Spring recap No. 1: Royals 13, Padres 9

Upside: Shawn Estes took the mound, threw 30 pitches and left uninjured. Matt Antonelli flexed his long ball stroke, going deep in the 5th and Will Venable also went yard in the 7th, showing there is some power in the farm system after all.

Downside: Estes gave up 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning (but how much did we really expect out of him?), we lost to the Royals, which preseason or not, is kind of low and this picture on ESPN.com sums up Jim Edmonds in CF for the Padres.


















Let's hope this really isn't a sign of things to come. Welcome to San Diego Jim ... or at least Peoria right now I guess.

Should we be worried about the OF?

A lot of talk has been made about the No. 5 spot in the rotation or who will man LF but as we get closer to the start of spring, I can't help but think we are in need of two full OF rotations.

With Scott Hairston only penciled in at left, what would happen if he fails to pan out and both Jim Edmonds and Brian Giles are seriously bit by the injury bug? Who fills in?

Obviously the Chase Headley experiment out in LF would have to be revisited but what would we do for longer term CF and RF replacements? Do we call up 2B of the future Matt Antonelli to pitch in for Giles or does Paul McAnulty get another shot? And what about center? Rule V draftee Callix Crabbe is listed as the backup for 2B and all 3 OF spots but would anyone be comfortable sending out an OF of Hairston/Headley, Crabbe and Antonelli/McAnulty?

All of these questions are starting to make my head hurt and I can tell it is getting late because I have been rambling for a while now so I will say this, whenever Kevin Towers finally picks up that extra OF, it won't be too soon because the alternative is looking a little too ripe for my taste.

2008 Previews: Third Base

Kevin Towers traded for Kevin Kouzmanoff before last season, giving up on what fans thought was another talented prospect (and who could still be a good talent despite his struggles last season) in Josh Barfield.

In April, it looked like we got hosed as Kouzmanoff struggled to adjust to being a full time major leaguer but by June Towers once again looked like a genius. Given that Kouzmanoff should be better adjusted this season, he should easily surpass last year's numbers and I think he even approaches a .300 BA, 25 HR and 95 RBI. Not too much of a stretch but considering his second half last season it could be too modest.

Like the rest of the infield, last year's super utility man Geoff Blum traded one super sized state for another, meaning the Kouzmanoff's days off will most likely be handled by "3B of the future?" Chase Headley, provided Headley isn't the permanent fixture in LF.

Looking at the complete infield picture, I applaud what Towers has us sending out on a game-to-game basis, even if Tadahito Iguchi is just a rental until Matt Antonelli is ready. If Kouzmanoff's bat continues to get better, he could provide much of the pop that missing out of last year's lineup (not that he didn't provide pop in the first place, we just needed more).

Now if only the OF was as complete looking as the infield, we would be the team to beat in the NL hands down. But that is another topic for another couple of days.

2008 Previews: Second Base

Unlike the previous two positions, second base will be the wild card for the Padres last year. After the failure of Marcus Giles to secure the position last year and having to rely on the now-departed Geoff Blum, SD went out and signed Tadahito Iguchi for 2008.

A quick refresher on Iguchi - he spent last year with the White Sox and the Phillies - hitting .267/.347/.400 combined with 9 HR and 43 RBI. His HR total was half of what it was the year before despite moving from one hitter-friendly park to another. Those expecting his HR numbers to bounce will be sadly disappointed as he has lost some of his power due to his age (he is now 33) and the rest will go due to his new home park (like we need to repeatedly bring this up but what the heck).

Good news for us is that Iguchi is not known as being a power hitter anyway. What we should see from Iguchi this year are numbers similar to last year, which will also include a handful of stolen bases. The numbers won't blow anyone away but at least with Iguchi we have a pretty good idea of what we are getting.

The main part of this deal though is the fact that his presence allows Matt Antonelli another year to prepare for what should be a solid major league career. If that extra year really makes a difference, I am okay with Iguchi keeping the seat warm.