For those loyal readers, who might be curious as to why I haven’t posted much during the Spring Training. I have two reasons and mostly I prefer to stand back to observe on all the ongoing activities rather than bore you with the daily reports. Secondly, there has been so much activity in regards to the ownership that I felt being proactive rather than reactive would serve me right before I posted my true thoughts. So enough with this, it’s time to get to business and talk about the Padres.
Like What Mama Said….
“Boy ! Do not believe what they say about you, just do it and make yourself heard with your actions.” It takes a good group of people to get a job done. As I’ve been reading on the 2012 Padres so far, collectively they seem to be uniting as a cohesive group with a mental fortitude to prove the so-called baseball experts that last place pre-season ranking is nothing but a joke. My prediction is that Padres will have over 86 wins for the 2012 season and the young guns will make an impact. The 86 wins might not be enough to win the NL West Division, but the Padres will have a profound impact on who wins the division ultimately. So here is my NL West Division Prediction:
As you can see, I have the Diamondbacks repeating as the NL West Division Champs for the second year in a row. D-Backs Manager Kirk Gibson continues to get the best mileage of out his players and I don’t care what anyone says. But an effective Manager can make a difference with a couple of games during the season and usually determines who comes out ahead in the standings at the end of the season. The Dodgers, despite all the in-season turmoil of 2011 did quite well and Mgr Don Mattingly earned kudos. Though, the question for the Dodgers for this season is “Can they take it to another level and win the NL West Division?” With new ownership, I look for the Dodgers to make some trades during the season right up to the trading deadline which can affect the entire division standings. The Petco Park Kids will surprise many people though like always will come up short and the ownership status continues to impede the club’s ability to compete for NL West Division title. The Giants, have catcher Posey back but it’s still not enough as former Padres Bruce Bochy and Tim Flannery will be haunted by the Petco Park Kids during the season. Finally, Colorado Rockies not only are being overshadowed by the Broncos signing QB Payton Manning, but they do not have enough mojo in the cabana to compete with the rest of the division foes.
The Petco Park Kids……
In order for the Padres to live up to my pre-season predictions and have me look like Voodoo Chile of predictions, a few Padres players must come through. In my most humble opinion, I believe 1B Yonder Alonso, CF Cameron Maybin, and RF Will Venable will have breakout years. The second tier performance players like 3B Chase Headley, C Nick Hundley, LF Carlos Quentin, SS Jason Bartlett and 2B Orlando Hudson will provide enough bang that will ultimately create strong market value for their services elsewhere. My hunches are that mostly like all five players will be moved during the July’s trading deadline. My season’s surprise will be P Anthony Bass, who will accumulate 8 – 12 wins this season in-between roles of a spot starter and reliever. Another sleeper in the group is 3B/OF James Darnell, who might end up playing 3B by mid-season if Headley is traded for major-league ready prospects.
In summary, the Padres will make huge strides and climb up the ladder in the division standings, but the ownership fiasco will dampen their inability to move forward without an owner with deep pockets and passion to win.
The Ownership Debacle Continues…..
The sudden exit of Jeff Moorad and the latest swirling rumors of John Moores remaining in full control of the Padres, just humors me as I would imagine all other true Padres fans. This quite well compares to the Wall Street Shuffling being conducted on a daily basis by the twosome of Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner. Though, in this scenario, Moorad is Geithner, Bud Selig is Bernanke and Moorad being Alan Greenspan. Though, in the end we all know Greenspan (aka Moorad) would be thrown out because he didn’t have enough resources and thought Gold was not a viable currency. In either case, what all this amounts to is that the leadership or so called leadership in baseball has some serious issues. Why did they allow all of this to come this far and to reject it suddenly. Who’s not doing their due diligence and resting on their laurels ? In the end, this is good because hopefully the Padres will be put up for sale on the open free market. May the best bid win and hopefully the next owner/ownership group have a passion to Win and simply not profit only driven.
Remember Padres Fans, John Moores is the owner who ordered ex-GM Kevin Towers to draft Matt Bush. We all know how that turned out and trying to cut corners financially with the number one pick in the draft is bad karma for the franchise. Let’s have an owner who wants to win !
Foxs Sports San Diego Limited Viewership….
It’s less than 6 days to the Season Opener and majority of the San Diego County will not be able to watch the Padres on TV. Ummm, who’s clever idea was that ? You got to be kidding me that new broadcasting rights haven’t been settled yet ? What kind of project planning is this ? Once again, the owners are showing their true sides and holding majority of the San Diego Padres Fans hostage. But then again, the quality of product on the field has been less desirable, so Padres Fans this may be a blessing in disguise. In conclusion, once again the Padres Franchise is a laughable one at the moment until someone steps in to buy the franchise. Great Weather and Nice City can only go on for so long. How about great owner and awesome team ?
As I close out this post, here’s an awesome musical video featuring Blues Artist Tad Robinson Band and Alex Shultz “Payback”. Yes, Padres Fans its time for us to give some Payback ! Voice your feelings about what’s going down in San Diego with the Padres Ownership.