Bud Black: Manager of the mid-year

[HollywoodLeo]

Weekend Buzz: Best players, managers, moments from first half - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

NL Manager of the Mid-Year: 1. Bud Black, Padres. 2. Dusty Baker, Reds. 3. Bobby Cox, Braves.
Now that the Padres have smartened up and added speed and defense (imagine!), Black no longer is a few burritos short of a combination plate in the dugout. Shackles off, he's done a marvelous job in molding an aggressive club, playing small ball and managing the NL's best pitching staff. The Padres are the game's biggest surprise this season, with Black calling the right shots. Baker is out-LaRussa-ing St. Louis' LaRussa. And Cox, in his swan song, finally has a team he can lead back into October.

Also, Jed Hoyer/KT love

NL Best Extreme Makeover: San Diego. If the Padres continue along their stunning path, can Kevin Towers and Jed Hoyer be named co-executives of the year? It was Towers who mostly assembled the Padres' fierce bullpen before he was fired last October, including the key acquisitions of Heath Bell, Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson, Edward Mujica and Joe Thatcher. It was Towers who stole Adrian Gonzalez from Texas several years ago. Hoyer's key contributions were signing free agent pitcher Jon Garland, catcher Yorvit Torrealba and the Hairston brothers, Scott and Jerry Jr. It's added up to a lethal mix.

[Kingdom]

I notice they didn't mention the Peavy deal, much to Mofo's chagrin.

[padrefanforever]

mofo is still trying to figure out his angle after Peavy's Lat flew off his body

[HollywoodLeo]

His angle would simply be to point out how bad Richard's last few outings have been.

[realmofotalk]

mofo is still trying to figure out his angle after Peavy's Lat flew off his body

And your angle has been that Richard has outperformed Peavy, which I've already argued that you were wrong about last year. The only positive result was that Richard pitched in more games for the Padres (big deal, so did Wade LeBlanc) and that was because Peavy was on the DL. This year Richard has outperformed Peavy, but not as much as the disparity (HAMG!! Richard leads by a full run and more!) between their ERA (a dumb stat in itself) would have you conclude.

[padrefanforever]

Peavy's on his 2nd DL stint......wont start another game maybe until late next year.......and you're still clinging to the idea that this wasn't a heist......

First rule in holes is to stop digging.......

[HollywoodLeo]

If Peavy's injury affects the rest of his career it's definitely a win for the Padres if for no other reason than to just get the contract off the books.

That being said, if Richard doesn't bounce back (and/or if Poreda doesn't start performing better) it's really not worthy of bragging about.

This isn't to say I've suddenly lost all hope on Richard after two bad outings, though. I'm basically saying I just don't like bragging about injuries.

Bragging about this being a default "win" because Jake got injured is like bragging about winning the NL West in 2005.

[realmofotalk]

Your idea of a heist is centered on how much salary was saved in the deal, which no Padre fan would have given a flying **** about if John Moores didn't happen to lose half his stuff to his ex-wife. The idea that you'd rather see $10 million spread out among Garland, Hairston Jr., and Torrealba instead of going toward an ace in Peavy would be laughable.

Besides, a heist entails that you rob something worth a fortune, not crap.

[padrefanforever]

salary + production - DL time served = heist in this deal

[HollywoodLeo]

Garland, Hairston, Torrealba, and Moores are irrelevant to the discussion.

In an ideal world Moores doesn't get divorced and the Padres can have all of them and Peavy. (Or someone about as good due to that much more payroll room had they decided to trade Jake for baseball-related purposes)

I'm not going to pretend to like the reasoning behind trading Jake but that doesn't mean the trade can't be a win for the Padres in the end anyways. I disagree with PFF that the injury alone makes it a "heist", but it can be if Richard goes back to pitching like he has all year and/or if Poreda quits walking every other batter.

Of course, if Jake comes back healthy next year and goes on to win another Cy Young or two the scales tip back the other way again.

As for the salary, that's still a plus to have off the books if he's not pitching. Obviously it's hard to say whether or not he still would have gotten injured had he stayed in San Diego, but the facts being what they are the White Sox and not the Padres are paying millions of bucks to a player on the DL.

The key to San Diego is I don't think Hoyer would have nearly as much room to look for a trade this month if they still had to pay Jake this year.

[padrefanforever]

I disagree with PFF that the injury alone makes it a "heist", but it can be if Richard goes back to pitching like he has all year and/or if Poreda quits walking every other batter.

I have never said injury alone makes this a heist......but his Lat flying off his body clinches this being a heist.....

[HollywoodLeo]

I have never said injury alone makes this a heist......but his Lat flying off his body clinches this being a heist.....

That's assuming two things, though.

1. It assumes Jake won't bounce back from the injury and get back to his dominant form.

and

2. Richard's last two games are an aberration and not a return to his previously expected level of production.

As stated earlier in the thread I'm not giving up on Richard after two bad games by any means, but nevertheless we still have to wait and see what happens.

The book on this trade isn't closed just yet, but it's certainly in the Padres favor and will remain as such for at least the rest of this year.

[padrefanforever]

There is no reason to give up on Richard......and nobody is saying that side by side these two are equals on the mound.......what is being said is that this was a heist, and the simple fact is that it was

[HollywoodLeo]

It boils down to semantics because I prefer to save the "heist" label for trades that involve us getting superior talent, not simply because we got the better end of the deal.

The Otsuka/Eaton for Adrian/Chris Young trade was a heist.

This trade, so far, is simply a win.

I agree there's no rational reason to give up on Richard after just two bad outings, I was simply pointing out possibilities regardless of the odds.

Two things have to happen for me to consider this a heist.

1. Richard has to continue to maintain a high level of pitching as he has up until two starts ago. (and/or Poreda starts throwing strikes and earns his way back into a starting role...)

and

2. Jake's injury would have to prove to haunt the rest of his career, not just 2010.

If 1 happens but 2 doesn't then we don't lose too much in the trade but I wouldn't call it a "heist" either if Jake comes back to full force next year.

[padrefanforever]

Poreda wont be a starter......he's being groomed for relief and possible closer roles now