Padres Considering Eckstein, Vizquel

Padres and Giants are trading teams...

i thought the padres were going with a youth movement?

...not that Omar is old or anything

Phew! What a relief.

I'm glad that Towers got to Vizquel before Colletti did!

The Channel 4 News Team???

And I'm Ron Burgundy. Go f*ck yourself, San Diego.

Too bad, Omar has had a great career but he is 41 and no longer a starter. He could still be a great utility infielder though, especially for a team with a young developing SS. This guy was the master of the glove during the last 15 years.

Does JT Snow have any second thoughts about retiring?

Plays good defense, and he will be in the team to add some leadership to the young guys like Antonelli, Erveth Cabrera, etc. That is the main reason why the Pads are signing him.

Would've preferred David Eckstein though, decent glove and decent hitting. Instead we have Vizquel who is great glove but no hitting.

Why doesnt omar retire? Does he really need more money that bad? Jeez, talk about hanging on.

Antonelli struggled last year and with Burke now competing for the low budget job at 2B too, the cheap Padres won't be promoting Antonelli next year b/c it would start his arbitration clock.

Omar will be gone by the time these prospects for the Padres are called on in 2010 or later once they figure out their financial situation.

Until then, they will keep their prospects down and sign washed up MLB guys to dirt cheap contracts so they can delay starting the Free Agency/Arbitration clocks.

I agree with Jason F-- Padres fans are in for a treat. Omar was not on the Giants all that long, but he quickly became one of my all-time favorite Giants. Watching him play SS is something else. And he's a good guy to have in the clubhouse. I just hope that after he's retired he comes back to the Giants as a bench coach or something.

Though it's painful to think of the Padres' offense if Omar hits under .230, he is absolutely one of the premier fielders ever and he can still cover ground. He's another non-whiner who may have been more hurt than he let on. If you love seeing the game played right or have a kid who wants to play shortstop, get tickets straight up from third base and watch.

They have these positions called "coaches" who are paid to do this.

If the Pads want Omar to teach the youngins how to play the game give him a modest coaching salary and leave the roster spot for someone useful.

Posted by: KangarooBoxer26 | January 14, 2009 at 02:46 PM

Point taken, however, there is something to be said for leading by example. A coach cannot do this. Watching omar for the past 3 years with the giants, he is the penultimate example of how a HOF caliber PLAYER goes about his business day by day. It's obvious that he genuinely enjoys coming to the park every day, but he is all business when he needs to be.

Check out some of his routine-looking barehanded plays....amazing.

Jason F and Just another idiot,

I agree with you in regards to Omars career. He was a model player for what teams hope to get out of all their players.

With that being said though, I think the Padres aren't thinking along any of these lines with the signing.

What you are forgetting is the Padres (due to financial issues) are not going to be promoting Antonelli or Cabrera next year because that starts their arbitration clocks.

This signing isn't to bring those players along its to hold them back by a year by filling the void with a band-aid.

The Chris Burke signing is evidence enough.

As Just Another Idiot said, "the pads aren't going to win next year". If you are an owner or trying to sell a team why start a kids arbitration/free agency clock when you can hold them back a year while trying to restructure your finances.

For this reason I feel the move is shameful. Its a matter of opinion but I see it as the Padres putting a band-aid on their holes at the major league level instead of letting the kids play because they will save a ton of money in the long run by delaying Arbitration/Free Agency for these kids who could be promoted to fill the gaps instead.

Again, if you aren't going to win next year there should be no harm in letting the kids play and learn the job. If the kids are stuck tearing it up in AAA while the parent club is in dead last I have some issues with that.

Happy to see Omar as a Padre, however, hope they don't give him the nostalgic veteran contract.

KangarooBoxer26,

You make an excellent point, but I think "shameful" is a little harsh. The type of influence that omar will have on younger guys doesn't only apply to Antonelli or Cabrera (who I am not familiar with, btw, but am assuming are middle infield types). What about headley, kouzmanoff, etc.? They would all benefit just the same. I don't view the signing as shameful at all. If anything, it's a good business decision according to your rationale. If you can save your team money in the long run when you know for a fact you won't be competitive this year, I would call that forward-thinking, not shameful.

KangarooBoxer26,

Since Khalil left they have no true SS on the roster or on the minor leagues. Really the only thing Padres have are second baseman and that is a lot of them. L-Rod, Edgar Gonzalez, Chris Burke, Erveth Cabrera (who they are trying to move to SS) are among those the Padres want to try on the 2B/SS infield combination. Signing Vizquel would be a guarantee at the SS position though he cannot hit anymore. But hey, Khalil didn't either last season and he really played just average defense and he can't play small ball so having Vizquel up there would be an upgrade over him.

And let me clarify you a couple of things:

1) Yes, the Padres' closest player to reaching the majors for 2B is Matt Antonelli but he struggled at AAA and struggled at the MLB level when called up. He batted just for .193 with a HR and 3 RBI's in September. Meanwhile at AAA he batted .215 with 7 HR and 39 RBI though his OBP still is good with 335. So no, the Padres aren't promoting Antonelli yet not because they are being cheap but he proved us all that he needs more seasoning at AAA. Then you got Eric Sogard who the Padres are hoping continues to impress and if all goes well he will be opening the season at AA.

2) You talked about my excuse for signing Vizquel but if you'd sign Greg Maddux to a contract and I'd tell you that very same thing would you still stick to your point? I really don't think so. There are few in this business who are unique, special players and that is where Maddux and Vizquel fit in. That is why the Padres signed Maddux a couple of years ago because despite not being the very best right now though he was still very good, he is a different player and being able to inject some of his 15 or 20+ years of experience to the youngsters is priceless.

I am no way endorsing this signing but hey, we got nothing to lose by signing this guy as we have no in-house options at SS and he will come in cheap.

"What you are forgetting is the Padres (due to financial issues) are not going to be promoting Antonelli or Cabrera next year because that starts their arbitration clocks.

As Just Another Idiot said, "the pads aren't going to win next year". If you are an owner or trying to sell a team why start a kids arbitration/free agency clock when you can hold them back a year while trying to restructure your finances."

This is just your interpretation of the situation. Whether this actually happens or not is still very much up in the air.

I actually diagree. I think nothing would please Towers more than to have Antonelli bounce back and fulfill his potential. I don't think you can pull up a Towers quote saying he's going to prevent Antonelli from playing at ML level for arbitration reasons.

I mean, SD is being realistic with their chances of competing next year, but to asume that they'll block a player who could potentially help out is taking it too far.

I'm sure Towers knows who is paying his salary, and how his employer increases revenue: it's called putting a good product on the field. It would be extremely counterproductive, not to mention borderline unethical, to purposely block a player for financial reasons.

Just to clarify,
I 100% agree it makes good business sense to keep the young kids down....however if you are a Padres fan I'd be disappointed to have a losing season with guys who are 1/done versus watching the future kids of the organization grow up in front of their eyes learning as they go.

Tampa Bay gets thrown out there a lot after their success last year but they really are a good example here. They lost and lost big for a lot of years but they opted to bring up their young kids and let them play.

Obviously there are two ways to look at this situation but for me I don't see it as the Padres making a great move for their organization by bringing in a Vet like Omar to teach the kids leadership.

Perhaps if they hadn't tried to so hard to trade one of their leaders in Peavy I could buy into this theory a little more but its pretty ridiculous to think they are concerned about leadership when they tried to trade the face of their franchise.

If I was Adrian Gonzalez or Kouzmanoff that situation alone would disgruntle me with to the point where I would seriously have to ask myself why I should care about this organization if they will just try to cast me aside like Peavy.

I don't know kangaroo, I actually think SD places a lot of importance on leadership. That's why Greg Maddux was brought in a couple seasons ago. That's why Giles is still there (among other reasons).

You can point to Hoffman, Peavy and other leaders who have been/are being pushed out, but I don't think it's a fair assessment. I think it kills Towers to have to do this, and if the team could afford them, he'd love to keep them. It's a case of business decision over emotional decision.

But the truth is that the MLB is all about money now, and franchises have to bow to that reality, whether they like it or not. In Towers' case, I'm sure he hates it, but for the overall sake of the franchise, he's faced with tough decisions.

... Watching omar for the past 3 years with the giants, he is the penultimate example of how a HOF caliber PLAYER goes about his business day by day. ...

Posted by: Jason F | January 14, 2009 at 03:33 PM

--------

Penultimate means "second to last" NOT "best". That pretty dramatically changes what you meant to say.

"Great guy to have around youngsters. Cant hit anymore (and will barely hit .220 in SD) but can still get it done defensively."

Omar's game won't be hurt by PETCO. In fact, it will probably be helped.

Penultimate means "second to last" NOT "best". That pretty dramatically changes what you meant to say.

Posted by: MadridWahoo | January 15, 2009 at 11:29 AM

Before you start correcting other people's grammar, etc., you should try to understand what dictionary.com is telling you. Anyone can look up the definition of something online, but it takes a certain level of knowledge of the english language to actually understand the definition. By "second to last," they don't mean 2nd to the worst (player, in this instance). They mean that whatever you are referring to is second to last in a series of events, meaning everything before it led up to that event. So, while I admit there was probably a better word I could've used, it is not entirely inapplicable. In this situation, I was referring to him being more significant (or better) than everyone that has preceded him...until the next great shortstop comes along.

So, if you're going to come on a message board, don't pretend to be the grammar police. Offer something substantive. I will say that you did use that right word to describe yourself in your handle: Wahoo.

Between Eckstein and Vizquel, why would either take a 1 mil base salary?
They can make tons more just taking a backup deal.

Maybe Vizquel since he's at the back end of his career.

2009 San Diego Padres: We suck, but the weather is sweet.

"I would not be surprised to see Vizquel in Texas for a few months that would allow Andrus to get a few reps in AAA."

The question is whether Vizquel would want to play in Texas.

"It is one of the few deals he is going to receive in a hitters park. Do well and he can get a deal elsewhere next year as well. Go to SD and get hurt by that park and retire next year.

Texas would defiantly be a place of interest."

For a guy like Vizquel, PETCO is a hitter's park. Texas is a beautiful place for a power hitter, but a cavernous place like PETCO is perfect for a slappy line drive hitter who can run like Omar.