Started-me-a-wonderin': The San Diego Padres and Yunel Escobar

After turning on the Padre game in the 8th inning, (EST start threw me) I saw Atlanta shortstop Yunel Escobar make a play and it started-me-a-wonderin'.

The Padres almost dealt Jake Peavy for Escobar and a few others back in November. I wasn't really in favor of the deal at the time for a couple of reasons:

1. I was delusional; not fully grasping the financial plight a divorce could bring on our club.
2. I didn't know too much about the players involved and really didn't want to do the research; laziness and a state of delusion conspiring together.

Today Yunel Escobar is hitting .303/.370/.452

The Wonderin':

1. Would the haul from the Jake to Atlanta trade in November of 2008 have been more beneficial than Jake to the Sox in July of 2009?
2. Would we have taken Everth Cabrera in the December, 2008 Rule V Draft had we traded for Escobar back in November (I think yes because ECab was a 2B)?
3. If we did take ECab would he have seen any playing time---being blocked by Escobar at SS and the Great Eckstein at 2B---may he have been returned to Colorado because he wasn't crackin' the line-up?
4. How would the Padres look with Escobar at SS and Cabrera at 2B?

Some of my wonderment is unknowable (2 & 3) but feel free to speculate and discuss, it may be fun.

The remainder of my reverie won't be revealed for a while (1 & 4) although if someone wants to look up the 2009 stat lines for the players and then draw some comparisons, I'd be stoked if you did.......by the way the Padres won in the 12th; Latos 7 shut out innings.

Tainted Cycles: Thanks Be To Troy Tulowitzki

Last night Troy Tulowitzki came to bat late in the game needing a triple the most difficult of the required four hits for The Cycle.

TT was gifted The Cycle when Alfonso Soriano bobbled the ball and then the relay, which had TT dead to rites, was dropped.

An excerpt from "Troy Tulowitzki's Cycle A Mockery Of Baseball's Hallowed Record", by Johnny Lawrence of the Bleacher Report:

How fair is it that Tulowitzki receives credit for accomplishing something only 246 players have in over one hundred years of baseball, despite the glaring no-calls?

Plati hand-wrapped and delivered Tulowitzki this historically significant feat, and I'm not so sure it should not be taken away from him for the sake of integrity.

The mistake was made in the scorer's box, not on the field, so do not blame Tulowitzki for his top-flight performance.

A far too generous scoring of the play cheapened the magnitude of this historically uncommon event.

There are two significant points here for San Diego Padre fans:

1. The Padres have yet to hit a cycle in their 40 year history. I'd love to see a cycle even if it were tainted by a homer score keeper! Actually I don't care, I'm more interested in the anomaly that our franchise has failed with 40seasons X 162 games....you do the math.
   
2. We should be praising Tulo's excellence, without which, we may not have been able to get Everth Cabrera in last winter's Rule V draft.

Cheers Cycle-laden Colorado!!!! It's their 5th one in a mere 16 seasons.

While a type of false choice, I'll take Everth Cabrera over The Cycle any day of the week.