FanHouse Cha Seung Baek

FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the San Diego Padres.

You know that scene in Caddyshack where Chevy Chase turns to Rodney Dangerfield and says, "You're not ... you're not good, Al. You stink" If Kevin Towers was sitting near me right now, that's what I would say. And one would imagine if there wasn't so much ownership turmoil around the Padres right now, someone else might have noticed as well.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Worst team in baseball. Much like the 2008 incarnation, there are very few bright spots on the 2009 San Diego Padres. Jake Peavy is obviously awesome (although he does have a lot of mileage already), Adrian Gonzalez has been quite consistent the past few years, Chase Headley is dreamy if you're one of those folks that are obsessed with prospects (/raises hand), and Heath Bell might be able to save some games ... if the Pads can get him a lead.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

After clinging to contender-ship for the past few years, it seems as though last season was a wake-up call to San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers. Trevor Hoffman will not be the closer this year, Khalil Greene is likely to be traded, and Jake Peavy is definitely going to be traded. Let's examine what triggered this.

The Padres can't hit, and they are not in position to develop an offense any time soon. They had been able to survive with little offense the previous three seasons because their pitching and defense -- teamed with their home-field advantage in spacious Petco Park -- was able to churn out those 3-2 and 2-1 victories enough times to stay competitive. That all went by the wayside in 2008, as significant time was missed by Peavy and Chris Young atop the rotation (they made only 45 combined starts after making 64 in 2007) and the rest of the starters were shaky all season. In turn, the team ERA ballooned from 3.70 to 4.41.

The question as to whether the San Diego Padres need to make trades is not so much a "yes or no" thing as it is a "why the hell hasn't Kevin Towers gotten started yet?" kind of thing.

San Diego needs a lot of stuff, although mainly offense. Adrian Gonzalez is still somehow underrated, but having to carry the entire team on his back isn't good for anyone. Chase Headley is also a great future prospect, but the Fathers are too loaded with usable veterans not to make a move for some offensive upside.

You have to assume that Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Josh Banks and Cha Seung Baek can form four-fifths of a decent rotation to start 2009. No, seriously. Have you seen the NL West?

The state of the division -- 10.5 back in the NLW = epicFAIL -- is exactly why the Pads should have been peddling sooner, or at the very least trying to drive up the value of some of their pitchers, specifically Randy Wolf and Greg Maddux.

Maddux has a no-trade clause, but you have to think he'd be willing to get moved to a contender that's close to his native San Diego, and Los Angeles has plenty of prospects they want to deal.

Trevor Hoffman may be the all time saves leader and an all time great Padre, but he's also on the downslope, albeit the top, of his career and would be a superb addition to a playoff team.

Really, if they can get back some prospects or a decent offensive player for 2009, anyone on the Padres except Peavy, Gonzo and Headley should be on the market.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

San Diego Padres (23-35) vs. Chicago Cubs (36-21) - 10:05PM Est.

For the first time since 1908, the Chicago Cubs have the best record in baseball on June 2nd. You know what else the Cubs haven't done since 1908? Yep, they haven't won a World Series. I'm pretty sure that this is a sign that the 100-year wait is finally going to come to an end.

Don't worry about the fact that even though they've won seven in a row, they've yet to experience an injury to a starting pitcher the last two seasons (how long can that last?), and they currently have a run differential of freaking +92 on the season, they're still only 2.5 games up on the St. Louis Cardinals.

That World Series is theirs.

Unless, of course, the league forces them to play games on the road in the postseason.