San Diego Padres

By now the narrative is well established. The San Diego Padres, and more specifically new general manager A.J. Preller, blew up the team’s farm system, trading away future talent for the possibility of some present success. As we all know, that strategy did not work out the way the Padres had planned, and Preller is left to pick up the pieces of a confused big league roster with a thin…

When the Padres acquired Craig Kimbrel last offseason, Padre fans were abuzz. Not only did the Padres get one of the best closers in all of baseball, but they also had made several trades to revamp a historically bad offense. The Padres did give up talent, and took on the contract of Melvin Upton Jr. that the Braves desperately wanted rid of, but nevertheless, Kimbrel was worth that price for…

The market for veteran right hander Bronson Arroyo is picking up steam. Arroyo told me decision on signing could be soon. Nats offered minor lg deal. #reds could present offer soon. He threw on Fri. Story coming — Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) January 25, 2016 In addition to the interest from the Reds and Nationals, the Marlins, Pirates, and Padres have all expressed at least some level of interest. It appears…

The majority of San Diego Padres criticism and focus from the media, fans, and evaluators has been on the black hole at short-stop, and the void in left field now — with Justin Upton signing with the Tigers. The Padres have added veteran shortstop — Alexei Ramirez on a one year deal with a mutual option; which looks to be an absolute bargain. That should end some of the fan…

With most of the biggest free agents now off the market, attention now turns to the a more risky yet intriguing options. Qualifying offer players, such as Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler, and Yovani Gallardo, still remain on the market. While no one has questioned the talent of those players, they still come with some question marks. However, players like Doug Fister and Cliff Lee come with even bigger question marks. Tim…

The San Diego Padres starting staff is strength for the team. James Shields, Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner are more than capable of being absolutely dominant on any given night. Shields is being paid as the teams ace, but in reality Tyson Ross is the Padres best starting pitcher. Shields had a down year last year, but in all reality he wasn’t as bad as most Padres fans would have…

When the Padres traded Chase Headley to the Yankees in July of 2014, many viewed the trade as a “dump” for them. Headley’s time in San Diego had passed and both sides needed to go in a different direction. In return for Headley, the Padres acquired Yangervis Solarte and Rafael De Paula. At the time, analysts viewed Solarte as an “old” rookie and De Paula as the main piece, with…

The San Diego Padres selected a little known first baseman with their 15th round selection in the 2015 draft. Not much was known about Brad Zunica except that he had tremendous power. At 6′ 6″ and 250 lbs, Zunica is a big target at first base. He has a very powerful stroke and at the age of 20, just seems to be blossoming into his potential. His sophomore year in…

Fernando Rodney Not a lot of big news came out of Padre land this week. Probably the biggest news, being that is was the only real notable news, was the signing of RHP Fernando Rodney. The Padres are offering Fernando Rodney plenty of incentives. 1-year guarantee is $2M. 2-year max is $18.6M. https://t.co/L0N5GDgevx — Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) January 20, 2016 The deal is kind of complicated. For a base salary…

The San Diego Padres made some huge additions to the outfield last season. The acquisitions of Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Wil Myers left little doubt who would be the starting outfielders for the Padres in 2015. Fast forward to the 2016 season and only Matt Kemp will hold an outfield spot on the Padres. Justin Upton left via free agency and for the time the Padres seem set to have Wil…

In this edition of the weekly prospect spotlight series here at East Village Times, Patrick Brewer puts the spotlight on Padres pitching prospect Brad Wieck. With the flurry of trades last offseason, the Padres remade their major league roster. In the process, the front office also remade the farm system. Many promising prospects, such as Matt Wisler, Max Fried, Mallex Smith, Joe Ross, Trea Turner, found themselves to be expendable,…

In this fourth installment of the Padres EVT Podcast we bring you Jesse Agler, one of the voices of the San Diego Padres. Although Jesse has been a member of the Padres team for just two seasons, he has endeared himself to many a Padre fan. We talk to Jesse about how he got his start in the business and the experiences that cultivated him into the broadcaster he is…