OOTP 8 Dynasty: The Padres (but not Madres) of 04'

[DawnBTVS]

Out of curiosity, I decided to look at the Petco Field PF and saw it was a flat .920! That partly explains our unfortunate at hitting and scoring runs overall.

On May 10th, we lose Oliver Perez to a strained bicep tendon for 3-4 weeks. He was struggling with a 2-4 record and a 7.94 ERA so it may not be as harmful as one would think. Mark Buehrle will slide into the backend of the rotation now.

On May 16th, we lose Jake Peavy to back spasms for 2 weeks. He was 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA. I call up Jerome Williams who was 3-4 with a 2.87 ERA at AAA. On May 31st, Peavy is eligible to come back. Williams went 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA in 2 starts. I decide to put on waivers and designate for assignment Adam Eaton who's 3-5 with a horrible 8.42 ERA in 10 starts.

Let's just say that May was absolutely, positively, extruciatingly terrible in almost every single facet you could think of. We're dead last in the NL West with an 18-34 record and went 6-22 overall in May.

Hitting wise, we've been abysmal with Pokey Reese, Dave Ross, Robin Ventura, Robert Fick, and Jose Hernandez combining to hit for a .205 BA. Yeah. With that news, I decide to give fulltime jobs to Ryan Howard at 1B, Dave Ross at C, and Sean Burroughs at 3B defense be damned.

I also decide to call up SS Kahlil Greene who's hitting .290/.377/.348 at AAA in 210 AB. He also has 28 BB vs. 31 K. I decide to put MR Mike Bynum on waivers and designate him for assignment. He had a 7.43 ERA in 23 IP and was largely struggling with hits as he's allowed 31.

We do have some bright bats though. Nick Green is hitting .284/.338/.443 with 4 HR and 22 RBI. He also has 24 SB and has been caught only 1 time. Jason Bay is hitting .314/.402/.505 with 7 HR and 27 RBI along with 27 BB vs. 53 K. Ben Grieve is the 2005 version of Robert Fick hitting .255/.386/.321 with 2 HR and 31 BB vs. 32 K. Rondell White continues to slug hitting .244/.304/.455 with a team leading 9 HR and 27 RBI. Sean Burroughs is his usual mashing RHP hitting .301/.333/.363 with 6 SB in 7 SBC. Finally Ryan Howard, mostly hitting RHP, is hitting .324/.361/.351 with 10 RBI and 7 SB in 9 SBC. Only downside is that he has just 7 BB vs. 26 K in 111 AB. Also Xavier Nady in part time action is hitting .300/.417/.640 in 50 AB with 5 HR and 7 RBI off the bench.

Our rotation's been pretty solid but can't win any games. Jerome Williams is 0-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 3 starts and has 9 BB to 6 K, not good. A.J. Burnett is 4-5 with a 4.25 ERA and 26 K vs. 21 BB in 65.2 IP. Clay Condrey is 3-3 with a 4.59 ERA with an impressive 46 K in 64.2 IP. Jake Peavy is 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 6 starts and has 26 BB vs. 24 K in 27 IP. Yeah, horrible.

As usual, however, our bullpen remains very strong. Matt Herges has a 2.03 ERA and 26 K in 31 IP. Justin Huisman has 11 S and a 3.21 ERA with 18 K vs. 13 BB in 28 IP. Ben Howard has a 3.76 ERA in 26.1 IP and Mike Matthews has a 3.86 ERA in 18.2 IP.

I also decide to try and implement some pitch counts, especially for guys struggling. Most of them end up around 95 or 100 pitches. One exception is A.J. Burnett who's given a 105 pitch count.

At AA, Joey Devine is pitching well with a 0.54 ERA and 8 S in 16.2 IP. He'll likely move up to AAA at the start of July. Adam Greenberg is hitting .305/.356/.438 in 233 AB and will start June off at AAA. Same for Brandon Watson who's hitting .312/.360/.436 in 218 AB. Andy Marte has been struggling with injuries all season, including a torn rotator cuff keeping him out for 7 more weeks. Thus in 2 years he's only accumulated 109 AB at AA but does have a .312 BA.

[DawnBTVS]

Given the strength of our bullpen (9th in ERA at 4.23 but that includes players since put on waivers), I've decided to do some tweaking to see that we maximize their effectiveness. Matt Herges will shift to our first Middle Reliever slot while Justin Huisman will take over as both the Setup Man and Closer, ensuring possibly 2 IP of good pitching as opposed to 1 or less. Jay Powell will shift to a Mop Up role while Jake Peavy will spot start about 5% of the time and work out of the bullpen as our 3rd reliever.

Oliver Perez returns from the DL on 6/3.

More bad news strikes as we lose Jason Bay for the season thanks to a fractured ankle (7-8 months). He was hitting .315/.403/.498 with 7 HR and 31 BB in 213 AB. Probably the player we could least afford to lose offensively. I decide to call up Brandon Watson as he's slightly better defensively than Shane Victorino.

Both Adam Eaton and Mike Bynum slip through waivers and will be stashed in AAA.

The 2005 Draft is underway and we have the 2nd pick. Worth noting is that this is the first draft with a mix of real rookies and generated ones. Our first pick is LF Anastasio Montalvo out of USC. He had 14 HR and hit .364/.423/.692 in 143 AB in his sole season playing. He also has a reputation as a very good defensive fielder. Our second pick is SP Carlos Marmol who's capable of hitting 98-100 on the gun. He's 22 years old and could be turned into a Closer later on down the road as well if he suffers Kerry Wood Syndrome. Our third pick is MR Joel Zumaya, a 20 year old who's also capable of hitting 98-100 on the gun. Our fourth pick is CF/RF Lastings Milledge, a 20 year old who's better in RF but just as good in CF. Can play all 3 OF spots well and offers nice versatility. Our fifth round pick is 3B Cale Smith who hit .306/.344/.410 with 10 BB vs. 12 K in 183 AB out of Florida. He was in a hitter's park but still hit .281 on the road. Our sixth pick is C Mike Rabelo who's a bit old at 25 and is marginal defensively but does offer some younger depth in the minors at the position. Our final pick is MR Taylor Tankersley, a young 22 year old Lefty who can hit 95-97 on the gun. Not many lefties can do that so it's worth snatching him up.

As per usual in our system, everybody will initially start at the Single A level.

On 6/19, I try to put in a claim on MR Mike Crudale. He's 28 and struggled with St. Louis with a 4.86 ERA in 63 IP this season and last season combined but he also has 54 K and just 4 HRA so it's worth taking a flyer. A day later and we have an addition to our relief corps. Since we need space on the 25 man roster, I decide to shop around 24 year old "bust" Jake Peavy who's gone 21-32 with a 5.37 ERA from 2003-2005 (this season). He's also walked an astonishing 212 batters in 404.2 IP.

On 6/21, we complete a deal with the Chicago White Sox. We send SP Jake Peavy for fellow 24 year old SP Jeff Francis. At AAA with the White Sox, Francis has gone 14-18 with an ERA of 3.25 but has 84 K vs. 70 BB with 17 HRA. He'll start off in AAA for us as well.

At the close of June, we're still last with a record of 27-52. We improved slightly and went 9-18 in the month. That's... something. Needless to say, we're awful in almost every way except in SB where we're 5th with 66 and 7th in HRA with 78.

Rotation wise, we're still struggling as a unit. A.J. Burnett is 5-8 with a 4.48 ERA. Clay Condrey is 5-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 99 IP. Mark Buehrle is 3-5 with a 5.03 ERA in 87.2 IP. Jerome Williams has struggled mightily with an 0-8 record and a 7.13 ERA in just 41.2 IP. Oliver Perez has also struggled with a 7.55 ERA and 2-5 record in 56 IP. He's also allowed 13 HR. The bullpen is slightly better but not by much. Justin Huisman has 11 S and a 3.11 ERA in 46.1 IP. Matt Herges has 4 S and a 3.23 ERA in 47.1 IP. Mike Matthews has a 4.03 ERA. Ben Howard is 5-3 with 1 S and a 4.35 ERA in 41.1 IP. Jay Powell has a 5.04 ERA in 44.2 IP and finally Mike Crudale has a 6.75 ERA in just 5.1 IP.

Hitting wise, half the team's fell off a cliff and our "stout" free agent pickups have all largely busted to the extreme. Khalil Greene isn't much an improvement over Pokey Reese, hitting .185/.206/.277 in 65 AB. On the other hand, Brandon Watson has been a pleasant surprise in CF hitting .311/.329/.419 with 1 HR in 74 AB. Nick Green remains one of our few true studs, hitting .309/.362/.489 with 8 HR and 35 SB. Ben Grieve continues to warm my heart, hitting .253/.371/.353 with 42 BB vs. 45 K and 6 HR. Rondell White leads the team with 10 HR and is hitting .257/.327/.418 in 268 AB. Sean Burroughs continues to mash with a .305/.337/.366 line and 1 HR in 246 AB. Ryan Howard is hitting .339/.364/.413 with 2 HR and 16 SB in 24 SBC. Dave Ross is slowly turning things around and hitting .232/.314/.376 with 7 HR and 23 BB in 194 AB. Robert Fick has vanished hitting just .161/.213/.219 in 155 AB with 2 HR. Jose Hernandez is hitting .241/.289/.313 in 112 AB. Robin Ventura can walk at least with 17 BB in 109 AB despite hitting .147/.260/.248. Xavier Nady is hitting .300/.400/.600 with 8 HR in 90 AB and will definitely see more playing time in the coming months. Finally Brian Buchanan is hitting .271/.297/.443 with 3 HR in 70 AB.

In what can only be described as a move that an insane, desparate man would do, I decide to plug Nady into the hole at SS. Yes, his defensive will be absolutely deplorable but as anyone following this can attest, he HAS TO be better at hitting the ball than Reese or Greene who have combined to hit just .157 in 255 AB.

At the minor league level, Scott Baker is 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 44 IP at AAA. Jeff Francis is 1-1 with a 3.68 ERA in 2 starts. At AA, Joey Devine has 11 S and a 2.63 ERA in 24 IP. At A, Mike Rabelo has a hot start hitting .341/.453/.545 in 44 AB while Lastings Milledge is hitting .457/.544/.630 in 46 AB.

Jake Peavy has been stashed in the White Sox AAA level and is 1-0 in a 6 IP start where he threw 6 K vs. 0 BB.

Here's a look back after almost 2 seasons of the Padres/Dodgers trade. A.J. Burnett has gone 9-12 with a 5.23 ERA for San Diego. Dave Ross has hit .223 with 19 HR and 47 BB in 470 AB. Really not bad outside of the BA. For the Dodgers, Mark Mulder has gone 18-12 with a 3.90 ERA. He's gone 8-5 with a 2.92 ERA in large part thanks to 4 HRA in 108 IP. Jason Giambi has hit .280 with 40 HR and 141 BB in 585 AB. It's clear that statistically, the Dodgers arguably have made out like bandits in the trade. But they have those numbers at the cost of $21.72 Million while we're getting decent if unspectacular numbers at a cost of $5.54 Million.

[DawnBTVS]

With July kicking off, I decide to really focus on the splits that our hitters have and try to maximize those as well. This will further involve several platoons, including at C with Dave Ross hitting LHP and Robert Fick hitting RHP, and hopefully will also allow the team to start scoring more runs as a result too.

On 7/10, the All-Star game rosters are announced and unsurprisingly, no San Diego Padre makes it. One would think it'd give some of the players an incentive to perform better but it's highly doubtful any of them will take it to heart.

On 7/16, Robert Fick sends me a voicemail saying he's "sick and tired" of playing for the Padres. At least we got a .771 OPS out of him last season, even with his suck this season. I decide to shop him around but don't see too much that I like so unfortunately for Fick, he'll just have to stick the season out at his $2.37 Million price tag. We also have him signed through next season too.

With the struggles of Jerome Williams, I scour the heap of free agents and spot 34 year old Rick Helling. Fans who read my previous dynasty will certainly recognize the name. He only made 2 starts for the Twins this season, putting up an 8.18 ERA in 11 IP. In 2004 for the White Sox he went 4-10 but did put up a 4.69 ERA in 126.2 IP. I throw him a $350,000 deal for the rest of the season and he signs on 8/1. Williams and his 0-13, 9.19 ERA will be sent back to AAA and Helling will enter the rotation.

We'll also turn to a Bullpen By Committee deal as Justin Huisman will be more valuable throw 90-100 total IP.

Our record now stands at 34-71. We also closed July out with a 7-19 record as our descent to hell continues.

The bright hitters continue to be Nick Green, Ben Grieve, Sean Burroughs, Ryan Howard, and Rondell White. They have combined for 34 HR and 151 BB. With an expanded role, Robert Fick did hit .181/.322/.208 in July with 14 BB vs. 16 K in 72 AB. Dave Ross hit .250/.314/.688 in 32 AB and slugged 2 doubles and 4 HR. Xavier Nady fell off a bat in 99 AB with a .212/.297/.253 line but did have 10 BB vs. 20 K. Brandon Watson continues to remain a bright spot with 5 HR in 93 AB and a .462 SLG. Brian Buchanan struggled in 95 AB hitting .168 but did have 2 HR. Over the past 2 months, Jose Hernandez has hit .279 in 43 AB.

Pitching wise, Mike Crudale improved dramatically and is looking like a fabulous pick up. He went 1-1 with 1 S and a 0.48 ERA in 18.2 IP in July. Matt Herges went 2-1 with 1 S and a 2.01 ERA in 22.1 IP. Justin Huisman struggled with a 3.79 ERA in 19 IP. Mike Matthews also improved slightly with 1 S and a 3.65 ERA in 12.1 IP. Ben Howard really struggled with a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 IP. Jay Powell also struggled despite getting 3 S with a 6.08 ERA in 13.1 IP.

As for the rotation, some weren't bad. Clay Condrey went 1-1 with a 4.33 ERA in 27 IP. Mark Buehrle over the past two months has gone 2-4 with an ERA of 3.96 in 62.1 IP. A.J. Burnett fell off a cliff, going 0-5 with an 8.44 ERA in 32 IP. Oliver Perez was outstanding, going 2-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 34 IP.

Guys to keep an eye on for September call ups include SP Scott Baker who's gone 3-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 83.1 IP with 83 K vs. 10 BB, SP Jeff Francis who's gone 6-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 25 K vs. 6 BB in 60.1 IP, and C Miguel Ojeda who has 9 HR and 51 BB in 396 AB.

Joey Devine will move up to AAA after putting up a 2.97 ERA and 17 S in 33.1 IP at AA. Andy Marte has finally gotten healthy and is hitting .336/.383/.434 in 113 AB and will also be called up to AAA.

At A, Taylor Tankersley with a 1.35 ERA in 6.2 IP, Joel Zumaya with 14 S and a 1.56 ERA in 17.1 IP, Mike Rabelo with a .886 OPS in 139 AB, and Lastings Milledge with a .943 OPS in 151 AB will all be promoted to AA for the start of August.

Jake Peavy remains at AAA for the White Sox and is 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA and 38 K vs. 18 BB in 40.1 IP.

[DawnBTVS]

As August goes under way, we offer a one year extension for $740,000 to MR Matt Herges. Finally we offer MR Mike Crudale a one year deal worth $520,000. Unfortunately both Ben Grieve and Rondell White want to test free agency. A week later, both relievers have agreed.

We finish out August and are now 44-88 on the season and 36.5 GB of the 1st place Arizona Diamondbacks. We've gone 17-36 the past two months compared to 15-40 in May and June. Nick Green is now hitting .305 with an .830 OPS and 11 HR. He also has 60 SB in 66 SBC. Ben Grieve has a .725 OPS with 8 HR and 78 BB. Sean Burroughs is hitting .301 with a .719 OPS and just 2 HR. Ryan Howard is hitting .335 with a .795 OPS with 7 HR and 36 SB in 48 SBC. Rondell White has a .730 OPS with a team leading 14 HR. Robert Fick put up a .224 BA in August. Brandon Watson is hitting .264 with a .705 OPS and 7 HR. Brian Buchanan has a .696 OPS with 10 HR. Dave Ross now has a .731 OPS with 13 HR almost half of them in just 62 AB over the past couple months.

Mike Crudale has 3 S and a 2.52 ERA in 39.1 IP with 38 K. Matt Herges has 5 S and a 3.12 ERA in 86.2 IP. Mike Matthews has 5 S and a 3.26 ERA in 58 IP. Ben Howard is 6-3 with 2 S and a 4.06 ERA in 68.2 IP with 56 K. Justin Huisman has 11 S with a 4.31 ERA in 79.1 IP. Jay Powell has 3 S and a 4.75 ERA in 77.2 IP.

Clay Condrey is 9-6 (We have a pitcher with a winning record!!!) with a 4.47 ERA in 155 IP and 106 K. Mark Buehrle is 4-11 with a 5.19 ERA in 137 IP. Oliver Perez has gone 6-8 with a 5.32 ERA in 118.1 IP with 120 K. A.J. Burnett is 7-16 with a 5.46 ERA in 166.1 IP with 74 BB vs. 61 K and 22 HRA. Finally Rick Helling is 0-5 with a 9.71 ERA and 11 K vs. 9 BB in 29.2 IP.

Scott Baker will take over for Rick Helling in the rotation while Jeff Francis will see a few starts but mostly be in the bullpen.

[DawnBTVS]

On September 2nd, we lose Clay Condrey for 2 weeks to a hyperextended elbow. Jeff Francis will take over his spot in the rotation.

On September 13th, we lose Oliver Perez for 2 weeks to dead arm syndrome. We'll just ride with a 4 man rotation. Clay Condrey comes back on 9/17. Oliver Perez returns on 9/24 and we shift Scott Baker to the bullpen.

We finish the season out with a 55-107 record, far and away the worst in baseball. We scored just 660 runs and allowed 927. I found that for a winning record, a team needs to score at least 25 runs more than they allow and ideally (to make the playoffs) they need to score 100 more.

Nick Green finished the season with 39 doubles, 12 triples, 14 HR, 76 RBI, 51 BB, and 70 SB while hitting .302/.360/.465. Ben Grieve had 11 HR, 41 RBI, and 99 BB while hitting .244/.372/.349. Ryan Howard hit .346/.379/.424 with 8 HR, 64 RBI, 30 BB, and 50 SB. Sean Burroughs hit .299/.333/.375 with just 2 HR and 34 RBI along with 23 BB. Rondell White hit .255/.320/.407 with 15 HR, 60 RBI, and 36 BB. Xavier Nady hit .256/.342/.424 with 15 HR and 52 RBI with 48 BB. Brandon Watson was incredibly solid hitting .260/.295/.379 with 8 HR and 41 RBI. Brian Buchanan hit .239/.293/.402 with 13 HR and 44 RBI with 25 BB. Dave Ross bounced back nicely and hit .239/.323/.427 with 15 HR and 53 RBI with 38 BB.

On the other hand, Robert Fick hit .176/.263/.241 with 4 HR and 29 RBI and 43 BB. Pokey Reese hit .147/.194/.223 with 1 HR and 18 RBI with 12 BB. Jose Hernandez hit .222/.284/.294 with 0 HR and 23 RBI. Robin Ventura hit .159/.253/.261 with 3 HR and 16 RBI. Khalil Greene hit .197/.215/.289 with 0 HR and 8 RBI.

Jeff Francis went 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA in 7 starts and had 14 K vs. 11 BB. Clay Condrey went 9-9 with a 4.27 ERA in 31 starts. He had 123 K vs. 60 BB in 183.1 IP. Oliver Perez went 7-8 with a 4.85 ERA in 25 starts with 130 K vs. 55 BB in 133.2 IP. A.J. Burnett went 11-17 with a 5.30 ERA in 33 starts with 87 BB vs. 76 K in 197 IP. Mark Buehrle went 6-14 in 25 starts with 67 K vs. 66 BB in 169.1 IP. Scott Baker went 1-3 with a 7.96 ERA in 5 starts but did have 23 K vs. 6 BB in 26 IP.

On the bullpen side, Mike Crudale had 3 S with a 3.23 ERA and 43 K vs. 18 BB in 47.1 IP. Matt Herges had 5 S with a 3.41 ERA in 103 IP and had 71 K vs. 35 BB. Mike Matthews had 5 S with a 3.48 ERA in 64.2 IP with 28 BB vs. 25 K. Bem Howard went 6-3 with a 3.94 ERA in 82.1 IP and 70 K vs. 35 BB. Justin Huisman had 17 S with a 4.66 ERA in 92.2 IP with 58 K vs. 39 BB. Jay Powell had 3 S with a 4.71 ERA in 93.2 IP with 66 K vs. 49 BB. Rick Helling was just bad and we'll leave it at that.

Interestingly enough, Jake Peavy went 3-2 for the Chicago White Sox but had a 5.05 ERA in 51.2 IP.

We'll lose the following players to free agency: A.J. Burnett (15-21 with more walks than strikeouts), Mark Buehrle (14-28 with almost a 1:1 K to BB ratio), Rondell White (Wanted to test FA), Rick Helling, Brian Buchanan (Has been barely league average and will be 33), Pokey Reese, Jose Hernandez, Jay Powell (Will be 34 and almost a 1:1 K to BB ratio), Robin Ventura, and Ben Grieve (Wanted to test FA).

The world series was won by the Baltimore Orioles who swept the Philadelphia Phillies in 4 games.

Here are the award winners.
AL Silver Slugger - Jorge Posada who hit .293/.416/.554 with 36 HR and had 99 BB vs. 105 K.
NL Silver Slugger - Albert Pujols who hit .319/.403/.626 with 45 HR and 74 BB vs. 40 K.
AL Cy Young - Johan Santana who went 17-5 with a 2.26 ERA and 297 K in 250.1 IP.
NL Cy Young - Javier Vazquez who went 21-6 with a 3.63 ERA and 256 K in 238 IP.
AL ROY - Cole Hamels went 13-3 with a 3.24 ERA and 151 K in 133.1 IP.
NL ROY - David Wright hit .309/.337/.484 with 15 HR and 28 BB vs. 155 K.

Our goal in the offseason will be to load up on legit HR power bats.

2004: 66-96 with 809 RS vs. 894 RA (Note that our pythag was 74 W)
2005: 55-107 with 660 RS vs. 927 RA

[DawnBTVS]

Robin Ventura retires on 10/28 and finishes his career with 1976 hits and 311 HR. In real life, he had 1885 hits and 294 HR.

Arbitration numbers come out and Mike Matthews gets $350,000. Dave Ross gets $5.69 Million, Oliver Perez gets $1.18 Million, Ben Howard gets $350,000, and Xavier Nady will get $1.92 Million. The cost of Ross is a little steep given the fact that he's largely a HR threat but can't hit RHP at all.

Free Agency hits and we offer a one year deal worth $1.76 Million to Barry Zito. He's gone 16-20 over the past 2 seasons with Oakland and has a 5.51 K/9. We also offer Aaron Cook a 3 year deal worth $2.34 Million ($780,000 per year). He's gone 17-10 with Colorado the past 2 years with an ERA of 3.48 so it's worth a flier. We also throw a one year deal for $870,000 at 3B Eric Munson. He's smashed 46 HR and walked 100 times over the past 2 years with Detroit and gives us a power option compared to Sean Burroughs. Burroughs is a great hitter but has almost zero power.

In scouring for SS, we come upon Jimmy Rollins. We offer a 3 year deal worth $14.7 Million ($4.9 Million per year) in large part due to his hitting .278 in 2005. He has moderate power with 15 HR the past 2 years but has also walked 95 times and would be a major improvement over Kahlil Greene. We also throw a one year deal worth $1.18 Million at Jeff Davanon who could play RF for us. He's hit 26 HR the past 2 seasons but more importantly, he's walked 139 times and can steal 30+ bases.

Unfortunately, Jimmy Rollins doesn't like our offer very much. We decide to throw a one year deal worth $840,000 at SS Michael Young instead. He's hit 21 HR and past 2 years with Texas but doesn't walk much (54). He has potential to steal 20+ bases and has hit .275 in 2004 and .269 in 2005.

Aaron Cook ends up signing with the Chicago Cubs for $2.46 Million over 3 years. This one really stings. On 12/6 Michael Young signs. Jeff Davanon signs on 12/9. Also Jimmy Rollins ended up signing with the LA Dodgers for 3 years worth $15.66 Million. And in humorous news, the Florida Marlins traded Josh Beckett to the Boston Red Sox on 12/10.

Eric Munson signs on 12/11 and Barry Zito signs on 12/20. Together those 4 players will earn $4.65 Million for us in 2006. I throw a one year deal worth $580,000 at MR John Bale who was stuck at AAA last year with Cincinnati. He had a 4.04 ERA as a SP but his peripherals (56 K vs. 18 BB with 8 HRA in 84.2 IP) look rather solid to try him in the bullpen.

We may already have Ryan Howard but 1B Tony Clark is just too damn good to pass up. He wants a one year deal worth $770,000 because he'll be 34. He's only walked 100 times the past 2 years but the more important number is his 72 HOME RUNS with the New York Mets. On 12/28 Clark signs and on 1/16 Bale signs as well. Together they'll cost us just $1.35 Million.

We need another MR so I throw a 2 year deal at Renyel Pinto worth $1.04 Million ($520K per year). He seemed to have immigrated suddenly from Venezuela but he's a young 23 and we need some age to combat older veterans like 35 year old Matt Herges. I also throw a one year deal worth $620,000 at Raul Mondesi who's 34. He did hit 17 HR in 556 AB the past 2 years between Arizona and Pittsburgh along with 60 BB. He'll largely be a backup to Xavier Nady but it'll be nice to get somebody with some pop.

On 1/17 Pinto signs and Mondesi signs on 1/22. So with free agency, we signed 8 players to $7.14 Million. If even half of them can play at or above expectations, they'll have earned their money and much more.

On 2/6 Jason Bay is finally healthy. To make room for him, I put on waivers and designate for assignment C Robert Fick. This'll allow Dave Ross to have the full time job at Catcher and hopefully give us 20+ HR on the season. Fick clears waivers and is now stashed at AAA.

With opening day upon us, our payroll sits at $32,177,900. Obviously good enough for dead last while the Boston Red Sox lead with a $139,652,317 payroll. That's well over 4X ours!

Predictions for the NL West in the next post and a look at the Padres team overall.

[DawnBTVS]

Arizona went 95-67, absolutely exploding back onto the scene. They have 8 players who hit in double digits in HRs with J.D. Drew leading them with 22 and he also had 85 BB. David Wright won the NL ROY and Javy Lopez also had 19 HR. Their 2B, Bret Boone and Josh Barfield combined for 22 HR themselves.

Their pitching was extremely solid with Brandon Webb going 14-9 with a 3.58 ERA and Edgar Gonzalez went 13-7 with a 3.55 ERA. Curt Schilling went 13-11 and Chris Capuano went 12-4 despite a 4.82 ERA. Their top relievers, Mike Koplove and Rick Bauer (No relation to Jack that I'm aware of) combined to go 17-3 with Bauer also putting up a 2.49 ERA. Jose Valverde had 39 S and a 2.69 ERA.

Prediction: 97-65. Their offense is extremely dangerous and their pitching can easily reflect that too. Potential World Series challengers.

Colorado went 81-81 last season and seem to be stuck in .500 level mediocrity. Their only solid SP was Rich Hill who went 7-7 with a 4.14 ERA. Their bullpen also wasn't very special outside of Joe Borowski with a 2.74 ERA and Brian Fuentes had 39 S and a 2.85 ERA.

Offensively, they are arguably even more dangerous than Arizona. They have 5 players who hit 18+ HR and Mike Piazza smacked 15 himself. Todd Helton and Juan Uribe led everybody with 23. Helton, Piazza, and Mike Cameron also all walked more than 69 times.

Prediction: 82-80. Nothing really stands out as a reason to expect anything else other than a .500 level season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also bounced back with an 86-76 record and are probably the deepest team offensively. 10 players had at least 10 HR with Jason Giambi leading everybody with 39. Did I mention that the Curse of the Great Giambino has struck us yet?

Pitching wise, their rotation was fairly average outside of Randy Wolf who went 10-4 with a 4.13 ERA. Again, it shows how easily a pitcher can ride a hot offense. The relievers were decent with Paul Quantrill going 9-4 despite a 4.74 ERA but Guillermo Mota had a 3.69 ERA, Paul Shuey had a 3.12 ERA, and Eric Gagne had 38 S with an insane 1.34 ERA.

Prediction: 81-81. They'll fall back to earth a little if their rotation struggles but that offense can just as easily punch them up to the 90 W mark.

The San Francisco Giants are trying to match our ineptitude. They've gone from 85-77 to 74-88 to 68-94 last year. They really only have 1 pitcher in Kevin Correia who went 10-11 with a 3.49 ERA. Noah Lowry also showed promise going 8-7 with a 4.28 ERA. The less said about their bullpen, the better.

They have moderate power but can't really get on base. Geoff Jenkins hit 29 HR and had a .366 OBP. Rich Aurilia had 20 HR and a .293 BA while Jose Cruz also had 20 HR and a .368 OBP. Barry Bonds plummeted from 32 HR to just 16 last year but still had a .373 OBP, unfortunately attached to a .233 BA. He's a cog that they can't afford to see drop off anymore than he has, but he'll be 41.

Prediction: 63-99. Their pitching is awful and their offense, which can be solid, has a key power bat falling off a cliff in front of their very eyes.

Finally the Padres have been a laughingstock franchise since 1999, having not won more than 79 games. Last year's 55-107 record was 2nd worse in franchise history. They've built some depth on offense with 7 players in double digit HRs and Tony Clark is their biggest bat with 34 last year. Getting Jason Bay back healthy will be a big help but they only have 3 other players who can hit for a high BA in Nick Green, Ryan Howard, and Sean Burroughs. Two of them were in platoon situations.

Pitching wise, Clay Condrey was decent going 9-9 with a 4.27 ERA but the rest of the staff largely struggled. Their bullpen remains their biggest weapon, not a great claim to boast, with guys like Ben Howard with a 3.98 ERA, Mike Crudale with a 3.58 ERA, Matt Herges with a 3.41 ERA, and Mike Matthews with a 3.48 ERA.

Prediction: 75-87. It's a prediction that could be realistically be met if everything falls into place but it largely hinders on how well the rotation performs.

San Diego Padres TEAM PREVIEW
The rotation will look like this: Clay Condrey will be the Opening Day starter, Oliver Perez, Jeff Francis, Barry Zito, and Scott Baker. The bullpen will see a change with Mike Crudale taking over as the new Closer, in part due to his 62 K in 70.1 IP last year. Matt Herges will remain the Set Up Man, a role he's had tremendous success in. John Bale will be in the Mop Up role while Ben Howard, Mike Matthews, Justin Huisman, and Renyel Pinto will make up the rest of the bullpen.

Offensively, the only platoons will take place at 1B with Ryan Howard hitting RHP and Tony Clark hitting LHP and 3B with Sean Burroughs hitting RHP and Eric Munson hitting LHP. Dave Ross will be at C, Nick Green at 2B, Michael Young at SS (with Kahlil Greene backing up against LHP), Xavier Nady in LF, Jason Bay in CF (with Brandon Watson as backup), and Jeff Davanon in RF with Raul Mondesi backing him up.

The main 3-4-5-6 hitters will be Nick Green, Ryan Howard/Tony Clark, Jason Bay, and Xavier Nady so expect them to get most of the RBI.

Expectations are that Jeff Davanon will play the role of Ben Grieve, getting on base and maybe giving us 10-15 HR as a bonus. I'm hoping for 30-40 combined HR from the Ryan Howard/Tony Clark platoon. Sean Burroughs should provide a high BA and OBP while Munson can hopefully give us 10-15 HR. Michael Young... I just want at least a .230 BA from the SS position and Mondesi I just want to see any HR pop from him as a backup. I'm not that worried about the middle of the order but it's all up to how the surrounding pieces perform and if we can escape any major injuries.

Pitching wise, I'm hoping the offense can help lower the ERAs of the rotation and bullpen. Crudale I'm hoping can garner more Saves as a result of striking out batters and limiting the opportunities that our fielders have to actually try and field a ball somewhere in their vicinity. Also hoping we can strike some gold with Zito, Bale, or Pinto.

At AAA, Taylor Tankersley, Carlos Marmol, and Joel Zumaya all join a pretty deep MR group. We currently have 7 relievers with Joey Devine also in AAA. Zumaya will take over the Closer role. The offense is also fairly deep with Dallas MacPherson, Andy Marte, Shane Victorino, and Lastings Milledge names to keep an eye out for.

Also glad to see this up to 300 views. Greatly appreciated and hope the Padres can actually entertain you (outside of bumbling idiocy and GM incompetence from yours truly).

[DawnBTVS]

I also changed the team park factors to accurately reflect the 2006 MLB Season (thanks to ESPN.com).

We close out April last in the NL West with a 9-16 record. We have 127 RS against 135 RA, not that bad considering last year. We're averaging just over 5 RS a game but also allowing 5.4 RPG, not a good sign.

Nick Green is hitting .355/.391/.533 with 2 HR and 11 RBI. Jeff Davanon has a .704 OPS with 16 BB vs. 22 K. Xavier Nady is hitting .274/.327/.442 with 4 HR and 17 RBI. Dave Ross is hitting .272/.330/.543 with a team leading 7 HR and 22 RBI. Michael Young is struggling with a .568 OPS. Jason Bay is hitting .316/.442/.474 with 2 HR and 16 RBI. He also has 15 BB. Ryan Howard is hitting .279 with 12 RBI. Tony Clark is hitting .322/.375/.610 with 5 HR and 12 RBI. Eric Munson has a .469 OPS but 2 HR. Sean Burroughs is hitting .346/.424/.500 with 7 BB vs. 5 K. Brandon Watson has 1 RBI and Raul Mondesi has 3 RBI in 15 AB.

Rotation wise, Barry Zito is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 29 K vs. 12 BB in 35 IP. Jeff Francis is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 16 K vs. 7 BB in 32.2 IP. Clay Condrey is 3-3 with a 6.15 ERA and 24 K vs. 12 BB in 33.2 IP. Oliver Perez is 0-4 with a 6.93 ERA with 32 K and 11 HRA in 37.2 IP. Scott Baker is 0-2 with a 7.23 ERA and 9 K vs. 9 BB in 18.2 IP.

We're doing slightly better, relief wise. Renyel Pinto has a 1.86 ERA with 12 K and 0 HRA in 9.2 IP. Justin Huisman has a 2.45 ERA in 11 IP. Ben Howard had a 3.14 ERA and 16 K vs. 4 BB in 14.1 IP. Matt Herges has a 3.86 ERA and 12 K vs. 7 BB in 11.2 IP. Mike Matthews has a 4.38 ERA with 1 HRA in 12.1 IP. Mike Crudale has 4 S and a 11.74 ERA with 5 K vs. 2 BB in 7.2 IP. Finally John Bale has an 18.00 ERA with 3 HRA in 2 IP.

At AAA, Mike Bynum has a 0.98 ERA in 18.1 IP. Joey Devine is 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 IP. Taylor Tankersley has a 0.61 ERA in 14.2 IP while Joel Zumaya has 11 S and a 0.69 ERA in 13 IP. Miguel Ojeda is hitting .272/.441/.456 in 103 AB. Dallas McPherson is hitting .281/.354/.474 in 114 AB. Andy Marte is hitting .287/.330/.416 in 101 AB while Shane Victorino is hitting .333/.444/.495 in 105 AB. Robert Fick is hitting .341/.470/.484 in 91 AB and Lastings Milledge is hitting .378/.444/.586 in 111 AB.

[DawnBTVS]

On May 8th, I decide to put struggling Mike Matthews and his 5.28 ERA with 8 BB vs. 3 K in 15.1 IP on waivers and designate him for assignment. I call up Joel Zumaya who will take over as Closer. In just 2 seasons in the minors he's put up 29 S with an ERA of 0.99 with 56 K vs. 6 BB in 36.2 IP. Yeah.

On May 16th, we lose Jeff Francis for 6 weeks due to damaged meniscus in his knee. He was 2-4 with a 5.02 ERA in 52 IP. I decide to call up Joe Saunders who is 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 62 IP. One concern is he only has 14 K but also only has 4 HRA, which is solid.

On May 18th, Mike Matthews cleared waivers and is now stashed down at AAA.

We finish May out at 18-36 and needless to say, we suck. We have 233 RS vs. 289 RA (-56). What's really hurting us is extra inning games and 1 run games. We're 4-6 in extra innings and 7-11 in 1 run games.

Nick Green has a .820 OPS with 5 HR and 24 RBI. Jeff Davanon has a .718 OPS with 5 HR and 34 BB. Xavier Nady has a .713 OPS and 7 HR with 27 RBI. Dave Ross has a .657 OPS with 9 HR and 28 RBI but has a .190 BA. Michael Young has a .714 OPS with 2 HR and 17 RBI. Jason Bay has a .794 OPS with 5 HR and 28 RBI.

At 1B, Ryan Howard is hitting .344/.366/.416 with 2 HR and 22 RBI. Tony Clark is hitting .267/.318/.500 with 8 HR and 18 RBI.

At 3B, Sean Burroughs is hitting .223/.280/.317 with 1 HR and 8 RBI. Eric Munson is hitting .196/.257/.392 with 5 HR and 15 RBI.

Watson, Mondesi, and Greene are all playing sparingly because they are awful. Tony Clark and Eric Munson will take over fulltime at 1B and 3B in hopes that their power (13 HR vs. 3 HR) will help generate some more runs.

Barry Zito remains solid with a 3-3 record and 3.18 ERA. Scott Baker is 1-3 with a 4.63 ERA. Joe Saunders is 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA. Oliver Perez is 1-5 with a 5.76 ERA and Clay Condrey is 4-7 with a 7.22 ERA. Perez and Condrey have allowed 21 and 17 HR.

Justin Huisman has a 1.82 ERA in 29.2 IP. Renyel Pinto has a 2.88 ERA with 23 K and 0 HRA in 25 IP. Ben Howard has a 3.21 ERA with 28 K in 28 IP. John Bale has a 3.71 ERA with 13 K in 17 IP. Matt Herges has a 5.56 ERA with 19 K vs. 11 BB in 22.2 IP. Mike Crudale has a 9.72 ERA with 10 K vs. 10 BB in 16.2 IP. Joel Zumaya in just 8 IP has 3 S and 10 K vs. 6 BB.

I spy Freddy Garcia still out there as a Free Agent. Fed up with Oliver Perez, I throw a one year deal worth $470,000 at Garcia. He went 8-8 with the New York Mets last year with a 4.16 ERA in 158 IP. He had a 7.01 K/9 and 0.80 HR/9 so I'm hoping he'll be an upgrade but at this point, anybody would be an upgrade.

On 6/2, he accepts the contract offer. I decide to shop Perez around and the Chicago White Sox show interest and are offering SP Jeremy White. He's 23 but went 7-3 with a 2.09 ERA last year at A and is 5-4 with a 3.03 ERA at AA this season. White will be placed in our AA affiliate

[DawnBTVS]

On 6/10 we lose Joe Saunders to a strained bicep muscle for 6 weeks. He was 0-3 with a 5.34 in 5 starts. I call up Adam Eaton who was 3-5 with a 5.11 ERA but does have 55 K and 8 HRA in 81 IP.

6/15 comes the 2006 MLB Draft and we have the first pick! Everybody loves RF Chris Hill for good reason. In 237 AB with TCU he hit 24 HR with 51 BB vs. 27 K. We'll take him with our 1st pick. Our 2nd round pick will be SP Tyler Clippard, a 21 year old who can throw it upwards of 99 MPH and he also sports 3 pitches. Our 3rd round pick is another SP in Danny Allison who went 8-3 in 2 years with TCU. He had an ERA of 3.58 and better yet he had 169 K vs. 31 BB in 133.2 IP. Round 4 sees us take MR/CL Mike White who went 7-2 with 17 S in 2 years with Syracuse. He had an ERA of 1.09 and 47 K vs. 9 BB with 0 HRA in 42 IP. Pick 5 is 1B Roger Stevens. He fractured his foot and missed 2006 but did hit 9 HR in 163 AB with 28 BB in 2005 for Massachusetts. Round 6 is a C named Jonathan Ellis. He had 0 HR with Texas Tech in 2005 but had 19 BB vs. 17 K. Our final pick is MR Joakim Soria who has a 69% groundball rate and can hit 93-95 on his fastball.

Only Soria will start off at AA. The other 6 picks will start off at A.

We really heated up in June and although we're still last in the NL West at 32-48, we're now just 3 GB of San Francisco and 3.5 GB of Colorado! The first two months we went 18-36 total. In June we went 14-12!!! A winning record!

While our hitting continues to struggle, our pitching has taken a big leap forward. Adam Eaton went 1-2 with a 1.64 ERA in 3 starts. He's gone 7, 8, and 7 IP in his starts. Barry Zito remains a stud signing as he's now 7-4 with a 3.69 ERA and 86 K with 7 HRA in 112.1 IP. Scott Baker is 3-3 with a 4.08 ERA and has only allowed 8 HR in 79.1 IP. Clay Condrey is 6-8 with a 5.92 ERA with 61 K in 92.2 IP. And Freddy Garcia is 2-3 with a 6.69 ERA but has 28 K vs. 10 BB in 35 IP. Both wins were solid starts but he's had 2 games with 7 and 9 ER as well. Jeff Francis is due back in 2 weeks and will create an interesting dilemma.

Justin Huisman has been unbelievable and will probably be put back into the Closer role shortly. He has a 2.91 ERA with 36 K in 43.1 IP. Ben Howard has a 3.52 ERA with 35 K in 38.1 IP. John Bale is 2-0 with a 3.81 ERA in 26 IP. Renyel Pinto has a 4.19 ERA but still has only 2 HRA in 34.1 IP. Matt Herges has a 4.32 ERA with 24 K in 33.1 IP. Joel Zumaya is 1-5 with 7 S and a 6.50 ERA in 18 IP. He does have 23 K vs. 9 BB. He was much better in June to the tune of a 3.60 ERA but still went 0-2. Mike Crudale has a 7.99 ERA but also improved in June with a 3.86 ERA in 7 IP.

Hitting wise, Nick Green is hitting .302/.332/.451 with 25 doubles, 37 RBI, and just 13 BB in 348 AB. Jeff Davanon has a .697 OPS with 6 HR and 51 BB. Xavier Nady has a .393 SLG with 11 HR and 43 RBI. Dave Ross has a .618 OPS with 13 HR and 37 RBI. He also has 43 BB. Jason Bay is hitting .263/.372/.417 with 9 HR, 44 RBI, and 44 BB. Michael Young has been a nice find hitting .288/.324/.412 with 3 HR, 26 RBI, and 15 BB. Tony Clark has a .260 BA and .507 SLG while leading the team with 15 HR and 46 RBI. Eric Munson has a .446 SLG with 9 HR and 34 RBI. He also has 17 BB vs. 27 K. Ryan Howard remains a solid backup hitting .318/.343/.375 with 2 HR, 24 RBI, and 8 SB in 10 SBC. Sean Burroughs has a .630 OPS and 10 BB vs. 21 K. Raul Mondesi, Brandon Watson, and Kahlil Greene have combined for a .167 BA in 132 AB. Barry Zito and Scott Baker have both been adept at the plate, putting up OPS' over .500 which is all that I can ask for.

At AAA Joey Devine has a 2.82 ERA in 38.1 IP. Taylor Tankersley is 6-2 with 10 S and a 1.70 ERA in 37 IP. He also has 58 K and 0 HRA. Miguel Ojeda continues to flourish as a AAAA player hitting .288/.436/.427 at age 31. In the past 2 seasons he has 20 HR and 127 BB in 714 AB. Dallas McPherson and Andy Marte continue to hit well going for .294/.358/.415 and .282/.322/.380 respectively with 9 combined HR. Shane Victorino is hitting .320/.396/.489 in 309 AB with 8 HR and 17 SB. Lastings Milledge is hitting .358/.424/.560 in 316 AB with 10 HR but suffered a torn back muscle and will be out 8-9 weeks.

Jeremy White will kick July off at AAA after going 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 47.2 IP at AA. He had 23 K and 4 HRA. Chris Hill is the only one making any noise at A with a .417 SLG and 2 HR in 48 AB.

[DawnBTVS]

Once again, the Padres manage to not have a single player on the All-Star roster, which is disappointing given the good years some of our players are having.

On 7/15, Jeff Francis is able to come off the DL. To make room, I decide to put Clay Condrey on waivers and hope he can slide through so I can designate him to AAA. On 7/25, Condrey is stashed at AAA.

I decide to shop around Dave Ross at the deadline because I'm sick of his inability to even hit .200. As you surely realize, a flaw of mine is to also hold onto players for way too long. Anyway, the Los Angeles Angels are willing to send me back 32 year old Bengie Molina. He doesn't walk much (15 in 345 AB) but has a .264 BA and 18 HR with 16 2B. He also doesn't strike out much with only 40 K. Defensively, he's also thrown out 40% of would be base stealers. Compare that to Dave Ross who has 55 BB vs. 101 K in 372 AB and a .156 BA. He also has 14 HR and just 9 doubles. Defensively, he's thrown out just under 39% of would be base stealers.

The trade is done and I decide to put Kahlil Greene on waivers and designate for assignment. I'm calling up Miguel Ojeda who's put up an .803 OPS at AAA with 13 HR. He'll back up Molina and give him some rest.

We went back to struggling and are currently 38-67 entering August. We went 6-19 over the month.

Nick Green remains our best all around hitter. He has a .289 BA, .735 OPS, 41 XBH, and 22 SB. Worrying is that he has 16 BB and 106 K! Jeff Davanon continues to get on base with a .344 OBP and 59 BB. He's also provided 7 HR. Xavier Nady has a .368 SLG with 11 HR and 18 2B. Jason Bay Has a .745 OPS with 11 HR and 19 2B. He also has 57 BB. Michael Young has been a surprise with a .297 BA and .436 SLG. He has 33 XBH but just 18 BB. Tony Clark remains a true find with 25 HR, 69 RBI, and a .281 BA to go with his .896 OPS. Eric Munson has given us a .450 SLG and 14 HR with 17 2B. Ryan Howard has a .308 BA as a backup with 9 SB. Sean Burroughs has struggled to a .603 OPS playing backup. Brandon Watson and Raul Mondesi have also struggled as backups.

The pitching staff has started struggling incredibly as well. Adam Eaton is 1-4 with a 4.12 ERA in 7 starts. Barry Zito is now 7-8 with a 4.13 ERA in 152.2 IP. Scott Baker is 4-4 with a 4.73 ERA in 102.2 IP. Jeff Francis is 3-6 with a 4.99 ERA in 12 starts and Freddy Garcia is 3-6 with a 5.56 ERA in 10 starts.

Relief wise, I don't know what we'd do without Justin Huisman. He has 4 S and a 2.96 ERA in 54.2 IP. Ben Howard has a 3.63 ERA in 52 IP. John Bale is 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 36 IP. Matt Herges has 1 S and a 4.07 ERA in 42 IP. Renyel Pinto is 2-2 with a 4.26 ERA in 50.2 IP. Mike Matthews has a 5.28 ERA in 15.1 IP. Mike Crudale has 5 S and a 6.34 ERA in 32.2 IP. The past 2 months he's been much better though with an ERA of 2.81 in 17 IP. Joel Zumaya has 7 S and a 6.58 ERA in 26 IP. He's been struggling with hits despite other good peripherals.

At AAA Jeremy White is already 5-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 46.2 IP. [b]Mike Bynum[b] has 2 S and a 1.71 ERA in 63 IP. Taylor Tankersley has 17 S and a 1.66 ERA in 48.2 IP. He also has 77 K. Andy Marte has a .689 OPS with 5 HR but just a .317 OBP. Dallas McPherson is hitting .306/.367/.423 with 6 HR in 447 AB. Shane Victorino is hitting .310/.385/.477 with 8 HR in 407 AB. Lastings Milledge will still be out for another month.

At AA Joakim Soria has 7 S with a 1.35 ERA in 13.1 IP. At A Mike White will move on up to AA after putting up 12 S with a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 IP. Danny Allison will join him after going 4-6 with a 4.34 ERA in 66.1 IP. Also joining them is Chris Hill hitting .265/.317/.437 with 5 HR in 151 AB.

[DawnBTVS]

On 8/9 Joe Saunders comes off the DL and will be sent down to AAA as we're actually fairly well loaded at the SP position.

I scour the waiver wire and see that Huston Street is listed. He's 23, has minor league option years, and in 2004-2005 combined for 49 S with an ERA of 2.58 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. I can't click the Claim button fast enough.

I also put a claim on SP Ezequiel Astacio who's 26 but also has minor league option years. In 2005-2006 with Milwaukee he's gone 19-19 with an ERA of 3.33! Unfortunately he gets pulled back. On 8/15 we win the Huston Street sweepstakes. To make room for him, we send Joel Zumaya back down to AAA.

Bad luck continues as we lose Nick Green for 8 months to a dislocated shoulder on 8/21. Being the mad genius I am, I call up 3B Dallas McPherson to take his place and hopefully not fail too spectacularly at a new position. He had a .368 OBP at AAA with 55 BB so his bat should help at the very least.

I also decide that it's a good time to start offering extensions. To no surprise, all the 1 year guys signed in FA want to bolt as fast as their legs will carry them. I throw a 3 year deal worth $1.86 Million ($620K per year) at MR Ben Howard. That'd take him through the prime years of his career. I also throw a 2 year extension to Ryan Howard worth $2.86 Million ($1.43 Mill per year). On 8/30, Ryan Howard agrees to his extension. The next day, Ben Howard agrees to his extension.

We continue to drop like a stone and are currently 47-86 on the year. We did improve slightly going 9-19 in August. We're sitting at 565 RS vs. 703 RA.

Tony Clark has 32 HR and 89 RBI with 35 BB and a .853 OPS. Eric Munson has 21 HR and 37 BB with a .808 OPS. Jason Bay has 17 HR and 68 RBI with 72 BB and a .791 OPS. Jeff Davanon has 9 HR, 76 BB, and 12 SB for us with a .355 OBP. Ryan Howard has a .307 BA and 11 SB. Michael Young has 7 HR and 43 RBI with a .276 BA and .720 OPS. Bengie Molina has 3 HR and 18 RBI with a .601 OPS. He only has 1 BB vs. 17 K though. Dave Ross has given the Angels a .399 OPS with 1 HR. Xavier Nady has 12 HR and 55 RBI but a woeful .217 BA. Sean Burroughs has a .555 OPS and 16 BB.

In just 29 AB Dallas McPherson is hitting .310/.333/.448 with 1 HR and 4 RBI. He also has 1 SB.

Scott Baker is 7-5 with a 4.56 ERA in 144 IP. Freddy Garcia is 5-10 with a 5.37 ERA in 104 IP. Barry Zito is 7-12 with a 4.77 ERA in 188.2 IP with 149 K vs. 82 BB. Adam Eaton is 2-7 with a 4.05 ERA in 73.1 IP with 32 K vs. 22 BB. Jeff Francis is 3-9 with a 6.14 ERA in 95.1 IP.

Ben Howard has a 3.24 ERA in 66.2 IP with 60 K. Justin Huisman has 8 S with a 3.25 ERA in 69.1 IP with 58 K. John Bale has a 3.66 ERA in 46.2 IP with 30 K. Matt Herges has a 3.78 ERA in 52.1 IP with 5 HRA. Renyel Pinto has a 4.04 ERA in 64.2 IP with 68 K and 7 HRA. Mike Crudale had a 5.87 ERA in 7.2 IP in August. Huston Street in just 3.2 IP has a 14.73 ERA with 2 K vs. 2 BB and 1 HRA.

Lastings Milledge will get a call up in September along with Taylor Tankersley and Joey Devine. Milledge will take over in LF for Xavier Nady.

[NYY #23]

Nice read so far! Times sure are tough in SD. Good luck in turning it all around.

[DawnBTVS]

We finish the season off with the worst record in baseball but did improve (like that was really hard) from last season with a 59-103 record. We closed out the year with a 12-17 run. Our struggles were mainly against LHP (.264 win percent) and on the road (.284 win percent). We also had 718 RS vs. 879 RA (-161) and were 14th in HR with 165 and 10th in BB with 505. We also were 15th in K with 1286.

As in past seasons, we struck gold on some of the one year free agents and whiffed hard on others. Jeff Davanon had a .352 OBP with 101 R, 12 HR, 51 RBI, 91 BB vs. 102 K, and threw in 15 SB on 24 SBC. Michael Young hit .281 with a .412 SLG and had 10 HR, 55 RBI, and 35 BB. Jason Bay had a .358 OBP with 80 R, 23 HR, 85 RBI, and 88 BB. Tony Clark was a true find with a .532 SLG and 40 HR, 108 RBI, and 42 BB. Nick Green hit .283 with a .412 SLG and had 33 2B and 9 3B with 52 RBI and 29 SB in 36 SBC. Xavier Nady had a .349 SLG with 13 HR and 59 RBI. Eric Munson had a .332 OBP with 27 HR, 78 RBI, and 50 BB vs. 74 K. Ryan Howard hit .306 with a .342 OBP and had 29 RBI with 14 SB in 19 SBC. Sean Burroughs had 17 BB vs. 42 K. Bengie Molina hit .296 with 6 HR, 27 RBI, and 1 SB in 203 AB. Dallas McPherson hit .318/.362/.492 with 5 HR, 20 RBI, and 1 SB in 132 AB. Lastings Milledge hit .364/.418/.515 with 3 HR, 14 RBI, and 7 BB in 99 AB. The last 3 hitters combined for 14 HR in 434 AB, promising numbers. Finally Brandon Watson had 1 HR and 7 RBI.

The rotation was fairly solid otherwise. Scott Baker finished 9-7 with a 4.18 ERA in 178.2 IP with a 1.49 WHIP. Barry Zito went 9-13 with a 4.58 ERA in 230 IP with 182 K and a 1.50 WHIP. Freddy Garcia went 6-11 with a 5.17 ERA in 139.1 IP with 116 K vs. 45 BB and a 1.54 WHIP. Adam Eaton went 3-10 with a 5.31 ERA in 101.2 IP with a 1.45 WHIP. Jeff Francis went 5-11 with a 5.76 ERA in 124 IP with 68 K and a 1.65 WHIP.

Ben Howard went 1-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 74.1 IP with 66 K and a 1.27 WHIP. Justin Huisman had 14 S with a 3.87 ERA in 79 IP with 66 K and a 1.38 WHIP. Matt Herges went 3-4 with a 4.36 ERA in 66 IP with 48 K and a 1.48 WHIP. Renyel Pinto went 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 74.2 IP with 76 K and 8 HRA. John Bale went 2-2 with a 4.82 ERA in 52.1 IP with a 1.39 WHIP. Mike Crudale went 3-5 with a 5.16 ERA in 52.1 IP with a 1.51 WHIP. Taylor Tankersley went 1-1 with a 5.68 ERA in 12.2 IP with 14 K vs. 9 BB and a 1.74 WHIP. Huston Street went 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in 8.1 IP with 9 K vs. 6 BB and a 3.12 WHIP. Joey Devine had a 13.50 ERA in 6.2 IP with 8 K vs. 7 BB and a 2.55 WHIP.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West with a 90-72 record. They scored 874 RS vs. 808 RA to give you an idea of what we should aim for.

The Florida Marlins defeated Oakland Athletics in a clean 4-0 sweep to win the 2006-2007 World Series. And people say the Marlins get lucky? They've clearly sold their souls to the Devil to win World Series in periodic installments.

Awards Note: Do not expect appearances from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, or Ice Cube. Although Philip Seymour Hoffman is a possibility.
AL Silver Slugger - Frank Thomas who had 58 HR and 128 RBI while throwing in 106 BB.
NL Silver Slugger - The GREAT GIAMBINO who hit 50 HR and 132 RBI while throwing in 178 BB vs. 107 K. Okay! I get it!!! The Padres got slaughtered in the trade, stop bringing it up *sob, sniffle* Worth noting is Mark Mulder landed with the Atlanta Braves this season.
AL Cy Young - Billy Traber who went 21-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 222 IP for the Indians.
NL Cy Young - Now this is awesome. Eric Gagne wins it going 10-4 with 31 S and a 1.34 ERA in 87.1 IP. He also had 120 K and a 0.97 WHIP.
AL Rookie of Year - Joe Mauer who hit .312 with 19 HR and 98 RBI.
NL Rookie of Year - Akinori Iwamura clearly fashioned the deal with the Devil. He hit .306 with 18 HR, 58 RBI, and had 55 SB in 65 SBC.

Here are the players who will be bolting us and scrambling like monkeys up a rock face towards free agency: Eric Munson, Jeff Davanon, Freddy Garcia, Michael Young, Barry Zito, Tony Clark, Adam Eaton, Matt Herges (Only because he's 36), and John Bale.

Pretty sure that's like half of what made our offense decent.

Raul Mondesi retires with 1622 H and 263 HR. In RL, he retired with 1589 H and 229 HR. That's player #2 (See Robin Ventura) that I'll take credit for getting them to a "milestone" even if they hit like 2 HR with us. But that's 2 more that they wouldn't have had! Yeah.

On 11/17 are the arbitration hearings. Where the team can't really defend themselves. Whoo! Yippee! Hooray! Mike Crudale will get $416,000. Sean Burroughs will get $1.216 Million. Nick Green will get $5.167 Million and may not even be healthy to start the 2007 season. Xavier Nady gets $1.543 Million. Justin Huisman gets $350K while Jason Bay will get $3.832 Million. Mike Matthews gets $350K and finally Clay Condrey will get $358,800.

[DawnBTVS]

My goal this free agency is to get on base. That mainly includes upgrades at LF (Xavier Nady walked 39 times in 524 AB), 1B (Ryan Howard has walked 44 times in 815 AB the last 2 seasons), 2B (Nick Green walked 16 times in 534 AB) and SS. Dallas McPherson will see the majority of time at 3B over Sean Burroughs.

I throw a one year deal worth $520,000 at SP Zach Miner. He went 9-14 in 2006 with a 3.77 ERA and 1.33 WHIP for the LA Angels. I also throw a 4 year deal worth $27.88 Million ($6.97 Mill per year) at Joel Pineiro who's gone 21-32 with Seattle the past 2 seasons but put up a 4.43 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

I give 2B David Bell a minor league deal. He's put up a .343 OBP at AAA in 2005 and .385 in AA at 2006. I also throw a one year deal worth $690,000 at 2B Jerry Hairston. Fans will remember him from 2004 when he gave us 56 BB and a .351 OBP. Here's hoping that lightning can strike twice. He's also put up a .359 and .326 OBP for Texas the past 2 seasons. I also throw a one year deal worth $820,000 at SS Nick Punto. He's been with Colorado and put up OBPs of .351, .336, and .343 the past 3 seasons. J.T. Snow may be 38 years old but is worth the one year $720,000 contract I throw at him. Between Toronto and Detroit he put up 77 BB in 465 AB last year. I finally throw a one year deal worth $690,000 at fan favorite Ben Grieve to play LF. He was with the New York Mets last year and put up a .362 OBP with 79 BB in 497 AB.

On 11/29 Jerry Hairston signs. On 12/2 J.T. Snow signs. Shame we don't have a DH spot as he has ZERO defense. Zach Miner signs on 12/3. On 12/4 Ben Grieve signs. David Bell signs on 12/5 and 12/7 sees Nick Punto sign. Unfortunately, Pineiro likes somebody else better. So I throw a one year deal worth $1.94 Million at Cory Lidle instead. He's been with Baltimore and put up ERAs of 3.15 and 3.51 while going 25-16 the past 2 seasons. I also throw a one year deal worth $700,000 at RF Bobby Higginson while Lastings Milledge will back up Jason Bay in CF. He's 36 but put up a .355 OBP with 17 BB in 166 AB for Kansas City in 2006.

On 12/27 both Lidle and Higginson both sign. So we signed 8 players to a 2007 cost of $6.08 Million total. My final offer goes to Edgar Martinez (Yeah, the DH guy) for one year at $690,000. He's 43 years old but still put up 100 BB in 595 AB the last 2 years with Seattle. He'll be a part time player with Bengie Molina while Miguel Ojeda will be sent back down to AAA.

After signing on 1/13, he is the final piece of our 25 man roster. Nick Green is still out for 2-3 months on 1/31 so he remains questionable to be healthy by opening day.

[DawnBTVS]

I created a second College Feeder league and a High School Feeder league. There's now 60 College Teams (playing 66 game seasons) and 20 High School teams (playing a 36 game schedule). I also adjusted MLB park factors to reflect real life park factors in the 2007 season. Colleges will have 4 man rotations, the HS league will have a 3 man rotation to properly reflect usage at those levels. With the addition of these leagues, the MLB Draft will expand to 12 rounds now. All college teams were selected based on RL records in 2009 season and HS teams selected based on rankings by MaxPreps.

The Arizona Diamondbacks went 86-76 last season. They are expected to be just as solid this season with a very deep offense including Robby Hammock (26 HR), Jason Repko (24 HR), David Wright (12 Triples, 17 HR), and J.D. Drew (12 HR in just 210 AB.

Their rotation remains very good with 4 pitchers capable of plus .500 records including Brandon Webb (18-6) and Elmer Dessens (15-9). Mike Koplove (3.21 ERA) and Jose Valverde (33 S, 3.31 ERA) remain the stars of the bullpen.

Prediction: 88-74

The Colorado Rockies again finished in .500 level mediocrity at 82-80. Their pitching is unproven with only Andy Sonnanstine being anything close to a star thanks to a 11-3 record and 3.47 ERA. Danys Baez and Javier Lopez give them talent in the pen with ERAs of 2.96 and 2.89 last year.

Offensively they take advantage of their ballpark thanks to Todd Helton (39 HR), Charles Thomas (26 HR), Mike Cameron (20 HR), and Juan Uribe (19 HR).

Prediction: 77-85

The Los Angeles Dodgers remain a World Series threat after going 90-72 last year. Eric Gagne won the Cy Young and almost everybody on their pitching staff can put up a sub 4.00 ERA including Andy Ashby (3.72), Francisco Liriano (3.04), and Jose Santiago in the bullpen (3.18).

Offensively they only need to lean on The Great Giambino (50 HR) and Angel Pagan (40 HR). But both Oscar Robles (22 HR) and Joe Inglett (21 HR) can add punch too.

Prediction: 94-68

The San Francisco Giants also improved to a 74-88 record. Offensively they have some power with Justin Morneau (30 HR), Bobby Kielty (23 HR), Geoff Jenkins (20 HR), and Jose Cruz (17 HR).

Pitching wise they lean hard on Noah Lowry (12-15 with a 3.78 ERA) and their bullpen is the best part of their team. CL Macay McBride (11-5 3.09 ERA), Kevin Correia (3.73 ERA), Rafael Perez (3.38 ERA), and Felix Rodriguez (3.77 ERA) are all solid proven arms.

Prediction: 71-91

Finally we come to the San Diego Padres. They went 59-103 last year despite a pythagorean record off 66-96. Offensively they have Bengie Molina (23 HR), Jason Bay (23 HR), and a bunch of spare parts who can get on base and not do much else.

Pitching wise they're slightly improved with Cory Lidle (15-10 3.51 ERA) and Zach Miner (9-14 3.77 ERA) expected to carry the rotation. The bullpen also relies on two arms in Justin Huisman (14 S 3.87 ERA) and Ben Howard (3.27 ERA).

Prediction: 67-95

San Diego Padres: Team Overview
The rotation will feature Cory Lidle as the Opening Day Starter, Scott Baker, Zach Miner, Jeff Francis, and Joe Saunders as the 5th Man. In the bullpen, Taylor Tankersley and Huston Street will be the first 2 men out followed by Joey Devine and Renyel Pinto. Ben Howard and Mike Crudale will set up for Closer Justin Huisman.

Offensively, there will be platoons at C with Bengie Molina hitting LHP and Edgar Martinez against RHP, LF with Ben Grieve against RHP and Xavier Nady against LHP and at DH in Interleague Games with Bengie Molina vs. RHP and Lastings Milledge in against LHP. J.T. Snow will play 1B, Jerry Hairston at 2B, Dallas McPherson at 3B, Nick Punto at SS, Jason Bay at CF, and Bobby Higginson in RF.

[DawnBTVS]

I'll likely be putting up 2 months of action per post to save from having 5-6 "replies" being a season's worth.

On 4/12 Nick Green is eligible to come off the DL. MR Mike Crudale is put on waivers and designated for assignment to create room. On 4/19 he gets stashed down at AAA.

We close out April with a 7-19 start to the season and are 9 GB of the 16-10 San Francisco Giants. We're last in RS at 70 and have allowed 112. One bright spot is that we are now 1st in BB with 97 on the season.

Guys are struggling hitting wise but it's a small sample size. The few positives are Jerry Hairston (.350 OBP and 10 BB vs. 15 K), J.T. Snow (.379 OBP with 16 BB vs. 16 K), Ben Grieve (.330 OBP and 15 BB vs. 15 K), and Edgar Martinez (.350 OBP and 13 BB vs. 15 K).

Pitching wise we're not that bad. Scott Baker is 2-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 6 starts. Cory Lidle is 1-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 6 starts. Zach Miner is 2-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 5 starts. Joe Saunders is 1-2 with a 5.01 ERA in 4 starts and Jeff Francis is 0-4 with a 7.34 ERA in 5 starts.

Bullpen wise, Joey Devine has 2 S with a 1.93 ERA. Huston Street has a 2.08 ERA. Renyel Pinto has 1 S and a 2.40 ERA. Ben Howard has a 2.79 ERA. Justin Huisman has 2 S and a 5.01 ERA and Taylor Tankersley has 1 S and a 5.11 ERA.

Down at AAA Shane Victorino has a .779 OPS in 100 AB with 2 HR and 9 SB. Joakim Soria will get called up from AA after putting up a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 IP. Joining him will be Danny Allison (3-3 with a 3.45 ERA in 44.1 IP), and 3B Cale Smith who's hitting .273/.360/.455 in 88 AB. C Jonathan Ellis will move up to AA from A after hitting .323/.385/.398 in 93 AB.

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On 5/10 we lose Huston Street to a strained back muscle for 5 weeks. He had a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 IP. The very next day we lose Jason Bay for 7 weeks to a dislocated shoulder. He only had a .410 OPS but still... not a good sign at all! Shane Victorino will get a call up.

We close out May now 14.5 GB with a record of 15-39. Once again we're largely struggling on the road with a 6-22 record. We have 144 RS vs. 230 RA.

Jerry Hairston has a .632 OPS with 24 BB vs. 31 K. Dallas McPherson has a .250 BA with 4 HR and 18 RBI. Bobby Higginson has 1 HR and 14 RBI with 19 BB. J.T. Snow has a .362 OBP and 29 BB vs. 36 K. Nick Punto has 11 RBI and 20 BB. Ben Grieve has a .328 OBP with 29 BB vs. 28 K. Edgar Martinez has 3 HR and 17 RBI with 22 BB. Lastings Milledge has 10 RBI and a .280 BA. Bengie Molina has 3 HR and 11 RBI with 6 BB vs. 7 K. Nick Green has 6 BB vs. 19 K. Ryan Howard has 1 HR and 5 RBI with 5 SB in 6 SBC.

Joe Saunders is 3-3 with a 2.28 ERA in 59.1 IP. Scott Baker is 4-6 with a 3.18 ERA in 79.1 IP. Cory Lidle is 2-8 with a 3.21 ERA in 92.2 IP. Zach Miner is 3-7 with a 5.65 ERA in 65.1 IP. Jeff Francis is 1-8 with a 6.23 ERA in 65 IP.

On the relief side, Renyel Pinto has a 2.25 ERA in 32 IP. Ben Howard has a 2.91 ERA in 21.2 IP. Taylor Tankersley has a 3.04 ERA in 23.2 IP. Joey Devine has a 3.38 ERA in 21.1 IP. Justin Huisman has 7 S and a 4.50 ERA in 18 IP.

Good news is that we're still first in BB with 191 on offense and 1st in HRA with 32 pitching wise. We're also 7th in pitching BABIP at .298.

[DawnBTVS]

On 6/12 Huston Street is healthy and comes off the DL.

On 6/15 is the Draft. We have the 1st pick yet again. With our first pick we select 2B John Huffman who had 73 BB vs. 47 K in 2 seasons between Rutgers and Gonzaga. Our 2nd pick is 3B Cade Carlson who had 105 BB vs. 103 K in 3 years. He also had 52 SB (75.4%). Our 3rd pick is another 2B named Sammy Gillespie who had 30 BB vs. 16 K in 2 seasons with San Diego. Our 4th pick is 1B Corey Billings who had 7 2B and 7 HR in 128 AB with Florida. Our 5th pick is CL Carlos Molina who had 23 S and 71 K vs. 16 BB between Oklahoma and Canisius. Our 6th pick is CL Eddy Chaney who had 31 S and 52 K vs. 16 BB between Notre Dame and SE Louisiana in 3 years. Our 7th pick is SP Doug Norris who went 4-3 with a 2.53 ERA in 57 IP with Eastern Illinois. Our 8th pick is 3B Bob Franklin who had 10 2B and 11 HR in 171 AB for Nebraska back in 2005. Our 9th pick is 1B Rob Fowler who hit .398, .343, and .333 BA wise in 3 years with Oregon State and Wagner. Our 10th pick is 1B Peter Taylor who put up BA of .352, .300, and .308 between Florida State and Kent State in 3 years. Our 11th pick is MR Justin Masterson who can throw 92-94 MPH. Our final pick is MR Mike Smith who put up a 1.44 ERA with 8 S in 25 IP for North Carolina in 2006.

On 6/16 we lose Nick Punto for 2 weeks and call up Kahlil Greene to take his place.

On 6/27 Jason Bay comes off the DL and we put Shane Victorino on waivers and designate for assignment.

We're now 21.5 GB and sitting at 24-57 while going 9-18 in June.

Dallas McPherson is hitting .269 with 4 HR and 32 RBI. Bobby Higginson has 32 BB vs. 64 K. J.T. Snow has a .347 OBP with 40 BB. Jerry Hairston has a .622 OPS with 25 BB vs. 37 K. Ben Grieve has 3 HR and 11 RBI. Edgar Martinez has a .351 OBP and 3 HR with 25 RBI. Lastings Milledge has a .305/.360/.431 line with 20 RBI. Nick Punto has 35 BB vs. 47 K. Nick Green is hitting .278/.335/.424 with 12 RBI and 12 SB. Bengie Molina has 4 HR and 18 RBI. Xavier Nady has 9 RBI and Ryan Howard has 9 RBI and 12 SB.

Joe Saunders is 3-4 with a 3.00 ERA. Scott Baker is 6-9 with a 3.79 ERA. Cory Lidle is 3-12 with a 3.94 ERA. Zach Miner is 5-9 with a 5.42 ERA with 48 BB vs. 35 K. Jeff Francis is 3-10 with a 5.66 ERA thanks to 16 HRA.

Joey Devine has a 2.45 ERA in 33 IP. Renyel Pinto has a 2.79 ERA in 48.1 IP. Ben Howard has a 3.19 ERA in 31 IP with 38 K. Huston Street has a 3.45 ERA in 15.2 IP with 14 K vs. 5 BB. Justin Huisman has 12 S with a 3.86 ERA in 30.1 IP. Taylor Tankersley has a 4.93 ERA in 34.2 IP with 46 K vs. 13 BB.

At AAA Danny Allison is 3-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 90.1 IP. Clay Condrey is 6-6 with a 2.47 ERA in 120.1 IP. Mike Bynum has a 2.25 ERA in 32 IP. Carlos Marmol has a 1.16 ERA in 23.1 IP. Mike Matthews has a 1.96 ERA in 36.2 IP. Joel Zumaya has 6 S and a 2.14 ERA in 33.2 IP. C Mike Rabelo is hitting .293/.340/.375 in 328 AB with 3 HR. 2B David Bell is hitting .292/.349/.421 in 171 AB with 4 HR.

MR Tyler Clippard will move up to AA after putting up 19 S and a 2.77 ERA in 26 IP. Others playing well at Single A include 1B Peter Taylor hitting .489/.489/.622 in 45 AB with 1 HR, 2B John Huffman hitting .353/.358/.451 in 51 AB with 1 HR, and 3B Cade Carlson hitting .313/.353/.479 in 48 AB with 1 HR and 4 SB.

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On 7/1 SS Nick Punto can come off the DL. He had 35 BB vs. 47 K. Kahlil Greene will be put on waivers and designated for assignment.

On 7/8 the All-Star rosters are announced and once again, we don't feature a single Padre player, boo-urns. Both Victorino and Greene slip through waivers and get stashed back in AAA.

The trade deadline hits on 7/31 and I decide to try and see if we can add some power. I shop around SP Jeff Francis and the Kansas City Royals are willing to send LF Brad Wilkerson back. He's 30 but has hit 17 HR in 449 AB the past 2 years between KC and the White Sox. Francis meanwhile has gone 3-13 with a 5.02 ERA in 127.1 IP despite a solid 1.41 WHIP and .285 OBA. We're more than happy to make the trade.

I also shop around MR Taylor Tankersley who's struggled to a 4.50 ERA but does have 54 K and 7 HRA in 40 IP. He's gotten unlucky with a .376 BABIP. The Detroit Tigers show interest and are willing to depart with 33 year old Dmitri Young. Young can play 1B, 3B, or LF and offers some versatility. He's also hit 15 HR in 337 AB and 35 HR over the past 2 seasons. This is another move we're happy to make.

So we add some power while also sending a couple of pitching pieces that we can afford to depart with. Dmitri Young will likely take over at 1B and be a big defensive improvement. Wilkerson will slide into RF and take over for the struggling Bobby Higginson.

We send Ryan Howard back down to AAA as he's been hitting .222/.270/.244 and has only given us SB, which don't help very much when he walks just 12 times in 176 AB. We'll call up SP Danny Allison to replace Jeff Francis in the rotation. He's gone 7-7 with a 3.60 ERA in 137.2 IP and a 1.38 WHIP. Allison will take over the 4th spot in the rotation while Dmitri Young will take over the #3 spot in the lineup and Brad Wilkerson will hit in the #5 spot.

We're sitting at 31-74 on the season and the Florida Marlins hold the 2nd worst record at 42-63. Yeah, they're 11 wins better than us. We've largely had our butts kicked in extra inning and 1 run games going a combined 19-34 (35.8 Win %).

Hitting wise, Dallas McPherson and Bengie Molina lead the team with 6 HR each. McPherson also leads the team with 38 RBI in 380 AB. Nick Green and Lastings Milledge are our 2 best hitters with .280/.327/.443 and .294/.343/.433 lines. Jason Bay's struggles (.154 BA and .456 OPS) will be pushed out of the lineup and Milledge will take back the starting job. Both J.T. Snow (.342 OBP) and Edgar Martinez (.349 OBP) have largely been doing their job and are able to get on base.

Pitching wise our stars are SP Scott Baker (8-10 with a 3.26 ERA in 152 IP), MR Renyel Pinto with a 2.45 ERA in 62.1 IP, MR Ben Howard with 3 S and a 3.41 ERA in 37 IP, and MR Joey Devine with 2 S and a 3.60 ERA in 40 IP. SP Joe Saunders and Cory Lidle have put up ERAs of 3.52 and 3.55 but have combined for a 7-21 record in part to allowing 21 HR on the season.

At AAA Joakim Soria has 12 S and a 2.00 ERA in 27 IP with 38 K and 1 HRA. CL Mike White will move up to AAA after putting up 18 S and a 3.71 ERA in 34 IP. Joining him will be RF Chris Hill who's slugged .390 with 8 HR in 328 AB at AA. We're also going to try White as a SP and see how he fares (and if we can get his endurance up a bit).

MR Justin Masterson will move up to AA after putting up a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 IP at Single A. Joining him will be CL Carlos Molina with 12 S and a 2.89 ERA in 18.2 IP, 1B Peter Taylor hitting .390/.408/.511 in 141 AB, and 2B John Huffman hitting .343/.373/.422 in 102 AB (Although he's out for 12 months with a dislocated shoulder).

[DawnBTVS]

We still sport the worst record in baseball as we finish August out. We sit at 42-92 but did go 11-17 in August. You know it's a horrible year when I'm excited about that!

Here's how we're doing with the bats: Dallas McPherson with a .268 BA and 8 HR with 52 RBI, Nick Green hitting .302/.345/.446 with 3 HR and 46 SB in 66 SBC, Lastings Milledge hitting .311/.359/.455 with 3 HR and 39 RBI, Bengie Molina has 8 HR and 40 RBI, Xavier Nady is hitting .264 with 6 HR and 30 RBI, J.T. Snow has 2 HR and 41 BB, Jerry Hairston has 19 RBI and 27 BB, and Ben Grieve has 6 HR and 21 RBI, Edgar Martinez has a .338 OBP, 3 HR, and 26 RBI.

Brad Wilkerson has hit .172/.333/.301 with 2 HR and 14 RBI in 93 AB. He's also thrown in 2 SB. Dmitri Young has hit .236/.315/.327 with 1 HR and 9 RBI in 110 AB.

Pitching wise Scott Baker has been a surprise with a 12-12 record and 3.22 ERA in 195.2 IP. Cory Lidle is 5-16 with a 3.75 ERA, Joe Saunders is 6-10 with a 3.81 ERA, Danny Allison is 1-4 with a 3.89 ERA, and Zach Miner is 6-15 with a 6.04 ERA.

The bullpen isn't helping very much. Renyel Pinto is 2-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 80 IP, Joey Devine is 1-3 with a 3.36 ERA in 56.1 IP, Justin Huisman is 2-7 with 16 S and a 3.60 ERA in 60 IP, Ben Howard is 1-5 with a 4.18 ERA in 56 IP, and Huston Street is 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 36.1 IP. So our bullpen has combined for a 7-21 record. Oof.

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September call ups are here and we'll be calling up Carlos Marmol (1.48 ERA in 30.1 IP) and Joakim Soria (1.70 ERA in 37 IP) to help shore up the bullpen a bit.

I decided it's time to offer extensions and throw a 3 year extension at 1B Dmitri Young worth $34.14 Million ($11.33, 11.33, and 11.48 per year). It's a lot but he's capable of 20-25 HR in a given year and we seriously need a power bat on a long term deal. He can also field his position pretty well, which is useful given Petco Park. I offer a 3 year deal to CL Justin Huisman worth $1.56 Million ($520,000 per year) as he's been very solid replacing legendary Trevor Hoffman. On 9/3 Young agrees to his extension. On 9/4 Huisman signs his extension.

2B David Bell has decided to retire. He'll finish his MLB career with 766 hits and 82 HR. He didn't play in the majors outside of cups of coffee since 2002 though.

With the regular season ending, the Colorado Rockies finished at 88-74 and won the NL West. Arizona, San Francisco, and LA all finished at 82-80, 81-81, and 79-83. We, stout, hard nosed, scrappy few finished at 56-106! YEAH, WHOOOOO.

But the last 2 months did show promise. We went 25-31 in August and September compared to 16-36 in June and July.

Dallas McPherson finished with 9 HR and a team leading 64 RBI. Nick Punto had 39 RBI and generally sucked. Nick Green hit .321/.363/.464 with 35 RBI and 80 SB in 105 SBC. 2nd in the NL. That's something, right? Lastings Milledge hit .321/.372/.455 with 4 HR and 53 RBI. Bengie Molina tied for the team lead with 10 HR and had 58 RBI. Xavier Nady had 9 HR and 42 RBI with 3 SB. Bobby Higginson had 29 RBI. Jerry Hairston had 22 RBI and 27 BB vs. 39 K. J.T. Snow had a .339 OBP with s
 42 BB. Ben Grieve had 7 HR and 24 RBI. Edgar Martinez had 3 HR and 29 RBI with 39 BB. Jason Bay had 3 HR and 14 RBI. Dmitri Young tied for the team lead with 10 HR and had 35 RBI in just 228 AB. Over a season of 500 that'd be 22. Brad Wilkerson also had 6 HR and 30 RBI in 192 AB.

Scott Baker was a stud for us going 15-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 232.2 IP. He also had a 1.20 WHIP. Yes, we had a SP with a winning record on a team that won just 56 games. Explain that! Joe Saunders went 9-12 with a 3.81 ERA in 205.1 IP and a 1.41 WHIP. Cory Lidle went 7-18 with a 3.74 ERA in 238 IP and a 1.25 WHIP. Danny Allison went 3-6 with a 4.21 ERA in 77 IP and Zach Miner was a FA bust with a 6-18 record and a 6.53 ERA with a 1.85 WHIP.

Bullpen wise Carlos Marmol and Joakim Soria combined for an ERA of 2.52 in 22.1 IP. Renyel Pinto put up a 2.95 ERA in 94.2 IP with 107 K. Justin Huisman had 21 S and a 3.45 ERA in 70.1 IP with 62 K and 3 HRA. Joey Devine had a 3.57 ERA in 68 IP with 2 HRA. Ben Howard had 4 S and a 4.26 ERA in 63.1 IP with 65 K vs. 29 BB. Huston Street had a 4.60 ERA in 45 IP with 1 HRA and a 1.82 WHIP.

The 2007-2008 World Series sees the New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2.

Here's a look at my "sterling" record with the Padres. I swear I'm not trying to mimic the Kansas City Royals in RL!

2004: 66-96
2005: 55-107
2006: 59-103
2007: 56-106 (570 RS vs. 753 RA)

Well... at least I've been consistent in my awfulness, right?!?

AL Silver Slugger: Rocco Baldelli - Hit .320 with 24 HR, 94 RBI, and had 19 SB
NL Silver Slugger: Yuniesky Betancourt - Hit .381 with 26 HR, 133 RBI, and had 46 2B.
AL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum - Went 20-8 with Oakland with a 1.75 ERA (Seriously!?!) in 267 IP.
NL Cy Young: Edinson Volquez - Went 16-5 with Colorado with a 2.40 ERA in 228.1 IP. He also won the NL ROY.
AL Rookie: Kurt Suzuki who hit .301 with 10 HR and 76 RBI in 552 AB

The following players are all fleeing towards free agency: 2B Jerry Hairston, LF Xavier Nady, LF Ben Grieve, SS Nick Punto, 1B J.T. Snow, SP Cory Lidle, 3B Sean Burroughs (All BA, no power), and C Bengie Molina (Gave us 16 HR in 619 AB).

Our goals in the offseason are to get some power bats and shop around 2B Nick Green. He's our best hitter but can't hit for power (10 HR combined the last two years) and can't walk (44 BB in almost 1,000 AB the past 2 seasons).

[DawnBTVS]

Thanks for the 400+ views, always appreciated even if there aren't any replies I also did away with coaches/scouts because I just simply didn't have the desire to deal with it all (and they are largely pointless when I'm overriding any and all of their opinions anyway.) I never use them in my other games and remembered why.

On 10/29 Bobby Higginson retires with 1489 hits and 199 HR. His peak year was in 2000 where he had 30 HR and 102 RBI. Also retiring is Edgar Martinez who finishes with 2457 hits and 315 HR. His peak year was also in 2000 when he hit 37 HR with 145 RBI. He also had 1397 BB vs. 1452 K.

Salary arbitration arrives and Nick Green will earn $7.492 Million, Jason Bay will make $3.065 Million, and Mike Crudale will make $350,000.

I shop around Nick Green and the Cincinnati Reds are showing interest by dangling LF Adam Dunn. Dunn's signed through 2009 and is making only $4.43 Million more than Green is ($11.92 Mill for 2008 and 2009). While Green can give you a high BA (.306, .302, .283, .321 since 2004), he's marginal in every other category outside of SB and his OBP is high largely due to his BA. Dunn's a decent enough fielder but his power (38, 42, 54, and 35 since 2004) and eye (123, 108, 92, and 93 BB since 2004) are what really appeal to me. We quickly and gladly complete the trade.

We get a proven power bat who can draw walks through 2009.

Right now we need to fill C, 2B, SS, and get a power bat at 3B. We also need a SP.

We throw a 2 year deal worth $1.16 Million ($580,000 per year) at SP Jason Jennings. In 2005 he went 13-12 with a 4.88 ERA for Colorado and went 3-4 with a 3.95 ERA for them in just 15 starts in 2006 (but didn't play in 2007 due to injury). We also throw a 2 year deal worth $700,000 ($350,000 per year) at C Charles Johnson who's 36 years old. Between Seattle and Chicago White Sox he hit 15 HR with 38 BB in just 312 AB so he's worth a flier. 2B/SS Juan Uribe also attracts our attentions and gets offered a 3 year deal worth $8.82 Million ($2.94 Million per year). He's a GG candidate at either 2B or SS and with Colorado he's hit 39 HR the past 2 seasons.

We make a 1 year offer for $690,000 at 2B Alfonso Soriano. He's not good defensively but did hit 22 HR in 2005 in 418 AB with the New York Yankees. Since then he's been relegated to a backup role. We also throw a 2 year deal at 33 year old 3B Mike Lowell worth $3.62 Million ($1.18 Million per year). With the Minnesota Twins he's hit 41 HR the past 2 seasons with 115 BB and would be an upgrade over Dallas McPherson both with the bat and with his glove.

Juan Uribe doesn't like the money we're offering. We decide to bump the offer up to $12 Million over 3 years ($4 Million per year). He likes the offer more.

On 12/7 we sign both Jason Jennings and Alfonso Soriano. I also shop around SP Jerome Williams who went 6-15 with a 4.30 ERA at AAA in 161.1 IP. In 2006 he went 12-6 with a 3.25 ERA in 177.1 IP with a 1.32 WHIP. The Oakland Athletics who interest and offer SP Johnny Cueto who's 21 years old. He went 4-3 last year with a 4.35 ERA but had a 1.29 WHIP and 99 K in 80.2 IP. We make the swap and get a younger SP option whereas Williams would have just been AAA fodder with us. Johnny Cueto will get a shot in the rotation while Zach Miner, who struggled mightily, will be sent down to AAA.

Mike Lowell signs on 12/8. On 12/11 we get a HUGE signing with Juan Uribe. His glove alone would be worth it but he can actually hit for power as well, a real coupe for us. On 12/12 Charles Johnson signs, giving us further power. We finally throw a 3 year deal worth $1.68 Million ($560,000 per year) at 1B/2B Angel Santos. He offers NOTHING except power and combined for 18 HR for Florida in 378 AB between 2005 and 2006.

On 12/18 Angel Santos signs. He'll backup at 2B, CF, and RF despite having almost zero defensive prowess. Again, it's largely for his power potential more than anything else. He's also only 28 years old.

Our final free agent offer is to C Brandon Inge for 3 years worth $4.53 Million ($1.51 Million per year). He's 30 years old and is a GG caliber defensive catcher while supplying some pop with 26 HR and 72 BB the last 2 seasons with the Detroit Tigers.

Apparently Inge likes Oakland more. He signs with them for $1.77 Million over 1 year. Punk. We throw a 2 year deal at C Kevin Cash worth $1.04 Million ($520,000 per year) instead. He did hit 9 HR in 396 AB between AA and AAA last year but is mainly being signed for his defensive abilities. He signs on 1/17 and will back up Charles Johnson while being a defensive sub in late innings.

With that signing, we complete our 25 man roster and look to be much, much improved offensively (and defensively at C and SS).

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Arizona Diamondbacks went 82-80 last year. Offensively they are largely going to rely on J.D. Drew and his 21 HR last year. Josh Barfield also hit .364/.421/.508 but they don't have much else to offer. Pitching wise their rotation remains solid with Edgar Gonzalez (16-10, 3.68 ERA), Brandon Webb (16-13, 3.59 ERA), and Curt Schilling (12-14, 4.31 ERA). Also Jose Valverde and Rick Bauer put up ERAs of 2.19 and 2.12 and are the standouts in the bullpen.

PREDICTION: 80-82

Colorado Rockies won the NL West last year with an 88-74 record. They also have 3 quality starters in Edinson Valquez (16-5, 2.40 ERA), Boof Bonser (12-9, 3.36 ERA), and Andy Sonnanstine (12-11, 2.45 ERA). Near as I can tell, Boof was not named after the actress in Teen Wolf. Their best relievers are Javier Lopez (2.13 ERA) and Orber Moreno (2.87 ERA).

Offensively they still have some power with Todd Helton (21 HR), Carl Everett (19 HR), and Mike Cameron (17 HR). Given Coors Field, their offense will always be good.

PREDICTION: 85-77

The Los Angeles Dodgers overachieved to a 79-83 record last year. They have power in Jason Giambi (26 HR), Koyie Hill (20 HR), Angel Pagan (19 HR), and Joe Inglett (18 HR). They basically have 1 great SP in Francisco Liriano (15-9, 2.54 ERA) but largely rely on the effects of Dodger Stadium and a stout bullpen featuring Eric Gagne (1.70 ERA) and Brian Wilson (2.31 ERA) to win them games.

PREDICTION: 76-86

San Francisco Giants also overachieved to an 81-81 record last year. I'm sure we gave them and the Dodgers like 20% of their wins last year. They have just 2 hitters worth anything in Geoff Jenkins (27 HR) and Justin Morneau (20 HR). Barry Bonds is officially done as he has only hit 5 HR the past 2 seasons including just 1 last year.

They do have a good rotation with Noah Lowry (16-11, 3.59 ERA), Gavin Floyd (15-12, 3.68 ERA), and Derek Lowe (13-10, 4.68 ERA) standing out in particular. The bullpen is also arguably the best in the NL West with Jay Bergmann (2.36 ERA), Scott Eyre (2.63 ERA), and Macay McBride (2.98 ERA) really standing out although Michael Wuertz and Felix Rodriguez with 3.18 ERAs aren't slouches either.

PREDICTION: 73-89

Finally the loveable, huggable San Diego Padres. They went 56-106 last year and have found a savvy way to suck and then close out the final 2 months to where they lose less than 110 games on the year. They've beefed up their offense with 6 players capable of 15+ HR including Adam Dunn (35 HR), Dmitri Young (25 HR), Juan Uribe (20 HR), Charles Johnson (15 HR), Mike Lowell (15 HR), and Brad Wilkerson (14 HR).

Unfortunately they have 2 starters of note in Scott Baker (15-13, 3.25 ERA) and Joe Saunders (9-12, 3.81 ERA). They also only have 2 standout relievers in Renyel Pinto (2.95 ERA) and Joakim Soria (2.45 ERA).

PREDICTION: 70-92 (Really. I just wanna win more than 60 games in 2008!)

San Diego Padres Team Preview

The rotation will see Scott Baker take the ball on Opening Day. He'll be followed up by Joe Saunders, Danny Allison, Jason Jennings, and Johnny Cueto. The bullpen will feature Justin Huisman at his usual Closer spot with Joakim Soria and Ben Howard setting him up. The mop up guy will be Clay Condrey while the middle relievers will be Renyel Pinto, Carlos Marmol, Huston Street, and Joey Devine.

Offensively, the starters will be as follows: C Charles Johnson (5th), 1B Dmitri Young (4th), 2B Alfonso Soriano (8th), 3B Mike Lowell (2nd), SS Juan Uribe (6th), LF Adam Dunn (3rd), CF Lastings Milledge (1st), and RF Brad Wilkerson (7th).

Jason Bay will be the DH in Interleague games and hit 9th while backing up Dunn in LF otherwise. Kevin Cash will be a defensive sub at C. Dallas McPherson will back up Lowell at 3B. Finally Angel Santos will be a backup at 2B, CF, and RF.