San Diego Padres 2008 Preview

That 13-inning loss in the wild-card tiebreaker game in Colorado is going to stick with the Padres for some time. After falling one victory shy of their third straight playoff appearance, the Padres watched the Rockies go on to the World Series and the Dodgers and Diamondbacks improve. There are major questions about the offense, or rather, lack thereof, and even a pitching staff this good might not be able to bail it out. After winning the West in 2005 and ’06, the Padres’ 89 wins in 2007 were only good for third place.

Rotation 
By far the strength of the team. Ace Jake Peavy was the unanimous winner of the NL Cy Young Award, then signed a $52 million contract extension, the richest deal in club history. Not bad for a 15th-round pick in the 1999 draft. Peavy started the All-Star Game for the NL, then won a triple crown, leading the majors with a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts while pacing the NL with 19 wins in 34 starts. He’ll be followed in the rotation by 6'10" Chris Young, who earned the final NL spot in the All-Star Game, then took the loss on Ichiro Suzuki’s inside-the-park home run. Young also fought a balky back and oblique injury. Then there’s ageless Greg Maddux, who went 14–11 with a 4.14 ERA, good enough to get a $10 million contract. Mad Dog might be pushing 42, but his influence has rubbed off on his teammates, and he enjoyed last season as much as any of his 22 big league campaigns. After Maddux, things might get a little touchy. The Padres signed lefthander Randy Wolf and righthander Mark Prior, both of whom are coming off shoulder surgeries. Wolf will be ready to go by Opening Day, but Prior won’t be ready to pitch for his hometown team until mid-to-late May.

Statistician
0	Postseason series wins since 1998.
1	Statues of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at Petco Park.
4	Cy Young Awards won by Padres pitchers since 1976.
38	Jim Edmonds’ age on June 27.
42	Greg Maddux’s age on April 14.
347	Career wins for Maddux.
524	Career saves for Trevor Hoffman, tops in baseball.

Bullpen 
Trevor Hoffman became the first pitcher to reach the 500-save plateau, but that didn’t keep him from blowing two crucial saves over the final three games that would have put the Padres in the playoffs. Hoffman is back for the option year of his contract. If that 13-inning tiebreaker game at Colorado proved anything, it’s that setup man Heath Bell is a stud. After throwing 2.2 lights-out innings, he probably could have kept going and going. The league seemed to catch up with sidearmer Cla Meredith, who wasn’t quite as dominating as he was in 2006.

Middle Infield 
It appears that second base is the new black hole for this team. After Marcus Giles went into the tank early and stayed there, he was sent packing after just one season with his hometown team. In comes Tadahito Iguchi, who signed as a free agent after splitting ’07 with Philadelphia and the Chicago White Sox. He won a World Series ring with the Sox in ’05. You’re still not going to get any emotion out of shortstop Khalil Greene, but he had his strongest offensive season yet, with 27 homers and 97 RBIs, as well as 128 strikeouts. Oh well. He remains as solid as ever in the field, where he turned in a career-best .984 fielding percentage.

Corners 
By all rights, third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff should have been sent down to the minors when his average bottomed out at .108 on May 7. But the Padres stuck with him, and by summer, chants of “KOOOOOOOOZ!” filled Petco Park whenever the soft-spoken rookie delivered at the plate. Not to mention that he’s pretty solid at a position that had given the Padres trouble for years. Adrian Gonzalez cooled off a bit after a hot April but showed he’s a keeper. He had career-highs with 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his second full season with the hometown Padres, and manager Bud Black loves his aggressive defense. After raising eyebrows by renewing his contract at just above the minimum in spring training, the Padres did the right thing and gave him a long-term deal.

Outfield 
Talk about desperation — in the span of less than a week in December, the Padres were spurned by Milton Bradley, Japanese star Kosuke Fukudome and Mike Cameron. So GM Kevin Towers had to have been feeling better when he was able to get center fielder Jim Edmonds and $2 million from St. Louis for a 24-year-old prospect. Edmonds might just be a one-year stopgap, but it is his contract year, and he says he loves the surface at Petco Park. No word on the over-under for how many games he’ll be able to play after being hobbled by foot and shoulder injuries. The other two positions aren’t terribly solid. Right fielder Brian Giles is coming off microfracture surgery on his right knee, which he gamely played on for most of the season after banging into the wall at Wrigley Field in April. He says he’ll be ready by Opening Day. When Bradley said no to San Diego’s offer, the starting job in left field went to Scott Hairston. He came up with a handful of clutch homers down the stretch and will need to provide a solid stick. Top third base prospect Chase Headley has turned into an option in left as well. His bat has earned a spot in the lineup.

Catching 
The Pads will be looking for a strong season from Michael Barrett, who came over in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on June 20 and had a so-so year. He’s still waiting for his first homer as a Friar. He missed nearly three weeks with concussion-like symptoms. The other backstop, Josh Bard, set career-highs with 118 games, 389 at-bats and 111 hits.

Bench 
Tony Clark gives the Padres a legimate power source off the bench. He joins a collection of utility players, which seem to be the Padres’ specialty. Hairston will be a valuable fourth outfielder and Oscar Robles is a utility infielder.

Statline Most No-Decisions, 0 ERs Allowed In Start, Last 3 Years
1.	Chris Young	10
2.	Roger Clemens	9
3t.	Zack Greinke	6
3t.	Scott Kazmir	6
3t.	Sergio Mitre	6

Management 
Black had a solid rookie season as a big league skipper. He is laid-back yet focused, and that’s how he ran the team, never missing a beat in picking up the pace set by Bruce Bochy, who had a similar personality. Towers remains perhaps the best “sludge merchant” in the game, able to move a player with an undesirable contract for productive players. He’s not given a very wide latitude in spending, and that could keep the Padres from contending.

Final Analysis 
After winning the mild NL West in 2005 and ’06, the Padres have been reeled in. The Rockies made the World Series, the Diamondbacks held on to win the division and traded for Dan Haren, and the Dodgers added Andruw Jones. Unless the Padres can kick-start their offense early, even their crack pitching staff might not be able to shoulder the load. The roster is full of guys coming off injuries, and getting another bat or two would have been nice.

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Difference Maker

Welcome back to SoCal, Jim Edmonds. The Padres need a good center fielder to patrol that huge patch of lawn at Petco Park, and Edmonds is the guy after Mike Cameron left as a free agent. The key for Edmonds will be staying healthy. After the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, he had shoulder and toe surgery. He batted .222 in April and finished at .252 with 12 homers and 53 RBIs, his lowest totals since 1999 with the Angels. Once he got over the shock of being traded, Edmonds said he was eager to prove that he’s still a high-caliber big leaguer.

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Beyond the Box Score

Coming up aces The Padres’ pitching staff led the majors with a 3.70 ERA for the first time in club history. The Pads allowed a big league-low 611 earned runs and 119 home runs, while pitching a major league high 1,484.2 innings.

Lucky 13 Greg Maddux already has four Cy Young Awards, and now he has one of Cy’s records. With his 13th win on Sept. 18, Maddux set a big league record with 20 consecutive seasons with at least 13 wins, passing Young’s record of 19 set from 1891-1909.

Jake takes the prize Jake Peavy made a late push in online voting and was named United States Sports Academy 2007 Alabama Athlete of the Year. Peavy overcame West Virginia quarterback Pat White and Auburn kicker Wes Byrum. The award is given to an athlete beyond the high school level who was either born in, is currently playing in or has previously participated in sports at any level within Alabama. Peavy grew up in Semmes, just outside Mobile.

Second choice Let’s see, third base in another city, or second base in San Diego? That was the choice Tadahito Iguchi made when he decided to take a one-year contract from the Padres. According to his agent, a handful of teams were interested in moving him from second to third, but he wanted to stay in the middle of the infield. And he was smitten with San Diego when his family visited.

Youth movement Bill James ranked Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez among the top 25 young talents in Major League Baseball, with Peavy checking in at No. 17 and Gonzalez following at 18th. James ranked the Padres 14th in young talent.

Hall of Famer Already enshrined in the broadcasters’ wing of the Hall of Fame, Jerry Coleman was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November. Coleman, heading into his 36th year as the voice of the Padres, joined Jimmy Durante, Richard Durham, Dan Ingram and Marian McPartland as the 2007 inductees.

Close to home Closer Trevor Hoffman, manager Bud Black and infielder Morgan Ensberg, who’s since been released, were among Padres personnel who had to evacuate their homes during October’s wildfires. Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff joined 30 Padres employees in serving lunch to evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium during the fires. Kouzmanoff also signed autographs at Fashion Valley Mall as part of the relief efforts.

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