Go Pads.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Yes. We should be buyers and make a move to lock up 3rd place. Then, at the end of the year, we could dog-pile each other, dump champagne on each other's head, and do a lot of interviews in which we thank God and our moms for helping us win the 3rd-place championship. The city then would throw a ticker-tape parade that the whole city would party at. And the we're-number-three foam hand would be the top selling item all over the county.

If we party hard enough, nobody will remember or care who actually wins the World Series - they'll only remember the year the Pads won third place. And the world will be jealous.

We do that every year. Strong second halves lead to 'we're ok' offseasons.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

Yeah, we could improve the team by inventing a time machine, go back a few weeks, fire Preller and make sure we keep Rodney.

Except....Preller signed Rodney and traded for Myers. I think it's time to jump off of Preller's nuts. He's in a different mode now. Let's see what he does.

[Lightningwill_420]

We do that every year. Strong second halves lead to 'we're ok' offseasons.

We need to have giant "We're okay" parties in San Diego then. I want the parties to be so big that whoever win the World Series and Super Bowl are irrelevant.

[6025]

Except....Preller signed Rodney and traded for Myers. I think it's time to jump off of Preller's nuts. He's in a different mode now. Let's see what he does.

Jump off his nuts? Why? People are talking about shoring up the bullpen and he trades Rodney for a nobody? And even if he wanted to trade him for this nobody, it couldn't wait until after the all star game?

[Millionaire Wussy]

Our starting pitchers really weren't good enough to make us a playoff contending team this year. Therefore, you really should sell off any 39 year old relievers for excellent young SP prospects while you still can. That Rodney deal looks great to me. After Jay broke his arm I was hoping Preller would start selling off his other pieces before they went down such as Rodney, Norris, Upton, and even Kemp. So far, so good with the Rodney deal. We need to deal Norris next. Hedges is more than ready.

If you look at Paddack's numbers AND his age (he was a good year to two years under the Single A age average for pitchers in his league) you can't help but be impressed. He's also got physical aspects going for him with his height (6-4) and the fact he hasn't filled out yet. He weighs only 195 to go with his 6-4 height so with added muscle his fastball should only get better. This guy was a steal. I know he's still very young and in the lower rungs of the minor league system and all BUT when he gets a little stronger he'll shoot up our system in a hurry.

[Lightningwill_420]

I'm not certain, in the case of the Padres, youth is better than age. If a player is young and good, he'll be with us a year if we're lucky before we have to trade him away or lose him to free agency. If a player is old and good, we might be able to hang onto him for a while before he stops being good.

[6025]

Our starting pitchers really weren't good enough to make us a playoff contending team this year. Therefore, you really should sell off any 39 year old relievers for excellent young SP prospects while you still can. That Rodney deal looks great to me. After Jay broke his arm I was hoping Preller would start selling off his other pieces before they went down such as Rodney, Norris, Upton, and even Kemp. So far, so good with the Rodney deal. We need to deal Norris next. Hedges is more than ready.

If you look at Paddack's numbers AND his age (he was a good year to two years under the Single A age average for pitchers in his league) you can't help but be impressed. He's also got physical aspects going for him with his height (6-4) and the fact he hasn't filled out yet. He weighs only 195 to go with his 6-4 height so with added muscle his fastball should only get better. This guy was a steal. I know he's still very young and in the lower rungs of the minor league system and all BUT when he gets a little stronger he'll shoot up our system in a hurry.

Sorry, but this guy would've been there after the all star break. Why not showcase Rodney as a Padre in the all star game they're hosting? They can't even do PR correctly.

But I digress. He would only be a steal if he made the majors and topped Rodney's production. Right now it's a bullshit trade and why should I be content to wait four more years (if ever) to find out?

[6025]

....aaaand the Padres have 50 losses one game away from the All-Star Break.

[Lightningwill_420]

....aaaand the Padres have 50 losses one game away from the All-Star Break.

We are currently a half game ahead of the D-backs and two games behind the Rockies. We might be able to make it to the All Star Break not in last place.

The funny thing about our division is the D-bags. They have a winning record on the road and still are one of the worst teams in baseball.

[6025]

Somewhere in this thread we had a discussion about Dusty Baker. I found this on ESPN today:

NL manager of the half-year

Dusty Baker, Washington Nationals


It's pretty crazy to look in the rear-view mirror now and remember that Dusty Baker wasn't even the Nationals' first choice for this job. But Bud Black's negotiation malfunction turned into Baker's ultimate opportunity. And these days, it almost feels as if it were meant to turn out this way. Sometimes all a man needs is the right situation at the right moment in time. And for Baker, that's precisely what this was. What his team needed was exactly what Baker does best: a manager who connects with people, vacuums all the tension out of the room and lets his best players do what they do. But if you've watched closely, you've also noticed something else. This man has evolved with the times. He'll never write a book on modern metrics. But if you've been waiting for a nightly parade of left-on-left, right-on-right bullpen matchups -- whether the data merits it or not -- we haven't seen that. If you've been waiting for Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg to throw 138 pitches every time out, we haven't seen that, either. (Only Tanner Roark has crossed his 120-pitch threshold all year, as a matter of fact.) So as always, there are a bunch of compelling choices for this award. But none has been a better fit than the star of Mr. Baker Goes to Washington.

Apologies to: Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon, Pete Mackanin.

[Boltx]

Just curious.

Are the Padres ever going to be worth more than 2 shits?

[RobH]

Pomeranz traded to Boston for their #1 prospect, Espinoza. Very young, but rated #15 in all of MiLB prospects.

Apparently jumps to #1 prospect in all of Padres system.

Not sure I like it, but I understand it.