Ho-hum ! On Thursday 3rd of May, the San Diego Prospects sent reliever Ernesto Frieri to the Los Angeles Angels for two prospects INF Alexi Amarista and P Donn Roach. Golly ! Sur-prise Sur-prise ! Padres GM Josh Byrnes couldn’t get a higher qualified prospect back from the Angels ? Since when is a proven major league talent relief pitcher and four years under contract control is valued for TWO long-shot prospects ? Especially, one INF who has been evaluated as a potential utility player on a good team which we all know the Prospects errr Padres are far from that. At this moment, this trade heavily favors the Angels and this only demonstrates to the Fans in San Diego, the Prospects continue to trade proven talent for unproven commodities. This franchise truly operating like a junior mining company in hopes of raising more cash to execute more drill strikes for gold or silver and selling off the resources (talent) for additional cash OR land acquisitions (prospects). Who’s the next likely candidate to be put on the supply-chain conveyor belt for MLB ? I would say 3b Chase Headley, since the “Petco Park” ghosts have gotten into Headley’s psyche. Don’t be surprised if C Nick Hundley and OF Will Venable are added to the long list as well. All I have to say to Padres’ GM Josh Byrnes, do not make the same mistake that former Padres GM Kevin Towers did in trading 3B David Freese for aging CF Jim Edmunds, who was to replace Mike Cameron…COUGH COUGH. I rather see 3b James Darnell playing for the Padres then in another uniform..HINT HINT…Josh Byrnes.

The Lights Are On But Nobody Is At Home……

Attending the game against Miami Marlins on Saturday 5 May, regretfully noticed a very very low turnout of fans in the stands. SHAZAM ! This is only May ! I could not believe it, especially on T-Shirt giveaway night. At most, there were about 18,000 people in the stands. It appears to me the Padres Fans are voicing their displeasure and I don’t blame them at all. If the Padres continue to lose at the rate they are going, come Memorial Day weekend, I wouldn’t be surprise to see less and less people attending the games.

The Moores/Moorad Hoax Continues…..

It’s hard not to think why such bad luck continues to strike this ballclub. Though, perhaps one logical reason be could since Moores/Moorad became partners, they continue to operate this franchise as a profit based-driven entity. They really could careless about the Wins and Losses as long as their pockets are filled with cash. This franchise suffered another huge setback with the recent injury news of starting LHP Cory Luebke with a potential Tommy John elbow surgery. This is not the first instance, after John Moores demanded then Padres’ GM Kevin Towers to draft Matt Bush as the No. 1 overall selection in 2004, look what’s happened to this organization with the 1st round draft picks:

1. 2004, No. 1 overall, Matt Bush (various off the field issues and eventually traded to Tampa Bay)
2. 2005, No. 18, P Cesar Carrillo (elbow surgery, eventually released)
3. 2006, No. 17, 2nd Matt Antonelli (broken wrist, eventually released)
4. 2007, No. 23, LHP Nick Schmidt (elbow surgery, traded away for RP Huston Street)
5. 2008, No. 23, 1b Allan Dykstra (hip ailment, traded away to New York Mets)
6. 2009, No. 3, OF Donavan Tate (variety injuries, still in low-level minors)
7. 2010, No. 9 P Karsten Whitson (did not sign, attended Florida University)

The evidence is there, no organization could have such bad luck for 7 consecutive years with their 1st round draft pick. If you don’t believe me, take a look at Tampa Bay or Washington organizations which have far done better than the Padres. It all boils down to the finances, run an organization cheaply and expect some major obstacles down the road. SEVEN years of un-productive 1st round draft picks has SET this franchise a DECADE behind. Your 1st round draft selections should have an immediate impact on your organization. Unfortunately, the Padres are seeing the inverse of this. If these picks were in the lower half rounds, I could accept the risks. but as you all can see, this isn’t the case. We can only hope this franchise sells rather quickly to eliminate the Moores/Moorad Hoax.

Over-hyped Front Office Personnel…..

Here’s one for your thoughts. The collectively franchise records of Boston, and ex-Boston associates are Cubs (14-20), Red Sox (15-19), and Padres (12-23). Mind boggling is the combined record of (41-62) with a whopping .398 winning percentage. Yet, the Sandy Alderson gang in New York have the Mets running at (19-15) record for a .559 winning percentage. Who was responsible last year for having the most drafted players (24) overall in the major leagues in the last two years ? The Padres, whom Sandy Alderson was responsible for the drafts during those years and come to think of it. Sandy does not have Adrian Gonzalez on his roster, and Jose Reyes left the Mets as well. So, come on folks ! who really had a profound impact on the Padres ? Enough said. Perhaps, we can hope O’Malley Family purchases the franchise and injects “old school” ways on operating a successful baseball operations department.

SINK HOLE de Mayo…..

After trading P Ernesto Feiri away to the Angels. Padres’ GM Josh Byrnes indicated the Padres had enough pitchers on the roster and minors. Well, since that remark, we’ve seen Cory Luebke, Joe Wieland, and Huston Street hit the disabled list. Ummm, but do not worry Padres fans, any trades the Padres do, we will get back more pitching prospects.

You Didn’t Think It Could Get Worse….

In Spring of this year, the Padres gave THREE contract extensions to LHP Cory Luebke, CF Cameron Maybin, and C Nick Hundley. Guess what they all have in common ? They’ve been  Hoax by Moorad/Moores ! Cory is out with season-ending elbow surgery, Maybin is hitting .217 1 hr 9 rbi’s, and Hundley is hitting .178 2 hrs 13 rbi’s. Wow ! This is definitely not the Padres year, everything the Front Office, Coaching staff and players do is not going right.

Closing out this post with a hot blues music video by Joe Bonamassa, song titled “Taking The Hit”. Yes, this entire Padres franchise and Fans are taking a huge hit, 2012 is not the year. Time to pack it up and head to the beach.