Posts Tagged ‘Grady Fuson’

Has anyone really noticed what Alderson and Fuson has done ?….

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

There has been much credit given to Former Padres GM Kevin Towers on the current success of the 2010 Padres. Though, there are a few players that were drafted under Alderson and Fuson who are having an impact on their teams. I am speaking of Cardinals’ 3B David Freese and Yankees’ OF Chad Huffman. The latter was a re-assignment during the last few weeks in Spring Training where the Yankees end up claiming. It was no surprise they did so, why? Because who is the scout for the Yankees, yes that Former Padres’ GM Kevin Towers. This time, he will get credit for picking up Huffman but the truth these type of players were never drafted under his leadership as the GM of the Padres. This Padres franchise is loaded up with some great prospects in the farm system and credit is all due to Sandy Alderson’s leadership. Let’s not forget what Sandy Alderson did for this organization when it was in shambles in terms of minor league talent. I am glad to see a couple of former Padres minor league talent make it with other teams.

Homestand coming up…..

This upcoming 3 game series at home with the Rockies is very important. The Padres have a chance to make the lead larger by beating the Rockies while the Dodgers and Giants battle each other out.  A Padre win guarantees, two western division teams will lose a game in the standings. I bet, everyone on the club knows of this. The weekend series against the Astros will not be a cake walk either. The Astros are playing much better and there is a fella named Roy Oswalt on that team who’s a damn good pitcher. The Dodgers and Rockies will be battling each other during this time, so once again a Padre win correlates to one team in the division standings losing a game in the standings. It all comes down to putting more pressure on those teams who are chasing the Padres in the standings. So with that being said, Come on San Diegan’s attend a few games this week and holiday weekend. The Padres are for real.

As the Padres ended the Florida Trip with 5-1 record, here’s a music video by Joe Cocker titled “Feelin’ Alright”. I am sure the Padres are feeling alright as well as many San Diego Padres fans throughout our wonderful Nation.

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We are here to stay……

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

I’ve been traveling back and forth to the greater Los Angeles basin the past two weekends and I will tell you this much. The Angelenos are very very aware of the Padres. In fact, most of them are very reserved about making any type of remarks in regards to the Padres. What does this tell me? The Padres have many people outside San Diego wondering if this team is for real. As we draw closer to 4th of July, I guarantee the fans in LA, SF and Colorado will be more on the edge due to the rise of the San Diego Padres. How come ? To be quite honest a few well respected baseball people have noticed the Padres and here are some of the comments and quotes:

  1. During St. Louis Cardinals series in San Diego, Redbirds Manager Tony La Russa came away very impressed with the Padres. You can read La Russa’s thoughts.
  2. After completing six game series with the Padres, New York Mets RF Jeff Francoeur comments on the Padres.

I am sure as the season progresses there will be many more positive comments on the Padres. For now, the team will continue to play outstanding ball and make some noises. Speaking of noises, there has been a few made in the midwest from ex-Padre Ace Jake Peavy.

Hot Air has arrived in Chicago, though it’s not the Humidity….

Former Padres’ Ace Jake Peavy continues to take shots at the Padres organization. Unfortunately, this brings back memories of 2008 season when both Trevor Hoffman and Jake Peavy were very critical of the Padres Front Office (Sandy Alderson’s Regime) philosophy. Basically, it was the veterans who were very boring, slow and ineffective during the 2008 while Alderson, Grady Fuson, and a few others in the Front Office were rebuilding the Padres farm system. Ironically, now those two players whom were very critical of their franchise, are now non-productive for their respective teams Cubs and Brewers while the Padres are flourishing. Mind you, the pitching staff was built by former GM Kevin Towers but the positional players were all drafted by Alderson and Fuson oversight. The Padres current farm system is the reflection of the hard work that Alderson and Fuson put forth during 2005 thru 2009. Being a player, Jake Peavy should focus more on lowering his 5 + ERA and closing that 8 game gap from 1st place than his previous employer activities. We (San Diegans) still haven’t forgotten that Peavy did not win any post season game during the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Padres.

Do you believe in Miracles?…..

Yesterday afternoon as I was spending time with relatives, we were watching MLB Network on cable. The MLB Network was showing the 1988 World Series game 1 and the heroics of Dodgers’ LF Kirk Gibson. I made a bold comment that I felt Padres’ 2b David Eckstein will be OUR Kirk Gibson for the magical 2010 season. Many people in the house simply look at me with deers in the headlight stare, as I had caught them off guard with the comment. I see many familiar traits between the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers and 2010 San Diego Padres. Though, Padres have more team speed and a better pitching staff overall.

Well to close out this post, I will dedicate this music video to Chicago White Sox P Jake Peavy. A song by Ruth Brown and BB King titled “Ain’t Nobody’s business”, do enjoy.

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The New Kids on the Block…..

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

As April closes, the Padres are in FIRST PLACE in the National League West Division. Yup ! You heard that right Padres Fans ! With all due respect, I take my hat off and congratulate Ex-Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and Ex-Padres Baseball Operations Grady Fuson. These two people laid down the foundation and literally built up the farm system from ground zero. A few journalist who covers baseball fail to acknowledge this and give credit to former GM Kevin Towers. I disagree completely, though I will admit Kevin Towers did make some trades, most notably the Jake Peavy and Scott Hairston which brought in a handful of pitchers. Fox Sports baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal had alluded that Kevin Towers had built this team. If Rosenthal had did some homework, he would have found over the course of 15 years, Towers was never known for his farm system.

May is here and things are going to get even more interesting. So far the Padres are making news around the league and some players have been on ESPN and MLB Network highlights. According to Fox Sports Baseball Power Rankings, the Padres are 8th and if you don’t believe me check this out here. I still believe this Padres team will end up the NL Wild-Card entry. The style of baseball they play can legitimately be successful in any ball park. This team reminds me like those St. Louis Cardinals, that Whitey Hertzog had with the rabbits (Vince Coleman, Ozzie Smith, and Willie McGhee) and Bomber (Jack Clark). Though, our Padres version has more power with Adrian, Kyle Blanks, Will Venable and Chase Headley.

Player of the Month – April

This is a tie between LHP Wade LeBlanc, 3B Chase Headley, and RHP Tim Stauffer. All three players had a profound affect on the Padres record during April. LeBlanc, substituting for Chris Young has been very impressive and surely earned a starting spot in the rotation. As I had mentioned before on a previous post, the Padres are going to make a move or two before May. Well May is here, give and take a week or so, the move is coming. Headley has assumed the clean-up spot and providing great protection for Adrian Gonzalez. Not only that, Headley has driven in runs when the opposing pitchers have walked Adrian intentionally. As for Stauffer, his value continues to skyrocket just like a few silver junior mining stocks are doing at the moment. Stauffer has provided the Padres outstanding long relief and has been vital in keeping the staff fresh. Kudos to these three players, and Padres fans, let’s give them a round of applause during the games when these player names are announced.

As I close out this post, and the Padres are creeping up on the so called experts charts, here’s a song titled ‘The Creeper’ by Blues artist James Cotton. Let’s Go Padres, send out a signal MAY DAY !…THE PADRES ARE FOR REAL !!…

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More shuffling the cards of decks though the dealer remains the same….

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

The second half of the season has begun and unfortunately for all Padres fans, the results remain the same. Padres just called up Pitcher Mat Latos and will make his major league debut on Sunday against the Rockies. The Sandy Alderson and Grady Fuson protege will finally show those people who had lack of confidence in the Alderson regime that their drafting philosophy was in fact legit. The roster continues to be overhauled with majority of talent that was drafted by Sandy Alderson’s regime. Though, since Alderson has been let go the most prominent front office personnel is Kevin Towers. I would imagine, Towers is being closely watch and observe thoroughly these last few months of the season. As with all cases, new ownership and CEO usually want their own hand pick people, given consideration that recently hired Bob Melvin has been given the title of assessing the current minor league system. This move is quite significant, Towers and Fuson may be the next ones to be let go from their current responsibilities and titles. I, personally think the Grady Fuson has made a huge impact on the Padres minor league system. In my most humble opinion, it is Towers who should be shown the door. With that being said, what will be Mgr Bud Black status? I would re-sign Black for 3 yrs and let him work with the youngsters. Black had worked with many throughout his days with the Angels and deserves a fair shot given consideration the situation he was placed in by Kevin Towers.

The Padres should demote P Josh Greer and cut their loses with Greer. Let’s bring up Carrillo, Buschmann, and any other pitcher who should have a legit shot of starting. I like the fact Tim Stauffer is looking rather quite emotionally and physically strong. I still believe in Stauffer, and most Padres should remember Stauffer was already hurting physically when he got drafted initially. I foresee a starting rotation of Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Kevin Correria, Tim Stauffer, and Mat Latos

It’s time for the Padres to have some fun, and I will conclude this post with a music video by Con Funk Shun, song titled ‘FUN’. Do enjoy Padres fans and let’s have some fun while going to the games.

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USA Manager Johnson makes a wise decision…..

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

Manager Davey Johnson made his mind to start Roy Oswalt instead of Jake Peavy for the semi-final game against Japan. This is a wise decision, since Peavy historically had bad performances in the big games. Oswalt is far more tranquil during huge games and has demonstrated that during his post-season performances. If you put yourself into USA Manager Johnson’s mind, the strategy could be that if USA wins tonight there is a chance the entire staff will be ready for the championship game. I am taking into account that if Peavy falters during the championship game, rather then exposing the entire staff for the semi-final game which could have an impact on the championship game if USA qualifies. As it stands, the South Koreans are awaiting after bombarding the powerful Venezuela team by the score of 10-2. That 5-run first inning sealed the game for the South Koreans since the Venezuela team never recovered from that. Who will be facing the South Koreans? Let me hear your voice !

Back in Peoria…..
Kyle Blanks continues to tear up the opposing pitchers and he is doing his best to force the hands of those in the Padres Front Office. Blanks has perked Grady Fuson’s attention already as Grady has hinted to Kevin Towers that Blanks will take fly balls during warm-ups in the minors. There are others who are making a push to the big leagues, specifically Wil Venable and Chad Huffman. Anyone on this roster with no doubt should be overlooking their shoulders, especially those who carry a huge salary. I expect to see some trades within the 1st half of the season as the Padres have no choice. Shortly, there should be some news on the impending sale of the club to Jeff Moorad. I feel sad for Sandy Alderson, since many fans in San Diego were highly critical of his decisions as the Padres Executive. Though, if you step back and re-analyze what Alderson brought to the table in terms of stability and a process for baseball operations. You have to applaud him and this club wouldn’t be on the verge of making some noise without those important and key fundamentals of baseball operations that Sandy implemented.

As spring unfolds in Peoria, the club is about to come together. Which leads to the next video, John Lennon ‘Come Together’

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Tribes defeat Padres 5-3….

Friday, February 27th, 2009

The bright sunlight and high blue skies in Goodyear Arizona, the adjacent city to Avondale where I had purchased property back in 2002 has definitely grown since then. Well, the City of Goodyear/Litchfield Park most specifically. The brand new Spring Training complex of the Cleveland Indians and soon Cincinnati Reds lies just outside the Goodyear Airport. This is where the Indians defeated the Padres by the score of 5 -3. Throughout the game, there were some flashes of good signs to come in the near future.

  • 1B Kyle Blanks ripping a single to center, displaying an excellent batting eye with patience.
  • OF Luis Durango slapping a hit to center and stretching it for a double. Durango’s speed was on display and re-confirms Grady Fuson’s comment that Luis is the Padres version of Juan Pierre. Later on, Durango took off on a wild pitch and beat the throw to 3b.
  • P Cesar Ramos retired the side in the 3rd Inning with two flyouts. The first Padres pitcher to do so for the day.
  • P Ivan Nova strucked out two and looked very impressive. The Rule 5 draft from the Yankees has a chance to stick onto the club.

It’s only the 2nd game of Spring Training, though I really do like the young pitchers that Padres have. I still stick to my wild-card in Matt Buschmann to press on for that 4th or 5th spot. In the same token, I do have my doubts on Cha Seung Baek. Baek gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the 1st to put the Tribe ahead for good. My projected rotation before camp breaks would be: Peavy, Young, Silva, Correia, Geer/Buschmann. Just imagine if Mark Pryor re-emerges in May or June, now the staff looks even deeper on paper. Yes on paper ! One thing about this year’s camp, there will be an enormous amount of competition for several slots on the ballclub. That type of environment usually brings out the best in the prospects and one or two may spring board onto the club. Remember, back in 2002 when some Double AA pitcher from Mobile made his appearance against the Yankees — Jake Peavy — The question who will be that player this year ? Buschmann ? Inman ? Schmidt ?

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