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

Flashback Friday: Trevor Hoffman

As Trevor Hoffman closes in on save No. 500 (he had 495 before Friday's game), I thought it would be fun to take a look at his first save, the one of the two he had as a member of the Florida Marlins, back on April 29, 1993.

As he has done so many times since then, Hoffman entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with the Marlins clinging to a one-run lead over the Braves. Atlanta had the top of its order up and Hoffman got off to a somewhat rocky start (apparently he has made his saves interesting since the beginning) by walking leadoff hitter Otis Nixon. But in true Hoffman form, he locked down the game, getting Jeff Blauser out on a sacrifice bunt that moved Nixon to second and then getting both Terry Pendleton and David Justice to fly out to left in consecutive at bats.

Hoffman saved the game for Luis Aquino and after picking up one more save and a 2-2 record he was traded to San Diego with Andres Beruman and Jose Martinez for and Gary Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez. While Beruman and Martinez did little for the Padres, the trade still came out somewhat even as San Diego got its closer for the next 13 (not including the season he missed due to injury) while Sheffield helped the Marlins win a World Series. Granted, I would take a World Series title over a solid closer, but Sheffield was not going to get us there.