Roster revamp

With the All-Star game taking place Tuesday, many media outlets have come out with different types of teams like an all-snubbed team (players who deserved to go but didn't get voted in) or like in the Washington Post, they had a recycled all-star team - a team of players who had been let go by one team and then turned around and had success with another.

On that list, three current Padres and two former Padres made the team. Of the players selected, the Post named Miguel Olivo as their catcher (he was non-tendered by SD in 2005) and Jack Cust coming off the bench (as we all know he was given away earlier this year and immediately got hot, although he has cooled off now). Not surprisingly, all three of the Padres on the team were pitchers: Justin Germano, Heath Bell and Kevin Cameron.

The Post also gave the Padres' pitching staff some more recognition as Dave Sheinin released his midseason awards, saying the two NL pitchers deserving of the Cy Young award are Jake Peavy and Chris Young. That is pretty cool since Brad Penny has more wins than both.

So in light of all of this reading this morning, it got me thinking about All-Star rosters and former Padres. Looking through old rosters, I was curious to see what kind of starting lineup I could put together with current MLB players that called SD home at some point in their career. So here is the lineup, as listed by position and current team.

C - Mike Piazza: Even though he played only one year in SD and has been injured much of this year, Piazza somewhat resurrected his career last year in response to critics saying his career was at an end. Other than Piazza, the only other active catcher who has spent any time with SD is Brad Ausmus and this year's collection of guys so he gets this spot by default.

1B - Derrek Lee: Granted he got in a fight with Young earlier this year and the Padres have a pretty good 1B in Adrian Gonzalez, Lee has actually had a 40 home run season and is a career .280 hitter.

2B - Mark Loretta: A solid defender, Loretta had 23 errors in three combined seasons at second for SD and was an all-star last year with the Red Sox. Although he never played in more than 154 games in a season (he did it in twice in SD), Loretta is easily the most consistent second baseman the team has had recently that is still playing.

3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff: If you look at the last few starting 3B before Kouzmanoff, neither is in the league anymore and every other guy that has manned the position as a spot starter is just that, so Kouzmanoff gets this spot by default. But it's not all bad as he has finally gotten going after a slow start and is showing SD fans why Kevin Towers was willing to trade away a top 2B prospect. Of course, we could always plug Sean Burroughs back in right? He's still in the majors I think.

SS - Khalil Greene: Even though he strikes out way too much, Greene has quietly become one of the best defensive shortstops in the league and has decent power. Greene needs to find a way to increase his average but his defense makes up for it.

OF - Jason Bay: I think most of us would agree that the Brian Giles the Padres traded for is nowhere near the caliber player that Bay is now. If they had been patient, Bay would have become a power-hitting outfielder the team is definitely lacking.

OF - Gary Sheffield: Even though he played 3B in his time in SD, Sheffield has been a power-hitting outfielder for Florida, LA, Atlanta and New York since he left town. Another 40+ home run hitter since leaving SD, Bay and Sheffield at the heart of this order would make SD a truly powerful offensive team.

OF - Brian Giles: The guy we got for Bay, the outfield, like 3B, has been a revolving door for a lot of players. And while Mark Kotsay has made some fancy catches over the years, Giles has recently redefined himself after it became blatantly apparent he left his power numbers in Pittsburgh.

So I am sure there is plenty to debate here so here is an open call for readers to post their starting 8. Any player listed on a MLB roster or in the minors (except for Rickey Henderson) is fair game as long as they played for SD. Let see some cool lineups and enjoy the All-Star break

Curse of Ken Caminiti?

It's no secret that the Padres have made a priority of finding a top notch third baseman the past couple of years. But is there a reason why the last five players who have tried to fill the hot corner have all failed?

In a sport where superstitions rule over common sense, it seems the Padres may have their own curse to try to exercise.

Since former NL MVP Ken Caminiti passed away on October 10, 2004 the Padres have tried highly touted prospect Sean Burroughs, the versatile Geoff Blum, the ancient and "I can only hit at Coors Field" Vinny Castilla and the versatile Todd Walker and are now hoping highly touted prospect Kevin Kouzmanoff - who was brought over for highly touted second baseman Josh Barfield - can take control of the role.

But like everyone before him, Kouzmanoff has struggled in San Diego after a promising showing at the end of last season in Cleveland. Kouzmanoff's average before Thursday's game against Arizona was .132, and hasn't been above the Mendoza line since the team's third game of the season, back on April 5. Blum, who has replaced Kouzmanoff late in games, owns an even more repulsive .080 average with only two hits in 25 at bats.

If this is just a slump, hopefully one of these guys will break out of it before they cost the team a chance at the postseason. But if it really is a curse, someone break out the voodoo dolls and lets see if we can't help this thing pass before we wait 80+ years like some teams have had to wait to break their curses causing their World Series droughts. I would actually like to be alive when the Padres finally win the big one.

Hopefully, Kouzmanoff will straighten out and prove there is no curse, but if he fails to secure the role