Are You Ready For Some Baseball?

(Feb. 7, 2006)Last night, Jerome Bettis hoisted a trophy and retired and a whole generation of Pittsburgh Steeler fans celebrated something they had heard their fathers talk about but had never experienced. This morning, the eyes of many of us turned to baseball. Yes, I know that the basketball and hockey fans of the world want to stand up and say, "Hey! We're in mid-season here!" I've been known to cheer on the Lakers and Kings on occasion myself, as well as the San Diego Gulls and SDSU Aztec Basketball. ( Sorry about that Clippers, but when I was forming my allegiances you were in Buffalo. As to the Ducks, I'd rather you win then lose but the icy part of my heart belongs to the Kings and Jennifer Blue, who broke that heart in 1990, a few years before the Kings and Marty McSorley's illegal stick did the same in Montreal)) Just as my wife healed one part of that heart, so does the crack of a fungo and the slap of leather distract me each spring from the fact that my blue and gold clad football team has yet to achieve what that back and gold one did on Sunday. So today the Padres introduced Mike Piazza to San Diego. Woo Hoo, baseball's coming! So I've been pretty quiet for the last six weeks or so and have yet to voice an opinion on many things, or at least haven't voiced on here. What do you want to talk about? Based on my conversations lately, what most of you want to talk about is still one thing. Mark Loretta for Doug Mirabelli. Now, I loved watching Loretta as a Padre. Mark is a class act and I am sure I will miss him as the season goes on and I have little doubt that at least one time before the end of April I will find myself wishing he were on deck instead of Josh Barfield. Mark Loretta was a favorite of mine too. But in 2005 he was not the Loretta of 2004. He played 49 fewer games, hit for an average that was 55 points lower then 2004, lost .148 off his slugging percentage and had half the RBI's but only 11 fewer strikeouts. Yes, he was hurt. Yes, he's a gamer. Yes, I dislike the trade just as much as all of you. Yes, sometimes Kevin Towers has a weakness in dealing to fill holes and not getting full value for a player outside of position questions. But Loretta for Mirabelli does not merit the downtrodden attitude I find rampant among Padre fans. Friar Faithful entered the off-season screaming two things. Resign Giles. Resign Hoffy. Everything else was considered less important. Hello McFly? Hoffy and Brian Giles are still Padres. This club listened to you and signed two high value free agents in a single off season for the first time in recent memory. Then, they traded a problematic young pitcher who had shown problems listening to his coaches about pitch selection in key situations for a younger starter who actually pitched better in a hitter's paradise than Adam Eaton did in a pitcher's paradise. Welcome aboard, Chris Young. We lost Akinori Otsuka in the deal, but we got value for him in adding a local boy with the glove to cushion the danger of Klesko at first in Adrian Gonzalez and an insurance policy for left field in Terrmel Sledge. The cringe-inducing trade was actually the result of a different mistake. The Padres entered this off-season confident that their catcher for next season was Miguel Olivo. So confident that they drew up their plans for 2006 minus Ramon Hernandez. When Miguel didn't go along with the plan, or else tried to manipulate his newfound bargaining power, the Padres were caught flat-footed. They scrambled to not be left out of the catching market, and this desperation created Loretta for Mirabelli. The mistake of the off-season was not signing Olivo early. That mistake led to the trade that will be remembered as the big mistake. So now we have Mike Piazza and the trade looks even worse. But getting Piazza could not be counted on. Sure, Benji Molina is still available, but if the Padres had that kind of money to devote to a catcher they would have resigned Hernandez. The Padres traded poster-boy-for-potential Xavier Nady for a legitimate center fielder in Mike Cameron. They upgraded third base with Vinny Castilla. Castilla for Brian Lawrence may be another example of Towers trading to fill a position rather than getting best value, but there is no doubt in my mind that Vinny will outperform Sean Burroughs at the plate. At this point the Padres will enter Spring Training with potentially the best defensive outfield in baseball. They have retained two of their three big free agents, slightly upgraded the pitching staff (a judgment call, but I'll make it) and significantly upgraded their power potential. They are less solid at catcher and second base then they were at this time last year. They will have to rely on a platoon of older veterans at one key position and maybe at two if Josh Barfield fails to earn the job at second base. But all this doomsday talk and gnashing of teeth of Mirabelli for Loretta is out of hand. I really hope Mark has a great year in Boston. But I am not sure of it. Unlike many of you, I prefer to look at the off-season as consisting of more than one deal.

Comments:
LynchMob February 15, 2006 at 1:10 am

Delete this if it’s bad netiquette to post such a large copy from another web page … but this is one more attempt to roust Peter from hibernation :-) (didn't delete, but didn't save it either)

Rich Campbell February 16, 2006 at 7:59 pm

I won’t be deleting it…I’m all for doing anything to increase any back and forth here or lure Peter out of “retirement”.
Richard February 17, 2006 at 3:15 am

On the Castilla for Lawrence trade. We traded a lousy SP (we have plenty replacement level arms) for third baseman who was an upgrade. How could that in any way be considered a poor move?
michael February 28, 2006 at 3:56 am

Brian Lawrence is not a lousy SP. He has a number of solid, workmanlike seasons for the Padres, so let’s not throw him under the bus just because he had a bad season. And anyway, maybe the reason he pitched so poorly is because of his messed up shoulder?
Anyway, hope springs eternal, and let’s hope this weird mix of guys finds a way to gel and the Padres can hold off SF & LA.