The Latest Padres News & Notes…

Okay, I think the sting of the Chargers’ painful AFC Championship Game loss has finally subsided…kind of…not really.  Well, I’m over it enough to start getting excited for Padres baseball again.  Ah, I can almost taste it as spring is rousing from her slumber and preparing to wipe the sleep from her eyes.  The warm San Diego ocean breezes are just around the corner and with them will come a fresh new season of baseball.  So, as spring training approaches, let’s take a look at the latest news surrounding the Friars.  Somebody get me a hot dog.

The most recent talk in Padre-land is the possible acquisition of first baseman Tony Clark.  As a bench player for the NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks (ouch…that hurts to type) last season, Clark batted .249 with 17 homers and 51 RBI in only 221 at bats.  Just to put that into a little perspective, Clark’s 17 homerun blast total puts him ahead of all but four of San Diego’s starters last season!  With bench power like that, the prospect of adding Clark to the roster is very intriguing.  Even better, Clark has significant local ties.  He graduated from Christian High School in El Cajon and attended San Diego State.  At 6′7″ and 240 lbs., the 35 year-old switch-hitter is a beast.  If acquired, Clark would be expected to back up Adrain Gonzalez at first and provide some much needed depth off the bench.  According to Clark’s agent, John Boggs, his client has a 50-50 chance of signing with the Pad’s, but it’s clear that Padres GM Kevin Towers is very interested in the veteran ballplayer and the leadership he could bring.  With a spacious park like Petco to play in, let’s hope the Friars find a way to bring this guy in.

Now, on to centerfield.  I opined in an earlier blog entry about the Padres’ acquisition of centerfielder Jim Edmonds from the St. Louis Cardinals so I won’t cover old ground concerning him right now.  The real question marks arise out of the vacancies behind Edmonds, who is going to back him up if he goes down with injury (which, judging by his recent history, is a very real possibility)?  As of right now, the depth in that particular patch of real estate in the outfield is looking a bit…well, shallow.  Kevin Towers called in to the Coach John Kentera and Joe Tutino show on XX Sports Radio today to discuss the team’s plans at the position.  He alluded to a telephone conversation he had with veteran centerfielder and former Padre Steve Finley last night.  Apparently, Towers is keeping Finley’s contact info near the front of his Rolodex over the next few weeks.  Though the Padres’ GM will be giving infielder Chase Headley a close look this spring as he attempts to make the shift to the outfield, he noted that Finley is “just a phone call away.”  At 43 years old, Finley is certainly past his prime as an impact starter.  However, by all accounts, the centerfielder keeps himself in remarkable shape and could provide the type of leadership and experience necessary to fill in if Edmonds were to miss a significant amount of time.  Not to mention, as a member of the 1998 National League champion Padres, he could prove to be a hit with the fans.

Elsewhere on the roster, the Padres seem to be pretty content with the players they have going in to the 2008 season.  Khalil Greene’s two-year, $11 million contract extension should be finalized any day now, keeping the dynamic shortstop (in ability, not personality) in the infield to provide some more jaw-dropping plays for at least the next couple of seasons.  All things considered, the Padres figure to be, as team CEO Sandy Alderson loves to put it, “competitive” this season.  I’m certainly hopeful, so we’ll have to see how it plays out.

In other baseball news, Rogers Clemens and his ex-trainer/buddy Brian McNamee continue their boyish finger pointing, each one claiming the other to be a liar over Clemens’ alleged steroid use.  Enough print has been wasted on the entire subject so I’ll say just one thing: can’t Clemens find some larger attorneys to be photographed with?  One would think that for a guy who is trying to convince the public that he hasn’t pumped himself full of performance-enhancing drugs wouldn’t want to be seen with a team of lawyers who all look like hobbits next to him.  Is this a Senate investigation or a stage adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels?  Just an observation…

That’s it for now, Padres fans.  Spring training is a mere 20 days away, so let’s dust off those mitts, tar up the bats and put away the stinging 13-inning play-in loss to the Rockies last season.  It’s time for a fresh start and I’ll keep you up to date with all the happenings in and out of the clubhouse leading up to, and through, the 2008 season.  Until that time…

P.S. Perhaps it’s time we retired the NFL Pro Bowl.  Could we be less interested?  It was reported this week that the Chargers’ Jamal Williams and Antonio Gates, among others will be sitting out the exhibition game, to nurse some nagging injuries.  How, exactly, is the public supposed to get excited about a game where the players don’t even have a desire to play the game, let alone win it?  Everyone, it seems, desperately wants to be voted into the Pro Bowl, but participate in it?  Are you crazy?  Jeez…what a joke.

-Collin Elliott

P.S.S. Due to the fact that 3/4 of my last blog entry was mysteriously erased, I have decided to backup this and all future entries on my computer’s hard drive, what a concept.  That’s the kind of forward thinking that will take your faithful narrator straight to the top…