![]() |
|
|
| |
« Gary Matthews Jr. Wants Out | Main | Discussion: Pedro Martinez »
Here's a few links to help you through another baseball-less night...
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.


|
|
I officially have no respect for Keith Law. Its one thing to say the Padres drafts over the last 5-10 years have been among the worst, but to talk about the last three, to single those particular drafts out, is plain ignorant! HE obviously doesn't follow Padre baseball, not surprising!
Posted by: Mickeykoke | October 27, 2009 at 08:14 PM
HE obviously doesn't follow Padre baseball, not surprising!
Posted by: Mickeykoke | October 27, 2009 at 08:14 PM
agreed.
Posted by: agonzo23 | October 27, 2009 at 08:17 PM
man i'm excited for the pads future
Posted by: Tha_SD-Brain | October 27, 2009 at 08:38 PM
As someone who does follow the Padres, I'm not really sure where Law went wrong.
Posted by: Ray | October 27, 2009 at 09:03 PM
me neither because i can't read the article (insider!), but i think it has something to do with thinking our drafts are especially more terrible in recent years as opposed to more distant years (bush and pre-bush).
Posted by: agonzo23 | October 27, 2009 at 09:55 PM
The last few drafts have been pretty soild for the padres. Their low a ball team won over 100 games, and they have some guys like Jaff Dacker and Simon Castro are intriguing. At least the pads are finally starting to develop talent.
Posted by: kc32485 | October 27, 2009 at 09:59 PM
Ah.
It just makes me think of Fuson's "It's impossible, it just has to be."
Posted by: Ray | October 27, 2009 at 10:01 PM
Ray - As someone who does follow the Padres, I'm not really sure where Law went wrong.
Law is not wrong.
Posted by: DTogo | October 27, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Law took questions on espn on fuson
Gavin (San Diego): You've seen the Padres a couple times now...do you see any potential first-division regulars from the minors, outside of Blanks?
Keith Law: No. Latos was gone already before I got there and word was he didn't look great. Venable ... no. Hundley, no. I saw Fuson's comments about how they have a top-ten or top-five farm system. I want whatever he's having.
Kevin (San Diego): More insane - the guy who asked the Luis Castillo question or Grady Fuson, overseer of a top 5-10 farm system?
Keith Law: Fuson. I put them at 21 and thought I overrated them
Posted by: DTogo | October 27, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Law was also very negative on the Padres in the AFL.
Posted by: Ray | October 27, 2009 at 10:17 PM
i thought Latos looked great. the results undoubtedly tailed off towards the end of the season, so that must be Law's "word" (read: box score). but it is a 21 year old with a great throwing motion and explosive stuff. of course results are going to be a mixed bag in his first crack at the bigs, but someone who holds lead scout position at espn should account for this and have at least seen the kid.
Posted by: agonzo23 | October 27, 2009 at 10:41 PM
not quite sure what qualifies one as a "first-division regular", but if it means starting at a corner outfield position on a competitive small market club i would put my reputation on the line in saying that venable meets this as well.
Posted by: agonzo23 | October 27, 2009 at 10:44 PM
As someone who has follows the Padres more than a bit for awhile, I agree with agonzo. Some of these kids will develop, and they will all go through rough patches. It's those who emerge from those patches better for it that seem to make it. However, I still think Hoyer needs to get both working capital and some top young talent to add yeast to the farm and at Petco . . . and I still think trading AGon and Bell now accomplishes both, big time (almost 20% of payroll and choosing 7-8 Petco-compatible players/prospects. Further, because Hoyer already picked most of the Red Sox players and prospects, and thoroughly understands their skill-sets, he will get a better, more valuable haul from the Sox than any other team. And the Sox just happen to need AGon and could replace Wagner/ Masterson with Bell. If done right, it's a win-win.
Creating a mini-Fenway West would make the team competitive, and wouldn't hurt attendance at all, and eventually enhance the fan base. I'm from Boston. My kids were born and live in SoCal. They root for the Angels, Dodgers and Padres. I go to their games, buy beer, food and gear. Moreno, McCourt & Moorad don't mind at all.
Posted by: gerald troy | October 28, 2009 at 01:18 AM
I really doubt the Sox are sincerely interested in Gonzalez considering what his price tag might be. They already have Lowell, Youk, and Vmart to play the corners and have bigger areas of concern (SS, SP, C) to worry about.
If the Sox part with some of their top prospects this offseason I expect it to be for Jose Reyes or King Felix.
As a Yankee fan thinking about the possibility of going into a series against the Sox with a rotation consisting of King Felix, Beckett, Lestor, and Buchholz is terrifying.
Also equally terrifying is a lineup that features Reyes and Jacoby followed by Youk (who would give both Ellsbury and Reyes tons of opportunities to run considering how many pitches he takes and fights off), Vmart, and Bay/Holliday.
Posted by: yanks09 | October 28, 2009 at 01:46 AM
"As a Yankee fan thinking about the possibility of going into a series against the Sox with a rotation consisting of King Felix, Beckett, Lestor, and Buchholz is terrifying."
Well, I'm thinking that if such a trade went through--i.e. Felix Hernandez to the Red Sox(and I pray it never does), then you probably wouldn't have all 4 of those names in the Red Sox rotation.
i.e. King Felix and Beckett? Sure. Lester and Buchholz? One of them--probably Buchholz--would go to the M's in such a trade, I'd have to believe. :)
Posted by: StarryEyed | October 28, 2009 at 02:47 AM
agonzo23,
You want a guy who couldn't slug 450 in the minors to play a corner outfield position for you? That's your argument against Law?
Posted by: aap212 | October 28, 2009 at 03:34 AM
"If the Sox part with some of their top prospects this offseason I expect it to be for Jose Reyes or King Felix."
Well I can absolutely guarantee Reyes will not be shopped this offseason, he's a great player who's trade value is at an absolute low because of his injury... but trading for Hernandez would be an absolute wet dream. Schil and Beckett have done great in Sox unis, but the city of Boston was at a standstill every day Pedro took the mound, King Felix would give Boston the same feeling.
Posted by: start_wearing_purple | October 28, 2009 at 05:03 AM
The chat quote above is from before the 2009 season. I have seen Latos, both as an amateur and in 2009, and rated him highly in the '07 draft and on my top 100 prospects the last two winters. He's not the issue with the Padres' drafting, nor is Decker. It's all the other picks wasted on no-upside college players, like Venable, Leblanc, Antonelli, Schmidt, Dykstra, and so on.
Posted by: Keith Law | October 28, 2009 at 07:19 AM
As a close Padres follower I agree that the first round picks up until this year have been a complete disaster. I think the Padres farm system is/was a little better this year than most experts thought it would be producing players like Latos and Blanks who look like they could become all-star caliber players and guys like Tim Stauffer and Greg Burke who look like they could be role players at the major league level. Also they Fort Wayne team looks to be loaded with talent, however there does not look like there are too many major league players above the Padres A ball teams. Eric Sogard looks like he could be a utility guys, Luis Durango looks like he could be an everyday OF(although he can’t play CF and does not have enough power to stay at the corners),Mitch Canham may be able to be a Major league catcher if his defense develops a little more but outside of that and a few potential BP arms there is not much more Major league level talent in the Padres ML system above A ball.
I do disagree with Mr. Law about Venable, he put up a 110 OPS+ in 2009 in 324 PA, im not really sure why you don't belive he is a major league player?
Posted by: Steve | October 28, 2009 at 09:41 AM
Steve they improve a little bit but they are not a top 15 farm system. Canham is rated one of the worst defensive catcher in the minors. Sogard a light hitting 2b that has avg defense at best.
You may follow the Padres but,you do not know the Padres farm system and the lack of impact players.
Posted by: DTogo | October 28, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Steve they improve a little bit but they are not a top 15 farm system. Canham is rated one of the worst defensive catcher in the minors. Sogard a light hitting 2b that has avg defense at best.
You may follow the Padres but,you do not know the Padres farm system and the lack of impact players.
Posted by: DTogo | October 28, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Isn't that exactly what I said? Sogard has a career OBP of .375 but has no power so as I said he looks to be a bench player. Also as I mentioned Canham bat may develop to a major league level bat but his D is subpar. Also I never said that the Padres had a top 15 farm system I said it was a little better than what the experts predicted, Baseball America ranked the Padres farm system #29 at the beginning of the year. Also didn't I say in my post that Latos and Blank were the only impact players that Padres had above A ball?
Posted by: Steve | October 28, 2009 at 10:37 AM
It's all the other picks wasted on no-upside college players, like Venable, Leblanc, Antonelli, Schmidt, Dykstra, and so on.
Posted by: Keith Law | October 28, 2009 at 07:19 AM
though i agree with most of this list (still too early to write off Dykstra in my opinion), i still gotta disagree with the take on venable. did you know that the kid didn't start baseball full time basically until he was drafted out of princeton at 22 years old (focused on basketball like Chris Young)? maybe the padres drafted him a little early in the 7th round, but hard to argue that a pick who hasn't yet even committed to playing baseball full time has no upside (esp after given the opportunity to demonstrate a bit of the developing upside).
and to the earlier poster who mentioned low slugging %, from what i can tell he only struggled with slugging at San Antonio where the statheads tell me is the one of the game's toughest places to hit. these are things that non-SD fans are not expected to know, but they help illuminate the picture a little more. however, i would expect one of the nation's leading writers on prospects to know these things, and perhaps even let his readers know them. when considering these factors, venable's play on the MLB field, and interviews from coaches and players, i completely expect venable to be a regular OF in the big league's for a while (but i'm just a dude).
look, let's not have any fantasies that venable is a matt kemp or andre ethier, but i do think venable could be a poor man's hybrid of the two LA stars (little bit of power, avg, and range in the field). as a padre fan, i am not to proud to take a poor man's dodger at a few positions on the field - especially when those dodgers are some of the best young players in the game.
Posted by: agonzo23 | October 28, 2009 at 02:14 PM