-0-

Padres-Eric Hosmer-Hits HR at Press Conference

-0-

Padres….Eric Hosmer goes thru first workout with team after impressive press conference at spring training camp…Ready to play-assume leadership-take team to next level. Highlites fro opening press conference:

AJ Preller quotes
..Interviewed people coached him-played with him-played against him
..Alot of people behind the scenes gave us a lot of information behind the scenes
..Onership started 3-years ago started building a foundation-farm system
..We spent a record 100M in one year to layer in right players-pieces yearly
..Knew we would add free agent and trade pieces-now is the time
..Our plan will allow us to be successful for a long time
..Eric brings a lot to the table..2-way player
..Best around the bag-premium on being an athlete
..Best part of process-digging into the person-learning about him
..Show daily-passion for the game..love of game..the intellect..relates to people
..Example of what he did in Kansas City..young players come together
..Wanted guys who were short term fit and guys be good player for years
..This is not about 2020 to arrive-work everyday to get better every day
..Feel good about clubhouse..and about guys who are coming
..Visited with Eric in Florida and San Diego-wants to win every day
..This is big piece, stake in ground to accelerate the process of team growth
..Core group of Padres must come internally..at right time..add right piece in free agency
..We look at 1-year..3-year…5-year plans
..Right player-right contract-right time to sign this player
..Wil Myers came and said he was big Hosmer fan-would move back to outfield-that was big
..Eric loves coming to work-loves clubhouse-chemistry component-love for game-important factors

Eric Hosmer-quotes
..Have had great moments playing in San Diego
..Fun to see Padres vision-where lead young group of guys
..I did a lot of research of Padres organization-leadership
..Fun part was evaluating team here and team coming
..Impressed so many pitching prospects in farm system
..Excited to be in lockeroom-know players-help maximize their talent
..I grew up in game in baseball from 18years of age-became a man thru game
..Want to show these young guys the way it goes
..Leadership is important-guy been there…been with team got there
..Different relationship when you win a World Championship-best time of my life
..Royals taught me how to he best player-person-father
..Whole off season was to weigh options-like organization
..Took a lot of time to weigh Royals-Padres-Red Sox options-I enjoyed it
..Nothing changes with me because of money-my mentality is the same
..Fortunate to put uniform on every day-love of game-lead by example
..See lots similarities in San Diego when young guys turned Royals around
..In 2011-young guys called up…young players kept coming-came together
..Excited to be the veteran to lead the young guys thru the process
..8-year deal-wanted deal made sense for both team and player
..To win championship in Kansas City was amazing-what it means to city
..Live that moment-it drives you as a player
..Loved direction organization going…love people trying to climb the mountain
..Hardest part was process of free agency was so slow.
..Wanted to wear #30 in honor late Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura
..Petco Park likes me-All Star game-WBClassic-like environment
..Petco-ball jumps out now..become hitters park
..Scoreboard in Petco in leftfield-helps ball move
..Atmosphere when you win is so much fun

Owner Ron Fowler-quotes
..Eric Hosmer-checked off every box
..Prepared go after a player early-That’s how good we think he is

Scott Boras-quotes
..Organization a volcano of hot-talent lava
..Turn lava into rock is very hard to do-Padres can do this
..Eric Hosmer has been thru that in Kansas City-prospect into championship rock
..Give credit to AJ to learn about Eric-family-athlete
..Brings prestige to game..reward for his completeness as player
..Eric is example of why baseball needs to do more than just metrics
..Industry is changing right now-but industry revolves around talent
..Padres staff is driven towards competition…annually to be better
..Signing says a lot about of ownership and direction in San Diego

0-

“Do You Like Baseball Games at Petco Park”

-0-

A leisurely night with guys or the family at Petco Park.

In recent years, sometimes the Padres win, sometimes they lose, but usually a night out at the yard is a pretty nice experience.

Petco Park is the shining crown jewel of downtown San Diego. Give thanks to John Moores-money, Larry Lucchino’s brilliance, and the current ownership of the Fowler-Siedler regime for all the upgrades.

Which leads us to the huge off season debate about the grand old game.

Are baseball games too long, or is there something special about a night of baseball in the Gaslamp District?

I guess if you are the Yankees or Red Sox, Dodgers or Cubs, being in the ball park is special.

But if you are the Royals-Pirates-Orioles-Padres and others, where losses have piled up, maybe the games are too long.

The Commissioner’s office has pushed for 3-years to change the chemistry of the game, alarmed by falling TV ratings, and incessant delays, that games had to speeded up.

Two years ago, they were able to push thru some ideas that umpires needed to better police the pace of the game.

They got games down to (2:56) in 20l16, but then in (2017), the games spilled over the 3-hour mark, up to (3:05). And in postseason, they went an alarmingly long (3:26).

In season is not thing, but post season carries so much more importance, you understand delays.

Game situations, pitching matchup, defensive alignments pitching changes, pinch-hitters, even instant replays, all pile up leading to lengthier games.

A lot is up on the umpires shoulders now, with what Rob Manfred and Tony Clark announced on Monday.

They had rules in place that were never followed, and I put that on MLB and the Umpires Association, for they didn’t police it properly.

MLB now says there will be only a (2:05) break between innings. The batter must be in the box at the (2:05) mark ready to get the first pitch, That pitcher must be on the rubber ready to deliver the pitch.

MLB will limit visits to the mound to just 6-per game, excluding pitching changes, this coming season. That includes manager, pitching coaches, catcher or position players.

In honor of the Mike Hargrove ‘Human Rain Delay’ era, where he had to step out of the box and adjust his batting gloves between each pitch, before he popped out, and in honor of Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who went to the mound 12-times in a playoff game, this sounds all well and good.

There will be no (:20) pitch clock, though I think that should be in place, for it has worked in the minors, but that could be a year down the road.

Where MLB has missed the mark is enforcement. Batter in the box, cannot remove himself from the box to adjust his gloves, cannot step out to look for a sign. Pitchers should not be allowed to step off the rubber once they are on the hill.

I counted one Carlos Quentin at bat, where he stepped out 7-times to adjust his glove.

I counted a Rockies reliever, Rafael Betancourt, taking an average (32) seconds between each pitche to Padres hitter, just because three was a man on first base.

You cannot put rules in that impact strategy of the game, penalizing a team a ball or a strike. But there are ways to signal shifts in defense from the dugout. You can signal hit and run plays and pickup plays without multiple upon multiples stoppage in play.

The NFL has the play clock. The NBA has the shot clock. College basketball has its 10-second rule.

There are ways to quicken up the game, without changing the game.

Unless you feel there is nothing wrong with a 3-plus-hour game, drinking beer, eating hot dogs.

Give me that pitch clock…the Batters Box rule…add in the limited visits to the mound, and let’s get on with it….and the between innings breaks.

But it all involves one key component. Not the man in the dugout, Andy Green, or the guy on the mound Luis Perdomo, or the guy in the box Eric Hosmer.

It’s on the umpires to enforce the rules. It’s up to the players to follow the rules.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

-0-

“Saturday Night Special-Padres-Risk-vs-Reward”

-0-

Is this the beginning of the end af all the losing, or the beginning of a move that puts the rebuilding drive on a skid?

The Padres ownership has never been afraid to let General Manager AJ Preller make his player moves.

They let him take on a ton of contracts three years ago, Matt Kemp, James Shields, Justin Upton, Melvin Upton in all those trades..

Heavy money deals that nearly sank the franchise into Mission Bay.

They bought into his idea to rid the team of some substandard production, and pay people to take this same contracts he had acquired, Kemp, Shields, Upton and more.

They let him go wild in the International and Draft venus, signing a combined total of 91-players, spending 101M dollars over a two summer span, to rebuild the farm system, paying all that tax money to get these kids..

And they agreed to a massive 8-year-144M contract, with 5-years of no trade clauses, and an opt out after the 5th yearn outbidding the Royals for their All Star first baseman Eric Hosmer.

They get production, they get a Gold Glove, they get a clubhouse leader who also speaks Spanish, they get a guy committed to the team and who has committed to the cities he has lived in.

In Kansas City they are grieving the loss of a cornerstone player and person. But he leaves to some criticism, that it was too much money, 21M a year for the first five years, for a guy who has had good seasons then off seasons.

Homer comes to San Diego and makes the everyday lineup and the hitters around him much better.

Put Hosmer in the middle of a lineup, next to Chase Headley, Will Myers, Manny Margot, the developing Hunter Renfroe, Carlos Asuaje, Freddy Galvis, and the Padres suddenly have a bunch of guys who have proven they can hit and help a team over a 162-game schedule.

The quotes from those complimenting him in Kansas City are numerous:
..Exemplary teammate-embraced his city.
..He was a big stage-big movement player.
..Every player should do what Hosmer did for his team-his city.
..Good player-good clubhouse guy-we have good culture.

But there have been negatives too:
..Check his WAR stats over his career
..Good season-bad season-Good season-bad season
..Ground ball hitting 1st baseman
..Every other year type of guy
..Most inexplicable move of offseason.
..Overpaid-grossly overpaid for inconsistent career.

Three years ago this week, so much excitement when the Padres opened their camp with those newcomers, who didn’t work out, didn’t have good attitudes, and left a mess behind.,

This is a bold move as Hosmer comes to the Padres camp from up the road in Surprise, Arizona.

The franchise has pushed its payroll to about 90M with this deal, and they are spent out. His arrival does not guarantee they’ll be more than a .500-team, because their pitching is so weak.

And understand, because they overspent so much with their International budget, they will be very limited, almost non existent for the next three years, bidding on whatever the next germination of Cubans and Dominicans become available, limited to what bonus money they can pay..

This team will be fun to watch at bat, fun to watch run the bases, and will work hard. That is the chemistry of what is on the roster.

But sometimes if you think deeply, you remember the wild amount of money the Angels gave Moe Vaughn, Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols, or the Red Sox investment in Carl Crawford. There is a fear factor to be considered. There is history of what happened with long term contract to players at their peak of their careers, who break down, or don’t produce after their arrival.

They better hope everyone of theses young arms they have paid for, pan out, get here soon, and get here healthy. Otherwise what they spent on Hosmer will go to waste, and they won’t have money left in the checking account to guy buy more players, if these kids don’t work out.

But for the first time in a long time, they convinced a marquee free agent to accept their offer, and come to San Diego. They couldn’t with Shohei Ohtani, Yasiel Puig, Masahario Tanaka and a whole bunch others.

On paper, these guys have had special seasons. But there has also been a streak of inconsistency, not just with Hosmer, but Headley and Renfroe. That’s 45M worth of this year’s payroll you hope has a hot season, not a down season.

This is either the beginning of the end of all the Padres losing for a decade, or this is the beginning of the skid if Hosmer can’t be a superstar, and the young talent doesn’t pan out.

Ownership has believed in AJ Preller. We’ll see next if Premolar’s beliefs pan out.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

-0-

“The Letter P….P-for Padres…Pitching…Pathetic”

-0-

San Diego Padres pitching. It starts with questions marks, and ends with even more question marks.

Depending on whom you listen to, there is either false hope in all the statements from GM-AJ Preller, a barrel full of bullcrap from Manager Andy Green, or amazing belief in pitching coach Darren Balsly.

Yes there is great hope for ‘tomorrow’, with the array of young arms in the Padres minor league system, but the large majority of those hurlers have to prove they can do well at AA-San Antonio, or even at AAA-El Paso before you can buy into the sale pitch they will succeed at Petco Park.

And the promise of ‘tomorrow’ will come after ‘162-todays’, the 2018 schedule, and we cannot set aside what we saw in 2017..

The scoreboard does not lie at Petco Park.

On paper, the pitching staff the Friars have taken to their Cactus League camp, is horrible. Granted games are played on the field, but the stat sheets of the 10-starting pitchers they think can fill out the rotation, paints a picture of more-failure than success.

The Padres had the worst run differential of any team in major league baseball last year, and the starting rotation they are looking at bringing back went a combined (45-62) with an amazingly high (4.83-ERA) from guys in the rotation.

Gone from last year’s starting group is Joules Chacin who went (13-10) with a best (3.89-ERA). He parlayed that into a (2Y-16M) contract to go to Milwaukee.

The Detroit Tigers, in the beginning phase of a painful tear down, had a (5.36-ERA) worst in baseball. The woeful Cincinnati Reds, playing in that bandbox Great American Ballpark, trotted out a staff that had a (5.17-ERA). The once promising Mets, ripped by surgeries and injuries to all but one starter, staggered home with a (5.01-ERA). The Baltimore Orioles, dragged down by bad arm issues, finished with a (4.97-ERA).

Yes the Padres will send out the kiddie corps duo of Donelson Lamet, who jumped from AA to the majors, and was competitive with a (4.57-ERA), and logged lots of good innings around an occasional bad one.

Luis Perdomo has been force fed two years in a row, but had just 8-wins last year and a still high (4.67-ERA).

Clayton Richard, hired to be an innings eater, will give you all he can, but even he cannot hide from an (8-15) record and a (4.79), despite lots of starts and innings.

After that, it’s anybody’s guess, but everyone of the other starters throwing bullpens this week in Arizona, had bad numbers.

Bryan Mitchell came from the Yankees, where for four years he has been trying to land a slot in the New York rotation. His career ERA (4.94) in the majors. He had a (4.16) earned run average thru 8-seasons in the minors. The Padres hope he can become a trustworthy starter, but they have no baseline of info he can, at least yet.

Tyson Ross returns hoping to recapture the magic. He went (26-35) in San Diego and got to pitch in an All Star game before a blood clot and surgery derailed him. He is just (35-56) in his big league career, has pitched in just 13-gamesin two years, and last year, coming off the surgery, he had a (7.71-ERA).

Chris Young went (33-25) with the Padres in his first stint, but has had a history of health issues and bad luck. Neck injuries, shoulder capsule surgery, labrum surgery, an oblique injury, hit in the head with a linedrive. Once upon a time, you’d respect his (3.95) career ERA, but last year he rocketed up to a (7.50) mark.

Speaking to the past, there was a time people in Houston and Colorado thought, hoped, Jordan Lyles would be something special in the rotation. The Astros and Rockies got rid of him with a (28-48) lifetime record and a (5.43) ledger. Last year, he was at (7.75).

Three other potential starters are all coming off major surgeries. No one knows what they will be like if healthy. We do know there were few flashes of success when they were healthy.

Matt Strahm came from Kansas City in the Ryan Buchter-Trevor Cahill-Brandon Mauer transaction. He had 67-stirkouts in 56-innings out of the Royals bullpen, before he went down with knee surgery.. But he also took a (5.45-ERA) with him on the disabled list.

Colin Rea had elbow surgery, which negated his trade to the Miami Marlins. Promise yes, but not fully realized, with his (4.69-ERA)

Robbie Erlin had elbow surgery, and in spurts looks like he belongs, with a (9-12) career mark, but again a 4.54-ERA.

Yes the Padres have a deep bullpen, headed by the gem that is Brad Hand, but you fear overwork there. There is more quality there than there is in this group of ten rotation.

And not to be left out, reliever Carter Capps is coming off blood clot surgery, and Miguel Diaz had a forearm procedure very early last season.

In a division led by Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), Madison Bumgarner (Giants), Zack Grienke (Arizona) and a Rockies team that just spent 100-M to sign three free agent relievers, the Padres don’t matchup at all.

So you can be excited by what might be in the pipeline, the top 5-arms in the farm system, but you have to be realistic that the Calvin Quantrill-Joey Luchessi-Eric Lauer era could be 12-to-18 months away.

You have to have a dose of reality in your clubhouse coffee, that the 10-names I just mentioned , come opening day, will have a collective (5.62-ERA) from last season.

That’s right (5.62) which is worse than the four worst pitching staffs we saw last summer.

AJ Preller’s optimism seems off base. Andy Green’s ideas all these pitchers have to seize the moment, seems far fetched. And unless Darren Balsley has easy access to Holy Water from Lourdes, I just don’t see any way this team’s arms, will be able to compliment the Padres bats.

I know better days are coming, but based on this starting rotation, I think you are signing up for another 90-loss season.

Maybe the only solution is to start a new marketing campaign. Buy a season ticket, get the chance to make a start in the Padres rotation. It cannot be any worse than what this team appears ready to run out there this year.

“P”…Padres-Pitching-Pathetic.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

-0-

“Sports Stories-Life’s Shocking Story”

-0-

It would normally be a day to talk about all the storylines in sports, but everything has been overshadowed by what happened in Florida. Every time I wanted to start writing about the hot stories of the day, I was overwhelmed by the depths of the tragedy.

….Shohei Ohtani comes to the Angels camp.

At least 17-dead in the terrible shooting at that Florida high school. No rhyme, no reason, just another sordid tragedy at a different location in America.

..Lakes give up 139-points in a loss to New Orleans.

The shock of the shootings deepened when you hear stories that the gunman had written on Facebook multiple times about his private wish to shoot people, shoot police officers.

..Raiders release Sebastian Janikowski

In a social media society you wonder how people, who read things written by the shooter, could do nothing, not confront him, not go to police officials, not take action to try and prevent this.

..Team USA loses to Slovenia in hockey

Parkland, Florida is the dateline for this tragedy, but it’s like all the rest. Columbine… Charleston, South Carolina…..Orlando…….Las Vegas……Connecticut…..Virginia Tech….it’s everywhere.

..Tito Francona passes

Washington, DC, should be the next deadline….Congress needs to act, step across the aisle, and find away to deal with the 300M guns that are out there in America, legally and more so illegally.

..Tim Lincecum holds private workout for teams.

The rhetoric needs to end across America. We worry about ISIS, religious terrorists, North Korea, the Trump administration, natural disasters, diseases and more. But guns and murder, all these tragedies, are as bad as anything else our country is trying to live thru. It will never end till all sides come together to solve who can and cannot get access to guns.

..Guns + Mental Illness = Tragedy.

That story is more important than any of the sports stories out there at this hour. So sad what our country must deal with, again.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-