Remember the uproar when Baseball America a few years ago called the Padres minor league system the worst in baseball? They were right, weren't they? Oh, yeah.
Because of injuries and poor performances by veterans, the Padres have had to pull up a bunch of players this year from Portland and San Antonio, and they're not exactly cutting the mustard.
Last season's savior-to-be, Chase Headley, is batting just .239 with 9 home runs and 34 RBI through Sunday. Will Venable is at .227 with 5 RBI in 75 at-bats. Luis Rodriguez is looking more like Mario Mendoza every day, batting .205 with 9 RBI in 132 at-bats. This season's savior, the tall Kyle Blanks, is hitting .163, hasn't knocked one out of the park and appears to have too giant of a strike zone for his swing.
And those are just the hitters. Don't get me started on pitching. Let's hope Tim Stauffer has another good start vs the Marlins tonight, which would give him a pair of quality outings in his second stab at a big league career. He is the only guy among the youngsters who seems to have a chance at fulfilling his promise this season. I think Blanks still has potential. He's very athletic for such a big guy. If he's smart and a hard worker -- and I don't know if he is or is not -- then he could iron out his problems at the plate and turn himself into a solid outfielder. It's up to him.
Otherwise, no one the Padres have brought forth from their system has impressed me a bit, so I'd have to say Baseball America's editors knew what they were writing about. I don't know where Mat Latos fit into their thinking. At the time, he was so low in the Padres system that he might not have been much of a factor. Now he's in San Diego after only a few AA starts and actually looked like he had a clue against the Rockies on Sunday. He's still tender young so there's no sense counting on him. I just hope he's a sign of what's to come from the lower levels of the farm system in future years, because the guys brought up to help this year aren't helping much.
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Whenever someone of Slavic descent would come into the sports world someone would throw out a stupid joke like, so-and-so needs a vowel. Latos could use a consonant.
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Interesting article in The San Diego Union-Tribune by Mark Zeigler Sunday about how most professional sports teams in the world, if they finish in the last couple places in the standings, are relegated to a lower division. It would be like the Padres being sent to AAA for next year.
I just don't see how that can happen in the American system of sports, with the vast financial commitments made by the teams and communities to be of major league caliber and our natural abhorrance of caste systems so prevalent around the world.
There are instances, however, of professional sports franchises that have become so used to losing that they need to have some sort of wake-up call. Just a few off the top of my head:
1. Detroit Lions. No doubt they should be punished for the past two decades. There is no minor league pro football, but if there was, they should go.
2. Arizona Cardinals. Until the last couple years, the face of futility in the NFL. No longer applies, but I think you get my drift.
3. Philadelphia 76ers. They haven't done anything since Dr. J was around.
4. Los Angeles Clippers. Their logo might be next to the word 'losing' in the dictionary.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates. How they can co-exist in the same city with the Steelers and Penguins is beyond me. You have two stellar franchises right there to emulate.
6. Kansas City Royals. Starting the beautiful ballpark trend no longer excuses their annual losing.
Sure, the Padres are bad now, but they do have a few division titles in the middle of the decade along with the 1998 World Series appearance and 1996 NL West crown. So they don't deserve to be on the above list, but they are so bad right now it's interesting to talk about.
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I'm sorry, but we're headed into late-July and I'm ready for football. Unless something wild happens I doubt if I'll lead any posts with baseball for the rest of the year, until October demands season-ending comments.
Meanwhile, I promised to mention kayaking if the Padres were this bad in the middle of the summer. Santa Clara Sports Center on Mission Bay. Rent one and get some good exercise. I'm actually waiting until our strangely cold water warms up. The weather people claim El Nino is coming, so I think all the warm ocean water has congealed over the mid-Pacific.
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