Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 31, 2006
Golden Tickets

Michael Klitzing compares the Padres to Charlie Bucket.

The Padres haven't been as active (read: insane) as others teams this offseason, and I understand why that might not sit well with their fans.

But building a winning franchise has rarely involved throwing superstar money at average players. The Padres are instead using a model that helped the Detroit Tigers reach the World Series last season: add a new manager and a veteran pitcher to a young team and hope those kids develop fast.

It remains to be seen if Greg Maddux will have the Kenny Rogers effect (I know a few local cameramen who hope he won't) but even if he doesn't, at least signing a proven veteran to a one-year deal (with a player option for 2008) isn't as stupid as throwing $126 million of guaranteed money at a guy who admits to listening to John Mayer.

It could be that the Padres are developing more like the Athletics. Good enough to be in contention and win most years, but not good enough to go deep in the playoffs.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:54 AM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Uh, not that there's anything wrong with listening to John Mayer.

Posted by: cwp at December 31, 2006 12:48 PM

Nate Silver thinks the Padres might be the best team in the National League. It's certainly something you can argue, as opposed to the start of last year with Vinny Castilla and Eric Young on the roster.

Posted by: Marc Normandin at December 31, 2006 01:09 PM
Good enough to be in contention and win most years, but not good enough to go deep in the playoffs.

Given that an 83-win team just won the Series, how great is the difference, exactly, between those two.
Any team good enough to get into the playoffs is good enough to win.

Posted by: Eugene at January 1, 2007 11:22 AM

Exactly. Any team that makes the playoffs can win the World Series.

Posted by: Richard at January 2, 2007 12:27 PM

Exactly. Any team that makes the playoffs can win the World Series.

Posted by: Richard at January 2, 2007 12:28 PM
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