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Dennis Kinney Birthday Post: A Six Pack of Facts

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Last November I wrote a post concerning ten things you don't know about Dan Spillner. After name-dropping Henry Rollins, Robin Yount, Henry Rollins, Rick Monday, and Henry Rollins, among others, the tenth fact dropped a less iconic name.

Spillner was traded by the Padres to Cleveland on June 14, 1978, in exchange for Dennis Kinney. But more about him on February 26.

Since it's February 26 and I'm a man of my word... well, usually... I mean, I try to be... okay, you got me. I'M A LIAR!

YEAH, I'M A LIAR
I'LL RIP YOUR MIND OUT
I'LL BURN YOUR SOUL
I'LL TURN YOU INTO ME
I'LL TURN YOU INTO ME
'CAUSE I'M A LIAR, A LIAR
A LIAR, A LIAR, A LIAR

But today I'm going to keep one promise just to give you hope that you're starting to change me. Here's a stack of facts about Dennis Kinney:

  1. Kinney was a tenth-round pick by Cleveland in 1970. He was one of just five players picked in that round to reach the majors. The most notable of the quintet is Ray Knight, who was selected by the Reds as a pitcher. The Padres selected local boy Edward Evilsizor, who took his awesome name as far as AA.
  2. Dennis is the only player from Bedford High School in Temperance, MI, to reach the majors.
  3. Kinney wore number 48 in his two-and-a-half seasons with San Diego, the same number Spillner had worn. They're the same height and were roughly the same weight during their playing days, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Kinney inherited Spillner's actual jerseys.
  4. 1980 was Kinney's only season without spending time in the minor leagues. He recorded the only four wins of his major league career that year. He also lost six games that season, but those numbers are pretty useless. Dennis compiled a 4.25 ERA in 82.2 innings over 50 games (over half his career total).
  5. Of the 12 home runs Kinney surrendered in his career, all but two were hit by All-Stars. Lee Lacy and Merv Rettenmund were the other two; Rettenmund, like Jack Clark, hit one of two grand slams allowed by Kinney.
  6. After the 1980 season, Kinney was traded to Detroit for Dave Stegman. But more about him on January 30.

That might not be the ten facts that Dan Spillner got, but it is a six pack and that brings us back around full circle to Henry Rollins.


MLB odds 2014: Vegas sets over/under for Rockies wins at 76.5

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The Rockies will be in the bottom 10 in the league in wins, according to early Vegas odds. Their division rivals in Los Angeles are expected to be the best team in the game.

The over/under on wins this season for the Rockies has been set at 76.5, according to Bovada.LV.

That seems like a very accurate figure, but one that can be surpassed if the Rockies stay healthy. However, given the improvement of most of the other teams in the division -- as well as factoring in some regression to the mean for the Giants -- Colorado could feasibly face an uphill climb just to improve by three wins over last year. That would put the Rox at 77 wins. If I were a betting man, I would cautiously take the over, knowing that they won't get there by much.

Here are the over/under numbers on wins for the entire NL West:

Dodgers: 92.5

Giants: 86.5

Diamondbacks: 80.5

Padres: 78.5

Rockies: 76.5

If you buy into Vegas' accuracy, the Dodgers, Cardinals, Nationals, Athletics, Tigers and Rays will be division winners in 2014.

Baseball Prospectus Ranks Padres Prospects 11th Best

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The Padres' prospect rank better than most, but lower than they did a year ago.

Having finished up every team's top prospect list, Baseball Prospectus released its annual Organizational Rankings. Despite its name implying that it ranks the entire organization, it is actually just a ranking of all the organizations prospects. Major leaguers and players who are no longer considered rookies are not eligible to be a part of the rankings. The Padres finished 11th. Here are some comments given:

11. San Diego Padres
Farm System Ranking in 2013: 3
2014 Top Ten Prospects: Link
State of the System: Injuries to key prospects in 2013 hurt the stock, but high-ceiling arms, the top backstop in the minors, and a strong draft haul keep the farm on the edge of the top 10.
Top Prospect: Austin Hedges (18)
Breakout Candidates for 2014: Franchy Cordero and Zach Eflin
Prospects on the BP 101: 3
Must-See Affiliate: High-A Lake Elsinore
Prospects to See There: Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Joe Ross, Walker Weickel, Rodney Daal, Hunter Renfroe, Mallex Smith
Farm System Trajectory for 2015: Up. The meat of the Padres system won’t graduate to the majors in 2014, and as Hedges, Renfroe, Fried, and Cordero continue to develop, the system as a whole is likely to take steps forward…..if they can avoid the injury bug.

One thing that stands out to me is that the Padres dropped in the rankings from #3 in 2013 to 11th. This is not explained in the comments, but I will do my best. First off, Jedd Gyorko and Robbie Erlin are no longer eligible. They were ranked 5th and 6th respectively among the Padres' 2013 prospects. Brad Boxberger also lost rookie eligibility and then was traded. You want players to graduate, but you hope that others develop to take their place and that newly drafted players take those developed players' spots too.

The Padres drafted well, according to many reports, and Hunter Renfroe now ranks 4th among Padres prospects according to this site. Dustin Peterson was liked well enough to be called a "Prospect On The Rise". The team also traded for Alex Dickerson who ranks 9th on their 2014 Padres list. Matt Wisler, Burch Smith and Jace Peterson all took steps forward. These are all good things, but certainly don't explain the drop.

The reason seems to come mostly from an inflated grade last year. First off, Rymer Liriano's injury, for some reason, was not accounted for. He lost development time and his star has dimmed a bit. Similarly, Casey Kelly did not need Tommy John surgery until after the report came out. Another reason is that some of the well-liked prospects from a year ago either stagnated or took a step back. Joe Ross was one who stagnated. He did not look better or worse. The ceiling is still there, but the floor was not raised. Cory Spangenberg took a step back and is now looked at as more of a future utility player after being ranked as the Padres' 10th best prospect in 2013. Adys Portillo was ranked 9th and lost enough luster to get designated for assignment by the club. He is still in the Padres organization, but hopes have dimmed.

I am also willing to wager that balance plays a part here. Even though graduations negatively impact the rankings, it is still the goal of the organization. Almost every player in the 2014 Padres Prospects ranking is likely to be there again in 2015 (as mentioned in the Farm System Trajectory section). That weakness is probably enough to give the organization a slight downgrade.

Swing For Your Seats! Hit A Home Run and Win Padres Season Tickets!

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Hit a home run like Yonder Alonso and you can spend 2014 watching him do it from your own season tickets.

The Padres have announced a contest where anyone can come to Petco Park and swing for a pair of season tickets.

On March 15th, Petco Park will play host to the closest thing that San Diego has come to a home run derby in over 20 years. (I'm not counting the softball guys that blast softballs off the scoreboard every year or so.)

Starting at 8:00am until 4:00pm, participants will be able to step up to the plate and face off against the pitching machine. Participants will get 1 swing or face two pitches. If the two pitches have gone by without a swing, your turn is over and you're done. Now that is a high pressure situation.

Oh, you fouled it off? kthxbye.

All participants must be at least 16 years of age. If you are a "current Member", you'll get a notification on how to participate as well.

If you are a current Member, you will receive a notification of how to participate. Current Members are only eligible to win season tickets in addition to their currently renewed or non-renewed seat locations.

However, not just anybody can try it.

According to the rules, if you played Division 1 baseball in college or professionally (major, minor, or independent), don't even bother signing up because you are not eligible for THE PRIZE.

And what a prize it is.

THE PRIZE

Winners will receive 2 season tickets for the 2014 season in the upper infield section.

All you have to do is put one over the fence.

A winning hit is one that passes over the outfield fence of Petco Park, in fair territory, without bouncing on the field (a home run). The ultimate determination of whether a hit constitutes a home run shall be made by the Padres, in its sole and absolute discretion.

Sounds easy enough, right?

If you are interested in swinging for your seats, register now! There are 4 two-hour blocks throughout the day. Register to reserve your spot today.

Official rules are provided here.

Visit Padres.com for further details regarding this incredible opportunity.

A floating stadium for San Diego

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I've heard the idea kicked around for a Chargers stadium to be built out on San Diego Bay a few times over the past decade.  Until today though I'd never known that the idea was seriously considered and that drawings from a 1964 proposal actually existed for a floating multiuse stadium.

The floating stadium would be perfect for San Diego, particularly if it was located in Mission Bay. It's the first novel idea in stadium-building since the dome. -Barron Hilton, October 1964


You can read an old article from the San Diego Union, that became a chapter in the book The Way We Were in San Diego by Richard W. Crawford.  He tells us the idea came from Barron Hilton who wanted to build the stadium out on Mission Bay with portions of it attached to Fiesta Island.

At the time, the stadium was estimated to cost about $20 million to build which was comparable to the price of a conventional stadium, but it provided adaptability to switch between baseball, football and unnamed aquatic events.  The plan for the stadium called for it to be built from 3 huge sections that floated on pontoons.  The best part of the idea though was the suggestion that the sections be moved into place using circus elephants. Genius.

Apparently there was a feasibility study that was commissioned and released in 1964 that gave the idea high marks, ruling out other potential sites such as Westgate Park and Kearny Mesa because of the high property costs.  The benefit of the Mission Bay site was that it was already city owned.

Even the namesake of the current landlocked stadium Jack Murphy loved the idea:

"In the long run, the floating stadium would be cheaper to maintain, there’s better parking and it would be a bigger tourist attraction than the Houston dome."

I guess the commission didn't take into account other factors though, since the idea was eventually rejected based on cost.  An architect was brought in and he estimated the real cost would be $41 million, twice the amount originally thought.  Certain phases of construction were deemed to be extremely expensive.

After several attempts to keep the dream alive, all hope was eventually lost.  Jack Murphy was crushed.

"It will be a conventional stadium," conceded Jack Murphy, "conventional in the sense it won’t float."

The city council soon voted for a Mission Valley stadium to be built instead and there the Padres, Chargers and Monster Truck Jam made their home.  Fiesta Island remains a deserted wasteland to this very day, just waiting for another enterprising visionary to build a floating stadium on its shore.

New Food And Drink Options Coming to Petco Park

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Everybody's favorite suds slinger Neil the Beerman has been dishing out some info about new concessions option at the ballpark this season.

First up, some shuffling of the existing options:

That's a much more central location for Phil's, which will probably mean longer lines. But does anybody care about Wings-n-Things, the place that doesn't actually have wings? Replacing it in 107 will be a serve yourself stand. I wouldn't expect high quality from that, but it should be fast. Some of the new menu items at the park sound pretty interesting.

Anybody have a guess as to what a Diego cheesesteak might be? I'd guess it's a carne asada sandwich with nacho cheese. But if I know you guys, what you really want to know about is the beer. Well, here's some good news for those of you in the cheap seats.

Stone is also taking over Wine Steals' old location just outside the Park at the Park, so their presence at the park just increased massively. It's also nice that these new beer gardens will be up in the nosebleeds, which have been severely hurting for some local taps. All in all, it sounds like Mike Dee and the new ownership are continuing the improvements to ballpark fare that started under Tom Garfinkel, and that's good news.

NL West starting lineups and rotations, as described by Google autocomplete

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Part four of a six-part series.

Here are the projected rotations and starting nine for every NL West team, as described by Google's autocomplete. If you missed the first three entries in the series, you can find them all in this handy StoryStream™.

Reminders:

  • These are from the drop-down menu in Firefox's browser search. I entered a player's name, followed by one letter from A to Z, and the result included here appeared on the drop-down menu.

  • These are not the first results. Otherwise they would all be "stats", "girlfriend", or "shirtless." These are the most interesting or amusing results. In some cases, interesting or amusing could not be found. The Rockies, for example, are the dullest autocomplete team in the universe. If I had started with them, I would have given up the entire series. And I would have used that time to, I don't know, write better articles, read a book, or finish Final Fantasy IX, or spend time with people I care about, or ...

  • Every baseball player's name autocompletes to "(baseball player) girlfriend" and "(baseball player) wife." Hunter Pence is the only one to autocomplete to "(baseball player) extremely hot girlfriend." Make of that what you will. It's probably his handlers googling to make sure everything's going according to plan. 

  • Google has all of our brains mapped and on file somewhere, so these are probably tailored specifically to me. I cleared my cookies first, but you never know.

  • A lot of these results have nothing to do with the actual baseball players, but the string of words together is amusing.

To the charts!

Los Angeles Dodgers

Star-divide

San Diego Padres

Star-divide

Arizona Diamondbacks


Star-divide


Colorado Rockies

Star-divide

San Francisco Giants

Star-divide

Worth actually googling: Troy Tulowitzki hits ball twice, Juan Uribe is emo, and A.J. Ellis delivers a baby.

Not worth googling: Buster Posey ethnicity. Boy, you're never going to guess this, but ...

Please don't google: Tim Lincecum/Barry Zito fanfic. It's what you fear, what you expect. And the sequel has problems in the last half with a lot of unresolved plot points, and there are a bunch of rehashed descriptions in the lovemaking scenes. Don't even get me started on the third one.

Of note: This project led me to discover that a drummer I used to jam with is now in The Donnas. It's a small world when you use computers to connect to a world-wide web!

02/27 Padres Preview: Spring Training Game 1 vs. Seattle

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It's raining in San Diego, but our boys in Peoria are getting ready to play their first game of Spring in the sun. The Padres and Mariners will face off in their annual charity game just after noon today. Last season's rotational workhorse, Eric Stults, will get the start, scheduled to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to some younger pitchers. As Corey Brock reports, a number of hurlers are slated to get some time on the mound following Stultsy's brief outing.

Stults, who led the team in innings and victories a year ago, will throw one inning against the Mariners before giving way to a handful of pitchers who are on the bubble for making the 25-man, Opening Day roster: Tony Sipp, Anthony Carter, [Patrick] Schuster, Blaine Boyer, Donn Roach and Kevin Quackenbush.

While the starting rotation going into the season seems pretty much locked down for now (Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy, Josh Johnson, and Stults), the coaching staff is still looking to see who might be good fits to round out our bullpen and break camp on the 25-man roster. Not to mention the bench options for 2014, with experienced guys like Kyle Blanks and Xavier Nady along with rookies like Tommy Medica and Cody Decker in the mix.

You can listen to today's game for free on the padres.com webcast or the At-Bat app. First pitch is set for 12:05.


ST Game Thread: 02/27 Padres vs. Mariners

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Time for us all to get back into the swing of seeing baseball on the reg and talking about it here on our favorite Padres blog.

Go forth and comment, babies.

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Spring Training open game thread #1: Padres vs. Mariners 2/27/14

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Erasmo Ramirez vs. Eric Stults.

Baseball's back.

It's time for the annual tradition of opening up Gameday, overreacting to early performances, and waiting for the inevitable "in play (runs)" text when Hector Noesi takes the the mound. Yep, it's time for baseball once again, and the Mariners take on their bitter rival San Diego Padres in their first official game of the Cactus League. The game isn't on MLB.tv, but they'll have the KIRO audio feed to make this feel like a legit game.

The routine starts again - going to BaseballPress.com, checking the lineups, pasting them here and anxiously waiting for the game to begin. The scores don't matter, the performances won't either, but it's still Mariners baseball and an annual representation of hope, however irrational it may be.

Welcome back. Thanks for sticking with us all offseason. Today, Robinson Cano is most definitely a Seattle Mariner.

Lineups:


1. Cameron Maybin (R) CF
2. Alexi Amarista (L) 3B
3. Yonder Alonso (L) 1B
4. Jedd Gyorko (R) 2B
5. Xavier Nady (R) DH
6. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
7. Kyle Blanks (R) RF
8. Ryan Jackson (R) SS
9. Rene Rivera (R) C

P Eric Stults (L)

1. Abraham Almonte (S) CF
2. Kyle Seager (L) 3B
3. Robinson Cano (L) 2B
4. Logan Morrison (L) DH
5. Justin Smoak (S) 1B
6. Michael Saunders (L) RF
7. Dustin Ackley (L) LF
8. Brad Miller (L) SS
9. Mike Zunino (R) C

P Erasmo Ramirez (R)

Mariners 7, Padres 1: Friars Give Up A Bunch Of Runs For Charity

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The Padres did not look good in their Cactus League opener, but I really don't care. You know why? Because baseball's back. Plus, this game was for charity. Everybody loves charity! Especially the Mariners, who were the recipients of a lot of charity from the Friars. San Diego gave up 3 unearned runs on 4 errors, including a rare misstep from minor league golden boy Austin Hedges. The good news is that none of those errors came from anyone expected to be on the 25-man roster. Eric Stults had a rough 2 innings, but I'm not going to freak out over the first game of spring training. So today, let's just celebrate the return of baseball to our lives. Nothing but happy thoughts today, folks.

Roll Call Info
Total comments308
Total commenters19
Commenter listAxion, B Cres, Boilermaker19, Darklighter, Friar Fever, Jonathan Holmes, Mr. Meadows, Padres_Hobo, TheThinGwynn, Thelonious_Friar, Wonko, chris.callahan.7777, freelunch, jbox, jodes0405, kevintheoman, london_balling, mrbarneydangles, turbopan
Story URLs

I had the most comments, but everybody racked up the recs today. Good job, folks.

02/28 Padres Preview: Spring Training Game 2 vs. Seattle

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Our boys face off against the Mariners again today at noon. Andrew Cashner looks to help cement his spot as the number 1 starter to begin the season as he takes the mound against Seattle for a couple innings. We'll also get our first look at some Joaquin Benoit balls and strikes, and Joe Wieland will get back on the mound for the first time since being sidelined by Tommy John surgery. They are each slated to pitch one inning in today's matchup.

The rest of the lineup is as follows:

Once again the game will be available to listen to on padres.com and MLB At-Bat. First pitch is at 12:05 so come back at 11:05 to join us in the game thread!

ST Game Thread: 02/28 Padres vs. Mariners

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Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

Here's the lineup again. This time with a filter! FANCY!

X Nady is back in there so Wonko will be happy. I saw people this morning on social media complaining about Hundley being in the lineup over Grandal, asking where Headley was, saying that Ian Kennedy should've gotten the start today, and referring to this lineup as "minor league." So. That should let you know the state of our fanbase. It also makes me love you Gaslamp Ballers even more than I already do.

2/28/14 Mariners @ Padres: Open Game Thread

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James Paxton vs. Andrew Cashner

Bit of a truncated game thread as I run out the door, but baseball, again! Corey Hart makes his debut, and a wild Jesus Montero appears.

You're our only hope, James. Save us.

Lineups:

Mariners (J. Paxton - L) @ Padres (A. Cashner - R)


1. Endy Chavez (L) CF
2. Nick Franklin (S) SS
3. Ty Kelly (S) 2B
4. Corey Hart (R) DH
5. Jesus Montero (R) 1B
6. Michael Saunders (L) RF
7. Stefen Romero (R) LF
8. John Buck (R) C
9. Willie Bloomquist (R) 3B


1. Rico Noel (S) CF
2. Seth Smith (L) DH
3. Xavier Nady (R) 1B
4. Kyle Blanks (R) LF
5. Nick Hundley (R) C
6. Rymer Liriano (R) RF
7. Ryan Jackson (R) SS
8. Alberto Gonzalez (R) 3B
9. Cory Spangenberg (L) 2B

Mariners 12, Padres 1: Rain Gives Seattle Power

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The Padres' spring is off to a less than auspicious start.

It's been raining in San Diego all day, and clearly Seattle draws some sort of mystical power from such an occurrence, as they poured a dozen runs down on the Padres today. Things started well enough, with Andrew Cashner allowing just one hit in his two innings of work, but the Padres fell behind when Nick Franklin hit a third inning solo shot off of Tim Stauffer. For reference, that's Franklin's third home run against San Diego since his major league debut last May. The Mariners didn't hold that lead long, as Ryan Jackson scored on a blown pickoff attempt in the bottom of the inning. From there, things quickly fell apart.

Joe Ross gave up the winning run in the very next inning, but that wasn't enough for our hated enemies to the north. They hit Leonel Campos for a whopping five runs, and then hit up Joe Wieland for another four in the eighth, three of those courtesy of James Jones's home run. If you're looking for the upside to this game, it's that Wieland has returned to the mound, and was throwing with a good bit of velocity. That's about it. The Padres will see if they can get their first win of the spring against the Royals tomorrow at 12:05 pm PST.

Roll Call Info
Total comments229
Total commenters16
Commenter listAxion, B Cres, Darklighter, Friar Fever, Padres_Hobo, SD_Hat_Guy, TheThinGwynn, Thelonious_Friar, Wonko, ariz2cali, chris.callahan.7777, freelunch, jodes0405, kevintheoman, london_balling, mrbarneydangles
Story URLs

Good hustle in the comments, everybody. Nothing like racking up a couple hundred posts during spring training.


Hit parade at the Mariners show in 12-1 win over Padres

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Nick Franklin hits a home run before the bats break out, and James Paxton throws two perfect frames.

Yesterday felt incredible--finally, baseball, after months of absence and longing. It didn't even matter if the Mariners won. They did of course, and then they did it again this afternoon, in an even more absurd fashion, serving as a subtle reminder that as nice as it is to have baseball back, this stuff can sure be ridiculous sometimes.

The Mariners beat the Padres today, 12-1. They had 18 hits, three home runs, and two stolen bases. Some of these runs came from the "starters," most came late in the game in the eternal spring battle of kiddies vs kiddies. It was nice seeing some success from Ji-Man Choi who went 2-2, as well as a mid-game baserunning substitution from everyone's new favorite Swiss army knife, Abraham Almonte. On to the notes!

  • James Paxton was perfect through his two innings, striking out one and getting a few grounders. In light of today's frightening Taijuan Walker news, it's going to be really, really nice to see Paxton put a good spring together, if he does.
  • The rest of the arms out of the Mariners pen had a good first game, with Charlie Furbush and Yoervis Medina each getting an inning of work and only giving up one hit between the two. Ramon Ramirez came in for Paxton in the third inning and struggled quite a bit after giving a leadoff double to Ryan Jackson. He got stressed, lost his command, and sent in a run on an errant pickoff attempt before finally settling in. This could be a sentence about a 22-year old prospect, but its unfortunately about a 31-year old non-roster invitee who hasn't played in the majors since 2009. You have to feel bad for the guy, but we get to start another one of these with Scott Baker tomorrow, which is probably one of the most interesting stories in the M's camp this year.
  • The Mariners started their alternate squad today, so we got to see expected big-leaguers Nick Franklin (more on him in a minute), Willie Bloomquist, John Buck, Corey Hart, and Michael Saunders. Hart went 1-2 with a walk, and was replaced by Almonte on the basepaths in the sixth, and Michael Saunders had a well-hit double in the fourth. Apparently, Jesus Montero has been working hard at first base, although you kind of have to wonder how high the impression bar has been set after everything.
  • If you followed this game or checked in on the Mariner interwebs at any time today, I'm sure you got wind of Nick Franklin's day, which saw him go 2-3 with the Mariners first homer of the year. Here's a look: 841386671 (courtesy Seattle Mariners)

Shake in your cleats, Brad Miller, because THE BATTLE IS ON. Well, until the M's flip Franklin for a new starting pitcher, anyway. But honestly, I have no idea how the Mariners are actually going to get out of this situation, and I absolutely get that making Miller and Franklin compete might help them both perform better (and make Franklin a more attractive trade chip). I've spent this entire offseason hoping Brad Miller wins the job, but that has only forced me to kind of forget that Nick Franklin has a lot of untapped talent bubbling beneath the surface. So this made me feel weird. Happy, but weird. Frustrated. Never thought I'd be frustrated at a home run from the Mariners.

Tomorrow the M's take on the Angels at noon, and the game will be rebroadcast on MLB Network on Sunday afternoon. Onward and upward.

    Know Your Enemy: San Diego Padres

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    The Padres, like the Cubs, stood pretty much pat this past winter.

    The San Diego Padres have had just one winning season since 2006 -- that's 2010, when the Cubs helped keep them out of the playoffs by taking three of four from them in San Diego in the season's final week. They have finished 76-86 each of the last two years; despite that, Bud Black keeps on keeping on as manager, now in his eighth season. That makes him the fourth-longest-tenured current manager (in his current position), behind Mike Scioscia, Ron Gardenhire, and tied with Bruce Bochy... who was his predecessor.

    Bochy managed the Padres from 1995-2006, during which they made the playoffs four times -- but also had seven losing seasons.

    Imagine that -- a team with just two managers in 20 seasons, while not doing all that well. Must be something in the water in San Diego.

    The Padres are probably headed for another 76-86 season. They really made almost no offseason moves; the "biggest" was sending Luke Gregerson to the Athletics for Seth Smith (but see below). Big whoop.

    Don't get me wrong. The Padres have some good players. Chase Headley, despite a down year in 2013, is still very good. Jedd Gyorko had a fine rookie season (.249/.301/.444, a team-leading 23 home runs). Everth Cabrera stole 37 bases (in just 95 games) and Will Venable showed power he hadn't before, with 22 home runs and a .484 SLG.

    But San Diego's strength is in their pitching staff, which is the right thing to do in pitcher-friendly Petco Park, although you wouldn't know it by the 700 runs allowed, which ranked 13th in the National League. Will this be the year Andrew Cashner really breaks through as a true No. 1 starter? He was good last year, but the Padres need him to be better than "good." (And hey, Andrew? Don't let that bubble gum get caught in your beard.) They also have to hope that Ian Kennedy, acquired at the trading deadline last year, returns to his 2011 form.

    You'll notice I didn't list Josh Johnson as a "big" acquisition. That's because Johnson has been injured so often, his status as "ace" of a pitching staff has been left in 2010. He's made 30 or more starts just twice in a nine-year career. If healthy, Johnson, who just turned 30, can be a major help to a pitching staff. Otherwise? The Pads will choose from among journeymen like Eric Stults, Burch Smith, Joe Wieland and prospect Robbie Erlin to fill their rotation.

    Which will lead to the annual "Where are the Padres going to trade Huston Street at the deadline?" rumors, come July. Street has been very good for the Padres in his two years there, but you'd never know it, largely because the Padres have been mediocre and a lot of his saves are posted after midnight Eastern time. He did give up a scary number of home runs in 2013 (12 in just 56⅔ innings).

    Like I said: 76-86 again. Book it.

    The Cubs will visit San Diego for a four-game series May 22-23-24-25, and the Padres come to Wrigley Field exactly two months later, for three games July 22-23-24.

    Everth Cabrera Slated To Make His Spring Debut, Barring a Rainout

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    The Padres will take the field today for their third game of the spring still looking to break the seal on their win bladder. Not that wins matter at this point, but they're still nice. So are runs. The Friars failed to pluralize the word in either of the first two games. Fortunately, that Everth Cabrera guy has a knack for crossing the plate and he's in the lineup for the first time this spring.

    Of course, all of this is moot if they don't play the game, and at this point that's up in the air. As are raindrops.

    They say 2:05 because they're catering to a bunch of Missourians, but to you that's 12:05. As is the case throughout Spring Training, the audio is available for free via padres.com. Head on back here then for the game thread or the rainout thread, whichever it ends up being.

    Spring Training Game Thread: 03/01 Padres at Royals

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    After a morning filled with rain, it appears it has passed over in time to get some baseball in.

    In addition to Everth Cabrera making his spring debut, a number of other Padres will be seeing competition (such as it is) for the first time this year.

    One would hope that that gumbo of pitchers will be able to tame whatever bats the Royals are throwing out there (seriously, guys, thanks for releasing your lineup. Get your s___ together.) while our offense breaks the two-run mark for the first time. But, just as a reminder, it's not like it matters at this point. Everyone knows you don't freak out until at least the fourth game of Spring Training.

    Go Padres! Make encouraging strides!

    Last Minute Update: (12:04pm PST) Oh, hey, here's their lineup (with bonus hilarity).

    Maybin homers in rain-shortened 7-3 loss to Royals

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    Well, the rain stayed away for long enough to get seven innings in the books. The Padres lost again, but that doesn't matter because, you know, spring. There were several small victories, and that's more along the lines of what spring is about.

    Ian Kennedy started and pitched his scheduled two innings. He looked sharp... and also pitched well. Kennedy allowed a walk in the first and a double in the second, but both were stranded. It wasn't until the kids took over on the hill that all hell broke loose.

    It was still a scoreless tie in the top of the third when Cameron Maybin hit a two-run shot for his, and the team's, first homer of the spring. The lead was short-lived, however, as Keyvius Sampson came in to replace Kennedy and coughed up four runs, all of which were earned. Sampson allowed a walk, three singles, and a double in his inning of work.

    The Padres picked up another run in the fourth. Jedd Gyorko led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a single by Tommy Medica. Alexi Amarista drove him in with a single of his own to bring San Diego to within a run. With runners on the corners and no outs, tie ball or even the lead seemed like a possibility. A lineout and a double play later, it didn't. Adys Portillo came in for the Padres to pitch the bottom of the fourth and gave the Royals another three runs. That was the end of the scoring for the day, as both teams traded zeros in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings before rain, thunder, and lightning shut the whole affair down.

    Highlights (that was such a good magazine!):

    • Cameron Maybin: 1-2, HR, BB, 2 RBI
    • Tommy Medica: 3-3
    • Jedd Gyorko: 1-3, 2B, R
    • Tony Sipp: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB
    • Dale Thayer: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 H, 0 BB

    Roll Call Info
    Total comments56
    Total commenters9
    Commenter listB Cres, Ivan Verastica, SD_Hat_Guy, TheThinGwynn, Timmah73, jbox, kevintheoman, mrbarneydangles, turbopan
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    Ivan Verastica led with 27 comments; Timmah73 and I tied for second with a mere eight each. I got the lone rec of the thread, so thank you to whoever sent that my way.

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