Padres offseason report

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which naturally thrusts me under the Giants/Athletics umbrella when it comes to professional baseball. But I used to live in San Diego, and I lived there for their epic World Series run in 1998, and I've remained a devout Padres fan even during my separation from the Swingin Friars.

I want to take this post to outline how impressed I am with the way this offseason has gone for the Padres.

They unfortunately lost their longtime manager, Bruce Bochy, to the sirens song of more money and security, sung by Peter Magowan and Brian Sabean of the Giants. Bochy was an absolute hit in San Diego, and a great manager, and I hope he does well in San Francisco (doubtful; it's hard to win when the manager is one of the youngest people in the clubhouse). While I think that Bud Black will have a little bit of an uphill climb initially (I don't expect to see any "Black for Mayor" t-shirts replacing the "Bochy for Mayor" shirts), he'll be a competent if not brilliant coach and will be able to manage his talented young team past the retirement home at AT&T Park and hopefully past the re-tooled Dodgers, who seem happy throwing money at their problems and leaving their uber-prospects in Triple-A.

They traded the immensely popular Josh Barfield to the Cleveland Indians for the slugger 3B prospect Kevin Kouzmanoff and long relief man Andrew Brown. While everyone will miss Barfield's talent and personality, I think that the Padres front office felt that he didn't have as high of a ceiling as Kouzmanoff. Barfield has the potential to be a very good second baseman, a legitimate threat at the plate and an above-average defender. Kouzmanoff has the potential to be the next Ryan Howard: a young corner infielder with mind-boggling, Home-Run-Derby-winning power. Plus, Barfield's loss was greatly eased by the addition of Marcus Giles.

The younger Giles brother brings energy, power, and athleticism to the team. But he has two important qualities which I think most Padres fans and writers are overlooking. Firstly, he knows what it's like to be on a team (Atlanta) that competes and wins year after year. That experience and professionalism will be a big help in the Padres young clubhouse. Secondly, I think the Padres front office is hoping that Marcus' presence can rejuvenate Brian Giles to the kind of seasons he had a few years ago. He's still putting up good OBP numbers in Petco Cavern, but his power numbers have plummeted the past few years. People who say that he was a legitimate #3 hitter last year are deluding themselves, but let's hope that Marcus can change that.

Finally, the rotation has gotten two significant additions, both at bargain prices: Greg Maddux and David Wells. Maddux is a future Hall-of-Famer, and can bring a career's worth of experience to the raw talent of Peavy, Young, and Hensley. David Wells is a big-game hurler. He might lose the early-season games against the Pirates, but his worth increases exponentially as the season goes on and the pennant race gets tighter, if he can keep himself healthy. I hate to be added to the ranks of people who scoff at the Gil Meche/$55 million tornado that struck Kansas, but in this market, paying $10 million for Maddux and $3 million for Wells is a steal.

So, with all this in mind, here's to hoping that the Padres have another great season.

To the Padres: Please don't get Jeff Weaver-ed out of the playoffs again.