thing is if you look at that Cots spread, with the money they have coming off this year....and lets say they up it to 55-60 million, they could have signed Gonzo, albeit it would have cash strapped them for a few years, but if the goal was overall to be at the 75-80M mark in a few years anyway, they could have swung it, backloaded a few contracts...and arguably made it there quicker, as Gonzo probably would have put butts in the seats....
Oh, believe me this is well known on Padres forums, it could have been done, they chose to not even make an offer and to peddle him to the GM's fmr employer for a handful of magic beans. The current owner, more or less, is taking the pooled money from the TV deal and the Luxury Tax, and buying the team instead of signing FA's or retaining players, and the fans know it and have stopped attending the games..which is why the OP hit home as that is the outcome of trading a AGone for 3 beanies. But hey, Kelly finally got his ERA under 4.00 for the first time at AA ball..oh, he has #1 starter stuff, Baseball America said so.
Needless to say, I pop in and out of the MLB Padres board as the atmosphere makes Henne Haters seem like homers, but the last I heard it had dropped from 20k to around 17k and Petco is a massive place.
Ludwick was only making $6.75 million this year, so not sure where you get that 8 million from. However just because the Padres traded Ludwick on 7/31, they were still responsible for the players salary up until there, so the Padres probably paid Ludwick roughly 3 million or so. So they saved about 3 plus million on the deal. Hawpe wasn't DFA, he's out for the year after getting TJ surgery but even if he was DFA the Padres would still be on the hook for his whole salary of 6 million including a 1 million dollar buy out from a team option in 2012. I included these two posts together because even though the Padres cut payroll and it seemingly looks like they could have afforded Gonzalez at 25ish million a year, they would have to compete with 29 other teams trying to sign him as well and also a small market team like the Padres would it really make sense to have 1 player making over 25% of the team's total payroll? As far as attendance, the Padres are averaging 25k per game compared to 26k last year: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SDP/attend.shtml Even with Gonzalez attendance at Padres' games didn't seem to change much in the past 3 years, even last year when the team was in the playoff race up until the final game of the season they only drew 3 thousand extra people. And projections (granted it's not 100% perfect) has the Padres only down 1 thousand fans for the season, again it's not a perfect projection and neither is this one: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml Which shows a comparison from 2010 attendance to 2011 from the beginning of the season to 8/14/10 and 8/14/11 and it shows the Padres attendance is actually UP by 1.5k. Again it's not perfect comparison due to the difference in home games etc. But it helps debunking the myth that Adrian Gonzalez was a draw for the Padres. Yes he was a hometown kid but it doesn't look like he did much to help attendance. By the way, the best way to draw fans is by winning, not a single player unless that player is going for some type of record (ala McGwire or Bonds trying to break the HR record or Jeter getting to 3k hits) but even that is only for a quick fix of a few games. A single superstar player will help sell those extra t-shirts, jerseys or hats but the gates are more important.
The Padres just spend around 11 million dollars in the draft so they were one of the highest spenders this year. Say what you want about Hoyer's trades but he is serious about giving the franchise a much needed make over starting from the bottom with the farm system, which is exactly what small market teams should be doing.
Yeah, that way fans can come out and watch 4A baseball, every now and then compete for a division title (as long as there are still divisions) meanwhile who else is going to suck while they learn to play in MLB so a large market team can sign them? "Sorry Fans of small market teams, we have to develop talent for the Red Sox/Yankees/Tigers/Cardinals, but we still need you to pay to watch our inferior teams, that is just the way it is" Small wonder fans pass on attending.
Nonsense, ticket sales to corporate sponsors do not equal attendance, if one knew the situation the Club President has said they use attendance money to pay the players and since there have been fewer people attending, they cannot afford to pay more for players. If one puts forward the notion that winning improves attendance, then why is it difficult to believe anti competitive moves, such as giving away AGone, is going to lead to a boost in attendance?
I guess you don't see what small market teams like Tampa Bay or Cleveland are doing via the draft and by making trades. Oh well.
I see it clearly if one reads the OP (it has been awhile) not only do those trades rarely work out, they also are made when they do not really have to be made, and even then, there is no replacement who is MLB ready to replace the departed player. It becomes a situation were not only is the "star" gone, and the prospects not likely to work out, but they then merely pocket the difference in salaries between the departed "star" and the new scrubini they bring in to replace them, one points to Cleveland, where is the boon in young MLBers from trading CC Sabathia and Lee in their turnaround? The OP goes through it and they have made little contribution to their unexpectedly competitive season which is typical and why it is White Flag Waving "we are not going to bother to try and win, but enjoy your experience at the ballpark"
Again you're just look at this year instead of looking at the overall future of the franchise. The team wasn't going to be able to resign Gonzalez and even with him the team just wasn't talented enough to be all that good this year. Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward. I'm not sure why it's so hard to get, the team needed a major overhaul from the top to bottom as Kevin Towers left the franchise bone dry from the MLB team to the farm system. Teams like Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Texas already did what San Diego is currently in the process of doing now which is to spend money in the draft and arquire talent via trades. You're just being completely shortsighted in this discussion and you want things right away instead of just stepping back for a season or two. As for the attendance, can you explain to me why there wasn't a bigger increase from 2009 to 2010 when the Padres were good all year and were in the playoff race until the last day of the season? Perhaps San Diego just isn't a good baseball city, since the city itself is just so beautiful and has a lot to offer maybe people are more interesting in going to the beach than to a baseball game. Just a thought.
It's not just the trades from the big stars like Sabathia or Lee but also from the Casey Blakes (Carlos Santana) or Edudardo Perezs (Cabrera, Choo) of the world, not to mention they got Justin Masterson for Victor Martinez. I'm not saying every trade for prospects work out because they obviously fail more often and for every Hanley Ramirez or Mark Teixiera package there are countless bad ones made. However what's the alternative when the team can't sign a superstar? Simply let the player walk for potential draft picks that carry even bigger risks? You just need to give things some time instead of being too quick to judge things. Not every prospect is going to hit right out of the gate like Pujols or Braun. Baseball is a hard game, players, especially young ones do struggle. You can't really judge the impact, whether good or bad, of a prospect trade for a couple of years if you want to be fair about it.
Here is Cleveland's roster and how that player was acquired: C - Carlos Santana - traded for Casey Blake 1B - Matt LaPorta - traded for CC Sabathia 2B - Jason Kipsnis - draft pick SS - Asdrubal Cabrera - traded for Ben Broussard 3B - Lonnie Chisenhall - draft pick RF - Sin-Shoo Choo - traded for Eduardo Perez CF - Grady Sizemore - traded for Bartolo Colon LF - Michael Brantley - traded for CC Sabathia DH - Travis Hafner - traded with Aaron Myette for Einer Diaz and Ryan Drese Bench: UIF - Jason Donald - traded for Cliff Lee C - Lou Marson - traded for Cliff Lee OF - Ezequiel Carrera - traded for Russell Branyan Rotation: Justin Masterson - traded for Victor Martinez Ubaldo Jiminiez - traded for two minor leaguers (both 1st round picks for the Indians) Fausto Caromna - international signing Josh Tomlin - draft pick Carlos Carrasco - traded for Cliff Lee Of the 17 guys that get regular playing time, 12 of them were acquired in trades. I agree it takes time and forces teams to have down years - but I guess I don't understand what you are providing as another option?
No larger a risk is being carried then if a trade happened, and even then, the OP pointed out that when these trades do happen, there is no one behind the star player ready to play in MLB, basically trading something for a handful of nothing heading into a season pretty much means the White Flag is being waived.
Lee brought in Marson and Carrasco Sabathia brought in laPorta and Brantley Laporta= 10 hr/.241 Brantley= 10 hr's 77 rbi's .261 Carrasco=8-9 4.62 Marson is hitting .212
This is completely incorrect. There is a much higher risk in letting the player walk for a potential draft pick(s) instead of trading for prospect(s) for a few reasons: 1. You have to be able to sign the pick, just because you draft the player doesn't mean that player will sign 2. You don't know when the pick will be, meaning it could be in the 1st round, 2nd or you possibly might not even get a draft pick depending on which type the FA follows under (i.e. Type A, B or non type) 3. The draft pick is further away from helping the MLB club than a prospect already in the minor leagues 4. Cost. The cost of signing a draft pick might be higher than getting prospects themselves. 5. Talent, it's possible the draft pick(s) might not be as good or as talented as any prospect(s) you'd get back in a trade.
He doesn't have another option. He's upset the Padres couldn't afford to keep Gonzalez and thus traded him away for prospects he doesn't think are a good enough return for Gonzalez. He just doesn't understand how a small market team can be successful by building the team up starting at the bottom. You need to take steps back sometimes in order to go forward. He just wants results now but it doesn't work like that. The best examples are Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Texas who had to totally remodel the franchises. It happened by drafting better and making trades since those teams couldn't sign the big time FAs to big contracts.
LaPorta hit 10 more homeruns than the empty roster slot that would have been CC Sabathia would have. I agree those trades haven't been huge wins - but when the alternative is simply losing a player outright, it is the far better options. I guess that is what I don't understand - you are upset when small markets don't replace a FA with another player - but then knock the players they got for the trades. Losing the FA to another team nets you NOTHING - where as the trades net you SOMETHING.
And the padres waive Heath Bell, he was claimed by the Giants, oh, this should be fun! And "yes" I know "waive" does not mean "released".
Almost every single MLB player no matter which team he plays for gets put on waivers in August, it's completely normal. Just because a player gets put on waivers doesn't mean he's going to be traded/moved so you can relax a bit as I highly doubt Bell will get moved at this point.
Claimed means even less.....Rockies claimed Wandy from HOU....the price couldnt be agreed and thus Wandy was removed from waivers after the claim and sticks with HOU. Its just a ploy, nothing big. Players go on waivers with the hope of clearing so all teams can be dealt with for possible trade....once claimed by a single team, its not really that big a deal.
This. The Rockies also claimed David Wright last night, does anyone think he's going anywhere right now? This is all just a lot of noise. EDIT: There are now reports saying that Wright wasn't claimed, wasn't put on waivers etc but the point remains, this is normal stuff going on right now.
