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Post by Rich - Former GM on Feb 18, 2021 21:32:31 GMT -5
2057 Season Review:
A 10 year plan comes to a close.
How we finished:
96 - 66 (.593 Win PCT). 1st place in the NL West. Entered the playoffs as the #3 seed
Wild Card Round - Lost to the Cubs 2 - 0
Awards:
Platinum Stick Award Winners: Lorenzo Hernandez (C), Kata Okada (DH) Reliever of the Year: Melvin Wells (CL) All Stars: Sotan Kono Jr., Melvin Wells, Lorenzo Hernandez
What went right:
Not a whole lot of areas of improvement, but defense was slightly better which helped out pitchers like Manny Sanchez who saw a rating drop. The bullpen was a solid performer and held late game leads. The team as a whole got the job done when needed.
Finished 4th in team WAR (51.97), 15th in Batter WAR (23.13) and 2nd in Pitcher WAR (28.84)
What went wrong:
Scoring runs. We may have had a 100+ run differential but that was mostly due to the pitching. On the offensive side of the ball, WAR was down along with ranking 12th in total runs scored.
Highlights:
Melvin Wells leads the PBL in save % with .955
Jorge Molina gets his 2,500th hit on 5/22/57 Mike Aitkenhead hits his 300th HR on 6/16/57 Melvin Wells records his 400th save on 7/14/57 Kata Okada hits his 400th HR on 8/22/57 Amghar Sumait hits for the cycle on 10/3/57 going 5 for 5
Notable Players leaving:
RF Mike Aitkenhead (Free Agent) - 3.5 year career w/SDN. .281 AVG, .922 OPS, 159 HRs, 408 RBIs, 16 WAR. 1 World Series Championship, 2 time All-Star, and 1 Platinum Stick. Given much of the credit for getting the Padres to 2 straight World Series appearances in '54 and '55.
2B/3B Jorge Molina (Free Agent) - 3.5 year career w/SDN. .263 AVG, 91 doubles, 27 triples, 87 stolen bases. 1 World Series Championship. Part deux of the '54 upgrades that made a difference.
SS Darrell Whaley (Free Agent) - 5 year career w/SDN. .260 AVG, 301 runs, 104 stolen bases. 1 World Series Championship and1 Platinum Stick. Whaley was notable as the SS who I hoped would replace Haleem Muthomi. Never really reached that gotta have him level at a tough position. '54 was his best year winning the platinum stick at SS and the World Series MVP honors.
P Angel Solis (cut out of '58 spring training) - 14 year career w/SDN. 2402 IP, 450 G, 149-98, 1824 Ks, 3.97 ERA, 36.88 WAR. Never won a single individual achievement, but an essential part of the SD pitching staff for a decade and a half. Solis spent nearly his entire career with only 2 good pitches, but still started 399 games. The quintessential no-nonsense workhorse. When he was cut, Solis ranked high in many SD pitcher records:
3rd in WAR (36.88) 2nd in wins (149) 1st in losses (98) 7th in games (450) 1st in starts (399) 1st in quality starts (183) 1st in innings pitched (2,402.1) 2nd in Ks (1,824) 5th in walks (471) 2nd in walk percentage (4.72%) 1st in hit batters (136) 1st in hits allowed (2,372) 1st in home runs allowed (289)
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Mar 10, 2021 13:52:39 GMT -5
2058 Preview: Let's give it another go!
Starting Rotation - RH Jim, King, RH Armando Gonzalez, LH Chris Hansen, RH Rurik Unichenko, RH Manny Sanchez
Out is Angel Solis who was placed on waivers and might have seen the end of his run with SD, we'll see. Rurik Unichenko makes it up to #4. While he keeps giving up hits, somehow he's able to prevent them from crossing the plate. Manny Sanchez is just a sad story, after blowing out his arm in '56, last year was relatively bad for him. It's possible that his pitching days are done, but not his earning days.
Bullpen - RH Sancho Fernandez, RH Sotan Kono, Jr., LH Vincente Rivera, LH Cecil Jones, RH Diego Jimenez, LH Cesar Cabral, RH Kaz Ishida and CL Melvin Wells
This bullpen is just as good, if not better than last year. If Fernandez can improve a bit, we've got a future closer setting up for one of the best closers in the game, Melvin Wells. Cesar Cabral was added to further balance lefties and righties out of the pen and he could spot start, or even act as an opener. I like the versatility of this pen that can support the weaknesses of the starting rotation.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, LH Antonio Lopez Hernandez opted out of his contract at the end of the year, and made a big payday as a result. It's tough to not justify paying a top catcher $20M+ per season, but if we were going to compete this year, we needed his bat. On the flip side of Manny Sanchez's sad story is the happy story of Antonio Lopez, who at 37 is still a valuable contributor to this team entering his 16th season as a Padre.
First Base - LH Nelson Parker, RH Mel Wolfe Nelson Parker is regressing, especially against lefties, so it was a key goal this offseason to add a RH 1B. Mel Wolfe might be ancient and past his prime, but if he can lift a few dingers over the shorter left field wall, we'll fair better against lefties in '58.
Second Base - SH Taro Takahashi "Very bad at 2B" can only be improved on this year, right? Look he's in the lineup because he gets on base and is an elite stealer. We'll take it.
Third Base - SH Orlando Garcia A new addition to the team this year. We look at Garcia as being an upgrade over last year's Jorge Molina, especially with his glove. Figure Garcia to be at the top of the lineup, maybe batting first to get on base with Taro knocking him around the bases.
Shortstop - RH Seth Alexander, RH Todd MacDonald SS is another position that gives us problems year after year. Whaley wasn't terrible with his bat, but wasn't a good fielder. So we picked up last year's gold glove winner risking his poor bat. Of course after acquiring him, Alexander drops in a couple of ratings offensively, so the troubles at SS will likely continue. This means we need a backup ready to go in MacDonald, Whaley 2.0.
Left Field - LH Jack MacGruder, RH Amghar Sumait It was a bit of a surprise when MacGruder accepted his qualifying offer after I declined his team option. MacGruder can get on base, but his defensive woes will be the enemy of the pitching staff who always cringe when a ball is hit to LF. Sumait will platoon with him against lefties. Another on base guy, with some power, but a woeful glove.
Center Field - RH Augusto Flores Flores isn't impressive when you look at his ratings, but he's gotten the job done in CF when Howe was injured in the past. So when Aitkenhead was out the door, we needed a CF. Flores has had plenty of job interviews and tryouts for the position, and wasn't bad. Kinda works out for him.
Right Field - RH John Howe Howe resigned during the season for a paltry $5.5M. This made it easy to let Aitkenhead go and move Howe back into his gold glove position, immensely improving our OF defense. This has got us a bit excited.
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada '57 was a power resurgence for Okada when he hit 50HRs to overtake Aitkenhead as our best LH bat. Two straight seasons of 4+ WAR, Okada is another well known face in SD.
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: LF Donald Alston improved immensely in the offseason earning him a Spring Training invite, where he raked. It was tough to send him back down, but he'll skip AA, going straight from A to AAA. A highly touted prospect in SD, huh, it's been awhile.
P Myung-Chor Chong might make the rotation this year. He missed all of '57 with a torn UCL, but at the same time, reached his full ratings of 8-8-8. On the injured list for another 2 months, Chong will return to action in plenty of time to make an appearance in the big leagues before the end of the season.
Preseason Prediction: We'll make the playoffs, preferably as a division champ, but the Giants are younger and will score more runs. I still think we have a better pitching staff, and seeing as we play half of our games in a pitcher's park, we will win more than 92 games. The races with the Giants have gotten closer and closer the past couple of years and this year will be no exception.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on May 14, 2021 9:15:13 GMT -5
2058 Season Review:
How we finished:
105 - 57 (.648 Win PCT). 1st place in the NL West. Entered the playoffs as the #2 seed
Divisional Round – Beat the Nationals 3 – 0 Conference Championship – Lost to the Diamondback 4 – 3 Finished 4th in team WAR (51.68), 6th in Batter WAR (28.89) and 6th in Pitcher WAR (22.79)
Awards:
Gold Glove: Lorenzo Hernandez (C) Platinum Stick Award Winners: Lorenzo Hernandez (C), Jack MacGruder (LF) NL Batting Title: Orlando Garcia (3B) All Stars: Jim King (SP), Jose Villalobos (RP), Lorenzo Hernandez (C), Jack MacGruder (LF), Kata Okada (DH)
What went right:
My guess was to win more than 92 games and we exceeded that by 13! On top of that, we performed better than our Pythag by 8 games. Jack MacGruder was meant to be a sacrificial lamb prior to the offseason when we declined his 2058 option and only got a qualifying offer in the hopes we would gain a supplemental draft pick. Lo and behold, he accepts the qualifying offer and goes on a tear during the season. 2058 was his best season in 7 years, winning his 3rd Silver Slugger award and making his 4th All-Star appearance. The 1-2 punch of Orlando Garcia and Taro Takahashi at the top of the lineup. The number of innings led off by these guys getting on base, stealing 2nd and being driven home are too many to count. Between the two of them, 61 bases were stolen and 180 runs scored.
Rookie Donald Alston broke into the lineup when John Howe was injured for 7 weeks. Alston introduced himself to the league by hitting 5 home runs in his first 6 games. He would finish the season with 15.
Jim King returns to form after his worst year in terms of ERA and WHIP, posting a 1.04 WHIP and his fewest walks of his career.
The bullpen was anchored by shutdown pitchers Melvin Wells and Jose Villalobos. Ronnie Breadalbane was signed to a minor league contract and then dominated from the left side along with Cecil Jones. Due to injuries to Sotan Kono Jr., Kaz Ishida and Diego Jimenez, Myung-chor Chong got his shot in the pen and performed admirably in his rookie season, including pitching 11 scoreless innings in the postseason.
Manny Sanchez’s decline could easily go in the “What went wrong” section, but honestly his performance outing after outing was better than you’d expect from a guy with 6 & 7 ratings. A number of starts he would even shut out opponents like the old days. Because of his consistently better than expected approach, Sanchez started 32 games and only suffered an ERA of 4.04, giving us a solid #5 SP.
What went wrong:
Shortstop continues to be a pain point for the team. While Seth Alexander’s defense is world’ above anyone else’s at the position in many years, his production at the plate was abysmal. Fraser Ross, less of a glove, ended up platooning with him from the left side to soften the blow a bit.
I’ve come to accept the playoffs are a series of games of who’s hot and who’s not, but there’s only so many blown 2 game leads a team should have to endure, right? Being up 2-0 and 3-1 in the LCS shouldn’t be a tough spot, but this has happened in the past to this team to be oh so close and come up short over and over again. Even more troubling was how two games were blown saves set up similarly with Villalobos walking a guy or two in the 9th and Wells giving up one hit in relief, while shutting down the next 3 guys, which proved enough for the DBacks to either win it there or in extras. Credit goes to the Diamondbacks though as they were down in every playoff series this year and still went on to win it all.
Highlights:
Orlando Garcia wins the NL Batting title with an AVG of .331 Kata Okada leads the PBL in WPA with 6.31 Kata Okada leads the NL in RBI with 136 (tie) Jim King leads the PBL in Walk % with 3.68%
Taro Takahashi puts together a 22 game hit streak Orlando Garcia puts together a 20 game hit streak Orlando Garcia gets his 3,000th hit on 7/22/58 John Howe hits HR #400 on 8/14/58 Manny Sanchez gets strikeout #2000 on 9/11/58 Mel Wolfe gets his 1,500th RBI on 4/23/58
Notable Players leaving:
SP Manny Sanchez (Trade to PIT) – 11 year career w/SDN. 1,813 IP, 359 G, 135 – 61, 3.19 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 2013 K, 45.4 WAR. 1 World Series Championship, 4 time All-Star, 4 Cy Young Awards. Alongside Jim King, Sanchez led the San Diego pitching staff through most of the 2050’s. Originally, when he was coming up out of the minors, it was thought he might just be a great reliever, but it was after his first 2 seasons that he developed his changeup going from a 2 to a 10 right before the 2050 season. From 2050 though 2055, Sanchez dominated opposing hitters. In 2056 he strained his shoulder and forearm. After that, his velocity dropped and it was only a matter of time. While he still got opposing hitters out and kept a surprisingly low ERA, he wasn’t likely to make the starting rotation in 2059. One of the great SD pitchers.
LF Jack MacGruder (Free Agent) – 11 year career w/SDN. .294 AVG, .905 OPS, 195 HRs, 733 RBIs, 39.5 WAR and more walks than strikeouts. 1 World Series Championship, 4 time All-Star, and 3 Silver Slugger awards. Not as flashy as fellow left handed Kata Okada, MacGruder’s ability to get on base while still hitting long balls made him a consistent starter in SD. If only his ability to field his position was better, MacGruder would have found himself locked into SD until retirement with a hefty paycheck to boot.
RP Cecil Jones (Trade to LAA) – 6 years career with SDN. 105 IP, 2.14 ERA, 0.94 WHIP. 3,3 WAR. Notable only in his year’s in a SD uniform, Jones was a full time left handed specialist.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on May 25, 2021 14:59:32 GMT -5
2059 Preview: Time's running out
Starting Rotation - RH Jim King, LH Chris Hansen, RH Armando Gonzalez, RH Juan Garcia, RH Keith Ratchford
The big question in the rotation is this Jim King's final year? He has a player option for next year. Chris Hansen steps up in the rotation order due to a boost to his movement rating. Juan Garcia was acquired during the season last year and Keith Ratchford replaces Manny Sanchez who was shipped off to Pittsburgh. In fact the fight for the #5 starter came down to a few names, Steve Brown, Rule V Dan Reyes and Ratchford who won out as a late spring training signing.
Bullpen - RH Sotan Kono, Jr., LH Ronnie Breadalbane, LH Cesar Cabral, RH Robbie Frazier, RH Myung-chor Chong, RH Jose Villalobos and CL Melvin Wells
Well this is a bit different from last year's opening day pen. Sancho Fernandez and Cecil Jones were traded away, while Frazier and Villalobos were traded for. Breadalbane made a nice out of the minors addition last year and after healing up, Chong made his ML debut. Anchoring the bullpen is the always great Melvin Wells.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, LH Antonio Lopez No change here. Hernandez earned the big bucks as the league's elite catcher and I have every intention of signing Antonio Lopez to 1 year contracts until he decides to retire.
First Base - RH Ivan Gomez, LH Nelson Parker Newly acquired from the Yankees, Ivan Gomez will likely get the bulk of the starts at 1B this year. Parker wasn't bad last year, but the wear and tear might be catching up to him. Gomez might be the same age, but it's still an upgrade to the position.
Second Base - SH Taro Takahashi, SH Travis Olson Takahashi was put on alert with the acquisition of Travis Olson. Olson might be a step down at the plate, but he will be world's better in the field. Because Olson's also good at SS, Takahashi will still start at 2B against righties, but probably see more DH time against lefties when Olson slides over.
Third Base - SH Orlando Garcia A solid contributor last year, Garcia gets the nod once again at 3B and will leadoff for the team.
Shortstop - SH Travis Olson, RH Seth Alexander Seth Alexander can win a gold glove, but he's a liability at the plate. In comes Olson who will get the starts against righties to bolster the offense without hurting the defense too much. Alexander will get starts vs. lefties.
Left Field - RH Donald Alston, LH Earl Wills Donald Alston's big league debut was a big reason why management was ok with seeing Jack MacGruder vacate this position. When John Howe went down, Alston stepped up in both RF and LF. His power against lefties was tremendous and will hopefully continue. Earl Wills joins the team from the left side and will platoon with Alston in left and also with Flores in center.
Center Field - RH Augusto Flores, LH Earl Wills Flores continues to get the job done and in 2059 will have backup against righties in the form of Earl Wills.
Right Field - RH John Howe John Howe is now 37 years old and enters his 11th season with the Padres. Time flies! What will this year bring? More injuries, a batting average at his lower end or higher end, 25+ HRs? Time will also tell.
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada Back to back years of 50 HRs. Due to declining ratings against lefties, will this year be less? Probably, but hopefully only because he gets less ABs against them.
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: Now that Alston and Chong made their debuts, probably none. C Armando Gomez is set to play, but will only do so if there's an injury at the catcher position. Our next batch of hitting prospects need at least one year and the pitcher's probably 3 or more.
Preseason Prediction: The division let us off fairly easy last year as we cruised to the top of the standings, but then Arizona decided to hook everyone's tail and drag them down in the playoffs as they clambered over our corpses. I expect us to win the division again with somewhere around 95 - 100 wins.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Aug 7, 2021 11:48:06 GMT -5
2059 Season Review:
How we finished:
98 - 64 (.605 Win PCT). 1st place in the NL West. Entered the playoffs as the #2 seed
Divisional Round – Beat the Nationals 3 – 2 Conference Championship – Lost to the Brewers 4 – 2 Finished 5th in team WAR (51.13), 5th in Batter WAR (27.50) and 4th in Pitcher WAR (23.64)
Awards:
Platinum Stick Award Winners: Kata Okada (DH) All Stars: Jim King (SP), Lorenzo Hernandez (C), Orlando Garcia (3B), Kata Okada (DH)
Highlights:
Kata Okada leads (tie) the PBL in RBI with 138 He also finished 2nd in a number of offensive categories to MVP Raul Ferrer
Taro Takahashi gets hit #2000 on 5/6/59 Ivan Gomez hits HR #400 on 6/4/59 Orlando Garcia puts together a 31 game hit streak that ends on 7/31/59 Taro Takahashi hits for the cycle on 8/11/59 John Howe gets hit #2000 on 8/13/59 Kata Okada gets hit #2000 on 8/19/59 Kata Okada gets HR #500 on 8/22/59
Notable Players leaving:
C Antonio Lopez (Retires) - 17 year career w/SDN. .314 AVG., .839 OPS, 2119 hits, 218 HRs, 1,004 RBI, 59.0 WAR. 1 World Series Championship, 1 Platinum Stick Award, 7 time All-Star and 2043 Rookie of the Year. Legendary SD catcher Antonio Lopez decided to retire from baseball days after his 39th birthday and immediately had his number retired. He leaves the game as SD's all time leader in WAR (although that will probably be surpassed by Kata Okada next year) and hits. He also holds the SD single season record for average with .374 in 2045. While he will be remembered for his offensive prowess, Lopez was also a solid catcher behind the plate with multiple seasons of RTO% above 30% and a CERA below 4 (career CERA was 3.80).
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Aug 18, 2021 12:42:57 GMT -5
2060 Preview: Play it again Jim
Starting Rotation - RH Jim King, LH Chris Hansen, RH Armando Gonzalez, RH Juan Garcia, RH Keith Ratchford
It's the same rotation as last year, but it's a bit shakier. Jim King picked up his player option and anchors the rotation once again. Chris Hansen and Armando Gonzalez are entering their earning years and are so far a good bang for their buck. Juan Garcia had a tough '59 campaign and even lost some starts. Ratchford earned the starting rotation spot last year because of a good spring training, but this spring training was limited.
Bullpen - LH Ronnie Breadalbane, RH Myung-chor Chong, RH Jose Vargas, RH Cesar Cerda, LH Connor Valcour, RH Jose Villalobos and CL Melvin Wells
Breadalbane, Chong, Villalobos and Wells return to a strong bullpen. Jose Vargas and Cesar Cerda are new to the rotation this year. Vargas is going to hopefully strikeout loads of batters and not give up too many home runs. Connor Valcour actually came up last season and filled in nicely as a LH opener for Garcia and Ratchford. He might do the same in '60.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, LH Vincente Juarez Hernandez's production declined last year going from a .300 hitter to a .237. That was tough to swallow and now that Antonio Lopez is retired, we had to dig into the Rule V draft to pick up a left handed catcher in Vincente Juarez from the Mets to back him up.
First Base - RH Ivan Gomez, LH Nelson Parker No change here. Gomez was solid against both lefties and righties, and Parker will only see playing time against lefties.
Second Base - SH Taro Takahashi, SH Travis Olson Olson will pop back and forth between 2B and SS due to his glove, but Taro can still hit and we've got too many guys that can play DH, so he'll have to struggle out there at 2B.
Third Base - SH Orlando Garcia, Fernando Rodriguez Garcia was an excellent lead off hitter for us in '59, but his defensive rating at 3B went from a 5 to a 2 in the off-season. That hurts, so I think we'll see Rodriguez get more starts at 3B and Garcia might have to platoon at DH with Kata Okada against lefties.
Shortstop - SH Travis Olson, RH Seth Alexander Seth Alexander starts the season injured for a few days, but we are looking forward to a better season with him at SS.
Left Field - RH Donald Alston, RH Augusto Flores Flores was ok in CF, but given the chance to play in left and his defense was more palpable. Alston rocked left handed pitchers last year to the tune of a 1.219 OPS and will platoon once again.
Center Field - RH Augusto Flores, LH Vincente Lopez CF was patrolled by Tony Padilla in '59 and worked well. So it only made sense to pick up another LH CF to platoon with Flores' mediocre glove.
Right Field - RH John Howe John is a fixture in the SD outfield. Go get 'em John!
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada Kata struggled against lefties so his playing time might continue to shrink. Good thing most pitchers are righties!
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: Jo Sato (21 years old) got a spring training invite and made a good impression. If Ratchford and Garcia's ratings didn't look good enough to pitch at the big leagues, Sato may have made the opening day roster. Regardless, if either suffers, Sato might make it before year's end.
Preseason Prediction: Defense and age will be our biggest weaknesses this year. Incur a few injuries or further ratings declines and the division is going to be out of our reach. Still, I think we are the best all around team in the division on paper and will be going for it once again. At a minimum, I expect a wild card berth. If we managed 98 wins last year, I got to shave off a few this year and predict 92 - 95 wins.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Oct 18, 2021 16:54:37 GMT -5
2060 Season Review:
How we finished:
94 - 68 (.580 Win PCT). 1st place in the NL West. Entered the playoffs as the #3 seed
Wild Card Round - Lost to the Giants 2-1; in a wild back and forth final game Finished 7th in team WAR (52.60), 8th in Batter WAR (29.66) and 4th in Pitcher WAR (22.93)
Awards:
No end of year awards All Stars: Jim King (SP)
Highlights:
Jim King leads the PBL in BB/9 IP with 1.2 Jim King leads the NL in K/BB with 5.8 Jose Vargas leads the NL in Shutdowns with 37
John Howe hits for the cycle on 6/30/60 Kata Okada hits 3 HRs in two games: 7/23/60 & 8/3/60 Jim King gets win #200 on 9/7/60 Kata Okada gets career hit #1500 on 9/22/60 Ivan Gomez scores his 1000th career run on 9/28/60
Notable Players leaving:
1B Nelson Parker (Released) - 12 year career w/SDN. .267 AVG, .852 OPS, 361 HRs, 997 HRs, 33.3 WAR. 1 World Series, 3 Platinum sticks at 1B, 2 All-Star appearances, and 1 gold glove. Parker locked down the 1st base position for many years and could be relied on. The most memorable year was his and Okada's competition for team HR leader in 2051. In the end, Okada hit 54 and Parker 52. Okada got the last laugh too with 140 RBIs against Parker's 139. Parker also ended up leading the NL in RBIs in 2053 with 126.
LF Augusto Flores (Trade w/WSH) - 5 year career w/SDN. .281 AVG, .806 OPS, 73 HRs, 243 RBIs, 10.6 WAR. Flores got some experience in '56, but only came back to start in CF when John Howe missed the first few weeks of the '57 season. After that, he played above his ratings and was a solid addition to the OF.
3B Orlando Garcia (Free Agent) - 3 year career w/SDN. .319 AVG, .775 OPS, 554 hits, 253 runs, 65 SB, 8.4 WAR. 1 time All-Star and 1 time NL Divisional MVP Garcia locked down 3B for SD for 3 years until he couldn't play the field anymore. The prototypical leadoff hitter got on base, stole a couple of bags and was often driven in by Taro Takahashi or Kata Okada behind him.
RP Sotan Kono, Jr. (Released) - 5 year career w/SDN. 3.12 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 11 K/9, 5.5 WAR. 1 All-Star appearance. Kono provided some good innings for 5 years, but aged out.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Nov 8, 2021 19:50:27 GMT -5
2061 Preview: Keep them at bay
Starting Rotation - RH Jim King, RH Armando Gonzalez, LH Dave Crawford, LH Chris Hansen, LH Jo Sato/RH Mike Larson
Stalwarts King, Gonzalez and Hanson anchor the veteran staff. Crawford, picked up mid season from the Angels replaced Juan Garcia. New this year are rookie Jo Sato and veteran Mike Larson. Sato has a bit of developing to do, but gets the nod to start the season. He'll split time with Mike Larson in the rotation or as needed. Larson also balances what was looking like a left handed dominated rotation, which is rare in SD.
Bullpen - LH Ronnie Breadalbane, RH Ron McJannett, RH Jose Vargas, LH Jose Rivera, RH Jose Villalobos and CL Melvin Wells
A strong point in '60 and expected to be strong again this year. Vargas was dominate in the late innings last year is supported by an equally strong left hand in Rivera. Wells was uncommonly shaky, so this year it might be make or break for him before he is forced to hang it all up.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, LH Vincente Juarez At 36, Hernandez is still a top catcher in the league and returned to form in 2060. Juarez, a Rule V pick up impressed from the left side of the plate, if not so much defensively.
First Base - RH Ivan Gomez, LH Dave Flynn? Gomez is good enough to start against both left handers and right handers here, but Dave Flynn might be able to back him up. Trouble is he only picked up a 3 defensive rating at 1B during spring training. We'll just have to see. The big news though at the position is Nelson Parker did not make the opening day roster after 11 previous ones.
Second Base - SH Taro Takahashi, SH Travis Olson Takahashi picks up his player option for another 19M so SD will bear his defensive rating and lean on his bat. Olson continues to split time and back him up.
Third Base - RH Anadhrishya Venktesh, LH Dave Flynn All new players at this position and strong ones to boot. In the past it was defense or offense at this position, but now both Venktesh and Flynn have a good glove and a good bat.
Shortstop - LH Alfredo Pereira, SH Travis Olson Pereira was picked up at the beginning of the off-season from the Mets to balance the infield out a bit and to provide a bit of power to the position. Travis Olson will see more starts at the position against lefties.
Left Field - RH Donald Alston Alston crushed left handed pitchers in his rookie season so he saw mainly starts against them in 2060. As the season progressed he saw more starts against righties and ended up with more HRs against them. Only natural to keep him over the more expensive Augusto Flores.
Center Field - LH Conan Davis, LH Vincente Lopez Conan Davis dragged out his decision in the off-season, but once committed, gives us a good glove and nice bat in the lineup. Lopez is his backup at CF and to the rest of the outfield.
Right Field - RH John Howe How many seasons has the SD fans seen John out in RF? We might have to retire his number in the grass.
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada Okada must love SD. He took a pay cut just to have the chance to still be playing in SD when he's 40.
Utility Player - RH Doug Sitton SS Joseph Farr
Sitton didn't last a week once Joseph Farr was added a few days into the season. Farr will platoon with Pereira due to each others strengths and weaknesses against opposing pitchers.
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: Last year it was Jo Sato and he never got the chance. This year is his year though when he makes the opening day lineup after a pretty good spring training. Keep an eye out for SP Ger de Rijk, 1B Michael Pitts and 3B Dave English this year.
Preseason Prediction: Last year I said defense and age were our weakness, but still nailed the win total. This year, we vastly improved our defense at SS, 3B and CF, all while getting younger. Our strength will continue to be our pitching staff which will battle the strong batters of Arizona and San Francisco. Given our depth and ability to adapt to the pitcher's confines of Petco Park will still give me the edge as the division winner (I hope). If we won 94 games last year, on paper, this should be the floor for this year, but the competition is tougher in the division and league as a whole, so my prediction will be conservative in its improvement at 94 - 98 wins.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Jan 17, 2022 19:03:13 GMT -5
2061 Season Review:
How we finished:
96 - 66 (.593 Win PCT). 2nd place in the NL West, 1st Wild Card Entered the playoffs as the #5 seed
Wild Card Round - Eliminated the Phillies 2-1 Divisional Round - Eliminated the Nationals 3-1 NLCS - Lost to the Diamondbacks 4-2 Finished 8th in team WAR (49.02), 7th in Batter WAR (30.54) and 9th in Pitcher WAR (18.47)
Awards:
NL Reliver of the Year - Ronnie Breadalbane Jo Sato got some votes in RoY, but did not finish in the top 3 All Stars: C Lorenzo Hernandez and RF John Howe
What went wrong:
I've got to bring back this section for the simple fact that, for the first time in 12 seasons, the Padres did not win the NL West. Instead the last team to do it in 2049, the DBacks, managed to do it again, this time with a different GM at the head. Nick already had a rising team, missing out on first place in 2060 by 1 game, and added to it via the acquisition of Dave Peters, who would go on to win the NL MVP. During the season, the Padres had no answer for the DBacks, going a measly 3-11 against them, so when it was determined that we'd be playing them again for the NL championship, the writing was already on the wall. A rising team has bested this set of old timers. it's only a matter of a few more season before veterans, John Howe, Kata Okada and Jim King end their careers.
Highlights:
Conan Davis leads the NL in triples with 10 Anadhrishya Venktesh leads the NL in Sac flies with 11 Ronnie Breadalbane leads the PBL in shutdowns with 42
Anadhrishya Venktesh strings together a 20 game hit streak Ivan Gomez gets hit #2000 on 5/31/61 Anadhrishya Venktesh gets 5 hits against the Nationals on 7/29/61 and again on 9/12/61 against the Giants
Manny Sanchez retired from baseball and his #56 was retired by the Padres
Notable Players leaving:
2B Travis Olson (Free Agent) - 3 year career w/SDN. .281 AVG, .696 OPS, 6.6 WAR. Played SS and 2B after Takahashi moved on.
RP Melvin Wells (Free Agent) - 8.5 season w/SDN. 2.71 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 241 saves, 699 Ks, 18.3 WAR. 3 time All-Star, 2 NL Reliever of the Years awards, and 1 World Series win. Wells took over from Randy Rojas in 2053 and dominated the late innings through 2059 when the closer role was split between a number of relievers.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Feb 9, 2022 12:08:08 GMT -5
2062 Preview: Breach!
Starting Rotation - RH Armando Gonzalez, RH Juan Herrera, RH James Keith, LH Dave Crawford, LH Chris Hansen, LH Jo Sato, RH Wen Zhui That's a lot of names for a starting rotation, but I figure we will be mixing and matching throughout the season and utilizing the opener/follower strategy a bit more. The big news here is that Jim King is out of the starting rotation for the first time in a long time. Veterans Herrera and Keith join the rotation from free agency. Jo Sato had a nice rookie campaign and hopefully builds on that.
Bullpen - RH Jim King, LH Ronnie Breadalbane, LH Jose Rivera, RH Jose Villalobos and Myung-chor Chong Pretty similar to the squad from the previous year. Jim King is not done yet, so we'll see how his game is out of the bullpen.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, LH Vincente Juarez It's nice having two solid catching options and not having to worry about the position. Now, if one gets hurt, as Hernandez did last year for a time, the replacement cupboard is bare.
First Base - RH Ivan Gomez, LH Roberto Snyder I've got to be happy adding a solid LH bat this offseason in Snyder, but Gomez has had the position locked down for 3 years with no cause for concern. Could this have had anything to do with Gomez's terrible spring training?
Second Base - LH Carlos Gomez, LH Roberto Snyder??? RED ALERT, RED ALERT! The clear weak spot this year. I let Travis Olson and Joseph Farr go with the intentions of playing rookie Greg Roberts at the position, but his spring training was abysmal so its back to the farm for a little maturing. What's left is Rule 5 draftee Carlos Gomez and dare we try playing Roberto Snyder at the position just to get his bat in the lineup a few more times? This is one clear area in need of improvement, get your act together quick Roberts!
Third Base - RH Anadhrishya Venktesh Venktesh agreed to a 6 year contract last year and we've got our 3B of the foreseeable future. ::phew::
Shortstop - LH Alfredo Pereira, RH Ricardo Munoz Pereira rocks the position and RHP. He stinks against lefties so we'll slot Munoz in at SS when a lefty is out there. Munoz is another Rule 5 guy and thankfully can play 2B too. (I'm still looking up there)
Left Field - RH Donald Alston, LH Jose Salinas Alston is our stalwart against lefties and Salinas also comes in from the Rule 5. Not a flashy guy, but Salinas is the type of player I like at the top of the lineup: good contact, great gap power, doesn't strikeout much and great speed (wait, he's got 9 speed, but 1 for stealing and baserunning, is he wildly uncoordinated?)
Center Field - LH Conan Davis Davis' success last year really was boosted by the fact that he overperformed against lefties and then this year, it looks like he took some hard ratings hits against those same lefties. Uh-oh.
Right Field - RH John Howe, LH Francisco Martinez Howe is getting old and he'll play many a game in '62, but it's time to see who else can play RF for the Padres. Martinez, welcome aboard, now let's forget about your '61 campaign because you've got some pretty big shoes to fill.
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada Okada has been around a long time, we all know and love the guy.
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: SP Ger de Rijk made his debut in October and even played some playoff games. If we didn't already have a slew of veteran SPs already he would have made the opening day roster, but his stuff as a SP can still develop and he'll get more opportunities in AAA to start the season. Confidence level of him coming up: 90%
The aforementioned 2B Greg Roberts has the ratings, but needs a bit more on the field success before he gets the nod. And he better hurry up! Confidence level of him coming up: 99%
We've got a couple of other pitchers close to coming up in AAA, Ray Bouk, Jesus Guerrero and Javier Hernandez, but barring a slew of injuries, we probably won't see them this year.
Preseason Prediction: I look at the squad this year and I'm not seeing massive improvement over last year. Snyder and Martinez add pop to the lineup, but they are going to see a whole lot of bench time because of other strong options at their positions. Defense is probably down and pitching is going to be a toss up this year. Thing is, I look at Arizona and I'm not sure what to make of their outlook too, because of so many name changes. I think it's going to be a dog fight for the division (and I will deal the farm to improve further), but Arizona has the edge right now. Still, we make the playoffs as a wild card with 92 - 94 wins.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Apr 16, 2022 22:45:57 GMT -5
2062 Season Review:
How we finished:
90 - 72 (.556 Win PCT). 2nd place in the NL West, 2nd Wild Card Entered the playoffs as the #6 seed
Wild Card Round - Eliminated by our rivals, the Nationals 2-1 Finished 11th in team WAR (42.90), 12th in Batter WAR (23.93) and 9th in Pitcher WAR (18.97)
Awards:
All Stars: C Lorenzo Hernandez
What went wrong:
Injuries, it happens to all of us, but it was a struggle to put the top guys out there all at the same time, especially on offense. C Lorenzo Hernandez missed 4 months, rookie 2B Greg Roberts missed 10 weeks over 4 different stints, his replacement in Jud Bishop broke near the end of the season for 9 months, Anad Venktesh missed 4 months, both center fielders missed multiple weeks (at the same time!), and Francisco Martinez missed 6 weeks.
Free agency wasn't kind either. We signed James Keith to some pretty big money with the idea of having him in long relief and some spot starts/opener role and he gives us a 6.97 ERA and a WHIP of 2.03. Juan Herrera pitched well, even though he missed 8 weeks of the season and looked like he was going to have a good playoffs until his elbow disintegrated, ending his career 2 weeks before the playoffs!
Sometimes you just got to blame it on something, but there was also lack of production from guys like Armando Gonzalez, John Howe and Kata Okada throughout the season.
Highlights:
Roberto Snyder finished 2nd in the NL in doubles with 44 Jo Sato leads the PBL in complete game shutouts with 2
Kata Okada hits 3 Hrs against the Cardinals on 6/13/62 John Howe hits HR number 500 on 6/22/62 Ivan Gomez hits HR number 500 on 8/18/62 Kata Okada hits HR number 600 on 8/24/62 Kata Okada gets hit number 2,500 on 10/1/62
Melvin Wells retired from baseball and his #20 was retired by the Padres
Notable Players leaving:
RF John Howe (Free Agent) - 14 year career w/SDN. .259 AVG, .830 OPS, 1,888 hits, 406 HRs, 1,214 RBIs, 302 SB, 58.9 WAR.
1 MVP, 4 golden gloves, only 2 All-Star appearances and silver slugger awards, and 1 World Series win.
John Howe was probably the first impact player I brought on from the outside after becoming the GM of the Padres. Since bringing him on, John has done nothing but produce year in and out. He could hit ok some years for average and in others, like the one he won the MVP in 2052, he could hit .320. He could hit for power averaging 29 Hrs a season. He could run averaging 21.5 SB a season, getting caught only 4 times a season. And the rarest of gifts in SD, the guy was a fielder, an outstanding right fielder winning 4 gold gloves.
This is a big one and a tough one to admit, but at 41 years old and a salary demand north of $18M for multiple years meant I couldn't resign him before he declared. But, that's not to say that's the last SD fans will be seeing him, should he remain unsigned for too long.
He's back for another season!!!
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Post by Rich - Former GM on May 4, 2022 11:11:44 GMT -5
2063 Preview: For posterity.
Starting Rotation - LH Jo Sato, RH Armando Gonzalez, LH Chris Hansen, RH Dave Butler, RH Kenshin Takeuchi Juan Herrera has a career ending injury, James Keith doesn't make the opening day roster and a couple of little known guys make the rotation. Sato, Gonzalez and Hansen return to be joined by Rule 5 ST success story Dave Butler and FA Kenshin Takeuchi.
Bullpen - RH Jim King, LH Dave Crawford, LH Ronnie Breadalbane, LH Jose Rivera, RH Phil Rodriguez, RH Jose Villalobos and RH Myung-chor Chong I don't change my bullpen much. Phil Rodriguez was added mid-season last year and Dave Crawford is a starter/reliever. I'm just happy to continue giving Jim King a job and he has rewarded me with performance above his ratings.
Catcher - RH Lorenzo Hernandez, RH Leonardo Villareal Hernandez returns from a long stint on the IL last year. Villareal did start his career in SD and was part of the 2054 championship team, but was dealt in the deal for Taro Takahashi. Seeing him available, I couldn't resist signing him to a minor league contract. Then, out of spring training, he outperformed Vicente Juarez, earning him the opening day spot.
First Base - RH Ivan Gomez, LH Roberto Snyder No change here. Snyder against righties and Gomez against lefties.
Second Base - LH Pete Hale, RH Greg Roberts While 2B was held down by Rule V guy Carlos Gomez last year, we are hoping for an upgrade in Pete Hale from the same side of the plate. Greg Roberts started out slow last year, missed a bunch of time, but will figure more prominently in 2063, hopefully.
Third Base - RH Anadhrishya Venktesh Locked down as our only viable option at 3B. Some guys in 3B are ready to step up in case he burns out, like he did last year.
Shortstop - LH Alfredo Pereira This is a risk playing only Pereira at SS against lefties and righties. Jud Bishop returns from his injury around June and will back him up at SS then.
Left Field - RH Donald Alston, LH Patrick Harrison Alston has improved year over year, even against righties. He should get the majority of starts, but if he struggles striking out to righties, Harrison is a good alternative.
Center Field - LH Conan Davis, RH Ryan Gunter Davis starts the first week of the season on the IL. So we'll give Rule V Ryan Gunter a week to field the position. He had an ok spring training so we look forward to Davis returning.
Right Field - RH John Howe, LH Francisco Martinez Howe is gone and then he's back! Same as last year, Howe and Martinez will split time in right.
Designated Hitter - LH Kata Okada Okada's production against lefties has decreased, but he'll always be my DH.
Prospects that may make an appearance this year: Ger de Rijk and Greg Roberts made their appearance last year and will factor again in 2063. I don't see any other impact rookies coming up this year, but there are a few pitchers that might in 2064.
Preseason Prediction: Again, it's a pretty similar team to 2062 that lost more games than the previous year. We've got good options at every position, so we'll compete for another playoff spot. As opportunities arise, maybe more impact players will be added to get us back atop the division. If I predicted 92-94 wins last year and came up short at 90, I think I can make the same prediction of 92-94 wins if our guys stay healthy this year.
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Post by Rich - Former GM on Jun 19, 2022 11:52:13 GMT -5
2063 Season Review:
How we finished:
74 - 88 (.457 Win PCT). 3rd place in the NL West No playoffs
Finished 16th in team WAR (36.59), 14th in Batter WAR (23.29) and 20th in Pitcher WAR (13.30)
Awards:
All Stars: DH Kata Okada
What went wrong:
For the first time in 17 years, the Padres do not make the playoffs.
This was a combination of unimpressive pitching and losing my #4, #5 and #6 SPs for the majority of the year. Even with the addition of Keith Ratchford back into the rotation, where he excels in Petco Park, it wasn't enough to overcome the number of runs allowed by the others. Lack of pitching depth really hurt this team.
At times the offense could really click, but looking at the end of the year stats, only Roberto Snyder had a really good year. If Kata Okada didn't get hurt for 5 weeks he could have had an awesome year. Guys like Donald Alston managed 31 HRs but struck out 170 times. Outside of those 3 potential run scorers, it was tough to really fear the rest of our lineup any given day.
Highlights:
Jo Sato leads the PBL in complete game shutouts with 2
Jo Sato throws a no-hitter against the Phillies on 5/23/63
Kata Okada has 5 hits on 6/1/63
Chris Hansen pitches a complete game shutout on 6/17/63
Jo Sato pitches a complete game shutout on 8/7/63
Kata Okada hits 3 HRs on 8/21/63
John Howe has 5 hits on 8/28/63
Notable Players leaving:
TBD.
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