7/24/2008:
San Diego Padres
Reinstated C Josh Bard from the 15-day disabled list; Recalled LHP Justin Hampson from Triple-A Portland; Optioned C Luke Carlin and LHP Joe Thatcher to Portland.
7/23/2008:
San Diego Padres
Purchased the contract of LHP Wilfredo Ledezma from Triple-A Portland
A late move this afternoon as The San Diego Padresmade their second move before the trade deadline as for the second time they sell low. I didn’t think their first move was right when they sold Tony Clarkto a team we have to compete with, unless they don’t think they have a chance this year, but the thing is that no one is running away with it in the NL west so why would you trade a player known for killing you in big time situation!
So on a bitter note the padres made a similar move today, but they at least didn’t trade within the division but they did sell pretty low for a left-hand veteran that they could of used down the stretch.
Well it went like this the padres acquired RHP Chad Reineke from The Houston Astros in exchange for LHP Randy Wolf.
R.Wolf with the line of 6-10 4.74 ERA IN 21 games 119.2IP 123 hits 69 runs 63 of them earned 14HRs 8 hit batters 47 BB and 105 strikeouts. For in-exchange for:
C.Reineke a RHP starter for The Round Rock Express(AAA) the Houston apparent club, with a line of: 5-9 4.41ERA in 20 games 19 of them started one complete game 112.1 innings pitched giving up 112 hits 62 runs 55 of them earned 15HRs 35BB 100 strikeouts. one bright note he is only 26 years old so we’ll see what becomes of him.
On the first game back from the All-Star Break The San Diego Padres lose a close one as Jake Peavygets toss around as he gave up back-to-back jacks the 4th inning by R.Ankiel and T.Glaus had two the day,
one more too J.Mather in the 7th inning. All-n-All he still didn’t do to bad with a line of 7 IP on 8 hits 4 runs all earned by HR 7 strikeouts and 0 BB. Mike Adamspitched a scoreless 8th inning only giving up one hit and got one strikeout.
Offensively they didn’t could not get it done scoring 3 runs on 9 hits with 6 left on base. The Highlights of the offence were as followed. Edger Gonzales had 2 runs 2 hit 1 RBI and 2 strikeouts,
brother Adrian Gonzales had 2 hit 1 BB 1strikeout, while Kevin Kouzmanoff had 1 run 2 hits 1 RBI 1BB 1 strikeout, Chase Headley had 1 hit 1 RBI, And don’t forget about Jake Peavywith 2 hits. They really do need to found away to get more run support for pitchers or no one will want to take the mound for us.
On another note Tony Clark was traded too The Arizona Diamondbacks for Minor League RHP Evan ScribnerI kind of thought they went in wrong direction on this one, there were a lot better talent in their farm league like C Sean Coughlin with 10 HR 58 RBI 38/39 BB/SO ratio OBP .367/SLG.489/AVG.262/OPS.856 or there’s
RF Derrick Walkerhitting a line of 7 HR 40 RBI 37/83 BB/SO ratio with 6 SB and OBP.366/SLG.414/AVG.249/OPS.780 either one of those would have been worth it,both play with The South Bend Silver Hawks(A). By the way I can’t seem to find stats on E.Scribner, maybe it was a phantom trade just to get ride of Tony C. well if they were going to do that could they at least phantom trade him to the AL, not within our division!
In the first of a three game series against the visiting Washington Nationals, Randy Wolf put together yet another solid outing. Wolf was hit hard in the first inning, giving up a two run home run to Aaron Boone. Wolf was able to settle down after that and throw 5 scoreless innings, striking out five and not allowing a walk.
At the plate, the Padres hitters were patient. Nationals starter Shawn Hill walked three consecutive Padres in the 3rd inning, loading the bases for Michael Barrett. Barrett singled, driving in two runs to tie the game at two.
The game would stay tied until the 7th inning when Adrian Gonzalez came up to bat. Gonzalez hit an opposite field home run (15) off Lefty Charlie Manning. Kevin Kouzmanoff would follow that hitting a first pitch fast ball out of left field giving the Friars a 4-2 lead.
Heath Bell threw a scoreless 1 1/3 innings and held the lead for future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman. Trevor had no problem with the National hitters, sitting them down one, two, three for his 10th save of the season and 534th career save.
*As a note after the game, Channel 4 reported that Padres pitcher Jared Wells was traded to Seattle for pitcher Cha Seung Baek.
The San Diego Padres have signed catcher Josh Bard to a one year contract worth $2.2 million dollars. Bard will more then likely be the everyday catcher for the Padres and deserved the pay raise. He was hoping to get $2.5 million through salary arbitration, but had to settle with $2.2 million as the Padres met him halfway between his asking price, and what they wanted to pay him.
The San Diego Padres and shortstop Khalil Greene have finalized a two year contract that will pay Greene $11 million dollars. Greene was rumored a few times in the off season to possibly being traded to the Chicago Cubs, but nothing ever happened with that deal.
Greene will now be under the Padres control for the next two years, and then he will be open to free agency. The Padres had hoped to sign him to a three or four year deal, but settled on two. Good signing for both Greene and the Padres I think.
Veteran first basemen Tony Clark has a new team after agreeing on a one year contract with the SanDiego Padres . The contract will pay Clark $900,000 for the 2008 season. I wouldn’t expect much out of Clark other then some pitch hitting opportunities and filling it at first base one a week maybe.
Clark just isn’t the player he used to be and is getting up there in age. For $900,000 it won’t hurt the team so I won’t say it is a terrible signing. Just don’t expect Clark to provide a big spark for this team.
The San Diego Padres came oh so close last year to making it into the playoffs, and they are going to be back in the playoff hunt in 2008 once again. PadresHomePlate will be right here the entire 2008 season blogging about the Padres and their run for the playoffs.
The Padres have the starting rotation to make the post season, and in a short three game series I can really see them advancing. When you have Jake Peavy and Chris Young throwing for you during the first two games you have got to always like your changes in a series. Now you can add in Mark Prior who recently signed a one-year contact with the Padres to the rotation in probably June.
The question for the Padres however is their offense. Will they be able to score enough runs to win the close ballgames at Petco? You will be hitting a lot more doubles then home runs so you will have to play a lot of small ball. That is my only question heading into the 2008 season for the Padres. What do you think? Do the Padres have enough firepower to make the playoffs in 08? Leave us a comment and let your opinions be heard.
