FriarBall: The offseason is now here ... somewhat unexpectedly

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The offseason is now here ... somewhat unexpectedly

I don't want to be accused of being a fair-weather fan or any of that garbage but I have to say I am can't really say I'm frustrated over the events of Monday night.

Now I sat there and watched the game and I do agree that Matt Holliday never touched the plate, but in all honesty, the Pads season never should have come down to that slide. In fact, it never should have come down to Tony Gwynn Jr.'s triple on Saturday either. One more win at any time during the season and we're not sitting here now forced to talk about next season and the changes that need to be made.

While I want to secretly believe that the Padres allowed a playoff to happen so Jake Peavy could pick up his 20th win of the season - and further cement his claim on the Cy Young - we really were just a mediocre team after the All-Star break (and I really don't believe that 20-win nonsense, I'm just making conversation). The Pads had been inconsistent ever since Chris Young strained his oblique and while we were the top pitching staff in the NL this year, it was clear that our staff wasn't as good as it was early on.

There are bound to be quite a few changes this winter and it will be interesting to see who Kevin Towers decides to keep around and target in free agency. The only thing I can predict for sure is that things can't remain the same or we may be in a similar spot again next year.

As things heat up this offseason, look for my thoughts on the moves the Padres do and should make and hopefully the pain of Game 163 will be erased as SD sets the tone for the NL in 2008.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

"One more win at any time during the season and we're not sitting here now forced to talk about next season and the changes that need to be made."

Well said. To pin this on any one person or any one game makes no sense. Ah well, better luck next year.