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“Padres-Future-Begins Today”

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We know where we are today…buried in last place just a quarter of the way into the season.

We know where they used to be when they had quality young pitching.

But that was so, so long ago.

You do remember Jake Peavy and Mat Latos. Here for sucess, then shipped off.

Before that the last good young arms we saw around here, were home grown high draft pick Andy Benes and Joey Hamilton, first round draft picks, but that was two decades ago.

And there were a couple with promise, sidetracked by arm ailments.

So as we sift thru the wreckage of this year, and what has happened in just the last week, we are looking for anything, anyone to give us hope.

The Padres dragged 38-pitchers in camp, an assortment of aging veterans, 1-year rentals, guys coming off bad seasons, some with injury history. It was with the hope they could be competitive. More bad outings than good, has gotten you to this (17-30) record at breakfast.

Of course, added a record 40-pitchers to their minor league farm system last summer, 17-whom they drafted, and a record 23-they signed when the International free agent window opened.

This week alone, Jered Weaver gave us an 8-run opening inning. Jhoulys Chacin staggered thru a 7-run first inning. Even Louis Perdomo gave up 5. The same for Clayton Richard.

We know what might be down road, if you are paying attention to the past draft, and what is happening at Lake Elsinore.

But Calvin Quantrill, Eric Lauer and Joey Lucchessi, are a long way from San Diego, and I am talking distance between the California League and the National League.

Same thing for the internationals, led by teenagers Adrain Morejon and Ron Bolonos, who will make debuts in the next two weeks, after coming from Cuba a year ago this time.

Again, we’re talking Arizona Summer League, and we’re not talking about driving distance from Peoria to San Diego.

But tonight we get the first glimpse of the future. Young righthander Dinelson Lamet arrives from El Paso.

The 6’4 hurler has moved quickly thru the farm system with success at every stop.

Lamet has a (20-20) career record in 3-plus minor league seasons. But really iimpressive is a (2.99-ERA) he has rung up.

He has electric stuff, but sometimes home plate moves on him. Lamet ha s 336-strikeouts in 298-innings, but he also has 125-walks and 16-hit batsmen.

He pitches tonight at Citi Field against the Mets.

Monitor his innings, his location, and how he handles whatever adversity he faces, and he will face adversity.

Andy Benes went an impressive (89-75) with the Padres before being dealt to the Cardinals. He finished with 148-career wins in a quality career..

Jake Peavy was (92-68) before he became too expensive and was dealt to the White Sox. He has pitched well in San Francisco and Boston, but appears to be done. He has 111-career wins.

Joey Hamilton was (55-44) and then was moved to the Blue Jays, winding up with 74-career wins.

Mat Latos appeared with a flourish,then flamed out. He was (27-29) here, then moved to Cincinnati, but physical woes have trailed him thru stops with 6-clubs. Just 29 years old his career mark (71-59) as he hangs on in the International League.

Others have come here with promise, only to break down…righthander Greg Harris…lefthander Corey Luebke, done in by devasting shoulder and elbow surgeries.

So tonight we will watch Lamet and hope he is a new beginning, the first new one of many this franchise will need to pan out on the Padres hill.

Hope is better than what we are suffering thru right now.

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“Chargers Coach-All Business-All the Time”

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He didn’t smile. He didn’t joke around. He answered respectfully.

There were some cliches, some curt answers, some generic stuff.

Anthony Lynn is still getting used to being a head coach. Sometimes you wonder if he feels strange standing on the defensive side of the ball with his coaches. Sometimes standing and talking to his kickers.

His entire life has been on offense, running back in the NFL, special teams guy, running backs coach, then the brief interim head coach tenure in Buffalo.

What he said after the lst full day of OTAs at the LA Chargers camp in San Diego (and doesn’t that feel strange too)

Philip Rivers..”Everything I’ve always heard. Serious all the time”
Melvin Ingram..”He needs to be here-we’re installing a different defense”

Keenan Allen..”Most pleasant surprise..just 6-months removed from surgery”
Mike Williams..”Will hold him out another week-still back spasms-he has so much to learn”
Melvin Gordon…”Running-make all the cuts-no problems with knee”
Brandon Oliver..”Fully back from Achilles surgery-doing all running:

Forrest Lamp-Dan Feeney..”Learning the speed of the game-game will slow down for them with more reps”
Jamal Jones..”FA WR been the most impressive newcomer”

Donnie Inman…”New knew he needed surgery-do it now-maybe be back when camp opens in late July.”

Punters…”We have two in camp because I want competition”
Defense..”Putting everything that’s new…we don’t have a problem with this year’s defense”

It was an interesting exchange. There were no ‘aw shucks’ expressions from Norv Turner. There was no mention of words like ‘in the best interest of the team’…or the ‘best 53 on the roster’…the typical junk we got from Mike McCoy.

GM Tom Telesco came around, shook hands and said hi, unlike the former GM AJ Smith, who would stand on his tower overlooking all of his football empire, giving off a glare and stare of dislike.

Not to be seen, the cowardly owner Dean Spanos, but then again he was probably packing boxes to fill the moving vans that were parked outside.

Anthony Lynn has worked hard to deserve this opportunity. His personality is all work, all the time. We’ll see if that equates to wins.

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“Sometimes the Best Team Does Not Win”

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Gut wrenching, sickening, saddening, maddening.

How did you lose this? How did you not win this? How long a summer is this going to be now?

The hockey season came to a crushing end last night for the Anaheim Ducks, losing in Nashville to the Predators.

A series that became a ‘War of Attrition’. A 6-game bash that more resembled a nasty rock fight, with so many injuries.

Credit the Preds for surviving the loss of its top two forwards, Ryan Johanssen with a serious thigh injury blood clot problem, then captain Mike Fisher.

More credit to Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, who made 38-cat like saves with all types of traffic, contact and combat infront of him.

The body bag count was pretty high for the Ducks, who bashed and trashed Nashville all night long, pumping 41-shots on goal in the loss.

A hurting goalie John Gibson was scratched. Missing were forwards Rikard Rakell and late season hero Patrick Eaves. Then Nick Ritchie got himself tossed for a brutal 5-minute boarding penalty that drew blood. Tough player, stupid penalty, draw that up to youthful enthusiasm.

The Ducks missed their goalie, their goal scorers, and the grit and sizzling wrist shots Ritchie could have provided.

The heart and soul of the Ducks veterans left it on the ice. Ryan Getzlaf, probably the best power forward in the game; the worker that is Corey Perry; and the fiesty Ryan Kesler. They gave it all, but it wasn’t enough.

Sure you can ask why Randy Carlyle pulled his goalie with 2:40 left in regulation, down by a goal, when they had the puck in the Nashville end virtually all nite and were peppering Rinne.

Empty net….and 20-seconds later, empty net goal.

But this series really was lost on home ice. How a power laded Ducks team would lose a couple at home to a Nashville team that had a tepid group of goal scorers, is the real stunner.

Maybe this series was also lost on the cross country airlines schedule. The Ducks had to grind thru tough series with Calgary, Edmonton and then the guys from Dixie.

10-games in 20-days and five long distance flights probably had lots to do with this.

Tough to accept considering the clock is ticking on Getzlaf and Perry to get back to the Cup as their careers move beyond age 35.

The Ducks come home unfulfilled. A really great season, but a disappointing end.

The NHL Stanley Cup…toughest trophy to get in sports. Just ask the Black and Blue guys wearing Orange and Brown, the Ducks.

Best team on paper, played lots of games where they were the best team on the ice. But sometimes the best team does not win. The Ducks would probably tell you that too.

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Padres Baseball-Nothing Now-Wairing for the Future”

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Cuba, that’s where it’s at, at least the San Diego Padres think so, hope so.

As spring turns to summer, last place Padres baseball has become a reality. Empty seats too at Petco Park.

Wait till next season, or a couple of seasons beyond that, is the reality of Friars baseball right now.

The city has seemingly turned its back on the team, watching bad pitching, infrequent hitting, defensive lapses and losses upon losses.

The Padres are paying more attention to the future crop of players on the way, and what they will draft in early June, than what is going on here in San Diego.

Hunter Renfroe has shown great resilience in right field. Manny Margot has been very consistent in center. And young outfielder Alan Cordoba, who was in the Class A-Appalachian League this time last year, has been the biggest surprise with his consistency.

There’s not much else to get amped about with the team in this town.

Up next the bidding war for the last big name Cuban on the market, 19-year old outfielder Luis Robert, about to become a millionaire. He will sign before July 2nd when the new International salary cap kicks in.

The Padres, who have spent 91M in signing draft picks and internationals since last June, , think they are still in the bidding, though they face a huge luxury tax payment if they are to sign Robert.

Because of last summer’s signing spree, the Padres have rocketed over the luxury tax threshold. For every international signing, they have to pay a $1 luxury tax for every $1 they spend on Robert.

The asking price is reportedly 20M-package, which means it would cost GM-AJ Preller another 20M tax payment therefore a 40M investment.

Last summer, when they signed 17-year old left-handed pitcher Adrian Morejon they spent 11M on him, and another 11M on a tax fee, an enormous investment.

A new salary cap kicks in this July, and because of their expenditures last year, the Friars will be limited to just $ t300,000- packages for each of the next two years, on any international signings, starting this July.

It’s too early to determine how the investments have gone. Only 1-Cuban is currently playing in the minors, 20-year old outfielder Jorge Ona, who has been rock solid as a .280-hitter in Ft. Wayne.

Within 2-weeks, the Padres will decide what to do with the some 45-international players they have in extended spring training over in Arizona.

The team will field two teams in the Arizona Summer League, stocked with last year’s signing haul, plus what they draft next month in this year’s Amateur draft.

If you take a trip to Lake Elsinore, to see the Friars Class A-team, you can get a sneak preview of the young arms they drafted last June, Cal Quantriill, Joey Lucchessi, Eric Lauer, have been exceptional out of the gate.

The Padres know they have a huge investment to take care of. .

Their blueprint going into last summer was based on the fact, at least 11-clubs, many of them big money, had spent huge amounts in 2014-15 to sign Latin players, and would not be able to write those checks in the summer of 2016.

The Padres jumped in and signed a combined 71-draft picks and those from Latin America. And so we wait.

In Arizona, they are running a baseball school in the morning. The young internationals take English lessons three times a week. There are cultural seminars. Life skill meetings. Counseling.

They stay in a team hotel, have a curfew and are fed two meals a day by a dietician.

The structured environment is about baseball, but also life in America. The Padres have decided to keep Morejon and all the other hot prospects together, seeing value, in helping them develop those on field skills, and those life in the fast lane skills.

Padres sources say they still have money in their checking account to sign Luis Robert, whom they have scouted and meet with. But then again so have the Cardinals and the White Sox, who reportedly are prepared to bid high also, the White Sox deal worth 25M.

A source used the term ‘dry powder’ to describe the money that might be available to sign the last Cuban.

Cuba, something to look forward too. Obvious there’s nothing with the Padres that gives you reason to pay attention to the ‘now’ of this last place baseball season.

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“Lakers-Showtime Returning?”

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You know the phrase, and what it used to mean, “showtime”, the Lakers, great players, great games, lots of wins. Tinseltown at its best.

“Showtime” might be returning, but not like you’ve come to know it.

The Lakers will select 2nd in the NBA lottery in late June, as the rebuild of this once proud franchise continues.

They will get another very good young player. First it was Julius Randle, then D’Angelo Russell, and last year Brandon Ingram.

They’ve all played, all learned, all lost.

But now with this next pick, they add another gem, an uncut diamond, in the likely choice of Lonzo Ball, the do-everything guard from UCLA.

As an added bonus, they get his father, the loudmouth parent from hell, LaVar Ball, the noise beneath the Big Top.

Oh this will be so much fun, for Magic Johnson and Luke Walton to deal with.

The player is a young talent, who excelled at UCLA in the lone season he was there.

Of course it ended badly, with their so called star, getting mopped up on the floor in the NCAA tourney. Last we saw, Ball scored 4-baskets in an ugly loss in the tourney.

Not to worry, like father-like son. As UCLA players wept in the lockeroom, Ball was laughing, joking, and announcing he was exiting school immediately, to go to the NBA draft, less than 15-minutes after his final missed shot .

The father is overbearing. Opinions on everything, whether you’ve asked or not.

Popping off that you ‘cannot win with 4-white guys on the floor’, referencing the UCLA lineup in that final tourney game loss.

This week, telling a female sports reporter to ‘stay in your lane’, and boasting how he fathered 3-boys, not girls, with the admission ‘I don’t put out no girls’.

He went after the national media, calling reporters ‘haters’ who wrote or spoke in negative tones about the family’s marketing plans for the soon to be super star.

His return blasts with mouthy Stephen A. Smith were fun to watch, maybe the first time in a longtime, Smith was left speechless.

He said his kid was better than record setting Steph Curry right now, you know the one with the NBA ring.

Of course, he created the $495 basketball shoes and sandals for his son, after blowing off the shoe companies in talks about endorsements.

The old man this week said if any shoe company wants to sign the son to wear the gear, it would cost them a 3B-signing bonus.

When Shaq O’Neal said the ‘Baller Brand’ basketball shoes were too expensive, pops popped off saying let the other poor kids buy Shaq’s or Steph Marbury’s lower priced shoes.

Now father says son won’t workout for anyone but the Lakers, after the kid did not workout at the NBA combine.

So the young Bruins guard is on a pedestal, according to his father.

Still to be determined, can he hold up against physical defenders? Can he get his chest-high jump shot off against fast twitch guys he’ll face? Will he be able to defend the explosive athletes he will meet night to night, since there are no Oregon State’s in the NBA.

And in the structure of the NBA, will LaVar Ball want to be at Lakers workouts? Will he be holding his own press conferences after games? Will he critique playing time, offenses and defenses? Will he become the distraction rather than his son being the show?

Who will have a bigger ego, the Lakers President, Magic Johnson, or the father of the son LaVar Ball?

This is going to be so much fun, unless somebody steps up and makes the Boston Celtics a blockbuster trade offer, and takes the lst pick, and then takes Ball.

The haters out there would love to see him in a place like Sacramento or New Orleans, the NBA equivalent to Fargo.

If he winds up staying on the board, the Lakers take him at the second pick, and then the fun begins.

A real different type of ‘showtime’ coming to Lakerland.

You draft the son, you get the father. Time to go ‘Ballin’.

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