Kuzul

The Padres have quite a bit on their minds right now as they are making a playoff push into the postseason. But it seems like Adrian Gonzalez wants to bring more attention to the team as he announces that he wouldn’t mind listening to what the Cubs have to offer when he becomes a free agent after 2011. 

Gonzalez noted to the Chicago Sun Times the upside and positives in Chicago right now, that wouldn’t make it a bad place to play. Maybe the thought that they have not won a World Series in over 100 years skipped his mind. 

The Cubs are going to have to flash the big bucks in order to reel him out of San Diego. But the market for the power hitting first-baseman will always include big- name teams like the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox front office were rumored to have made several attempts at trading for the slugger in the past.

The Red Sox have to be the front runners for Adrian Gonzalez’s services after the 2011 season. They have the money and interest, the offer will be on the table for Gonzalez. It’s deal or no deal for them.

The Padres pulled him off the trading block when they were at the top of the National League West standings. If Gonzales is already on a contending team and things keep going upward in San Diego, why wouldn’the want to stay?

The Padres’ first-baseman started to sound like he was ready to leave town as he noted how great the ballpark in the Windy City would be for him and how his wife loves Chicago’s shopping. 

Hey, baseball wives have a lot of say in the destination that their husbands choose during free agency. Leigh Teixeira had her husband choose the Yankees in the eleventh hour, and one year later he has a championship ring. 

If that’s the case with Mrs. Gonzalez and the Cubs finally win big, she could be put into the Cubs Hall of Fame in an instant. 

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What do you think of when you read or hear “Every Four Years?” The Presidential elections?  The Olympics?  World Cup Soccer?

Nope, not if you are a fan of the San Diego Padres‘ infielder David Eckstein.

“Every Four Years” means David Eckstein wins a World Series.

In 2002, the biggest little man in major league baseball helped lead the then-Anaheim Angels to a World Series championship over the San Francisco Giants. The 5’7″, 175 lb. Eckstein led the majors with three grand slams that season.

In 2006, Eckstein was named World Series MVP for the champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Following a 1-for-11 start at the plate in the first two games of the World Series, Eckstein finished 8-for-22 with four RBI and scored three runs.

The World Series victory with the Cardinals placed Eckstein in elite company as one of few starting shortstops who have won a World Series in both the American and National Leagues.

Flash forward to 2010. It just so happens to be four years since Eckstein’s last World Series title, and the Padres are in the midst of an NL West pennant race.

As Dick Enberg put it in last Wednesday’s broadcast against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Adrian Gonzalez has been the Friars’ Most Valuable Player, but Eckstein has been the team’s most clutch player, while also mentoring younger players with his outstanding work ethic and hustle on each and every play.

Eckstein is the only infielder in major league baseball this year with at least 80 games played and no errors.   Despite missing 28 games because of a calf strain, Eckstein has played in 105 games this season and provided near-flawless defense.

In a recent poll of 313 major league players conducted by Sports Illustrated, Eckstein was chosen as the player who had gotten the most out of his talent. He got 25 percent of the votes, well ahead of the 13 percent earned by Boston‘s Dustin Pedroia.

In this new-age style of baseball, reliant on power numbers and jaw-dropping statistics, Eckstein has relied on another outlet to get the job done: his heart. 

Wherever David Eckstein has played, winning has followed. 

Entering the final week of the 2010 regular season a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants in the NL West, Eckstein and the Padres are on a collision course for a pivotal three-game series in San Francisco this weekend. 

If Eckstein can help bring the city of San Diego its first professional championship, he might have to consider taking his “Every Four Years” regime from the playing field to politics.

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Miguel Tejada is playing grown man baseball at a grown-up time for the San Diego Padres.

Tejada became the 129^th player in MLB history to reach 300 homers Wednesday evening against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But that isn’t the only milestone the 36-year-old veteran is looking to accomplish this season. 

It has been seven years since Tejada has played in the postseason. Both he and the Padres are in search of their first World Series ring.

Acquired the day before the July 31^st trade deadline, the Padres’ acquisition of Tejada didn’t resonate throughout the MLB headlines for long.  Yet, it is tough to argue in favor of any other deadline pickup having more of an impact.

Tejada has eight homers in 194 at-bats for the Padres after hitting just seven in 401 at-bats for Baltimore earlier this season. He is also batting .273 with 28 RBI in just 49 games.

The Padres initially acquired Tejada for his veteran bat and presence. While he has surprised Padres management with his glove, he hasn’t surprised himself.

“We discussed the options [when Tejada was acquired]: left field, third base, second,” manager Bud Black told the San Diego Union-Tribune.  “Then we put him at shortstop and we watched just to see what we had.”

What the Padres saw was a 14-year veteran, six-time All-Star, and 2002 MVP with serviceable range that has committed just two errors in 49 games.

“I feel like I can get to any ball that anybody hits.” Tejada told the Union-Tribune. “I really had it in my mind I could still play short, my natural position. I was training in the off season to keep my legs really strong, to keep in good shape just in case somebody needs me to play short.”

Eligible for free agency at season’s end, Tejada would prefer to stay put. Given the uncertain future of Everth Cabrera and the free agency of David Eckstein and Jerry Hairston Jr., the Padres may be in need of multiple middle infielders next season.

“He’s been valuable,” Bud Black said of Tejada. “I think (keeping him) is definitely worth discussion as we move into the winter.”

“I would love to stay here,” Tejada said. “I love to play with the young guys. I love this team. Right now, I’m enjoying the moment. I enjoy the situation right now and I try to take it one day at a time.”

Tejada has a negative image in the court of public opinion due to previous alleged steroid allegations and pleading guilty to one count of perjury on Feb. 11, 2009 for lying to Congress.

Those will be interesting facts in building a Cooperstown Hall of Fame case for Tejada someday.

By the time he’s eligible, he’ll likely rank second or third all-time for homers by a shortstop and somewhere between fifth and seventh in RBI. He also won an MVP award and amassed a very impressive consecutive games streak—162 games in six straight seasons from 2001-2006.

It’s safe to say a World Series ring in 2010 would bolster his Cooperstown resume. 

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With the playoffs around the corner, potential matchups are being examined. The regular season is winding down and the hunt is heating up. For the Padres and Phillies, two playoff hopefuls, there is a chance the two will face each other in the postseason.

Whether the Phillies and Padres win the wild card or their divisions, there is a good chance they’ll face each other, making for an intriguing matchup.

On one side is the young, up-and-coming San Diego Padres, stacked with solid young pitching. On the other side is the Philadelphia Phillies, a seasoned team that is defending a National League title.

There have been a lot of good things going on in San Diego this year, and they could be the team to dismantle the defending NL champs in a potential playoff series between the two. Here are five reasons why the Padres can knock the Phillies out of playoff contention.

Begin Slideshow

This year, the San Diego Padres have taken the West by storm and it’s no secret that they are at the top of their game.

The Padres have constructed a team that include good, young arms, contact hitters, and a well managed front-office.

Bud Black has been nothing more than stellar when it comes to game day and has showed off the potential of his squad. Combine that with power hitting in Adrian Gonzalez, and young pitching in Mat Latos, and your team will go a long ways.

Begin Slideshow

During Monday night’s St. Louis Cardinals loss to the last-place (and worst record in baseball) Pittsburgh Pirates, Albert Pujols was 3-for-5 with a double, raising his batting average to .322.

I know this stat is not important to saber heads (please bear with us), but for this argument it is imperative.

Meanwhile, on the west coast, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto went 1-for-4 in a 13-5 drubbing by the now offensively resurgent San Francisco Giants. That effort dropped Votto’s season average to .323, a single point above Pujols.

With Pujols ahead in the National League in home runs (33) and RBI (92), the batting crown is the only leg of the Triple Crown he does lead.

Adan Dunn, with 31 jacks, and Votto, with 29 dingers, are right behind Phat Albert in the HR race. And with 86 RBI, Votto is six back of Pujols, I believe Albert is safe in both power departments. He is on a roll with the power and when that happens, usually a tidal wave of home runs (and RBI) ensue.

In fact, Albert’s August barrage of nine home runs, 20 RBI while hitting .436 is what has put him back into the Triple Crown race.

While Votto is leading with a .323 average entering Wednesday’s games, Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez is currently hitting .319 while Atlanta’s Martin Prado is at .317. Both could also end up with a higher average than Pujols in his quest to become baseball’s first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastremski in 1967*.

*If you have never looked into Yaz’ stretch run in 1967, when he was not only attempting to win the Triple Crown, but more importantly, trying to lead Boston to the AL Pennant, you need to look into it. It is perhaps the best clutch performance of any player of all time.  

While fending off Detroit, Minnesota, and Chicago (what no Yankees?) in a four-team race for the pennant, Yaz went 7-for-8 in his final two games with a double, HR, and six RBI including a 4-for-4 performance on the final day. During the September stretch run, Yaz hit .417 with nine homers, but hit .541 with four homers and 14 RBI over the last 10 games.

It was truly a remarkable performance.

Pujols is starting to turn it on with his incredible month of August, but it is probably the batting average category which could forestall any thoughts of a Triple Crown.

But despite all of Albert’s greatness, there is one guy who can keep Albert from winning the Triple Crown. Joey Votto, right?

Wrong.

It is Omar Infante of the Atlanta Braves.

What? Yes, you saw it correctly. Infante is the one player who can keep Albert Pujols from winning this years Triple Crown.

Entering today, Infante is hitting .349 this season as a utility player for the first place Braves, and was having such a fine season at the break, he even made his first All-Star team.

But he only has 342 plate appearances thus far, and with the Braves already playing 126 games, Infante currently needs 391 to qualify (3.1 Plate Appearances per team game played).

Omar is not just a utility player anymore, and has been a regular in Bobby Cox’s lineup since late July. And Omar is not slowing down now that he is a regular. He has hit a robust .370/.400/.560/.960 OPS clip for August (37-100) with four home runs.

This is coming off him hitting .429 in July (27-63).

With Atlanta only 2.5 games ahead of Philadelphia, Cox has no reason not to play the red-hot Infante every day. With Chipper Jones out for the season, Infante is now the starting second baseman, with Martin Prado moving from second over to third.

Even when Troy Glaus comes back, I still see Infante in the lineup every day until the end of the season. 

So let’s do the math.

Infante has 342 PA, but needs 502 to qualify for the batting title. For a conservative estimate, lets give him four PA for each of the next 36 games the Braves have left.

That will allow for some games of five PA, while he may sit a game to get some rest. He may even be dropped in the batting order, who knows? He has hit in every spot in the lineup this season but fifth, but has been in the leadoff spot the last couple weeks.

That gives him another 144 plate appearances (36 games x 4 PA per = 144), and add that to his current 342 would give Infante 486 PA for the season. That is still 16 PA short of qualifying for the title.

Lets also say that Infante (even after his very hot July and August), hits only around .320 the rest of the way. Infante does not walk much (another no-no for any saber head HOF consideration), so lets say all his 144 PA become actual at bats.  

If Infante gets 46 hits in his 144 remaining at bats (a .319 average), he will end up .33978 for the season (158 for 465). This leads Votto and Pujols at their current averages for the batting title.

But under our situation, Infante is still 16 PA short of a title. This is where playing with the numbers comes into play. MLB rules regarding a batting title state in order to become eligible, a player must accumulate 3.1 PA for every team games played, or 502 PA.

But if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title.

Thus if we give Infante an additional 16 “hitless” at bats to a total of 481, he would then have a batting average of .32848, still about five points higher than Votto or Pujols is hitting right now. Reduce Infante by one hit, and his average would then be .32640. Reduce by another hit (only 156 hits/481 AB) would reduce his average to .32432, still slightly above where Votto and Pujols are.

This tactic of adding “hitless” at bats was started in 1967, and was implemented most recently in 1996 when Tony Gwynn won the batting title while only having 498 PA.

I believe Infante will hit around .320 (or better) the rest of the season, and pose an issue for the batting title and possible Pujols Triple Crown. At the end of the season with an average in the .326 to .333 range…after the hitless at bats are added.

This is all moot of course if Votto or Adam Dunn, Carlos Gonzalez, or even Martin Prado gets hot at their specialties and pushes Pujols out of one or more of the other two categories. 

Throw in a Cincinnati and St. Louis Divisional race down the stretch and the last six weeks become even more interesting for Pujols, Votto, and the rest of the National League.

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The 2010 MLB season has really been great. With 17 out of 30 teams at or above .500, I have to admit that a form of parity does exist as I am seeing that form on the field.

And the surprises have been what have made this a great season.

The San Diego Padres, with a payroll ripped apart by the divorce of their owners, have been at the top of the National League all season. The Padres were even buyers at the trade deadline as they brought in the bat of Ryan Ludwick to help their lone superstar hitter in Adrian Gonzalez.

The pitching of the Padres has been amazing all year long and the main reason they have avoided any long losing streaks as they have put San Francisco and Colorado in their rear-view mirror.

LA Dodger fans should expect their team to be competitive through the looming divorce of their owners.

The National League is full of great story lines in the other two divisions as well.

In Bobby Cox’s last season, the Atlanta Braves have been out in front of the Philadelphia Phillies for most of the summer. The injury to Chipper Jones was a real shame as it might be a career ender.

It is simply amazing that Cox has managed Jones for his whole career. That would have to be the exception that proves the rule that coaches and managers are hired to be fired.

The Cincinnati Reds have been a real nice story as well. The Reds have been a dark horse pick for a few years now and they have kept it together as the season has reached the dog days. They survived the sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals and showed a ton of grit in what was a real brawl in a baseball game between the two rivals.

Most baseball fights are like a party where no chicks show up.

The American League has the Texas Rangers for their nice storyline. In a year when the LA Angels looked to be ripe for the taking, the Rangers have gone out and taken the AL West.

The Tamp Bay Rays look to be the Wild Card team and they are truly a loaded team. From manager Joe Madden, to their ace pitcher David Price, to their potent line-up, the Rays have everything in place for another deep run in the post season.

The Boston Red Sox have been a nice story as they have dealt with an incredible amount of injuries and found a way to stay competitive.

The American League East is a monster division. The Baltimore Orioles have a new skipper in Buck Showalter, but they seem to be years from competing for anything more than fourth place.

Thank goodness Cleveland landed in the AL Central when the league realigned. The Indians are in the process of rebuilding and might be a good team in a few more years.

That is my complaint about the lack of parity in that the same teams always seem to be on top of their divisions, and the little guys like Cleveland have these tiny windows where they can rise up and utterly rip out the hearts of their fans.

I still am upset with Jose Mesa, thirteen years later. Tony Fernandez could have made that play too.

It could be worse, the Pirates are setting records with their prolonged run of futility. And then there are the Chicago Cubs. Not even a great baseball man like Lou Piniella could guide them to the promised land and now he is moving on to the next part of his life.

Sweet Lou will be missed.

I should have been a Yankee fan, those guys always win and they should beat the National League team in the fifth game of the 2010 World Series.

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The San Diego Padres are simply too strong for the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs could not avoid the sweep by the NL West leaders Thursday afternoon.  Once again, their bullpen sank and a careless defensive play in the seventh inning put them down 5-3 in the series finale.

Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs’ starter, did not have a stellar performance.  However, he managed to limit the Padres to one run and four hits in six innings.  Even though he walked far too many batters—giving six Padres free passes to first base—he got out of his jams, stranding runners one inning after another.

Well…except in the second, when the Padres took a 1-0 lead. 

He issued back-to-back walks to Yorvit Torrealba and Will Venable.  Chris Denorfia followed and loaded the bases with a single to shortstop.  One out later, Jerry Hairston, Jr. hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Torrealba from third.

The Cubs scored two runs off Mat Latos in the sixth for a 2-1 lead, the first time they had a lead in this series.  Lead-off man Kosuke Fukudome singled and scored on Marlon Byrd’s line-drive double to left field.  Aramis Ramirez also doubled to left field to drive in Byrd. 

The lead did not last long.  The following inning hurt the Cubs.  The Padres scored four runs with help from the careless Cubs’ defense.

Left-handed reliever Sean Marshall was brought in to try to protect the Cubs’ one-run lead.  But he walked lead-off batter Miguel Tejada and gave up a single to Adrian Gonzalez.  Ryan Ludwick tied the game with an RBI single that brought Tejada home. 

Chase Headley followed with another single to load the bases.  One out later, Venable hit a single to score Gonzalez and Ludwick.

Then with Headley on third and Venable on second, Chris Denorfia hit a ground ball to third baseman Aramis Ramirez.  Headley tried to head home, but he was tagged out on a 5-2-5 rundown.  Having already reached third on the play, Venable caught the Cubs off guard.  Seeing no Cub covering home plate, he hustled home and scored before the late relay arrived.

Marshall (6-4), who had not given up a run in the month of August, blew the save and took the loss.

On the other hand, Padres starter Latos (13-5) tossed seven innings, giving up two runs with 10 strikeouts and one walk for the Padres, who improve their season record to a National League-best 73-47.  They sit six games over the second-place San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

The Cubs got a consolation run in the bottom of ninth.  Alfonso Soriano scored on Blake DeWitt’s two-out single.  But Heath Bell struck out Koyie Hill, the potential game-tying run, to end the game for his 37th save of the year.

NOTE: The Cubs recalled outfielder Sam Fuld from Triple-A Iowa Thursday.  He pinch-hit in the sixth inning.

The article is also featured on www.sportshaze.com.

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The NL West hasn’t gone the way most of the “experts” thought it would. The team leading the division, the San Diego Padres, was expected to be the bottom feeder, while the predicted leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers, sits in third place seven games back.

That sets up for a showdown in the bay area this coming weekend between the first place San Diego Padres and the second place San Francisco Giants who are just two and a half games back. The two teams have met eight times this season with the Padres coming out victorious in seven of those games.

Giants’ right-hander Jonathan Sanchez has already thrown down the gauntlet in a recent comment to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle saying, “We’re going to play San Diego, and we’re going to beat them three times. If we get to first place, we’re not going to look back.”

The only problem with the comment from Sanchez was the fact that he was confident in the first part then questionable in the second part. First, it was “we’re going to beat San Diego,” but then said “if we get to first place.” Why not go all the way and say “when we get to first place?”

When Shea asked Sanchez about the Giants losing seven of eight to the Padres so far this year Sanchez responded, “That was a long time ago. Doesn’t matter. We’ve got a better team now.” While he wasn’t quite as colorful as Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips calling the St. Louis Cardinals “little b******,” it still gives the weekend series a different feel than early on in the year.

Tale of the tape:

Pitching:

San Diego Padres – 3.26 ERA

San Francisco Giants – 3.44 ERA

Analysis: The San Diego Padres have been towards the top of the NL West all season long. Much to the chagrin of a lot of “experts” who picked them to finish last. The biggest reason for their success is their pitching staff. Not only their starters but also the guys out of the bullpen.

Adding Jon Garland, a veteran that knows what it takes to get to the World Series, was a good off season acquisition, but adding a young and talented right-hander in Mat Latos behind him makes for a solid one-two punch in the rotation. Not only have those two guys been getting it done but guys like left-hander Clayton Richard, right-hander Kevin Correia, and young left-hander Wade LeBlanc have stepped up at the right time to provide solid outings.

As for the Giants, they also boast one of the best rotations in baseball with guys like Tim Linecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez, not to mention Barry Zito, all of which have ERA’s below 3.60 with Matt Cain leading the way at 3.06.

The problem this team has had in years passed was the failure of their bullpen to hold a late inning lead. They seemed to have fixed that with guys like Brian Wilson (2.19), Sergio Romo (2.18), Javier Lopez (2.51), and Santiago Casilla (2.32). It give the starters confidence to turn the ball over to them when the game is on the line instead of worrying whether or not the lead would hold. 

Offense:

San Francisco Giants – .261 average

San Diego Padres – .250 average

Analysis: There’s no secret when it comes to the struggles of the San Diego Padres as far as scoring runs. Sometimes, pitchers can hold an opposing team to a single run and end up losing the game 1-0. General manager Jed Hoyer is hoping that the addition of both Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick will help some of those issues and give their pitchers more runs to work with.

Outside of those two, the Padres have been getting better than expected production from Jerry Hairston Jr. and as expected production from Adrian Gonzalez. However, having David Eckstein out of the lineup for an extended period has definitely hurt the team. They are hoping to have him back by this weekend.

As for the Giants, they have become a better offensive team but still lack that one big bat that general manager Brian Sabean really wanted. They attempted to acquire Adam Dunn from Washington as well as Corey Hart from Milwaukee but were unable to get a deal done for either player.

What they did get came from inside their own system. After trading away catcher Benji Molina, it gave them the opportunity to call up Buster Posey who has since surprised even the Giants with his performance. Posey played in just seven games for San Francisco in 2009, hitting .118 and striking out four times in 17 at bats. This season however, something must have clicked because the young catcher is hitting .345 with eight home runs and 42 runs batted in.

Padres will take the series if…

They can score early on the Giants’ starters. The longer they go, the stronger they seem to get. Get to their pitchers early and get into their bullpen.

They can go into the late innings with the lead and hand it to their bullpen.

Giants will take the series if…

They are patient and take pitches. The Padre pitchers will attempt to get ahead and early but wait them out and they will make a mistake.

Their pitchers can keep Ryan Ludwick from becoming a factor. His bat has started to heat up and that’s the last thing they want to see.

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Take a glance around the league and you will likely see most successful teams have a solid cleanup hitter penciled in behind the player batting third to prevent the four-finger salute.

Mark Teixeira enjoys the services of Alex Rodriguez. Albert Pujols has Matt Holiday. Chase Utley knows opposing teams would prefer him not be on base with Ryan Howard coming to the plate. 

In long search of a right-handed bat to protect All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez the Padres (65-46) hope to have found their power source and security blanket in Ryan Ludwick.

Ludwick, acquired from St. Louis in a three-team trade on July 31, hit his first two homers with San Diego Tuesday night, reaching 100 for his career and leading the Padres to a 4-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was the best offensive showing from Ludwick in a San Diego uniform so far. 

In his first eight games, Ludwick was 5-for-28 and admitted he was putting pressure on himself to perform.

“I think anytime you come to a new team, you want to impress,” Ludwick told MLB.com. “You don’t want to mess anything up. They’ve had a good thing all year long. I’m just trying to fit in and be a good teammate.”

The win, coupled with the Giants loss to the Chicago Cubs, widened the Padres lead in the National League West to two and a half games over San Francisco as the division frontrunners gear up for a weekend showdown in San Francisco.

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