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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast…1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topcs on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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“PADRES-BUYER BEWARE”
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PADRES…Hours away from the 3pm-Trading deadline and waiting to see what AJ Preller does to add to his suddenly hot baseball team in the chase for first place with the Dodgers.
If the Padres still believe in Dylan Cease, maybe you keep him for the final two months of the season, and try to sign him to a reasonable extension. Yes he is a mystery when it comes to consistency, but you cannot discount his bulldog mentality, his fastball, his durability.
The 7-shutout innings from Yu Darvish was impressive and maybe a sign you move Cease now that Darvish looks like the Darvish of old.
You sit and wait to see what the first rehab outing for Michael King looks like and how his shoulder responds to a couple innings of max effort work in El Paso.
It has been an interesting summer of 5-inning starting pitching from Randy Vasquez, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. Some wins, some losses, some bad innings. My only burning question, do you think you can trust those 3-newcomers once the calendar turns to October and you ask them to lineup in the postseason. You won’t be pitching against the Marlins-Pirates-White Sox etc.
The bullpen has been brilliant, but if you trade Robert Suarez, are you trading him for the right player like Jarren Duran in leftfield? Or are you trading what is left on his salary (3M) without having tried to sign him to at least a 1-year extension to keep these Four Horseman group together? Do you risk busting up a special chemstry and the best bullpen in baseball? Why do that?
The catchers are hitting better and have done a standup job behind the dish? Is that any concern?
Leftfield may be a weak link and the bench could use an upgrade bat rental.
We know Preller’s track record of trading away the farm system. Is there much value to move Luis Campusano in a package? Do you part with the injured prospect C-Ethan Salas, considering you just drafted, signed, and paid over slot to two catchers in the draft?
Do you move some of the very good AA-minor league pitching to go get the right player you want?
And who is the right player to add and what is the price to pay, if it is the Red Sox-Duran, Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, or the Orioles Ced Mullins? How much is too much?
You can move salary in Cease-Suarez to take on salary in a different deal, but then you are giving up additional players to take on salary from a key player on a different team? Is that a good model?
His Padres team is playing the best it has since the (14-3) start against bad teams. They are in the pennant race now, so do we wave a ‘caution flag’ in the direction of the ‘no fear General Manager’ before we get to the 3pm deadline.
The Padres are hot; have a real chemistry; are playing on the edge’; and a manager pushing all the right buttons. Do you dare disrupt any of that with two months left in a summer of baseball? You’d hate, in trying to put it over the top, you derail what we are watching right now
