Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

First up, let's wrap up the 1975 season. The Phillies rolled over the Astros in the NLCS 3 games to 0, then the Rangers in the World Series 4-1. As I said, this wasn't our year, but there was nothing to be ashamed about in Year 1:

San Diego Padres - 67-95 (.414) 23 GB
1975 - San Diego Padres 86-76 (.531) 2 GB (Season Score - 78)

Following the season we lost Len Gabrielson, Ron Brand, and Bill Kelso to retirement. They all spent most of the year in the minors last year, so it wasn't a big loss.

Our manager Mario Solano and head scout Craig Hooper also decided to retire, which sent us scrambling. We quickly agreed to terms with manager Derek Olsen, who has managed just one year with the White Sox when he led them to a 84-78 season, but was fired. He's served as a bench coach and pitching coach since for the Pirates and Expos.

Of course the scouting director was the most important position with the amateur draft coming up. We agreed to terms with Bobby Hofman yesterday.

The Padres were drafting 19th overall. With our first pick in the draft we selected shortstop Garry Templeton. Dennis Martinez was selected with the second pick. He doesn't have the stamina to be a starter, but he should be able to provide us with valuable innings out of the bullpen.

We selected Scott McGregor in the third round, who is very similar to Dennis Martinez, no stamina, but he should be able to help us in the bullpen. Centerfielder Leon Brown was selected in the fourth round, which was our final pick.

[NYY #23]

It was a quiet offseason, signing our draft picks and getting ready for the season without making any moves. Our owner expects us to be a .500 team, and I expect us to be a little better than that.

Unfortunately we've started off the year 7-13, dropping 8 of our last 10 games. We've spent the past couple weeks without Dwight Evans, who was activated from the disabled list today.

We could really use his bat though, as our offense has been horrible to start the year. I'm hoping our bats will begin to heat up soon.

[NYY #23]

This year certainly hasn't gone as planned, as the Padres have really struggled. We've gone 12-16 in May, and are in last place in the NL West, 6 1/2 back.

Our offense is the worst in the National League, and our bullpen is really struggling. I keep hoping we are going to turn things around soon.

[NYY #23]

The Padres had our first winning month of the season going 16-15, but things are not great in San Diego. We are still tied for last place, and are now 10 games out.

[NYY #23]

We returned to losing in July, going 13-16 for the month, and are in sole possession of last place. We are struggling in year 2, and the 1976 offseason will bring about free agency for the first time, adding a new wrinkle.

So with that being said, we began to take a look at the players who will become free agents after the season. I felt that the most important player to lock up was catcher Gene Tenace, and we agreed to a 6 year $2,946,000 contract with the sixth year as a player option.

Reliever Bobby Bolin, 2B Sal Bando, RF Rick Miller, and SP Mike Wegener are also possible free agents that I'd like to either lock up, or replace with a better option.

We made one big trade, sending George Foster to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for centerfielder Jose Cruz. Foster was a pending free agent, and Cruz is locked up through next year. Cruz becomes our starting centerfielder and we'll be moving Johnny Grubb to first base.

I spent quite a bit of time looking for an upgrade - for the rotation, and for other positions. It's a tough trade market though, and many of our potential targets exercised their 10/5 rights to veto a deal. Free agency should help that situation though, at least in a couple of years.

The Padres sent John Candelaria, Eric Rasmussen, Gene Tenace, and Dwight Evans to the All-Star game.

Gary Templeton won the NL Rookie of the Month after hitting .397 with 20 runs scored and 15 RBI.

[NYY #23]

The Padres went 16-10 this month as things are starting to improve. We remain in fifth place, but are just 7 games back.

We did lose Jose Cruz for the next 4-5 weeks, so that is a big blow. I'm hoping that we'll be able to finish the year strong though.

[NYY #23]

Year 2 is now in the books, and the Padres came up short. We broke even in September, and October, going a combined 14-14, finishing in a fourth place tie. The Phillies captured their second straight World Series, defeating the Red Sox 4 games to 1.

Gary Templeton won the Rookie of the Month Award in September after hitting .306 with 3 home runs, 13 runs, and 17 RBI.

A look at the Padres history:

San Diego Padres - 67-95 (.414) 23 GB
1975 - San Diego Padres 86-76 (.531) 2 GB (Season Score - 78)
1976 - San Diego Padres 78-84 (.481) 8 GB (Season Score - 36)

With the move to the free agency era I'm going to try and mix things up a little bit, partly by necessity. We'll begin taking a look at those changes next.

[NYY #23]

We had plenty of arbitration decisions to make this year. We declined offering arbitration to the following players:

MR - Ron Locke
C - Bob Didier
2B - Juan Rios
CF - Scott Northey
RF - Keith Lampard

We offered arbitration to 10 players, including Lynn McGlothen, Johnny Grubb, and Dwight Evans.

11 players on the team are eligible for free agency. We didn't offer arbitration to 8 players, including MR Bobby Bolin, 3B George Banks, and RF Rick Miller. SP Mike Wegener, 2B Sal Bando, and 2B Tommy Helms were offered arbitration, with Helms a Type B.

[NYY #23]

The Padres were picking 11th in the amateur draft this year after our dreadful season this year.

With our first pick in the draft we selected starting pitcher Lary Sorensen. In the second round we selected reliever Willie Hernandez. Starting pitcher Tom Dixon was selected with our third pick, with third baseman Dale Berra selected in the fourth round, and left fielder Ted Cox was our fifth round pick. 1B Craig Cacek was our final pick of the day.

We were able to agree to terms with all of our draft picks very quickly, and without spending too much money.

Garry Templeton won the Rookie of the Year Award after hitting .293 for the year with 8 home runs, 71 RBI, and 75 runs scored. He added 47 stolen bases, with a 4.7 WAR.

Up next will be arbitration hearings, then the Padres will be submitting our protected list, because it's expansion time as the Blue Jays and Mariners will be joining the league.

[NYY #23]

The arbitration results have been finalized -

Ruled in favor of team:
Joe Gilbert - $75,000
Barry Foote - $60,000
Chris Arnold - $60,000
Davey Lopes - $90,000
Tom Norton - $60,000
Terry Forster - $82,500
Jack Heidemann - $57,300

Ruled in favor of player:
Johnny Grubb - $305,550
Larry McGlother - $277,690
Dwight Evans - $327,180

--------------------
Tommy Helms accepted arbitration and was awarded a one year $136,920 contract. Both Sal Bando and Mike Wegener declined and are now free agents.

At this point we've got $1,160,360 available for free agents at this point, before the expansion draft.

Our priority this offseason will be upgrades at:
1) Second Base
2) Third Base
3) Rotation
4) Fourth outfielder

That could change depending on who we lose in the expansion draft though.

[NYY #23]

The Padres were allowed to protect 15 players, and protected the following players:

2B - Tommy Helms
2B - Jim Driscoll
1B - Johnny Grubb
RF - Mike Anderson
CF - Scott Northey
C - Gene Tenace
CF - Jose Cruz
C - Bob Didier
SP - Lynn McGlothen
3B - Chris Arnold
2B - Davey Lopes
MR - Tom Norton
MR - Cy Acosta
MR - Terry Forster
SS - Jack Heidemann

We lost two players to the draft - 3B Bill Southworth and MR Jim York. That shouldn’t effect us too much though.

[WTO]

How many World Series have you won now? In other words, this is your how manyieth team?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by WTO

How many World Series have you won now? In other words, this is your how manyieth team?

So far I've won 15 World Series, so the Padres are team number 16.

[NYY #23]

As we head into the winter meetings the Padres are ready to announce our first free agent signing, although it was our fourth priority. But since this is my first free agency I thought I'd briefly talk about how I'm going to approach free agency. I don't plan on having any limitations on the number of players that I will sign. If I have the money, and think they will help me get to a World Series title I'm going to go for it.

The goal is to win the World Series and move on, but I do want to be careful about overcommitting too much future money, so I won't be backloading any contracts, or attempt to sign someone to a contract that I wouldn't be comfortable with during the entire term of the contract. I'm not afraid to pay more in the short term if it helps though.

So without further ado, we did sign our first free agent, RF Mickey Rivers, to a 4 year $1,240,000 contract. Each season is for $310,000, with the last year of the contract a player option. He's 28 years old, so he could opt out and chase one last pay day, but I liked Rivers with the Yankees, and adding a player worth between 3 and 5 wins was worth it, in my opinion.

This was the "bonus" offer. He was the fourth player I offered a contract to based on need, and the first one that signed, but I hope more good news is coming our way.

[WTO]

Pretty impressive in just over 75 years. I'll try to find somewhere in the middle to start reading

[NYY #23]

Today was a big day for the Padres, coming to terms with a pair of free agents, and hopefully sending a message to our fans, the league, and our number one target that we are serious about winning it all next year.

The first move was minor, but necessary after Sal Bando signed with the Yankees. We needed a third baseman, and the market for third baseman wasn't deep. We signed Ron Santo to a one year deal for $250,000. He's 36, and coming off a bad year, but he's the best option out there.

The next move was bigger, signing 31 year old Jim Palmer to a 6 year $1,860,000 contract. He was 15-12 with a 3.19 ERA last year, and while I don't like signing him until he's 37 I thought he was the best fit given his age, track record, and demands. Stealing him from our division rival the Astros was even better.

I'm holding out hope for one final acquisition, and I'm now ready to go all in and do whatever it takes to get him signed in a bidding war.

[NYY #23]

At 34 years old Dick Allen has won 6 Batter of the Year Awards, a Rookie of the Year, and has gone to the All-Star game 13 times. Last year Allen was worth 4.1 WAR for the Twins, hitting .272/.363/.461 with 22 home runs, 82 RBI, and 77 runs scored.

It wasn't easy to sign him, but we were able to sign him to a 4 year deal, and Allen will be making $852,400 per year, although the final year is a team option. He's now the highest paid player in the game, by a fair amount, and pushes our payroll to the highest in the game.

We're going all in to win in 1977, and hopefully didn't make a big mistake. We've gained 9 WAR this offseason, and I have high hopes of delivering a World Champion to the Padres.

[NYY #23]

I don't want to make too much of 23 games, but after going 10-13 to start the season it's not the start I wanted.

Dick Allen is hitting .257, Jim Palmer hasn't won a game yet with a 5.95 ERA, Ron Santo is hitting .211, and Mickey Rivers is on the disabled list.

I won't panic yet, but it's safe to say I'm having buyer's remorse.

[NYY #23]

The Padres went 21-10 for the month to move into first place and now hold a 1 game lead over the Giants.

Injuries continue to be a problem, but things feel like they are at least heading in the right direction.

Mickey Rivers returned and was named Hitter of the Month after hitting .538 this month.

[NYY #23]

A 16-10 month has the Padres just 1 game back in the NL West, tied with the Giants. My plan to roll to the World Series has definitely not worked out as expected. Just looking at my big acquisitions:

Dick Allen - 4.1
Ron Santo - 1.4
Mickey Rivers - 0.2
Jim Palmer - 0.1

An injury to Jose Cruz hurts Rivers WAR, because he was forced to play center field, his weaker position.

Jim Palmer - I just don't know. His walks are up, strikeouts down, and he's fallen apart in the first year of a six year contract. I keep hoping he finds himself, because I didn't expect a decline this soon.

Dick Allen just picked up his 2500th career hit, and was named Batter of the Month after hitting .365 with 12 home runs, 31 RBI, and 19 runs scored.