Padres Eyeing Livan Hernandez, Cliff Floyd

I had no idea that Trachsel was still pitching... wow.

I can understand the anger a lot of fans have towards the Yankees for their offseason spending and annual payroll, but I believe what the Padres are doing is equally worse if not more.

Seriously a $40 million dollar payroll? I'm aware of the ownership problems they are currently having, but this is still pathetic despite that. At least Yankee fans can argue their owner cares, what can Padre fans say?

This is a team that missed the playoffs by 1 game two yeras ago. Perhaps if they spend some money on the draft and picked up a decent positional player or two they could make another postseason run. Instead their fans are going to endure what looks to be a dreadful 2009 season.

The 2009 Padres and their $40 million dollar payroll (I'm not letting Loria's Marlins off the hook, but at least they draft and develop well) is an example of why a salary cap isn't necessary, but a salary floor may be.

Livan Hernandez, Cliff Floyd, Brian Lawrence, Steve Trachsel, Scott Elarton? If all of those guys got invited to spring training it would look like "Major League". Seriously, I didn't realize Lawrence & Elarton were still alive, much less still pitching.

jvg019:

I assure you Padre fans are angry and disgusted, and 2009 will be especially ugly. A number of fans are basically boycotting the team (although not myself). While a number of fans hate Sandy Alderson with the heat of 1000 suns (although again, not myself) the spin he has been putting on it has been a bit ridiculous. The front office is using the bad economy as a fig leaf for many things, including why season tickets sales are plummeting, when the product on the field is just as much to blame.

Whats sad is that if they signed Manny and Ben Sheets they would be instant contenders and still have a payroll under 70 Million. They would prob recoup all theres losses in a day.

"Whats sad is that if they signed Manny and Ben Sheets they would be instant contenders and still have a payroll under 70 Million. They would prob recoup all theres losses in a day."

Thanks JRod. Way to rub it in... If only Alderson could hear you.

"Some of what you say in this post is very true, but some is it is complete nonsense. How would the Padres upset anyone by having a low payroll?"

- Well there fans for one are someone who is hurt by this. You can win with a low payroll, but that's if you spend wisely on the draft and use your money to sign 0-6 players to cheap contracts. Not only are the Padres unable to do this, but they even sell off their most tradeable commodity without screwing it up.

"The reason people get upset with NY is because they basically go out ant outbid everyone on top FA's, thereby driving market value up for all other franchises. You could see how that would upset people."

- Yes and no. I'm sure that's the reason many front office executives are annoyed, but most fans complain about the Yankees because they are able to spend whatever they want. Your response makes it sound like the Yankees are the only team to overspend, when in this same offseason we saw the Braves basically bid against themselves for Derek Lowe. There are of course numerous other examples, but the ones that jump to my mind now are the Mariners and Beltre/Sexson and Texas with Arod.

And while I think its ridiculous that these owners spend only $20 million dollars on their payroll and then blame the economy (Marlins were my example there), I said at least the Marlins front office is able to draft and evaluate talent well, unlike San Diego.

We actually have some money so we try to grab
1) A pitcher who hasn't been good in two years and bounced around when he was ineffective
2) An old slow outfielder whose breaking down to cover one of the biggest outfields in the league.

I agree with tom, I mean good lord, we could snatch up Sheets really cheap, we could probably even make a run at Pedro Martinez (if towers really loves old pitching), and we would be in great shape. No, instead we gotta get even more old and busted. Pathetic

Even if healthy Mark Prior is a non factor. I don't think they'll ever regain the velocity that helped him be so successful back in 2003.

Note: While I was critical of the Padres drafting ability above, I should say they always do a nice job of obtaining talent via trades. Also whether or not the spacious ballpark has a lot to do with it, Towers usually does a fine job of assembling the bullpen.

I feel for you friar. From my experiences I tend to believe that Padre fans are very knowledgabe and loyal. However I can't blame any of them if they jump ship in 2009. So credit to you Friar.

San Diego is an amazing city and despite its dimension, its a beautiful ballpark. I can't help but wonder how they could attract players to San Diego if they were willing to spend on payroll. I think it all starts this June for San Diego. Grab a top talent with your 2nd (or is it 3rd?) overall pick, get Headley some consistent playing time, get whatever you can get for Peavy and find out if Antonelli can cut it in centerfield. Then go from there.

At the SDSU Aztec basketball game a few nights ago, Tony Gwynn & Sandy Alderson were introduced at halftime. Gwynn was cheered, while Alderson was literally booed by the 10,000 in attendance. It was beautiful.

SVG

The Padres do not have a $40 million payroll. they are currently closer to $41 million

without any additional signings (check out the specifics at

http://websoulsurfer.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-padres-payroll-projections-redux.html as well

as links to articles about budget at www.websoulsurfer.com) and Sandy Alderson has been

consistent in saying that they don't have a set payroll budget.

The Padres signed all of their to draft picks. They actually spent over slot on several. Not

only that but they signed 4 of the Top 8 international free agents.

They spent a team record in the draft and international free agents in 2008. T 10 yearshey

also spent a team record on ML salaries in 2008. All while losing $115 million + over the

past 12 years.

As for position players, lets go through the positions 1 by 1.

The Starting 8 - (in batting order)
CF- Gerut - Hit .304/.362/.509/.871 with 14 hr and 28 xbh in 283 abs in CF. No changes

needed.
2B- Eckstein - Pesky .284/.351 hitter who steps up in pressure situations. Below average

defense should be better with move to 2B.
RF- Giles - One of best RF in baseball. Hit .306/.398/.456/.854 in 2009. No change needed.
1B- Gonzalez - All Star and one of best in Baseball. No change needed
3B- Kouzmanoff - Good offensive and defensive production and is at age and length of ML

service where a breakout year is more likely. No Change needed.
LF- Headley - Below average defense from a player that was a top prospect for an outstanding

bat. Hit .275/.346/.417/.763 with 7 hr in 302 abs while playing in LF in 2008. 2009 will be

first full season in ML.
SS- LRodriguez - Hit .313/.351/.386/.737 in 176 abs while playing SS in 2008. Padres could

use more power at SS but Rodriguez is serviceable both offensively and defensively. Burke

can provide power off the bench.
C - Hundley - Rookie hit .250 or better with plus power in 2 of 3 months at ML level. Very

good defensively.

Its great at one two positions (1B and RF), good at three positions (LF, CF, and 3B) and

serviceable at the other 3 positions (2B, SS and C)

Bench
Hairston - Hit .305/.341/.609/.950 with 12 hr and 27 xbh in 174 ab in CF platoon with Gerut
Blanco - Hit .292/.325/.392/.717 in 120 abs in 2008.
Burke (or maybe Cabrera) - Top prospect who has hit .280/.361/.406/.767 vs lefties for his career. Has never been given a chance to play regularly.
Denker - great prospect that no one is really sure why the Giants allowed him to be exposed

to waivers.
Egon - Proved to be an able bat off the bench and hit .273/.328/.390/.717 in nearly 300 PA

while playing 2B.

Now we are hearing talk about Cliff floyd providing a power bat off the bench.

Granted these are not high dollar players you would see signed by the Yankees, but they are

certainly capable of winning more than we saw in 2008 if they stay healthy.

In 2008 the problem was not that there wasn't enough talent. After all, the Padres were

picked by many to win the West prior to the 2008 season. The problem was that not enough of

them were actually on the team at any one time.

The Padres set a new MLB record for player days on the DL and tied their own MLB record from

2003 for most players used at 57. The number of players on the DL at any given point

averaged over 7 players per game. That is nearly 3 times the MLB average.

So all the gloom and doom is a little premature.

If they just stay healthy at a MLB average of 430 player days on the DL, the current personnel project out at 74-76 wins.

JVG, The Padres had 6 players that were drafted since 2005 play at the ML level in 2008.

Even if they sign Hernandez and Floyd they will have 3 and possibly 4 that will START at the ML level in 2009 with several others close behind.

The only knock on the 2008 Padres draft has been that they drafted at positions they are already deep at. Since it takes most systems 3-4 years to get even top draft picks into the ML roster, that is not such a bad thing.

Your argument is not valid.

I actually think we have a good core of young players to build around. We haven't seen the best of Headley, Hundley or even Kouz. However, I still think we have too many holes to really compete. The bullpen will be hit or miss, the rotation has only two solid starters (I hate to have to count on Prior, but if he ever does come back, he could be a huge X-factor), and the lineup has holes all over. We basically have two guys who can hit for power (Gonzalez and Kouz - Headley isn't there yet), no real speed and one player capable of posting a high OBP.

Bottom line: we'll improve from 08 but not enough to be relevant. 4th looks right, 3rd if everything falls into place.