Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions

[royals19]

Next week and no new progress has been made. In fact, we've actually regressed and to make matters even worse, our players are beginning to get worn down about 10-12 games away from our next off day which puts an unimaginable amount of pressure on our bench. Frankly, this has been a major disappointment. We've been out pitched and out hit in what seems like every game. The only way we've been able to win is small ball and our team wasn't built for that.


We darn near got whopped today but thankfully, Yonder Alonso and Nick Swisher were bringing the punch today and knocked out Drew Pomeranz who was dealing against us today.

We got some contributions from Chase Headley and Mike Olt as well who are both hitting well over .300 which is impressive considering the way they both opened the year.


And you'll see there again that Luke Hochevar has picked up yet another save. We're hoping to see him get to 50 saves but that might be a little far fetched and he's going to end up costing us something big in the pocket book.

[royals19]

George McGovern sat at his desk gazing over some stats and game reports. The distant sound of dress shoes clicked on the floor distracted him from his work. He walked over to the record player and put on one of his favorite tunes and went back to work.

The footsteps came closer and closer but McGovern focused on his work. Then, the door flew open and his lawyer stood there and threw the New York Times on his desk.

Quote: Originally Posted by Francisco

What the heck is this George?! You've really done it now! The phone down at PR is ringing off the hook!

McGovern adjusts his glasses and reads the headline.

Padres Owner George McGovern Spends Tax Payer money lavishly
Padres owner George McGovern lied to the public about the true purpose of tax payer money.

Quote: Originally Posted by McGovern

Beauregard!

Quote: Originally Posted by Francisco

Look George, you've really done us in this time. I have no idea how I'm going to get you out of this. The state of California could press fraud charges against you and if you want to own the Padres, you better come up with a plan.

Quote: Originally Posted by McGovern

Dang it, Francisco! It wasn't me. It's Beauregard, he's setting me up. Him and that damn scouting director!

Quote: Originally Posted by Francisco

How do you know it's the Beauregard and the director?

Quote: Originally Posted by McGovern

Beauregard was at my trial earlier this year and me and him had a little scuffle over some land in the south about 20 years ago. Long story short, I had stronger mob ties and ran him out of the south... darn near out of the country... I know the director's involved because he's been sending pictures of our draft board to all the other teams' GMs. Little did he know, I would always change the board around. He's been trying to sabotage us for years!

Quote: Originally Posted by Francisco

George, I really hope your right. We could all be out of jobs if this doesn't go unanswered...

[royals19]

So while George McGovern sorts out yet another mess, our on the field product squares off at home in a classic matchup against the Mets. The Mets are just a problem, bottom line. You think the game is going your way then for some reason, things go down the drain.

Now to give Wil Myers a day off, we put Nick "I put the team on my f'n back" Swisher in. And the dude does exactly what the name says. He puts the team on his back with 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs. Ever since coming here, the dude has been phenomenal. He's been by far, the best player to come off the bench in his entire time here in San Diego. This offseason, he should be in for a multiyear deal, now weather that be with us or another team, is yet to be determined.
And dang it, he put the team on his back. The box shows that 1 run in the 5th and it could have been more had Swish not run down a ball in the gap and dove and caught it. As a brief side note, we started all of our reserves today, Swish in left, Valdez in center, J.J. Hardy at short and Tony Sanchez at 1st.

Also, it's worth noting that Brad Boxberger is out with an injury and so is Josh Vitters.

[royals19]

Now we square up against the Atlanta Braves who have become our chief rivals in our quest to winning the wild card. Honestly, we've made little to no progress in that race. The Braves are matching us win for win and loss for loss. It's really starting to get frustrating and I see no way we're going to make the playoffs if they keep this up.


Today, we call on our boy and former Brave Tommy Hanson. Hanson started off slow like everyone else but he's actually played better than most and he's been the type of pitcher we've desperately needed as we move toward the playoffs. Hanson is in his last year of club control and should command around 15 annually if he keeps this up... which is something I'd rather not think about right now.


And Hanson would give us a rare complete game. He allowed 13 hits, but luckily nothing materialized. We're in a really sticky situation... Our 1-3s have been horrible and our 4-5 have been good but inconsistent. Ever since we shut down Synder, we've had major issues in the 5 spot, Vurdugo was crap after we thought he could hold down the fort. Luckily, we kept Dwyer around and he's been a boss like usual. Next Spring, it's safe to say that no one's job is safe.

[royals19]

Dang it, we've been tearing it up lately and now, we're just games back. Can this be? Can this be the very team that won 114 games last season? The team that has won 3 world series in a row? This can't be real.

Literally, everything that has gone wrong could, well except the injuries (knock on wood). We're playing like crap like George McGovern spends his cash. We play like we should one day and then the next, we play like absolute crap.

This really has to turn around before September. When rosters expand, the Braves will have a wealth of players from across their farm system that will set them apart from us and make us look like absolute crap.

[royals19]

Mr. Beauregard sat as his desk, going over some papers with a few of his subordinates. He was trying to figure out how on earth to get back at George McGovern, the man that took everything away from him.

Quote: Originally Posted by Beauregard

Look, I want those papers he's been carrying with him. I think that they're very, very important and my inside source tells me that they are rather incriminating.

Suddenly the door flung open.

Quote: Originally Posted by Assistant

Uhh.. Sir, your TIME Magazine is here and so is your Home and Garden calender...

Beauregard picked up the Calender, hoping to find relaxing images of beautiful yards and homes... instead, he was mortified by what he saw.

Quote: Originally Posted by Beauregard

Damn it McGovern! It's one thing to mess with a man's mail but not with his Home and Garden calender!!!

The Calender showed rather revealing images of him in a private setting that would ruin his reputation....

[royals19]

5 games out of first in the wildcard and 6 above .500, we're still in the race but hanging on by a thread at this point. Our schedule gets tougher and the Braves' gets easier. It's really safe to say that at this point, it's going to go down to the wire.


And today, Wheelin' Dealin' was on his A game. He was pumping that gas and dropping in some curves. He's really proven himself to be a front end type starter but our big issue is that he's regressing by 1 and sometimes 2 in several categories. I never would have thought but, we may actually trade him before his contract goes sour and he declines into an innings eater.

[royals19]

To give our rotation a brief rest in the days ahead, we called up Nathan Eovaldi. Now, we once considered, Eo a rotation candidate but his command and lack of overall potential earned him a first class flight to AAA. He has perhaps the best stuff in the system but with little control, it's hard to see where he fits in next year.

He gave us 8 strong against Washington and had them off balance all night. His slider is honestly among the best in baseball at this point and his fastball is David Price like but he can't locate it...


And Hochevar keeps racking up the saves....