Not So Daily Links

Aaron Gleeman reminds Padres fans that, hey, at least our television announcers are pretty good.

In cuter news, there are some “abandoned Pawdres up for adoption.”

Andrew of True Blue LA (boo!) asserts that sabermetrics are dead, or at least no longer a competitive advantage, but dead sounds cooler.

Friar Forecast takes a look at the Padres adjusted runs scored and allowed this season as well as when we know a player is done.

Greg Maddux says that closing is, mentally, the hardest job in baseball.

Not So Daily Links

Paul Nyman has a fascinating article on pitching up at The Hardball Times.

Also at The Hardball Times, John Walsh takes a look at what makes pitches effective using PITCH/fx data.

MattS of The Good Phight offers his take on why teams don’t pay above slot, which is always a popular topic among Padres fans.

Not So Daily Links

For a less pissed off take on last night’s game, try 6-4-2.

Over at Deadspin, there’s an entertaining look at the differences between blogging and “privileged sportswriting.” (H/T Aaron Gleeman)

Friar Forecast has a nice look at Peavy’s excellent start last night using Pitchf/x data.

Gaslamp Ball has pictures of the ram’s head.

Nate Silver at Baseball Prospectus takes a look at what Miguel Tejada’s real age means for his projections.

Not So Daily Links

David Pinto at Sporting News takes a look at how impressive Maddux’ reaching 350 wins will be. It’s a little premature, but it’s worth a read.

Over at Friar Forecast, MB tries to find if Randy Wolf’s effectiveness is linked to his inefficiency. Nothing conclusive, but still food for thought.

The Union Tribune’s Tom Krasovic wrote yesterday about the Padres renewed efforts in Latin American scouting:

“I believe the Padres will be No. 1 in the Dominican Republic and Latin America in the next two to three years.”

Wouldn’t that be nice?  I’ll take just not being lousy.

Not So Daily Links

There’s a nice little interview with Kevin Kouzmanoff at ESPN:

Kouzmanoff: It’s definitely a tough park to hit in, it is a pitchers’ park. Sometimes you get pull-happy, you dip the back shoulder and just try to get the ball out of the park, because it takes a lot to get it out of there. But I think it’s important to work on line drives, just staying up the middle of the field. Just trying to square up the ball and put the barrel of the bat on the ball.

I thought that was an interesting response from Kouzy with regard to PetCo. The idea that the park forces a hitter to be more disciplined and focus on hitting line drives is, well, interesting.

Friar Forecast’s Padman also posted his Weekly look at the Padres minor league system today. It’s always good to keep an eye on the future friars.

Filed under “so crazy, it just might work” is Pip’s post on the idea of the 6+ man rotation. The math says it’s worth roughly 20 runs or two wins per season, but the odds of anyone trying it any time soon are pretty slim. Still, it’s an engaging idea.

I almost forgot. It’s annual “not enough blacks in MLB” day. Apparently the fact that roughly 11.5% of the Americans in MLB are of African descent is troubling. You know, since that’s way under the 13.5% of the American population African Americans represent. It’s not like they’re being kept out. They’re choosing not to participate from an early age. Why does this bother anyone? No clue.

Not So Daily Links

Worth checking out for his take on Andruw Jones, is Marc Normandin’s BP Fantasy Beat:

After posting one of the more disappointing lines of 2007 at just .222/.311/.413, Andruw Jones has picked up where he left off with a .105/.209/.132 start to 2008. There are tons of players hitting badly at this point in the season, but Jones sticks out for a few reasons. For one thing, he has only hit 11.5 percent of his batted balls for liners; the league average is closer to 20 percent, and his career rate is 18.1. Even last year he was at 17.2 percent. This can easily even out, since 11.5 percent is just three liners out of 26 batted balls, but it’s something to watch.

Obviously, there’s nothing definite yet, but Padre fans have to be feeling at least a little better about their team not inking Jones to the kind of deal the Dodgers did.

Also of some mild interest is Corey Brock’s Mailbag. Nothing earth shattering, of course, but it’s not a bad read and it’s an off-day, so this is all the Padres content we really have available to us.

Not So Daily Links

Management by Baseball posted a fantastic article last Friday that I highly recommend.

Also worth checking out is a piece by Ken Tremendous over at Fire Joe Morgan basically eviscerating one of the worst articles I’ve ever read. KT, as usual, is hilarious while dissecting what was an offensively stupid article.

Daily Links

  • ESPN hosted a Chat with Baseball America’s Jim Callis this morning and he answered a few questions about Padres’ prospects:

    Mike (San Diego): I keep dismissing Scott Hairston, but he keeps winning games almost single-handedly. Any chance he could actually be good?

    Jim Callis: He could. He really raked for a while in the minors, so the talent to hit is there.

    Obviously, there’s potential there. Hairston was a very solid prospect when he was with the Diamondbacks hitting .322/.401/.571 during his time in the minors. In 93 ABs with the Padres, he has hit 10 home runs and flashed the potential that made him a top prospect just a few years ago. Callis also responded to a few questions on Chase Headley. The Message: Solid Regular, Not an All Star. Unless last year was a fluke and I doubt it was, I’ll have to disagree with Mr. Callis on that.

  • And Rumors and Rants has a fine collection of Jerry Colemanisms. A Sample:

    “Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall — and it rolls off! It’s rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres.”

    “Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen.”

    I’ve had the good fortune to have listened to Jerry Coleman call Padre games all my life. It’s impossible not to enjoy his unique style. (H/T With Leather)

  • Daily Links

  • Goldstein’s State of the Systems NL West column is up and is definitely worth the read:

    I Like Him Better Than Most: An ‘07 draftee, Drew Cumberland offers tons of athleticism along with a mature approach, a rare combination these days that allows him to project as a middle infielder who hits at the top of the order.

    Don’t Believe The Hype: After an incredible pro debut in 2006, Cedric Hunter proved in his first full season that he wasn’t a very good center fielder, doesn’t have much power, and swings at a lot of bad pitches. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

    I’m also high on Cumberland, but I think Cedric’s being sold short. I really believe his pro debut (.371/.467/.484) was more representative of his potential than last season’s time with Fort Wayne (.282/.344/.373). He’s still only twenty and has time to develop power. I guess we’ll see how he adjusts this season in Lake Elsinore.

  • And for those that don’t know, Fan Graphs has Win Probability graphs for every game played. For further reenforcement of how not close yesterday’s game was click here.
  • It’s not Padres news, but Dodgers news is close enough. Turns out Marcus Giles decided not to join the Dodgers at the last minute, basically screwing them because they gave up on signing two other players who are now unavailable. (H/T Field39)
  • Anyone who hasn’t seen Bill James on 60 Minutes needs to take thirteen minutes out of their day and do so. (H/T Kevin Brewer of Padres Nation)
  • Daily Links

  • Joe Sheehan’s NL Preview is up at Baseball Prospectus:

    This should be a transition year for the Padres, who have the wrong personnel for their park, are a mix of pretty old and pretty young guys, and are nowhere near the Diamondbacks and Dodgers at this point. The trick—and I have no doubt that Kevin Towers knows this—is to not worry so much about an individual season, and keep the focus on the years in which you can win. It’s no crime to not compete for a season, and the Padres will still be respectable in a down year.

    Not much to argue with there, though, I personally believe the Padres will at least “compete,” though likely fall short.

  • Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune has an interesting if not exactly in-depth take on “Sandyball” today:

    Get extra draft picks: This is done by offering salary arbitration to a free agent who played for your club the previous season. If the player declines and signs with another team, the original club gets one or two high-end picks in the next June amateur draft. Under Alderson, the Padres have obtained 12 extra picks, including seven in 2007 and another three for the upcoming June draft. From 2000-2005, they had two extra picks. “The farm system has improved,” Alderson said. “That’s partly because of more draft picks. But it’s also partly more effective use of draft picks.”

    The club’s focus on acquiring additional draft picks really has been a boon to the farm system which had previously been nothing short of terrible. Now, the Padres have guys like Chase Headley, Matt Antonelli and others on their way to the big leagues. Sandy Alderson, the most important signing under John Moores, is the biggest reason that I am perpetually optimistic about the San Diego Padres. Krasovic’s article details some of the reasons why. Krasovic has also written a nice piece on Paul DePodesta.

  • Also worth checking out today is Kevin Brewer’s 2008 Season Preview:

    The most extreme pitcher’s park in the major leagues can make Marisa Miller look like a Crystal Meth addict. It can make Rosie O’Donnell look like the “after” shot on “Extreme Makeover.”

    Yes, it’s that extreme.

    Kevin’s focus is primarily on the park effects of PetCo Park, but I think we’re all due for a reminder of just how extreme those effects are. Thanks to Kevin for not letting us get lazy in our analysis of the Padres.