As the Padres begin the week in last place in the National League West, 8 1/2 games behind front-running Arizona, it's tempting to want to blow things up and start over. But this is the wrong year for hysteria, the wrong time for rash moves.
A couple of the guys who are struggling, 2B Tadahito Iguchi and 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, are just as likely to catch fire in the next couple of weeks as anything. SS Kahlil Greene, who has yet to hit a fair ball over an outfield fence, we know he's streaky.
The real problems with the Padres are with their over-the-hill and never-was outfield. Brian Giles has been decent with 3 HR and 15 RBI and 14 BB in the leadoff slot, but is batting just .255. The other three in the rotation: Jim Edmonds is at .164-1-6, Scott Hairston is .184-2-6, and Paul McAnulty is .231-2-6. I have no faith, as I do the struggling infielders, that they will turn things around. That said, McAnulty looks like the best of the group not named Giles.
Huge changes right now would be a mistake, however. The Padres have in place a long-term plan and they need to stick to it. The Chase Headley spring training experiment was a tease. The fact is, he needs significant time in AAA before coming up to the big club. His current line of .222-1-8 in Portland tells lots. Same with Matt Antonelli (.216-2-6) and C Nick Hundley (.245-4-7).
You're not going to get lightning in a bottle from the kids this year, so a free agent signing or trade would seem to be in order.
Jake Peavy might be onto something by suggesting a pickup of 40-year-old Kenny Lofton for the outfield. He hit a combined .296 with 7 HR for Texas and Cleveland last year and is not on a roster right now. He also stole an un-Friarlike 23 bases. Lofton would, like Edmonds, be a placeholder for the future and certainly could not be any worse. Plus, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, he is working out at his home in Arizona with hopes of playing more. The team brass will have to admit they whiffed on Edmonds, which could make such a signing impossible.
I wouldn't go much farther in changing up the club. No, no Barry Bonds.
A trade would require exchanging young talent for immediate help and that goes against the plan. No one is going to help the Padres take Edmonds or Hairston off their hands. Not happening. Sending Nick Hundley somewhere else for a guy who hits .245 instead of .160 won't do much for the franchise's future.
So, aside from taking Peavy up on the Lofton idea, I'd bite the bullet and not make more than some minor adjustments. Let the future of the franchise remain the future and develop according to their needs, not ours. That means the 2008 season is over, but no one really expected to compete anyway.
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I have to admit I like what the Chargers pulled out of the NFL draft, despite their inability to choose an offensive lineman until their last pick. The fact is, everyone they wanted at tackle and at corner -- their main desires heading into the affair -- were gone by the time they got to the 27th selection of the first round. Antoine Cason was what remained, and they got a four-year starter in college who should be a solid nickel corner. Jacob Hester was a fine running back, at a position where they needed some depth but obviously were not desperate with the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson around.
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Perhaps the biggest surprise of the draft was that four San Diego State players were taken, when pre-draft projections only had two -- one of whom ended up not being among the lucky four.
QB Kevin O'Connell was rewarded for his skills, leadership and personality with a third-round selection. The fortunes of football are such that he was taken by the New England Patriots. So the love-fest is over. We have to hate him now. How does one actually go about rooting against Kevin O'Connell? Really. That's going to be a difficult proposition.
Tyler Schmitt has been rated throughout his Aztec career as one of the nation's best long snappers, so maybe his selection by the Seattle Seahawks was not much of a shock. WRs Brett Swain and Chaz Schilens were also late-round picks.
This brings up the age-old question of: if so many Aztecs go to the NFL, why is the team always so bad? The answer, in a nutshell, is that none of those picked were offensive or defensive linemen. Job one for coach Chuck Long and his staff has been to upgrade the players in the trenches. The upcoming season will reveal their progress in that area.
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