Baseball's Future In San Diego

[Kevdog1020]

May 16, 2012

Jordan Zimmerman and Roy Oswalt went toe to toe last night in a classic pitchers duel at Nationals Park. Oswalt went 8 innings and allowed 7 hits and 1 run (on a homerun to Rick Ankiel) and Jordan Zimmerman went 8 innings and allowed 9 hits and 1 run (on a homerun to Will Venable). The Padres earned the win for Oswalt in the 9th thanks to a timely pinch-hit double by John Baker that scored Nick Hundley and Evereth Cabrera and gave San Diego a 3-1 lead.

Tyler Clippard came on in the 9th and got his 9th save of the season, making only 1 mistake, allowing a solo homerun to Ryan Zimmerman but otherwise making it out of the inning unscathed.

Padres Team Notes...The Padres claimed C Corky Miller off of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, he was 2-6 in 3 games with their big league club...1B Yonder Alonso was recalled from Triple-A, he is hitting .295 (44-149) with 9 HR and 24 RBI with 30 runs scored...Jordany Valdespin was demoted to Triple-A to make room for Alonso.

[Kevdog1020]

May 16, 2012

Carlos Pena is on the move again in another big trade -- this time to Texas, the Padres will receive 24-year-old minor league first baseman Andrew Clark, 18-year-old minor league second baseman Luis Marte and 24-year-old minor league starting pitcher Jacob Brigham, while 33-year-old first baseman Carlos Pena will go to the Texas Rangers.

In his season totals, Pena has 7 home runs, .195 BA, .303 OBP, 18 RBIs and 16 runs scored. He has played in 34 games. He is slotted to make $7.25 million dollars and the loss of his salary will give the Padres a lot more wiggle room for trade deadline deals if they are in contention for the Wild Card. With the readiness of Yonder Alonso and the struggles of Pena the deal made sense. And it also landed the Padres a trio of prospects including SP Jacob Brigham who has the potential to be a very good pitcher in the Major Leagues.

The Padres also announced a minor deal with the Pirates. San Diego sent 31-year-old catcher John Baker to Pittsburgh for 20-year-old minor league starting pitcher Jason Creasy. Both teams appear happy with the outcome of the trade. The general managers told the Baseball News Network they felt the swap was beneficial for the both teams and the players.

This year Baker is hitting .182 with 1 home run and 11 RBIs to his credit. He has gotten on base at a .276 clip and scored 3 runs.

[Kevdog1020]

May 17, 2012

**This game ended too late for our edition, here's the box score from the game**

[Kevdog1020]

May 18, 2012

Edinson Volquez dropped to 2-2 after allowing 6 hits, 3 walks and 4 runs (3 earned) over 6 innings and the bullpen struggled, allowing 3 runs in their 3 innings of work.

The Padres offense couldn't get anything started against Ted Lilly, who improved to 4-1 after allowing 7 hits and 2 runs over 8.1 innings. The 2 runs were allowed on one swing, a 2-run homerun by Evereth Cabrera in the 8th which knocked Lilly out of the game. Following Cabrera's 2-run homerun the Padres trailed 5-2, but James Loney put the game out of reach with a 2-run homerun off of Josh Spence (one of which was an inherited runner). The Padres now have a 3-game series with the Angels.

[Kevdog1020]

May 18, 2012

Hey guys it's Kevin Dombrowski, GM of the San Diego Padres. Just as a little background before I dive into the season's events thus far, my Uncle, Dave Dombrowski, is the General Manager of the Detroit Tigers and I grew up around the game and in the General Manager's office for most of my young life (I'm only 17 years old!).

Now back to business. The San Diego Union-Tribune came to me a couple weeks ago with a thought, they asked what I thought about writing a column a couple times a week for the paper just talking about the state of the team, league, and to answer some fan questions. After approving the idea with Bud Selig and San Diego ownership, we drew up a contract and now I'll be talking baseball with you every week.

This week was a busy week for my office especially. We started the week off with a bang, we got closer Tyler Clippard for Jason Bartlett. I really liked Jason's style of play and his heart, but I really coveted having Tyler in our bullpen. I was working the phone lines on him before I pulled the trigger for Matt Thornton. After I realized that I finally got what I desired for the bullpen Matt was expendable, especially with the contract he was getting paid. Don't get me wrong, he's a great player but with the budget I'm given I can't afford to pay a 35-year-old closer $5.5 million a year. I also threw Joe Thatcher and Duanel Jones in the deal so I could get minor league SS Didi Gregorious who is a speedy sure handed shortstop, Nick Christiani who is one of the top young bullpen arms in the game, and Cody Puckett. Since the trade was essentially a salary dump, we made out very well with our minor league roster.

The rest of the owners must've smelt blood in the water, because over the next few days my phone was ringing off the hook. Offers on players from Roy Oswalt to John Baker. Some were bad, but there were a couple good ones. We dumped Carlos Pena who I was, quite frankly, getting sick of, and landed 1B Andrew Clark who my scouts feel is going to be an elite first baseman in the coming years (I don't feel the same way), MIF Luis Marte who I'm very high on and at only 18 years old I think he has a huge ceiling, and SP Jacob Brigham. My scouts call him an "ace in the making". My question is, how are there all these "aces in the making?".

Our play has been solid this week, we swept the Nats (2 games) and then got swept by the Dodgers (2 games). Now we have our first interleague matchup, against the LA Angels. It should be interesting because they have the best Starters ERA in the AL (but also the worst bullpen ERA). If we can drive up pitch counts, we could make a killing this series.

Well, I'll talk to you all in a few days. You can email questions to kdombrowski@SanDiegoPadres.org, (for all you followers of the thread, you can PM/Indox me your questions. I'd love to make this thread more interactive because it is more enjoyable for everyone reading). Thanks for reading!

[Kevdog1020]

May 19, 2012

The Padres 5-4 walk-off win the the 9th inning brought a lot of excitement to the 34,600 person crowd at PETCO Park, but the excitement was dampened when the team learned after the game that C Nick Hundley would miss 6-7 weeks with a fractured rib. To compound the injury, the Pads just traded their backup/platoon catcher John Baker and were faced with the prospects of having Corky Miller as the starter for 6 weeks of the season. But we learned after the game that the Padres traded minor league OF Corey Adamson for 33-year old catcher Yorvit Torrealba.

But back to the game, Clayton Richard wasn't very good and neither was Angels SP Trevor Bell. Richard allowed 5 hits, 4 runs and 4 walks while striking out 4 over 5 innings of work. Bell allowed 4 hits, 4 runs (1 earned) and 6 walks while striking out 3 in 5.1 innings. The story of the pitching staffs was Jerome Williams who got the win for the San Diego Padres. Williams improved to 4-0 and pitching 4, 2-hit innings while striking out 5. Kirk Nieuwenhuis got a pinch-hit RBI single to win the game after Yonder Alonso singled and Corky Miller and Will Venable walked.

The game was not smooth sailing for the Padres for the first half of the game. San Diego trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the 5th before they rallied to tie the game. Orlando Hudson walked and then Willie Cabrera and Kyle Blanks reached on errors. Nick Hundley hit a 2-RBI double (who was injured running the bases). Will Venable tied the game on an RBI sac fly.

[Kevdog1020]

May 20, 2012

Joel Pineiro has pitched great this season and last night was no exception. Pineiro tossed a 5-hit shutout against them, totaling 2 strikeouts and giving up 1 walk. The usually up-and-down Pineiro has been everything but down this season, looking good and even great so far while making opposing hitters look very bad and even foolish.

In spite of a stint on the 15-day DL, Pineiro has 3 wins and 2 losses and a 2.47 ERA and has recorded a quality start in 6 of his 8 performances. His 2 non-quality start performances? A start where he allowed 2 runs in 5 innings against the Dodgers in mid-April and the immediate start after that one when he was pulled after 2 innings against the Phillies with an injury.

The Padres scored 1 run in three separate innings. In the 3rd, Wilson Valdez (making his first start as a Padre) led the inning off with a double and scored on an RBI fielders choice by Orlando Hudson. Will Venable led the next inning off with a double and then was singled in by Kyle Blanks. In the 6th, Will Venable tripled and was singled in by Blanks again. Then in the 8th, Orland Hudson doubled before scoring on a fielders choice by Willie Cabrera.

Game Notes...Yorvit Torrealba made his Padres debut (in his 2nd stint with the team) and went 0-3.

[Kevdog1020]

May 21, 2012

Twenty-two. Thats how many innings in a row the Angels failed to score a run against the Angels. Six. That's how many runs the Padres managed to score in the 3rd and final game against the Angels yesterday at PETCO Park en route to a series sweep. Eight. That's how many shutout innings Roy Oswalt pitched, while allowing 4 hits and striking out 5.

Four players on the Padres had 2 hits and six players had RBI's. Andrew Parrino was 2-5 with 1 run and 1 RBI; Will Venable was 2-4 with 1 2B, 1 RBI and 1 run; Yorvit Torrealba was 2-3 with 1 RBI, 1 walk and 1 run; and Evereth Cabrera was 2-3 with 1 run and 1 walk. The other players with RBI's include Orlando Hudson, Roy Oswalt and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (pinch hit RBI).

The Padres will now go on a long road trip to close out the month of May. They have 3 games in St. Louis (18-23) before a 4 game set in New York (18-23) and a 3 game set in Chicago (16-26). All 10 games are against teams (who like the Padres) have sub-.500 records. If the Padres can have success against these teams, they will put themselves right back into the NL playoff picture (even though there is still a long way to go in the season).

[Kevdog1020]

May 21, 2012
Weekly Team Power Rankings -- Week 7:

Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Milwaukee Brewers (131.3, +)
2) Cincinnati Reds (126.9, -)
3) Atlanta Braves (117.1, ++)
4) Arizona Diamondbacks (116.7, -)
5) Los Angeles Angels (108.4, -)
6) Kansas City Royals (108.1, ++)
7) Los Angeles Dodgers (106.0, +)
8) Chicago White Sox (101.3, +)
9) Philadelphia Phillies (95.6, --)
10) Detroit Tigers (95.3, ++)
11) Boston Red Sox (95.0, +)
12) Seattle Mariners (89.1, +)
13) Cleveland Indians (88.8, ++)
14) Baltimore Orioles (88.3, --)
15) Colorado Rockies (87.0, ++)
16) New York Yankees (85.7, --)
17) Tampa Bay Rays (84.7, -)
18) Toronto Blue Jays (83.7, +)
19) San Diego Padres (82.1, ++)
20) New York Mets (79.0, --)
21) San Francisco Giants (78.0, ++)
22) Minnesota Twins (77.4, --)
23) Texas Rangers (76.1, o)
24) St. Louis Cardinals (76.0, --)
25) Washington Nationals (75.1, +)
26) Miami Marlins (74.1, ++)
27) Pittsburgh Pirates (73.6, --)
28) Houston Astros (73.6, +)
29) Oakland Athletics (65.3, -)
30) Chicago Cubs (59.6, --)

Players of the Week

AL: 3B Michael Young, Texas Rangers 11-26 (.423), 1 HR, 4 RBI
NL: RF Hunter Pence, Philadelphia Phillies 12-23 (.522), 4 HR, 10 RBI

Star Signs Extension

Media analysts hailed Philadelphia's signing of Cole Hamels, one of Major League Baseball's brightest stars, as a pivotal move. While the deal is certain to raise a few eyebrows, Hamels is expected to earn every bit of the $64,000,000 promised him over 4 years. So far this season Hamels has a 5-0 record with a 2.82 ERA.

[Kevdog1020]

May 21, 2012

I'm flying high right now, we just swept the best team in the American League and scored 12 runs off of what was the best Starting Rotation in the AL. Our pitching was great, after allowing 4 runs in the first 5 innings of the series we shut the Angels out in the remaining 22 innings. The only sour spot was losing C Nick Hundley for 7 weeks with a fractured rib. But we even sweetened that by trading a potential career minor league player for Yorvit Torrealba. Granted, we did take on over $3 million in salary but with the fire sale we just pulled off, we can afford to take on $3 million.

One other note from the series, that Trout kid is a damn good ballplayer. He is the definition of a 5-tool player. He showcased those tools in game 1, where he went 4-5 with 2 runs and was in our pitchers heads all day with his blazing speed. He sat out game 2 and was 0-1 in a pinch-hit appearance. Trout then went 1-4 in game 3. But that kid is going to be very good.

We got some bad news as far as this off-season goes, as prized pitcher Cole Hamels signed a 4 year/$64 million contract extension with the Phillies. We did make an offer of our own to SP Edinson Volquez, giving him $9 million over 3 seasons. We are waiting on his agent to respond to our contract offer. The top 5 starters (I'll give 6 since one of them should be off the market relatively soon) projected to be on the market (according to my scout) are now Zack Greinke, Edinson Volquez, Derek Lowe, Jeremy Guthrie and Erik Bedard.

We have a long road trip coming up that will take us into June. The trade fronts (for our team anyway) should be pretty quiet for now, unless a team sends me an offer that blows me away. With lesser opponents on our schedule for the next week or two, I will evaluate our progress after 2 weeks to see if we will be buyers or sellers as the deadline approaches us.

[Kevdog1020]

May 22, 2012

The Padres extended their winning streak to four games on the backs of a strong game by Yonder Alonso and Yorvit Torrealba. The two hitters, batting 6th and 7th respectively, were 4-7 with 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs and a walk for the Padres. Chase Headley drove in the final run, going 1-2 with 1 RBI after being inserted into the lineup in the 6th inning for Willie Cabrera who is slumping.

The pitching, which has been hot as of late for San Diego, consisted of a 5 innings, 7 hit and 2 run performance by Cory Luebke who improved to 2-3, 3 scoreless innings by the bullpen (Alfredo Simon, Ernesto Frieri, Brad Brach) and then finished with a 1-run ninth (off of a Lance Berkman solo homerun) by Tyler Clippard. The save was Clippard's 10th of the year.

[Kevdog1020]

May 23, 2012

Everything was going right for the Padres until the 8th inning, when the team of Ernesto Frieri and Alfredo Simon allowed 10 hits, 10 runs and 3 walks and blew open the game. Frieri, who failed to record and out and allowed 5 hits and 6 runs, earned himself a trip down to the minors (which he has to pass through waivers to get to). The loss snapped a 4-game winning streak by the Padres.

The first 7 innings went pretty smoothly, Andrew Parrino was ejected in the 2nd inning for arguing balls and strikes (afterwards we learned that Parrino would be suspended for 4 games). But the Padres led off the game with a 3-run homerun by Kyle Blanks, and added another run off of a Yorvit Torrealba single. Torrealba was 2-4 with 1 RBI and 1 run.

[Kevdog1020]

May 23, 2012

Andrew Parrino of the Padres has been suspended by the league commissioner's office for 4 games for his animated argument with a home plate umpire in yesterday's contest with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. In the heated confrontation the San Diego third baseman pointed to where the ball was and repeatedly pointed his finger in the ump's face and apparently made some contact. That's when he got ejected.

Reached for comment on the suspension, Parrino said, "I guess I'll have to learn how to not talk with my hands. They are a dangerous weapon according to the umpires."

For the season Parrino is hitting .261, batted in 7 runs with 2 home runs and 10 runs scored. No word on whether he will appeal his suspension.

[Kevdog1020]

May 24, 2012

Clayton Richard was phenomenal, he allowed only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3 over 8 strong innings. His offensive support came from Will Venable who was 0-3 with 2 RBI. His RBI were a product of his place in the lineup, he earned his first RBI on a bases loaded walk and his second RBI on an RBI reach on error. The Padres third run was scored on a wild pitch by Adam Wainwright.

With Tyler Clippard unavailable, the Padres went to RHP Brad Brach for the save. He allowed 1 hit and struck out 1 to earn his second save of the season. Yorvit Torrealba was 2-4 with a run. He is hitting .444 (8-14) with 1 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Clayton Richard was also 2-3. The Padres will now travel to New York for a 4-game series against the Mets.

[Kevdog1020]

May 25, 2012

Another series in the books, and another good series for our team. Anytime you win 2 out of 3, you're having success. Of course, I was very disappointed in the one game we did lose when the bullpen imploded. Actually, imploded doesn't even describe half off the destruction our bullpen brought to the game. I may or may not have made a rash decision to waive and designate Ernesto Frieri for assignment, but if he clears waivers he can straighten himself out at Triple A before returning to the team. We recalled Dustin Moseley to take his spot in the bullpen. Hopefully Moseley can have some success as a long relief man or injury replacement (God forbid) on the big league roster.

Yorvit Torrealba is making me look like a genius, he is hitting .444 (8-14) with 1 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Considering I traded a Double A outfielder with very little potential for him, a solid glove was all he needed for me to look good. His hitting is just a bonus and is making me friends in the fan base. Yonder Alonso is starting to get more comfortable with the team, he went 4-11 with 2 2B, 1 RBI, and 3 runs. He is hitting .269 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 6 runs scored in 8 games with the team.

I am very excited for the upcoming series against the Mets, who's starters have the 7th worst ERA and their bullpen has the 12th worse ERA in the NL. They are also 16th in runs scored, 14th in batting average and 15th in on base percentage. We send out Joel Pineiro (3-2, 2.47 ERA), Roy Oswalt (5-1, 3.22 ERA), Cory Luebke (2-3, 2.56 ERA) and Edinson Volquez (2-2, 4.78 ERA). I'll talk to you guys after the Mets series. Send me your questions, because next week we will have a "Fans Ask Dombrowski" Mailbag. You can PM your questions directly to Kevdog1020.

[Kevdog1020]

May 25, 2012

**Editors Note: I'm so angry at the results of this last series, I can't bring myself to do a write-up so I'll post box scores**

[Kevdog1020]

May 26, 2012

[Kevdog1020]

May 27, 2012

[Kevdog1020]

May 28, 2012

[Kevdog1020]

May 28, 2012

Weekly Team Power Rankings -- Week 8:

Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Milwaukee Brewers (140.2, o)
2) Cincinnati Reds (132.8, o)
3) Los Angeles Angels (125.6, +)
4) Atlanta Braves (119.2, -)
5) Los Angeles Dodgers (117.2, +)
6) Philadelphia Phillies (113.5, ++)
7) Boston Red Sox (104.5, ++)
8) Cleveland Indians (95.9, ++)
9) Arizona Diamondbacks (95.0, --)
10) Baltimore Orioles (94.8, ++)
11) Chicago White Sox (93.8, --)
12) Texas Rangers (93.2, ++)
13) Kansas City Royals (91.5, --)
14) Miami Marlins (89.5, ++)
15) Detroit Tigers (89.0, --)
16) New York Yankees (84.2, o)
17) New York Mets (83.5, ++)
18) Minnesota Twins (81.5, ++)
19) San Diego Padres (78.1, o)
20) Tampa Bay Rays (77.5, --)
21) Toronto Blue Jays (76.5, --)
22) Colorado Rockies (76.2, --)
23) Pittsburgh Pirates (75.6, ++)
24) Seattle Mariners (72.8, --)
25) San Francisco Giants (72.0, --)
26) Chicago Cubs (72.0, ++)
27) Oakland Athletics (67.5, +)
28) Washington Nationals (65.2, --)
29) Houston Astros (60.9, -)
30) St. Louis Cardinals (60.2, --)

Players of the Week:

AL: LF David Murphy, Texas Rangers 11-25 (.440), 3 HR, 10 RBI.
NL: C Miguel Montero, Arizona Diamondbacks 8-18 (.444), 3 HR, 7 RBI.

San Diego Inks Young Gun
The San Diego Padres announced news that they and SP Edinson Volquez have agreed upon a 3-year/$9 million dollar contract extension. The fans were ecstatic over the news that they had signed one of their top pitchers on the team. Volquez is 2-2 with a 5.08 ERA thus far this season, but his stats don't represent his production accurately.