BigbadB

The only thing I can figure out with Hudson is that his asking price is way too high. He made over 6m last year and he was hurt to end the season for the second straight year. He wasn't as productive as a Mark DeRosa, who was cheaper. His production is certainly better than Aaron Miles, but not several million dollars worth. If he played SS, he'd probably have a job already. As a 2b, it's a bad time to be a free agent 2b.

Why the hell was he at a Jewel concert? Picking up chicks?

No kidding.

Depending on whether Hendry gets Peavy or not, he's either going to come out of this looking like a genius or an idiot. There is no in between.

All reports were that the Padres were the ones enamored with Olson. Baltimore nixed a Khalil Greene to Baltimore deal for Olson.

I don't think anyone is even close to the Cubs in offseason moves. Something still needs to happen with Rich Hill and they still need a back up infielder, even if a Peavy deal doesn't happen. miles is the backup infielder. pretty ironic that the team that won the most games in the league last year is making the most changes. Lou will not begin the season with just one infield back up.

I thought the trade said Cedeno and an MILB pitcher. Olson has been with Baltimore the last two seasons, even if his ML stats suggest MILB.

I don't think anyone is even close to the Cubs in offseason moves. Something still needs to happen with Rich Hill and they still need a back up infielder, even if a Peavy deal doesn't happen.

An infielder of some kind will have to be added, yes. It sounds like they are debating if they want a middle infielder or a corner infielder. That player will likely be signed in free agency and take Hill's 40 man spot when he's traded. Ahh. I see now. It'll probably end up being someone who can play any infield position like Uribe.

I believe so, but I'm always surprised by things that many people say (ahem, Kevin Towers)... so I'm not really confident on what the rules are. Towers can say whatever he wants about Peavy. It's his player.

Assuming Marshall is the #5 right now, the Cubs have Olson, Cotts and Piggy, I believe. Doesn't sound like Cashner will be ready before September at the earliest.

I'd still say it's an overabundance problem. Heilman replaces Cedeno on the 40 man, but the Cubs become short on infield depth. Someone has to be added as a corner infield man, right?

I don't really think the "overabundance" is a problem that needs fixing, is it? Hill is probably gone. Samardzija is in AAA, with Hart and Ascanio (I assume they have options). The spare parts are probably Vizcaino and Guzman (he's out of options now, isn't he?). If Olson has options he can be sent down if they want to keep one of those guys. I believe Raisin posted that Guzman has an option remaining.

Whoops. I forgot to add Chad Fox. I didn't think we were discussing 5th starter. I thought we were talking about an overabundance of pitching in general. Whether these guys are good or bad, most still have 40 man roster spots, so they are with the team. I think if Peavy gets traded, the overabundance of pitching is fixed.

That's exactly my thought on this potential deal. That, or the Padres may prefer taking Heilman instead of Marshall in a Peavy deal. it's gotta be one of the two. the cubs certainly have enough pitching depth as it is. there's no reason to add heilman and not make a corresponding move. I don't know if they have all that much pitching depth as it is. I'd say they have an overabundance if they make this move. If a Peavy deal is in the works and actually happens, then they would take a pretty big hit to the pitching staff. Without Peavy: Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly, Marshall Pen: Olson, Heilman*, Gaudin, Wuertz, Vizcaino, Guzman, Marmol, Gregg, Samardzija, Cotts, Hill, Hart, Ascanio.

1.2m salary last year and lousy stats. 1.5ish WHIP and an ERA over 5.00 Hmmm..has the potential to be that guy in the bullpen who makes me use obscenities and utter the names of religious figures in a blasphemous way a lot. True. But, his previous year stats ('05-'07) make him look pretty good. His walk rate doubled last year, which is pretty scary.

1.2m salary last year and lousy stats. 1.5ish WHIP and an ERA over 5.00

need anything else? Gracias again.

Gracias.

This is a no brainer, IMO. I wonder what kind of pitching will need to be included? Rich Hill? Vizcaino? How much is Heilman due to make this year?

What did Seattle give up to get Heilman?

I've never liked the rating system. A better system might be where a player ranks among their own roster when the season ends. In other words, how much is the team that is losing that player affected by the loss of said player. Service time with that team could also be factored in. Looking at Sabathia as an example, would Milwaukee have traded for Sabathia knowing that they wouldn't get compensation for him if he left at season's end? An argument can be made that he ended up being their best player even in a short season role with the team. But, his lack of service time with that team would negate draft pick compensation. MLB or Elias could go in at the end of each season and rank each player on the roster 1-25 (free agent or not). Players who are in the top 5 would receive draft pick compensation similar to the current "A" picks. Players who are in the 6-10 range would be "B" players where teams get compensation based on the current "B" picks. Everyone below that would get nothing. In this case, Juan Cruz would probably not be an "A". Webb, Haren, C. Jackson, Drew and Young would be a top 5 example. Randy Johnson, Adam Dunn, Hudson, Lyon and Reynolds would probably fall into the 6-10 range, making Cruz a non draft pick compensation signing. I don't know. Maybe something like that wouldn't work either. I just hate the current ranking system.

This became more true when they made the move to Petco. Qualcomm got decent enough attendance even when the team sucked. You're always complaining about Petco, but man, I like that place. Wasn't part of the point of Petco to build a little smaller stadium, because the Murph was a huge stale football stadium? From 1990-2003 they were getting between 1.7m-2.5m, with yearly declines from 98-03, closing at just 2.0 million. They've gone up and down in Petco, and had 2.4 million this past year, the low. But my guess is the revenue from the new stadium is much better than what they were getting in the old place. 2.0 million at Petco is worth more than 2.0 at the Murph. I'm not complaining at all about Petco. Reread my post. I like the park. There are great seats all over the stadium. It is a nice park. I personally don't like the non smoking thing, but my post wasn't about me. It's about the biggest percentage of Padres fans I know. They were very comfortable with tailgating before games. The convenience of Qualcomm's location made it a decent ride no matter what part of the county you lived in. The price was always better at Qualcomm. Petco's location downtown is a major pain in the ass. Whether they are coming from Encinitas, Oceanside, Escondido, Poway, El Cajon or Eastlake, the drive is a good half an hour just to get to the ramps that lead downtown. Then you hit the parking lot, which are all the roads leading down to the park. Then you pay $20-$30 for a parking place wherever you can find a spot to park. You are battling all the other people who come downtown to eat dinner, see a show, etc..... Tailgating isn't allowed. Me? I could care less about tailgating. But, that's what people did when they got off work, rather than drive all the way home. What I've been saying about the Padres needing to field a competitive team is exactly that. If they don't, their attendance will suffer like they've never seen it suffer before. I may end up being wrong, but I suppose we will see this year. Last year's offseason is too hard to gauge, since they were coming off a winning season and lost out on a playoff spot to Colorado in a one game playoff. If fans knew how quickly they would hit rock bottom, their season ticket sales would have taken a huge hit last year. This is the year we will see the full effect of being a sucky team. I'd be happy to make a friendly wager with you that Petco's attendance will be worse than any season they put up of the year's you listed at Qualcomm.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/17/1s17padres221147-season-ticket-sales-plunge/?uniontrib This became more true when they made the move to Petco. Qualcomm got decent enough attendance even when the team sucked.

How many people could possibly be deciding on whether or not they renew/buy seasons tickets based on whether or not Peavy returns? Considering how much talk there has been of a Peavy trade, wouldn't the people most likely to ditch if Peavy is gone have already decided not to buy? Peavy isn't the only factor. The economy by itself is probably going to be a huge factor in what will likely be a huge dropoff in season ticket sales. I've been suggesting ever since the Padres opened up the ballpark downtown that they can no longer play the fire sale game they've played in the past. The ease of access to Qualcomm, the ability to tailgate, the cheaper ticket prices, etc... made it where people didn't mind going to a game as much at Qualcomm. Petco is a whole new ballgame. Difficulty in getting downtown for a game, no tailgaiting and higher ticket prices will not bring people out to see a horrible product on the field. Maybe season ticket sales won't depend on whether Peavy is a Padre or not. I'm just speculating. But, when your starting rotation is Chris Young and a whole bunch of guys Padres fans have never heard of, I think it can definitely hurt more than help.