After an improbable stretch where the San Diego Padres won eight of nine games, they were sitting with a 9-3 record. Since then, they have fallen to 12-15, a bad stretch which included a six-game losing streak. The team has many issues, obviously, but the offense is not doing the job at all. They rank 11th in the NL in runs scored, 15th in batting average and 14th in on-base percentage.
SAN DIEGO -- If there were any doubts that Kevin Towers was a baseball lifer, they were answered on his wedding day.
Just before exchanging vows with his wife in December 1996, the Padres general manager exchanged players with Tigers GM Randy Smith, a member of his wedding party.
"Any time you get baseball people together, especially general managers, regardless of what the venue is or what the situation is, baseball will come up," Towers said. "We started talking about players while we were waiting for my wife to show up. She was running a little late, so we decided to consumate a deal, about 30 minutes before our wedding vows."
MLB Power Rankings:Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.
We're almost there. You can smell it in the air, can't you? That's right ... the NHL playoffs! Ha. I kid, of course. No one actually watches hockey (if it even exists). But people do get amped up for baseball, and the season is upon us. So, in that vein, we've got our final installment of preseason power rankings ready for your digestion. Play ball.
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.
FanHouse begins its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Atlanta Braves.
It's not my typical policy to engage in cheesy headline writing, however, this is GM Frank Wren's second full year at the helm with his team. Things are going to be different, in theory. But more importantly, it might be time to go ahead and realize that this isn't your dad's Braves team, or your older brother's for that matter. After 14 straight division titles, the Braves have been absent from the postseason for two straight years. Wren's job, obviously, is to fix that.
Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.
This city was built on the potential of winning big, and the reality of losing in the same manner, so its fitting to take a look at who won and lost this week at the Bellagio Hotel.
Winners
New York Baseball Fans: Let's see, the Yankees added the best pitcher on the market, and just maybe the best pitcher on the planet, in CC Sabathia and they aren't done yet. A.J. Burnett could be added to the rotation by the end of the week and they'll add another hurler before the end of the winter. Suddenly it looks like they're right there with the Rays and the Red Sox.
Omar Minaya was, by far, the most visible GM in Las Vegas, and that's because he made major upgrades to the Mets' wretched bullpen, signing Francisco Rodriguez and trading for J.J. Putz and Sean Green. The Mets biggest weakness coming into Las Vegas now appears to be a strength.
"It's tough. Jake was pretty shaken by it,'' Axelrod said. "He was starting to think about what life was like to be a Chicago Cub, and now that was taken from him.''
Axelrod also told Heyman that Peavy is "frustrated now more than ever," which I'm guessing could make for an extremely awkward spring training if GM Kevin Towers doesn't find a way to revive talks or find another partner.
In Towers' defense, Peavy didn't help matters by giving the Padres a list of only five teams he'd agree to be traded to, and then playing armchair GM by blocking a trade to the Braves because he felt Atlanta would be giving up too much to remain competitive. It's his right to do so, but don't pout later when things don't work out.
After more back and forth opinions than I've ever seen crammed into two days, Padres general manager Kevin Towers has told reporters that the much-anticipated trade of Jake Peavy to the Cubs is not going to happen because Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has backed out of the deal.
"He said he's got other things going on. I respect his position," Towers said.
Other things would likely be locking down Milton Bradley to play right field, which has been the hot rumor of late for the Cubs. The sticking point was likely that the Cubs could not move Jason Marquis and/or wouldn't trade Mark DeRosa. In order to sign Bradley and acquire Peavy, those two contracts would have to be off the books.
For the Padres, they either have to wait until the Cubs come around, convince Peavy to increase his list of teams for which he's willing to pitch, or head into the 2009 season with him as their opening day starter.
Our MLB editor files dispatches from this year's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.
What happened on the first day of the Winter Meetings? Not very much, though from what I understand that's pretty typical for the first day. The question, of course, is will that change? Yes and no.
Some big names will be on the move in the next few days, but probably not the big names you are thinking of, and it comes down to one man -- CC Sabathia. The market for the very top-tier names runs through the big man, and the sense you got in the Bellagio on Monday is that until Sabathia signs, everyone else is in wait-and-see mode.
It's simple really: Sabathia is arguably the top free agent on the market and certainly the Yankees' top priority this winter. While Sabathia takes his time and does his due diligence -- he's met twice with New York, likely once with Boston and even talked briefly with the Dodgers -- the Yankees are forced to wait. Scott Boras is the agent for most of the other top names available, all of whom will interest the Yankees to varying degrees once, and only once, they get a final answer from Sabathia.
Boras isn't about to send guys like Mark Teixeira, Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez somewhere without first gauging the interest of the team with the most money of all, but it's hard to get a real read on that, particularly with a guy like Teixeira, until Sabathia settles somewhere.
After an improbable stretch where the San Diego Padres won eight of nine games, they were sitting with a 9-3 record. Since then, they have fallen to 12-15, a bad stretch which included a six-game losing streak. The team has many issues, obviously, but the offense is not doing the job at all. They rank 11th in the NL in runs scored, 15th in batting average and 14th in on-base percentage. 
SAN DIEGO -- If there were any doubts that 
FanHouse begins its 
Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in 
If Cubs fans are disappointed to see 
After more back and forth opinions than I've ever seen crammed into two days, Padres general manager 
Our MLB editor files dispatches from this year's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in 
