Almost back to full strength

[padrefanforever]

Loretta and Nevin are back in the line up today, we're back to full strengh. Now to get Eaton HEALTHY, and start our run.

GO PADRES !!!

[Fishercat]

The Padres are lucky and won't get a shot this easy for a while. The Dodgers are an infirmary ward, the Giants are missing the best player in baseball, the D-Backs are stalling a bit, and the Rockies are the Rockies.

FWIW, I like the Padres as a team since I like Kevin Towers. Loretta's also extremely underrated as well. The Padres need to grip this division by the throat, The playoffs are a different place. The Padres gain an advantage when they can pitch Peavy in 2 out of 5 games and 2 out of 7 with a relief appearence.

[padrefanforever]

well said.........

We have much to do........and so far they aren't doing it........we're just about the luckiest team ever at this point......... some how that 5 game lead remains....lol

[HollywoodLeo]

I'll take it as we get it. In all honesty I wasn't really expecting this team to win the division this year, and then got my hopes raised after May. I'll gladly take the free pass into the playoffs, but hopefully they (KT/Alderson) takes the opportunity to finish putting together a playoff caliber team...

[padrefanforever]

agreed there.........but I did expect us to complete for the division this year

[riverdunesrat]

Back to full strength is doing us a whole lotta good isn't it?

ARRRGGHHH

These guys are really pissing me off. These guys are better than this. Getting shown up by the Mets and that old guy, Piazza. Come on guys......

[BaseballFanatic]

Since they those 2 came back, it seems that they are doing worse.

[redsrbetter]

I think the Pads will definitely bounce back and show what they have. Playoff bound? Unsure, but I still think it could be likely. Especially if you guys add another decent bat.

[padrefanforever]

bring back the bench.....at least they tried......

[riverdunesrat]

Lather, rinse, repeat......AAARRRGGGHHHH !!!!

[padrefanforever]

Well I hate to pat myself on the back, but I knew we'd be nearly back to .500 before these fools made a move......... Randa got is 1st AB in a game we lost putting us 1 game above .500............lmfao.........way to go Towers.......we had a chance to put this division away, and you wait until everyone is on top of us before pulling the trigger on a deal you could have, AND SHOULD HAVE, had done a month ago.........thank you very much!

[HollywoodLeo]

Just a few things to retort with.

1) Towers is no longer the sole person running the show, yet, I guess by pure habbit, he's the sole person in everyone's bullseye when they want to critisize moves. Alderson is part of this too now.

2) To critisize them for "waiting till we got close to .500 before making a move" implies they had an offer on the table and chose to ignore it, then saw the standings plummeting (as if they weren't already doing as such for the past two months) and said "Oh crap, perhaps we should do something" then went out that same day and traded for Joe Randa in one fell swoop. It takes two to tango and none of us know who, if anybody, Towers and/or Alderson was talking to or what deals may or may not have been talked about (we already know of one confirmed deal that was discussed with Boston over a month ago...) How do you know Joe Randa was even capable of being acquired before two days ago? Towers (or Alderson) can't just walk up to a team and say "Give me this guy now" and just get him, they have to agree upon a deal. When a team's dumping quality guys mid-season they tend to try and get the best in return for them, which generally leads to them waiting till the trade deadline starts nearing before they give up on seeking out better offers. There's a reason the vast majority of mid-season trades happen right before the trade deadline, vice at spurrious points throughout the first half of the season, and it's not because GMs like to sit on their collective behinds and wait till the last second to fix holes in their roster.

my bottom line? The real traveshamockery here is not a lack of action by Towers or Alderson, it's the failure of the talent that they already have on the field to produce to the level that they are capable of. The horrible play that's been displayed on the field as of late can not be fixed by one or two trades. (Sidney Ponson is surley not going to be saving the day) It's nice that They brought in Randa, it's nice that they're trying to get X into the everyday line up, but if the players that are already here keep playing like they are right now the Padres aren't going to win dick, with or without Joe Randa or X in the lineup everyday.

[padrefanforever]

Just a few things to retort with.

1) Towers is no longer the sole person running the show, yet, I guess by pure habbit, he's the sole person in everyone's bullseye when they want to critisize moves. Alderson is part of this too now.
Regardless of Alderson, Tower's is the acting GM, and as such as the power to effect change, and he will be the person underfire if we fall out of the playoff hunt this year. Burroughs was underperforming long before Alderson was hired, and that should have been addressed months ago. I'm not giving up on Burroughs career, but it was obvious to everyone that he didn't belong out there this year. I'm glad they optioned him, and didn't dump him. Towers did a hell of a job building a bench, but he's lacking severly when it comes to starting players, and contract negotiations. That's not my opinion, thats the opinion of many in the business, that I happen to agree with.

2) To critisize them for "waiting till we got close to .500 before making a move" implies they had an offer on the table and chose to ignore it, then saw the standings plummeting (as if they weren't already doing as such for the past two months) and said "Oh crap, perhaps we should do something" then went out that same day and traded for Joe Randa in one fell swoop. It takes two to tango and none of us know who, if anybody, Towers and/or Alderson was talking to or what deals may or may not have been talked about (we already know of one confirmed deal that was discussed with Boston over a month ago...) How do you know Joe Randa was even capable of being acquired before two days ago? Towers (or Alderson) can't just walk up to a team and say "Give me this guy now" and just get him, they have to agree upon a deal. When a team's dumping quality guys mid-season they tend to try and get the best in return for them, which generally leads to them waiting till the trade deadline starts nearing before they give up on seeking out better offers. There's a reason the vast majority of mid-season trades happen right before the trade deadline, vice at spurrious points throughout the first half of the season, and it's not because GMs like to sit on their collective behinds and wait till the last second to fix holes in their roster.
The Randa rumor is well over a week old, and had I not lost my sub account, would have posted that much sooner. Randa's name came up long before we were only a game ahead of AZ, more like 5 games over, and we'll never know if he would have been the difference maker. He had one AB and got a hit, not too shabby so far. Randa also wasn't the only guy out there to be had, there were teams a month ago that were already considering moving guys for the right players. I'm not implying that the right match was there, and we didn't take it, but they didn't even attempt to stop the bleeding at 3rd until now, or address it sooner. Sending Burroughs down a month ago would have been a hell of a wake up call to this team, and who knows, might have sent the right message to them before the lead was lost, again we'll never know. Point is action should have been taken, and was NOT, IMO.

my bottom line? The real traveshamockery here is not a lack of action by Towers or Alderson, it's the failure of the talent that they already have on the field to produce to the level that they are capable of. The horrible play that's been displayed on the field as of late can not be fixed by one or two trades. (Sidney Ponson is surley not going to be saving the day) It's nice that They brought in Randa, it's nice that they're trying to get X into the everyday line up, but if the players that are already here keep playing like they are right now the Padres aren't going to win dick, with or without Joe Randa or X in the lineup everyday.

I agree with you 100% that the traveshamockery is that our regulars are underacheving by far. Which is why, IMO, a move should have been made sooner. I don't buy into the " maybe they couldn't" scenario.......you might, I do not. The one thing I'd like to add to what you have said above is that adding Randa, Nady, and Ponson might just be the difference they need. Increase in offense at two positions, forcing opposing pitchers to adjust and maybe other guys in the line up will benifit. Ponson is going to fill the #4 or #5 spot in the rotation and I think any help there or change for that matter is desirable. Ponson in Petco & the NL could be a great fit. So I'm not against that deal, hoping that some change will be better than what we're suffering through now.

[HollywoodLeo]

I'm not implying that the right match was there, and we didn't take it, but they didn't even attempt to stop the bleeding at 3rd until now, or address it sooner. Sending Burroughs down a month ago would have been a hell of a wake up call to this team, and who knows, might have sent the right message to them before the lead was lost, again we'll never know. Point is action should have been taken, and was NOT, IMO.

IIRC, Burroughs wasn't exatctly starting everyday. I'm not a believer in making a move for the sole purpose of making a move just because it's obvious something might need to be done. KT has been on record for realizing the Burroughs "situation" for over a month now and I still, and will always, fail to believe a major league general manager will knowingly acknowledge an issue with his team and proceed to not care and not start considering options to alleviate the issue. The real mistake on Towers' part was trusting Burroughs to adaqetely fill the 3B slot at the beginning of the season. He had an entire offseason to find a different starting third baseman if he would've known Burroughs would've been slumping. When it became apparant that Burroughs (still) isn't ready to be the Padres' starting 3bman (assuming he'll ever be) it became obvious something needed to be done...but this doesn't mean Towers should just go out and make the first move available, giving up whatever neccesary, to replace him. That leads to giving up more than we should. It takes time to negotiate a deal, in any business. I'm already a tad bit nervous about giving up Travis Chick for Randa (although I don't disagree with the move) making a rash move to go out and get somebody NOW would probably find Josh Barfield and others in someone else's minor league system now. I'm sure Towers weighed his options carefully, i'm sure he was talking to the Reds since before the move was actually made...which is usually the case with trades. They don't tend to happen at a whim over one phone call. We also know he was talking to the Red Sox with a deal involving Burroughs and replacing him with Kevin Millar, but that deal didn't go through for we don't know what reason. The point is, Towers WAS activley addressing the situation and it took till now for them to decide on the best course of action. In the meantime, Burroughs wasn't exactly starting everday, he was, even while healthy, splitting time with Geoff Blum and Damian Jackson.

[padrefanforever]

You're basically saying the same thing as me.......with the exception that you continue to defend Towers.......... He did have an entire offseason, and more, to address this situation, and they didn't until now........Nobody said to make rash, whimsical, poorly thought out deals, made with one phone call. This is hardly an overnight issue....lol....if we're talking about the issue again, they are talking about it more. If we see the problem here, then rest assured they are well aware of it there. One of the reasons the deal with the Redsox fell through is because the Redsox don't want a player like Burroughs, it seems obvious to others what his problems are, why couldn't they see it here, or could they and they don't know how to undo them?

Look nobody is saying make rash moves......that's just stupid to even bring up IMO......this team has holes that have been there for years, and they need to be, and should have been addressed by now. This is far from whimsical, or shoot from the hip, hell if our GM doesn't have the abilties to make deals happen. It's time for a change in that position. My confidence level in Towers building us a quality bench is very high, but it's not when it comes to everyday players. He's shown his shortcomings when it comes to contract negotiations, no trade clauses, back loaded contracts, player choices, etc. Hopefully Alderson can be the missing link, but even Alderson has looked this team over and knows the weak links, and he's been apart of this program for what 2 months now..........this isn't rocket science, it's baseball.......perform or don't play.......that's pretty simple.

Anyway......... Randa is an upgrade on paper, hopefully he'll translate to the field for us. At least it was a move in the right direction to start.