Ahhh Yes ! It’s that time of the year, Spring Training is here and the San Diego Padres are in camp. The games have begun in Florida and Arizona which brings synergy and faith to all baseball fans throughout the world. I am really looking forward to this year’s Padres ballclub, because I really do think they will surprise many so called experts and those who think the Padres will do nothing at all. I will go out on the limb and say the Padres will be a wild-card entry for this upcoming season. Yes ! You heard that right from my mouth and it’s just been posted in this blog as of now. I know, the majority of you are probably laughing your behind off at me for such an outlandish remark. Though, in truth I have many reasons to make such a prediction as I just did. For starters, I think this team will finally play to the style that fits Petco Park and will cause misery for many of the visiting ballclubs. This is vastly different than the previous Padres teams which did not adequately fit the Petco Park theme. In doing so, the previous teams (Padres) were playing on a level playing field with their opponents, whom in several cases had more power to their line-ups. Now, the Padres are styling their ballclub to pure speed, defense and pitching which to me is a winning formula for any ballpark. Though, it will be more apparent in ballparks like Petco Park, Chase Field, Dodger Stadium, Coors Field, and AT&T Park. Now, we will see how injuries come about to play within the Division during the Catcus and Grapefruit leagues and the shaping of divisional rivals rosters. I truly feel strong about our 2010 Padres Ballclub as they are flying beneath the radar and can appear out of nowhere like a stealth fighter/bomber to have a profound impact on the Division and National League.

The past week or so, I’ve been reading alot of bulletin board material in regards to Ex-Padre Ace Jake Peavy. Mr Peavy has been on the borderline of poaching a Padres’ property in 1B Adrian Gonzalez. I know players become tight with each other and share mutual respect, but that should remain in the clubhouse and shouldn’t be thrown out in the public to be use as leverage. Chi-Sox Pitcher Peavy has been trying to push the Chi-Sox Baseball folks to go out and acquire Adrian Gonzalez. Unfortunately, Jake should focus on learning American League Hitters who will present him a great challenge if you take into account the smaller size of ballclubs around the junior league. I find Jake’s comments very humorous because essentially, he is the San Diego’s Nate Keading Equivalent in terms of baseball. They both are very productive players during the regular season, but when it’s “Money-Time” as Magic Johnson refers to the playoffs, only do a few really standout and become the James “Big-Game” Worthy. In this instance, Peavy and Keading had opportunities to prove themselves and yet failed miserably. Therefore, being a Padre fan I am excited that Peavy is pushing hard to get Gonzalez. Why? If the Padres can get 4 players for a Pitcher who didn’t win a game in the playoffs and only pitches ever 5th day. Just think what the Padres can get for an All-Star, Gold Glove, and full-time producer like Adrian. I am thinking the bidding must begin with the minimum of 7 players. The real question is, can any team out there really afford to give up 7 players? Come July, those teams who are willing to pull the plug will arise if and only if the Padres are out of the running. Though, as many of you have read, I seriously doubt the Padres will be out of it this year and will shock many so called experts. The price for Gonzalez will be much higher then, just like an ounce of Gold and Silver with the economic crisis coming to a head soon.

As I conclude this post with Jake Peavy’s comments on Gonzalez and Padres franchise, a befitting video would be BB King and his friends with the song of ‘Rock Me Baby’. Yes, the Padres are gonna rock alot of people this year and maybe one ballclub out there will rock us with a package of players that the Padres can’t afford to turn down.