a timeline model for how a new park can eventually lead a small market team to a payroll in the top 50% of the league. Or Almost the top 50% of the league.

Leaving too were 14-game winner Aaron Harang, and back of the rotation starter Wade LeBlanc.

Lamenting the loss of Wade LeBlanc? I'll stop now.

From all of the past trades, San Diego wound up with 9 young players and three additional draft picks, but you won't see any of them at Petco Park from your box seats this summer.

 Nine young players, huh? None of them in PETCO this summer? I don't even know who Saw is talking about here. The paragraph begins by talking about off-season moves and then he jumps to past trades. Is he including the warm bodies from the Peavy trade? There were 3 prospects from the Latos trade, 2 from Adams, 3 from Gonzalez. That doesn't add up to 9. Crap. This is vexing.

We know Alonso or Rizzo will be in San Diego. Rumor has it that we'll likely see Erlin, Wieland and Boxberger by summer. Maybe Casey Kelly, but more likely 2013. What was Hacksaw saying?

Alarming is the reality Moorad does not have the money to really own this.

Finally. A salient point. It took a while but Hacksaw made one (and I don't think he actually meant to do it).

Please don't allow the above 14 words to con you into reading the article. Just go to IKEA and do some shopping.

*I put the year 2000 payroll in for the Brewers just to show that there was no change (relative to the rest of MLB) in payroll as they moved into Miller Park.

I'm Lost: A Question For Those On The Beat, Media Types, And Padres Fans

We have been told that the only reason Jed Hoyer was even allowed to discuss employment with Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs is because Jeff Moorad felt that he had a suitable replacement within the organization (Josh Byrnes). Without the presence of Byrnes the request is denied, a non-starter as they say.

But what about Assistant GM, Jason McLeod? There was nobody in house to replace him as the Padres looked outside of the organization to hire Chad McDonald. Why was this allowed to happen?

Without the presence of Jason McLeod the Padres farm system doesn't look nearly as good as it does right now, so it seems like a legitimate question. I've searched but found nothing.

It's almost as though Jason McLeod is still fulfilling a term of indentured servitude (2 years served of 7) and Jeff Moorad was forced to let him go to Chicago on account of him being Jed's property.

Anyone know the answer? Has the question been asked but I'm a bit too deaf, a little too blind?

Giving Nick Canepa The FJMing He Deserves

Fire Joe Morgan, the great website that moved onto a better, media-free world in late 2008, was the preeminent place for sports media criticism. Thus, to receive an FJMing, signifies a public demand for blood (or plasma if you would prefer) because a member of the media either mailed it in or failed at their most important task; making sense.

Which brings me to Saturday's column by Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune. I don't always agree with Nick Canepa. I'm speaking in code: what I mean to say is, I rarely ever agree with the man. But his article yesterday was on another level of "me-no-makey-sense". Let's explore.

Sez Me …

And here we go. Is there anything more tired than "Sez Me"? It's like always talking about Sculpin IPA or misspelling Will Venable's name.

In was in early October, 2009, that Padres boss Jeff Moorad fired General Manager Kevin Towers, and I wrote he’d just made the first major blunder of his captaincy.

Totally stupid blunder. Kevin Towers had only been here for 15 years. So dumb. It was like divorcing your wife after being married for 30 years and forfeiting nearly everything you own. Wait... someone did do that... we refer to him in these parts as, "The Guy Who Hired Kevin Towers In 1995". We're creative with our names around here.

For what money I have, Towers is the best GM in baseball, as he once again proved when he turned around woeful Arizona in a Phoenix minute (slower than New York’s, but fast enough).

Best GM in baseball based on having little money? I don't know what kind of money Nick Canepa has in his bank account but based on this being a Padres article I'm guessing it's nothing. I'm confused. Are there not better GMs than the guy who acquired Randy Meyers in 1998? And are we really assigning all of the credit in Arizona to Kevin Towers? People also wanted to give Towers the credit when Jed Hoyer was doing his part here in 2010. That Kevin Towers is clearly a God.

Moorad’s second blunder, obviously, was hiring Jed Hoyer as Towers’ replacement.

It would have been better to leave the position of GM vacant. Or bring back Joe McIlvaine.

Not that there was anything terribly wrong with Jed. Except that, coming here from snooty Boston, he obviously preferred big bowls of chowder to fish tacos. 

 Is this a small fish in a big bowl of chowder analogy? Or are we starting to equate snobbery with those who revel in soup?

So after two seasons he’s taken the first plane out of town to join fellow Red Sox brat packer Theo Epstein, who’s been given run of the dilapidated — but wealthy — Cubs.

Finally! A pop-culture reference! I loved Breakfast Club. And it was filmed in Chicago. Nick Canepa is owning us right now. OWNING. US.

Despite looking like a kid about to buy a prom night corsage, Hoyer seemed to know what he was doing. 

Wait. He looked like he knew what he was doing yet the hire was a blunder? Canepa is running circles around us. RUNNING. CIRCLES. AROUND. US. (My prom sucked. Canepa is mind-f*cking me right now.)

Like his predecessor, Hoyer was hamstrung by the Padres’ tight wallet. Unlike Towers, he chose not to stick around to see if he could handle the challenge and finish the work.

Towers stuck around for a reason. He wasn't fired sooner. You see, when a market is small, there is little chance of success unless the farm system is loaded. Towers failed to load the farm. Yet he kept his job. It's mysterious.

At least Epstein saw things through in Boston. Hoyer didn’t come close here.

Actually, in Theo Epstein's second year at the helm in Boston a World Series was claimed. And then Epstein quit after year three. Why? Because he wanted a contract extension. Just like Jed Hoyer.

Towers may not have drafted well — something I never will fully comprehend — but he had the great ability to fleece people in trades (the David Freese–for-Jim Edmonds deal was not one of them, but nobody’s perfect), and he got the club into the playoffs and World Series on a handmaiden’s budget.

CANEPA. IS. CORRECT. Towers was terrible in the draft! It's why the Padres haven't had a more sustained run of success.

But I must take umbrage with the crazy talk about getting the Padres to the World Series on a handmaiden's budget. Firstly because, I have no idea about the earning power of a handmaiden. Secondly, because the internet exists. The internet tells me that the Padres had the 9th highest payroll in 1998 and the disparity between 1st and 9th was a paltry $19 million.

And speaking of fleece(ing) I have two things to say: it's a comfortable product and also what Jed Hoyer did to the Florida Marlins. Hello Cameron Maybin. Goodbye fungible relief pitchers. (YES! I finally used the word fungible in a sentence.)

And no GM — maybe no GM ever — was better with pitchers, baseball’s plasma.

Some people write of "blood and guts" and others deal in "intestinal fortitude". Nick Canepa and I both broker in plasma. I sold my plasma in college and it allowed me to party like a rock star on Thursday nights.

Hoyer was in the process of rebuilding the club’s farm system, a good thing, when the glitter of Michigan Avenue beckoned. 

I have submitted "...rebuilding the club's farm system, a good thing...." as the understatement of the Mother f*ckING year.

At least he had that going for him, but even Jed readily admitted he screwed up this past off-season, sweeping a 90-win team of clubhouse leadership and miscalculating on veteran free agents who couldn’t cut it anymore.

I'm not a Hoyer apologist. But it's hard to calculate correctly on veteran free agents when the calculator you've been given is void of so many decimal places. You know this, Nick. So why mention it?

Young Hoyer also either bowed to upper management or public (I hope not) pressure to bring slugging minor league first baseman Anthony Rizzo

That Rizzo kid, for lack of a better word, RAPED the Pacific Coast League while an inept Brad Hawpe manned first base in PETCO Park. Why wouldn't he have been promoted?

Enter Josh Byrnes, former GM of the Diamondbacks when Moorad ran that club.

Our transformation is complete. We are now the San Diego Diamondbacks.

Byrnes was canned in Arizona, but he did some good things there. Many of the players Towers won with this year were brought in with Byrnes on the bridge. 

 I thought Towers gets all the credit because he's the Pitcher Whisperer. And there's also the matter of plasma.

What Towers did there was create a winning pitching staff and bullpen, his forte.

Uhhh.... Nick... I guess I'll give you the bullpen (only because, like you, I don't want to do the research) but the Diamondbacks only had four legitimate starters this year, three of which were acquired by Josh Byrnes (Hudson, Kennedy, Collmenter) and the other by Jerry Dipoto (Saunders). Good point though.

Byrnes, at 41, has a pedigree, having studied under good baseball people along the way. Hopefully, he’ll be more than a San Diego comet. Hopefully, he’ll buy, not rent.

Josh Byrnes has good pedigree. He's like a dog. And I'll be honest-- people who by houses are comfortable. I don't want a guy who's comfortable. Kevin Towers was comfortable. 15 years comfortable.

If Moorad wants to build a winner here, he has to keep GMs around long enough to learn their names. He can’t afford Blunder No. 3. …

 Jed's name only has three letters and I've heard Jeff Moorad say it on the Darren Smith Show numerous times. "Josh" on the other hand is a hella tricky name to master.

Losing assistant GM Jason McLeod, who’s headed for Chicago with Hoyer, may be the bigger loss …

Finally Nick Canepa makes crystal clear sense of this mess. I wish the clarity would have occurred before word number 553 of the column (I counted).

Epstein already has put the kibosh on Hoyer’s first planned move, signing Brad Hawpe …

Haha. Brad Hawpe jokes will never get old.

I can't wait to do this again.

JEFF mooRAD AND THANNT F%*7ing PaDRRES FroNT OFFICE

F8r*KING MLb DRAFT!!!

IF THE PADRES WERE AT THE HELM OF THE DRAFT IN 1940 WE WOULD ALL BE SPEAKING JAPAGERTALIAN. AND I'M A HUuuGE FAN OF THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES SO THIS iRKS ME. IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS harrrRIBLE mix oF GUTTURAL TOLKIEN ELVISH WITH TONS OF HEAVILY ACCENTED PHRASES AND UPSIDE DOWN QUESTION MARKS!!!

THNK GOD JEFF MOORad waS NOT PART OF THE GREATEST GENneRATION. AM I RIGHT? LIKE I Sed.... JAPAGERTALIAN.

Editorial Disclaimer:
The author of this op/ed is an intelligent member of the species. However his passion is distorted due to the consumption of local IPAs. The author enjoys the taste of these beverages but does not quite grasp the variance in alcohol content between the local crafts and the lesser brands. He cannot be blamed for this. Numbers are often difficult.


The author has unmatched respect for modern day Japan, Germany, and Italy and as such does not seek to offend any of his readership with connections to said nations.


While the author believes that historically speaking the implementation of the Marshall Plan was as wise as any 20th century American decision he would be remiss not to mention that without it America may have been the recipients of a new hybrid amalgam language due to world domination via the Axis Powers. This, in the author's opinion, would have been horrible for all mankind...

JEFFEEY MOORAD IS NO FRANKLIN DELINO DESHIELDS ROOSEVELT!!!!

FRANKLIN DELINO DESHIELDS ROOSEVELT WAS A LEDER NOT SOME PHONY PLAYERS AGENT WHO REPRESENTED TRIS SPEAKER AND MURDERS ROW BEFORE HE DECIDED TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT FOR LIKE 7 TERMS. THATS NOT JEFF MOORAD

jeffrrey MOORAD IS. IS. IS. IS A GRADUATE OF UCLA!!!!!!  YET HE LOST PLAYERS TO THAT GOD FORSAKEN UNIVERSITY? HOW?

WHERE'S THE COLLUSION, JEFF MOORAD? WHERE'S THE COLLUSION? YOU COULDN'T SLIDE MONEY UNDER THE TABLE TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN? IT'S COLLEGE FOR CRIPE'S SAKE!!! THE MOST CORRUPT PLACE EVER.

WHAT MESSAGE ARE YOU SENDING? WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO PLAY FOR YOU? WHY WOULD MAttt LATOS OR CAM MAYBIN EVER COMMIT TO PLAY HEeRE LONGER THAN 185 DAYS? THERE'S NOTHING IN THE PIPELINE!!! EXCEPT THE SH**T YOU'VE BEEN SELLING SINCE YOU ARRIVED IN THE yeaR OF OUR lORD 2009.

YOU'RE LIKE SOME SUCKER WHO WENT ALL IN DURING A POKER GAME, TOOK A BAD BEAT, AND NOW YOU'RE SCARED TO DEATH. THAT'S RIGHT. POKER STORIES. AND METAPHORICAL ALLEGORIES OF OUR DEMISE.

TOO WORDY FOR YOU? I'M TAKING ABOUT DONAVAN TATE. HE BURNED YOU. HE BURNED ALL OF US. AND NOW YOU'RE SCARED TO EVER GIVE SERIOUS MONEY TO A DRAFT PICK. BURNNNED.

DONAVAN TATE IS LAUGHING RIGHT NOW AND IT AIN'T BECAUSE HE WAS THE LAST FOOL TO GET MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKETS. HE'S LAUGHING BECAUSE HE'S HOPPED UP ON SPICE AND HE'S USING LIT BENJAMINS FRANKLINS TO SPARK HIS BONG. OR CAN. OR WHATEVER PARAPHERNEEELIA YOU USE TO GET F#$*ED UP ON THAT SYNTHETIC SH*T!

I HAve disDAIN FOR thoSE IN POWER.

Editor's Note 9:17 PM
ARGHHH. I MAY HAVe jumpED the GUN. Three out of four signed. ANd THE UCLA GUYS?  LET me EVALUATEe this...

Going Bananas: Thoughts on the Padres and the Draft Deadline

When 2010 first round draft pick (9th overall) Karsten Whitson failed to sign by the August 15th deadline, the Padres Front Office tried to assuage fan anger by presenting a half-glass-full scenario:

1. Whitson went back on his word that he would sign when initially drafted.


2.  The Padres would receive a compensation pick in the 2011 draft.

This didn't make me feel much better. The Padres have no choice but to build through the draft in order to be competitvie. How do I know this? Because all ownership and the front office ever does is speak to this talking point. Yet they failed to get Karsten Whitson to sign.*

What of the 2011 comp pick? Who cares. How could we even be certain that this future player would be signed? What if the pick ended in another non-signing?

Fast forward to 2011...

The Padres signed that comp pick. His name is Corey Spangenberg, selected 10th overall, and he has been performing well during his brief tenure as a Padre. But it should be noted that Spangenberg should really be viewed as a player drafted in 2010 as he is the replacement for the Whitson snafu.

This brings us to Joe Ross.

Joe Ross is the real San Diego Padres 1st round draft pick, a RHP chosen 25th overall, and unsigned as of 11:00 AM on August 15th. There are others who are unsigned as well. Here are the big four:

1. Joe Ross RHP (25th)


2. Michael Kelly RHP (48th)


3. Brett Austin C (54th)


4. Austin Hedges C (82nd)

What should fans expect from the Padres Front Office as it relates to the 2011 draft? Fans have reason to expect a lot.

We are constantly told that there is only one viable way for the Padres franchise to compete. It is not via free agency. It is through the draft where players can be obtained inexpensively relative to the market, and then developed and controlled through their least expensive service years. But if this is the message that is being conveyed (at all times I might add), and the Padres fail to sign the high ceiling players who are drafted each year then what are we to think as fans? If the Padres experience failure this afternoon does it become reasonable to throw our hands up in the air and say to all those who will listen, "What on earth is the point of following this baseball team!!!!!"

Failure Defined

Joe Ross must be signed. He is a high upside arm who can help fans forget the Karsten Whitson non-signing. But more importantly, he is a 1st rounder. These are players who must be signed and I'm comfortable in assigning a failing grade to Jeff Moorad if Ross is not a Padre by day's end.

For me to assign a passing grade I think fans need to see three out of the four players above signed today. I am willing to see that one failed signing be Austin Hedges who has a strong commitment to UCLA. I forgot where I read/heard it but someone recently suggested that you should always draft one "un-signable" kid and then sign him. I think Hedges is that guy. The only reason he slid to 82nd was because teams felt there would be dollar issues with him. If the Padres failed to get him into the organization I would be content with giving them a pat on the back and I'd applaud them for the effort.

So for me it's three out of four. If the Padres get all four of the picks signed then I'm about as happy as a fan can be who's following a 54-68 team. But I can live with three out of four.

But what if the Padres get two or less of these high upside players signed by the 12:00 AM EST deadline? At that ominous deadline time I will most definitely be going f*cking bananas with screams of, "What's the point!!!???"  

I will also have to begin asking serious questions as to how Jeffrey Moorad was ever allowed to purchase a MLB franchise.... and I'll also be contacting my season ticket representative.


*I know. I know. This was all on Whitson for getting bad advice. Whatever. Mistakes like these can't be made by a team like the Padres. It's far too costly.

Padres Uniform Decisions In A Vacuum

I'm not saying the Padres need to use a vacuum to clean up the mess that is their new road gray uniform; although there are others who would gladly volunteer for the job. The title of said job could be called, Sucker of Suck.

Hmmm...... maybe I would volunteer for this fantasy job. Whoa, this analogy is coming undone at the seams. Let us move on...

The new away gray jersey is actually pretty awesome looking... if I were living in a vacuum... void of any real context of the game of baseball or the geography of southern California and its teams.

Sometimes I think Jeff Moorad et al. make their decisions while living in this vacuum. He has talked before of this desire to see people traversing the grounds of Petco dressed in Padre Blue.  

"Padre Blue" is actually a euphemism for "Good morning. Allow me to throw monkey feces at you!" Doesn't make any sense does it? Nor does the idea of Padre Blue because it is Padres who are brown and Dodgers who are in fact blue.

Moorad is so hellbent on this notion of Padre Blue that he introduced a nice looking away jersey that fails to consider the miserable similarity to our rivals in Los Angeles.

I have unfortunate news for Mr. Moorad. Many other teams in Major League Baseball wear blue uniforms including our next door neighbors... who we tend to LOATHE!

I love the color blue but when it comes to the Padres I am more than willing to concede to the team residing in Los Angeles. The Dodgers can have blue. As a franchise their history is more steeped in tradition than ours and we should defer to them on the matter of uniforms (I will make no other concessions to this franchise, however). Let them have blue. It's theirs.

Let us have brown. It is ours.

***
I never had a big issue with the away Sand uniforms. I didn't think they made the Padres look like they had urinated on themselves like others have suggested. But I do understand the desire to be traditional and gray is nothing if not traditional.

***
Here's some commentary(and pictures) of the other uniform changes in San Diego this week, courtesy of RJ's Fro.

***
Everyone had given an opinion on the uniforms this week and this is mine, for what it's worth. I am like Jeff Moorad in that I appreciate tradition. It is respect for tradition which always brings me back to the Padres inaugural uniform of 1969. Enough brown to establish a connection to a Padre/Friar without being too over-the-top. Let's save the over-the-top for Throwback Thursday's... another tradition of which I am fond.

Better Recognize....the SD on my hat!

Long, long, ago I went traipsing through the United Kingdom. While there, I left no stones unturned in England, Scotland and Wales (gross exaggeration). In Wales, I made my way to a ferry and hopped over to Ireland, as well. Through it all I wore my San Diego Padres hat (navy blue with orange and white interlocking "SD"). The mother country is a damp place and the constant precipitation (not to mention perspiration) turned that hat into a dank mess. But I cared not for appearances. I wore my SD with pride. I was representin'!

I wonder how Padres owner Jeffrey Moorad feels about the ol' "SD"? Oh, hey....there's an on-line copy of the San Diego Metropolitan magazine with an article on Padres owner Jeffrey Moorad......I wonder if he has an opinion:

Whenever Jeff Moorad speaks, you’ll see him proudly sporting a new Padres logo: “SD” it reads.
“There aren’t many cities in the country that are known by just their initials,” Moorad told members of Rotary Club of Coronado in April. “There’s LA, NY and maybe SF. We should market San Diego: SD. It’s got great cache around the world.”

Hey there you go, Mr. Moorad! I knew that he and I were simpatico. The "SD" is pretty explicit whereas a hat with an interlocking "CR" (a la the team in Colorado) is a concept that just leaves foreigners dazed and confused, the world over. Alright for the "SD"!

Ever since those days of travelin' around representing San Diego I've started to notice how many different Padre color schemes there are adorning this city's fans. It's a pretty disjointed fan-base and the roots of this disunion seem to have been sown when blue was introduced as a primary color. (click "Read More" to continue)


I suppose it makes sense to choose blue from a marketing standpoint......it's a cool color....people dig it....people buy it. But blue, in and of itself, is antithetical to the idea of a Padre. The monks who would have once been found constructing missions along the coast of what is today California did not cloak themselves in robes of blue but that of the color brown. When the Padres were introduced as the newest National League entrant in 1969 there was brown in the uniform.....and it made sense.....because Padres/Friars/Monks wore robes of brown.

I envision the fans of San Diego arriving at Petco Park all under one banner......that of our team's heritage. One team; one city; one color. I have a feeling that Jeff Moorad feels EXACTLY as I do.......a return to our roots, if you will. Let's see what Mr. Moorad had to say in the SD Metropolitan magazine:

Part of his vision for branding the Padres was to give away 40,000 Padres blue T-shirts on opening day.
“I want the fans to wear blue,” he said, “and for the team to look up and see that support in the stands.”

Uhhh........more blue, eh? No brown? But Padres are......supposed to be.......well, brown. Well [applause] I do like that "SD" concept. Good on ya, Mr. Moorad!

Is the discussion on "Brown" closed? Yes....no.....get back to me. No? Ok.

[cheers to Gaslamp Ball for link]

The 1st place hoopla is nice but there's something even better

Most fans are excited about the Padres being in first place heading to Cincinnati for a three game series this weekend. How could you not be? I also think that part of the allure of our current spot in the standings seems a heck of a lot different than the early first place position the Padres held during the 2009 season. People recognize that there is a difference..... a big difference. But what is this difference, precisely?

Over at Gaslamp Ball a nice piece was written on whether or not certain players were playing "over their heads" and if they would simply regress to the mean over the course of the season. The article had merit, without doubt, but it is not necessarily the standout reason (in my opinion) for why the Padres have been so successful thus far. The following quotes from a February Q&A between the Union Tribune's Bill Center and San Diego Padres owner Jeff Moorad provides some valuable insights:

Bill Center: Since you took over, discussions about the dimensions of Petco Park seem to have quieted. Do you see any changes being made while your team is in charge and are you happy with the ballpark’s dynamics and structure?

Jeff Moorad: Jed Hoyer talked about using the dimensions of Petco as a strategic advantage since the day I first met him. He talked of how the Red Sox used Fenway Park as a home-field advantage and had a .680 winning percentage there, with only a .500 or so record on the road. We will continue to focus on athleticism, speed, and pitching in putting the club together and use the ballpark to our advantage.

The above comments from Jeff Moorad are not uncommon themes from this last off-season. We've heard the same sentiments from the mouth of GM Jed Hoyer as well and ultimately the Padres FO wisely decided to use Petco to their advantage*(click "Read More" to continue). 

The consensus appears to be: continue to have strong starting pitching and a sturdy bullpen but supplement it with guys who chase balls down on defense and who can use their speed to pressure teams on the base paths. To aid in a switch to this philosophy they brought in former Padre Dave Roberts to teach the nuances of base-running (he's the guy who got the most important stolen base in the history of the Boston Red Sox). Has it worked? You be the judge.

The Padres are 2-4 away from Petco where they had a miserable time on the base-paths and they're 7-2 at home where they executed hit and runs, a suicide squeeze, and stole 15/16 bases. A correlation? I think so.

In the above quote, Moorad mentioned Hoyer's assertion that tailoring the Red Sox to play in Fenway yielded a .680 winning percentage at home which must have worked...... a couple World Series titles were delivered during that stretch**. While I'm no expert in math I can definitely calculate that a 7-2 mark in Petco is.......well it's over .700. Feel free to calculate to precision on your own.....I'm cool with anything tantamount to a .700 winning percentage.

* I had been mulling this post over in my head for a few days and wouldn't you know that Tim Sullivan at the UT wrote a similarly themed article which was published around midnight last night. I'll be damned if I'm going to scrap anything I wrote, especially after searching for the above quote for God knows how long!
** I am in no way suggesting that the Padres are going to the World Series this year. Future, yes. 2010, no.

The 2009 Padres Exceed Expectations: time for heads to roll

If the Padres can manage to sweep the San Francisco Giants they'll finish the year at 77-85. Before the season began I gave what I felt was a very generous predicted win total of 70---the SOB in me thought the realistic outlook was in line with 66 wins.

Yet here we are with an on-field player payroll of $28 million dollars, completing a season in which nearly every perceived working part failed us. Brian Giles, the $9 million dollar man, did absolutely nothing thus preventing us from a deadline salary dump to a contending team. Jake Peavy was injured early and then dealt to the Sox whereas staff #2, Chris Young clunked out in early June. Yet here we are.....essentially 10 games better than I expected.

In the process of a surging summer, Bud Black received a contract extension and we watched some talented young players emerge as future center pieces. Our Rule V pickup, Everth Cabrera, panned out and brought a whole new dimension to an offense that shunned speed during the Alderson reign. Will Venable, Kyle Blanks, Matt Latos, and Clayton Richard all proved their worth and the high upside draft of '09 were all signed by the new regime. Yet here we are.....

I guess I understand a new owner wanting his own man but there is something that is quite undeniable about the 2009 season: Kevin Towers did a great job...

• The Khalil Greene dumping. I questioned the timing but it proved prescient on KT's part. KG went in the dumper and Luke Gregerson was fantastic in middle relief.
• Heath Bell ably took over for the expensive Trevor Hoffman.
• Mike Adams returned.....I don't even no where KT got him last year, but he's nails out of the pen.
• David Eckstein filled the hole that Matt Antonelli wasn't close to being ready for and provided needed professionalism and leadership.
• Kevin Correia was resurrected off the scrap heap.
• Jake Peavy was dealt for power arms and $50 odd million was cut from the books.
• An arbitration eligible Scott Hairston was dealt for more power arms.
• Oh yea....the fella up top who has managed 40 bombs playing half his games in a pitcher's park...quick....name the guys KT gave up for AGon et al.
  

There are quite a few things that have given me hope for the future and KT has had a hand in a good number of them.

I'm not sure that removing Kevin Towers is the answer but Jeffrey Moorad made plenty of deposits with me when he ponied up and got the 2009 draft class signed, so I'll reserve judgement on this one.

What Do You Want From The Padres? Let The Man (...or men) Know

I posted this same letter @ Gaslamp Ball this afternoon because it has become apparent that Padres' COO Tom Garfinkle, in addition to being able to expertly quote Austin Powers, also looks in on the comments at GLB. It is my recommendation that if you want your voice heard, follow this link, get a screen name with SB Nation, and sound off.

Dear Mr. Moorad and Mr. Garfinkle:

I originally intended on sending you a formal letter to discuss some ideas from a fan's perspective but now that I know Mr. Garfinkle is a Gaslamp Baller why not do it here where all Padre fans can give their two cents. Further impetus for this letter was fueled by a post at The Sacrifice Bunt this morning discussing some of their ideas. Here are a few of my thoughts:

Uniforms (In agreement w/ The Sacrifice Bunt):

This seems like a superficial and frivolous request as aesthetics should be secondary to winning but I think it goes much deeper than the surface. As a franchise that lacks a winning tradition and very few recognizable stars through its history there should be a constant, something that fans can hang their hat on as it relates to their fanhood. A Padre is brown and while not the coolest color in the rainbow......ok.....even the rainbow left brown out of the equation......the point is that brown is a unique color in MLB (as is sand) and we should accept it and embrace it. The uniforms aren't bad right now with the exception of the color scheme and you could always look to the '69s for a solid style. Everyone also seems to love the '84s although I would use those as a throwback. The point is that there are franchises out there that have only made the most minor of changes over time......they are also the teams with solid traditions (I need not name teams here). A Padre wears brown. Let's embrace our history rather than run from it.

The Seats minus the fans:

When watching a game on TV there is a message that is quite explicit being communicated over the airwaves: There is nothing going on here......stay away......save your money! The view from my living room shows empty seats all up and down the left field line so I recommend creating some buzz. Upgrade as many people as you can after the 1st inning so it creates the illusion that there are a lot of people there eagerly watching the young, up and coming Padres of the future. Create the illusion (in the short term) that Petco is the place to be. Too dishonest and costly of a ploy? OK....no upgrades. Give the Reserved Field Level tickets away for free during the week.

• Get more military guys down here, for free ( they'll take their fond memories around the world and if they leave SD at a time when the team is playing good baseball they may be lifetime fans---perhaps subscribers to a future cable television package?).
• Get more of the African-American community here, for free (Baseball is dying in inner cities. We have three young African-Americans on the roster in Blanks, Venable, Gwynn.....our #1 draft pick in Donavan Tate....and the Greatest Padre of them all, Mr. Gwynn. Get young kids in here for free and let them meet these guys----perhaps future fans who will look back in fondness and gladly pay as adults)
• Get more of the Latin community here, for free (I think you guys already do this but I thought I'd mention it considering the # of Venezuelans on the roster----let the town meet these guys)

This list could continue to go on with every demographic of people living San Diego but I think the point is that the seats are open (grossly open) so why not try something that will create life long fans.

Field Name

With all due respect The San Diego Padres have the worst park name in Major League Baseball. I'm not going to ask you to do the noble thing and shun corporate dollars that are thrown at you but I think giving a name to the field would make San Diego look slightly less stupid (Jack Murphy Field at Qualcom Stadium). Jack Murphy brought the Padres to San Diego so I don't see why we can't name it Jack Murphy Field at Petco Park.....that's just me....but anything would be an improvement over seeing only the name Petco in bright lights. How about something to do with Ted Williams, a PCL Padre? Something that gives a sense of history and tradition.

Draft Picks

You will take a giant step backwards if the 2009 group does not get signed. With Peavy gone, money is there: this is both perception and reality. Show that there is a commitment to drafting, developing, and playing dynamic young talent in San Diego. This must be done to show that there is a genuine commitment to building a World Series contender....not a competitive team.....a World Series contender. If you do that you will satisfy your fledgling fan base as well add all of the bandwagon types we saw in 1998. If you win they will come.

I could probably say a few more things but now it's time for my fellow Padre fans to have their say. I appreciate your acknowledgement of the fans here at Gaslamp Ball and hope that some of our ideas might help to give you a sense of what the fans in San Diego expect and hope for.

Respectfully

Avenger-In-Chief

Avenging Jack Murphy

A Padre Fan since 1986

....and then Padres' CEO Jeff Moorad Described John Moores Blood

Jeffrey Moorad was on XX1090 this afternoon and he talked about a good many things:

1. Firing front office personnel/Economy is not good.
   
2. Why the Padres suck/One day they wont, promise (they have a plan, shhh)!
   
3. An Extension for Bud Black/Would have fired him earlier this season.
   
4. If we fail to sign 1st round draft pick Donovan Tate, it's alright/We'll get compensation next year/Uh-oh, here we go!
   

I'll go ahead and stop. He said a lot of stuff and if you want to listen to it I'll provide a link: Jeffrey Moorad with Darren Smith Thursday July 23rd [XX1090]

Now perhaps I should be thinking about the above talking points or focusing my consternation on the Moorad assertion that the organization WILL INCREASE PAYROLL IN 2010......IF THEY SEE SUPPORT IN 2009......HELL'S BELLS! The team stinks and attendance is down! I guess we know where payroll is going next year.

The above comments are worrisome but really, it was the Moorad quote about John Moores' blood that was the most glaring and deserving of scrutiny:

Darren Smith: "What does John Moores have to say about this team?"
Jeff Moorad: "......he hurts and bleeds Padre Blue just like the rest of us."

Doesn't that just sound wrong? Dodger Blue, yes. Padre Blue, no!

Padres are fucking Brown. Maybe that's where Mr. Moorad should start....by getting this organization an identity.

What say you? Are Padres brown?

This Is The End: March 29th extremely weak Round-up

“At the end of the day, I want to win,” Moorad says. “I won't rest until the Padres win a World Series ... I think you can win even in a smaller to medium-sized market (like San Diego) with a smaller to medium-sized payroll. We just have to be better and smarter than our competition.”

-Jeffrey Moorad (new Padres CEO and eventual owner)

With our 4th or 5th starters yet to be named and an untested bullpen we find ourselves apprehensive. As March comes to a close the Padres still lack any kind of speed and have power so dubious that the reasonable man must take stock and note that the prospects for the 2009 season are disheartening. There is reason for hope, though.

Spring is a time of renewal and, as such, also a symbol of hope. All you should really need though is the above quote to instill that glimmer of hope. Note the words that new Padre CEO Jeff Moorad chooses: never does he say that he is "looking to remain competitive in the NL West" or that "there's no reason that we can't be competitive". Those are the refrains of a previous regime...Jeff Moorad says he wants a World Series and he won't rest until the Padres get one. We like the sound of that. We recommend reading the remainder of the UT article to get a feel for why "the times they-are-a-changin'".

Modest start preceded Moorad's rise
[San Diego Union Tribune-Mark Zeigler]

However, if you still cannot muster some positive vision for the short term that's O.K. too.......complain away! As a Padre fan you've earned the right. You were told to vote "Yes" back in 1998 and the future would forever be bright. But it's 2009 and the "Bark Park" novelty has worn off to the casual fan so we're left with the same old cost cutting measures of days gone past. With a $40 million dollar payroll we will trudge through a weak NL West and compete against a Dodger team that just paid Manny Ramirez over $20 million.......we need not do the math for you.

We were lied to so feel free to deliver your bellows of rage. Don't let guys on the radio tell you that you should only be extolling the favorables on account of a new ownership group easing into place and April just on the horizon. Be cynical. Be skeptical. It's the Padres 40 year anniversary...you've earned it.

We're hopeful though, and satisfied that Jeff Moorad is at the helm. Check out the following audio:perhaps it will quell your pessimism.

Jeffrey Moorad with Scott & BR
[XX1090--3/27/09]
Kevin Towers with Darren Smith
[XX1090--3/27/09]

There's another thing that is quite outstanding about Moorad....he received his law degree from..........wait for it........Villanova! The bracket was blown up today but it is on life support with the "Villanova in the finals" selection. It looks like a Michigan St/Villanova final will be needed. Go Nova!

The week has ended and we can all agree that life is Too Short to not envision a little hope on the horizon...

Editor's Note:
The bearded fella sitting next to Senator McCain is Jeff Moorad. Moorad claims that the Senator knows more about the Diamondbacks than most people in the Arizona front office which explains precisely two things:

1. D-Backs's poor showing in 2008.
2. McCain's inability to differentiate between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam (keep your eye on the ball Mr. McCain)