NEWS/RUMORS Thread

Wouldn't shock me if Amaro were still asking for 2 of our big 3.

At #24 and #35, have you heard anything about the draft projections?

 

From Dan Szymborski:

The top 10 hitters in order of projected WAR over rest of careers:

1. Trout
2. Machado
3. Harper
4. Bryant
5. Puig
6. McCutchen
7. Stanton
8. Betts
9. Pederson
10. Heyward

 

I am thinking you and him both meant position players, not hitters, because Heyward.

 

Interesting couple of perspectives today from the local press.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/dodgersnow/la-sp-dn-padres-team-to-beat-20150209-story.html

Sorry to mess with your WPA+ and Rtot ratings, and whatever else you hold dear to your little sabermetric hearts this week, but the Padres are now the team to reckon with in the National League West.

That’s right, the hard-to-watch Padres, the almost forgotten team from way down Southern California.

Think the Dodgers made a lot of moves this off-season? The Padres went the full re-invention route. Cleaned house and then called in the hazmat suits.


Padres get 2016 All-Star game; Dodgers on deck?
Then on Monday they signed right-hander James Shields to leave them with a formidable rotation to complement their new power-driven lineup.

Like the Dodgers the past two years? You should love the new Padres. Hit for power, don’t worry too much about playing to their ballpark, don’t exactly overthink the defense and catchers’ framing.

Compared to what’s been going on with the Boys in Blue under their new front office, the Padres have almost become the anti-Dodgers. Or at least the old Dodgers. Maybe we could just trade the Geek Squad for new Padres General Manager A.J. Preller and have him bring back Logan White. Party hats all around!

More in the link if you want to read it.



Another link from todays Times:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-shields-padres-nlwest-20150210-story.html

James Shields could be the perfect fit for the San Diego Padres, and not just because he is a good pitcher. In a city that wants desperately to believe in its baseball team, Shields can get the players to believe.

The Kansas City Royals put a three-decade drought squarely upon the shoulders of Shields. They traded for him when they had enough of rebuilding, and prospects, and draft picks. They mortgaged part of their future for a star pitcher, and the chance to win now.


Get this: Padres are the team to beat
They won, in no small measure because Shields led the pitching staff, on and off the field. They won the trade. They won the American League. They got to the World Series, for the first time since 1985, and they won three games.

You know how many World Series games the Padres have won?

One.

In 1984.

You know who hit the Padres' lone home run in that one World Series victory?
"People here are pumped," Black said. "They're enjoying what has happened the last couple months. There is a genuine sense of Padre pride going around. There is a spark now that has not been apparent in other off-seasons."

For almost a decade, Black has been the front man for various Padres' ownership groups, selling hope and faith every spring, even when his roster suggested otherwise.

"You're always hoping a season will break your way and you can get some confidence and momentum," Black said. "Teams are different. Every year is different."

He paused, not so much for effect as for relief.

"This year," he said, "is remarkably different."

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

Sure seems to be working as they have created such a buzz that Dodger forum on numerous days is more about the Padres than the Dodgers. Should be lots of fun in the NL West this year with all of the buzz about the new Padres and the always competent and winning Giants to keep the buzz going. Should be great the only downer for many Dodger fans may be that it will be easier for some of them to see the Giants and Padres than our Dodgers. Being on the East Coast and having the MLB package I am good but I feel for the many others who potentially could be shut out again this year. Lets hope the opening game is on national tv.

 

If I were a Padres fan, I'd be psyched and looking forward to the upcoming season...no doubt. But it will only be fun Tubo, if we handle the Pads and don't succumb to the possible smack in the mouth we may get as a result of this offseason. Watching Kemp rake (if) will suck elephant penis, I fear.
It certainly sucks that LA fans can't get what people on the east coast can...but that is the new "business" and the way it comes down. It's not like watching the games on TV are going to effect the attendence numbers.
Greed is not so good, Gordon. Not when loyal fans are shut out from seeing their team play ball.

 

Padres Made “Aggressive Offer” For Cole Hamels
By Jeff Todd [February 11, 2015 at 7:59am CST]
Before agreeing to terms with James Shields, the Padres made an “aggressive offer” to the Phillies for lefty Cole Hamels, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. San Diego had long been said to be pursuing both arms.

Though the precise parameters of the offer are not known, Rosenthal indicates that Philadelphia may not feel that the San Diego system has a sufficiently promising single prospect asset to warrant Hamels. It is not clear whether the Padres have any continued interest in working out a deal, though it seems somewhat unlikely that sufficient payroll flexibility remains.

The Phillies prefer to deal with the Red Sox, per Rosenthal, hoping to land either Mookie Betts or Blake Swihart in return. But Boston has not made such an offer, he adds, making a deal seem unlikely unless the Red Sox “reverse course.”




Get to work on that farm old McPreller.

 

Damn, Pederson?! Drool...

 

Truth be told I am still a Kemp fan and continuing to follow him is becoming more exciting by the week. Same with Dee. LA reporters are like vultures circling at time.

 

Pretty strange

 

• Right-hander Yadier Alvarez, just 18, is the latest Cuban citizen drawing buzz. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweeted recently that he is pushing a high-90s fastball, and today Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs reports (Twitter links) that his buzz “checks out.” Not only does the young righty work in the mid-90s and touch even higher, he has a “more than usable” change to go with it. That will likely result in a big payday, per McDaniel, who also notes in a tweet that it may take a month or two to be cleared to sign.

The Cuban Julio Urias? Unlikely, but keep an eye out

 

Sexy. There's gonna be a big grown if he doesn't go all " Puig " in spring training, but all in all..good or bad..it'll just be another small sample size like his numbers from September. I'll be watching his defensive technique rather. That's priority #1 for this year at least.

 

I'll watch , too, with unabated interest. The Dee thing hurts me more though. he was exciting and an electrifying player, and that's something that comes along only now and then. I think he'll run rampant in FL, and he'll be great for them.
I'll miss Dee. Big time.

 

Of course, I don't understand how a player who had the 2014 that Pederson had...underwhelming at best, is projected anywhere on the list. From AAA stats? Because it sure isn't from ML stats.
Don't get it. And if you can catch a ball really well down there, I'm pretty sure you can do the same in the Show. Why wouldn't you be able to? It's fait de compli, isn't it? Whose worried about his D?
It's his bat that's the question. Like it always has been with phenoms...can he hit ML pitching?
That's one thing that hasn't changed.

 

Because the like 10 games (if even that) worth of AB's he played are surely indicative of how he'll project in the future. You can't be serious...

 

The Dodgers themselves have questions about his defense and improving the team's defense was a top priority this off-season. Still, he remains the only true center fielder at the top of the farm, so he gets the call and with direction of the team he needs to be rock solid in center.

His #'s at the plate from September were obviously small in sample size, thus baseball people around the game aren't worried. I take it they've seen worse from September call ups in the past, especially since Joc did walk twice as many times as Dee in 2nd half ( in far less games) and had 50point edge on Dee in OBP.

 

Sign them all. Moncada, Alvarez, Olivera, and whoever lse comes out of there.

 

I assure you that he is.

 

Damn son..Why you gotta talk shit about julio like that!

 

You caught that. Maybe they should put you in center field