Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

Welcome back, Royals.

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

Hey everyone it's a pleasure to be back again. I took a week off to rest and recoup for yet another big season and besides, it was the Winter Meetings and I had to pay real close attention to those in case the Royals did something. Of course, I just wasted my time because they didn't do anything. Any way, that World Series we just won was our third and I figured, why not go for more! With more questions than ever, we had to crank it up yet again. So for your early Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwanza... etc) present I present to youanother issue of Sunrise in San Diego

Now aside from front office issues, we got a ton of on the field questions, what to do with Cameron Maybin. Is Luke Hochevar a true closer, when are we going to see the prospects and on and on and on. We've got a lot on our plate this year and we'll just have to see were Oppenheimer takes us this year.

But, I can't avoid discussing the front office in this post. It's just too big of a question. McGovern is on his way to meet his fate, Theo may very well be dead and all the head honchos of Baseball Ops are incapacitated and clinging onto life. Then to make matters worse, this is by far the biggest and most important offseason that we have come across. What we do here, will define the Padres for easily the next 5 years. Outside of Oppenheimer, what in Sam Hill do we have? Absolutely nothing. Besides a group of experienced scouts, we don't have anyone capable of fronting an organization. We need to bring in some big names and right this ship.

But at the same time, we've got other issues. Who the heck is this Beauregard dude and what does he want? Obviously he knows something crucial about us and may very well be responsible for the bombing that destroyed our front office.

Now I've talked a lot about these questions and I guess they all feed into one question.

Will our off the field issues affect our on the field product?

So, I suppose now would a good time to update you on our story so far here in San Diego and give you a glimpse of how this juggernaut came to be.

Our Story so Far

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

This free agent class may be the best one in the history of free agency. Quite frankly, I have never seen this type of Class ever before in MLB the Show. It's a shame, or maybe a good thing depending on how you look at it, that McGovern isn't here to break the bank.

The top 6 doesn't really give credit to the depth of this class. Furthur down, there are type A free agents like Felix Hernandez, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia and Ricky Romero. You'll notice that there aren't any Padres located within the depths of the Free Agent Class, other than a couple. We exercised the options on Hunter Pence and Roy Halladay and we declined the options on Eric Chavez and Anibal Sanchez. There just wasn't any room for the latter and there is a more strategic meaning behind the options of Halladay and Pence.

But before I spoil too much, you'll notice that we are the highest bidders for Clayton Kershaw. Now before you start asking the hard questions let me explain. Within the next 2 years, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay will more than likely be retired and we'll be left with a rotation fronted by Tommy Hanson and Joe Wieland.

That duo will not win championships so we need to go hard after 1 solid free agent starter.

Now before we even began the bidding on Kershaw, the Rays changed the whole dynamic of the market.


7 years 100 million. Longo would sign that deal and suddenly every other free agent was trying to command this type of cash. I'm glad that Longo stayed with the Rays but I'm furious that they jacked up the cost on everyone else!

If only George McGovern were here....

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

Offseason- Saving the Bench
So after this season, our bench is practically in shambles. While yes, we have some nice in house candidates like Justin Maxwell Rico Noel Greg Milcot, Josh Vitters, Junior Lake but Nick Swisher is probably looking to cash in and David Ross retired. So basically, we're left with looking for players to fill the void that these guys have left or potentially left.

Now your probably wondering, why do you care so much about the bench? We care because it has played a major role in every single one of our playoff runs. It was crucial in the success of our 2012 run and it payed massive dividends in 2013. In 2014 however, most of our bench players garnered at least 200 ABs which helped to our success. But with so much dependence put on the bench in previous years, we can't afford to just ignore it so our solution is simple.


We go after J.J. Hardy and use him as our utility infielder. Oppenheimer hopes to get him signed before his market heats up, but that is going to be a major challenge. Now I guess this is the time to bring up the fact that Eric Chavez will not be returning. He has been cheep and affordable but at the same time, his ability is regressing by an extreme amount. His defense was not very helpful last year and neither was his bat.

But after Hardy, we may also want to delve into the market for an outfielder in case Swisher doesn't resign.


There's some good names out there but the one that we like is Denard Span. He won't cost a draft pick and he has wheels which is something we desperately need. He has all the tools of a starter but could be more effective off the bench.

However as the market progressed, Swisher accepted arbitration and is back on the roster. Then to solve the catching issue, we traded for Tony Sanchez who wasn't getting anywhere with Pittsburgh.

There were absolutely 0 serviceable options in the free agent market at catcher and there were no experienced backup catchers so Sanchez became our guy because of his defensive skills and relative experience.

Maybe Oppy will do a good job this season after all!

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

The Offseason- Pitching Market
The Pitching Market this offseason is arguably the best market ever. You have names like, Kershaw, Verlander, Hernandez, Romero, Morrow and Cueto. The list just keeps going on and on. Now normally, we would just stand pat with what we have. But we can't miss out on a market like this. It's just too good.


There you get a good glimpse of what Oppenheimer has to work with this season. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay followed by Hanson and Medlen then you get into prospect territory. Now at first glance there's some good talent. But, upon further examination, you will notice. That our two best are 36 and 37. That's not going to fly. We need to get younger and younger we will get. Which is why we made the largest free agent contract signing ever in the McGovern era.


That's right, Clayton F'n Kershaw. We literally dropped the bank on him here. He was the youngest out there on the market that we just had to drop a couple stacks on him. Now originally, we had a 5 year 70 million offer on the table for him but then other teams jumped in and were offering less years for more annually. We gave him the best of both words and he signed with us giving us a rotation of:

Cliff Lee
Roy Halladay
Clayton Kershaw
Tommy Hanson
Kris Medlen

That is a darn good rotation and we would be content with that. Well, until things started swinging the other way in the league...

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

Verlander ditches Tigers; signs with Reds for 168M/7


McCann Reunites with Braves

Motte, Perez sign 3 year deals with Angels

Re: Sunrise in San Diego- Executive Decisions
 

The Red Terror
The Cincinnati Reds were once thought of as a push over opponent but no longer. They have extended deals to a wide variety of players and are greasing the gears for the Big Red Machine to make a return. First they get Verlander, then Sandoval goes to Cincinnati, they extend offers to all free agent center fielders and then they go hog wild in the pitching market offering any free agent with a "Type A" or "Type B" next to their name.

Normally that wouldn't bother us but then out of nowhere they become Johnny Cueto's top suiter.

But their Dodgeristic spending doesn't stop there. No, it continues.


That's right, they throw their money into King Felix, Baseball's most prized possession. They are close to signing Cueto and Romero and Hernandez. So if we let them get Hernandez and the rest, that gives them a rotation of Verlander, C.C., Hernandez, Cueto and Romero. That's about 120 game winner right there.

We can't let that happen. So we throw our money out on the market to keep the power in our corner. And whatdda know?


We give a 7-17 pitcher coming off of his worst statistical season a 76 million dollar deal. We didn't want to do it but we had to. So everyone's hootin' and hallerin' , dancing to "Mess Around" then we realize that our rotation is going to be Lee, Halladay, Hanson, Kershaw, Hernandez.... Oh F....

We have to make a trade. If this was just some game, we'd be content with letting these guys do their thing and then let the prospects do whatever but no, this isn't just a game. This is San Diego Padres baseball and we ain't goin' to make fools outta ourselves.

So everyone, brace yourselves, we're about to crank up the telephone and get on the horn with everyone in trade talks.