Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
About halfway through the 2009 season, the San Diego Padres looked poised to be among the worst teams in baseball. They were 38-62 and being outscored at an alarming rate. All of a sudden, though, they seemed to put some things together. In their last 62 games, they won 37 (a .597 winning percentage). There seems to be a foundation of youth in place, though they aren't yet ready to compete with the Dodgers, Giants or Rockies in the NL West.
The biggest issue is their offense. It's been well-documented it's tough to score runs in their home park because it sucks the power out of anyone. True to form, the Padres were last in the NL in slugging percentage and 13th in home runs. Still, it's not just the ballpark. Their .321 OBP was 12th in the NL, which was a major they scored fewer runs than everyone in the NL except the Pirates.
The San Diego Padres have made no secret of the fact that they're going with a youth movement to try and rebuild their franchise. They've traded Jake Peavy for four young pitchers, and reportedly came close to moving first baseman Adrian Gonzalez at the trade deadline as well.
- Apparently David Eckstein is not too worried about winning anymore. The 34-year-old middle infielder, who already has two world series rings, had the chance to be traded to the Twins and turned it down. The Twins are hanging in the AL Central race for dear life, so it's not like the postseason was a given. Still, the Padres are far out of anything relevant and are one of the worst teams in baseball.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That things got weird, awfully weird, at Petco Park on Sunday. The Diamondbacks carried a five-run lead into the ninth inning against San Diego thanks to seven innings of one-run ball by Dan Haren and a scoreless inning of relief by Tony Pena.
Then the wheels really fell off.
Juan Gutierrez and Chad Qualls surrendered five runs in the ninth, the last three of which came on a game-tying home run by light-hitting David Eckstein. Eckstein has 20 career homers in nine professional seasons, and a career slugging average of .359. So if you're keeping score, one of the most punchless players in the majors went deep in the most cavernous park in baseball, and things were only starting to get interesting.
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.
Throughout the history of baseball, fans of the game have always sought out the players they could relate to. Sure, the superstars of the game receive a lot of love and adulation from their fans, but those fans also realize that they're never going to be able to hit 755 homers or hit .400. That's why there are always those cult favorites on every team. The scrappy guy who doesn't have the most talent, but through his hard work and dedication he gets the job done.
(For an example of this, just look at all those general managers who keep giving David Eckstein a job.)
Now in Detroit there's a pitcher who just about every baseball fan outside of the Bronx can relate to, not just Tigers fans. Turns out that like most of us, flame-thrower Joel Zumaya isn't much of a fan of the New York Yankees. In fact, he can't stand them.
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.
HAVE YOU HEARD? YANKEE STADIUM HAS A WIND TUNNEL!!! Does it matter/is it real? Probably not. In fact, it might actually be on the other end of the spectrum of importance when compared to MLB Power Rankings. This week, we welcome another brand new No. 1 at the top of our rankings, although, all spoiler alerts aside, it's from the same division as last week! Debate the quality of your team, after the jump.
The San Diego Padres, picked to finish last by pretty much everyone who follows baseball, have stormed out of the gate to a 6-2 start. This has to be a shock to even the majority of the team's own fans. Then again, they've got 154 games left to play, and it's difficult to imagine them staying in the thick of things for long, even in that sub-par division. Personally, I still believe they'll finish last.
Dan Haren has been awful this spring. Adam Jones is raking, as is Chris Shelton. Michael Bourn has been a completely worthless hitter. Of the above players, two have stat-lines that matter, and two have ones that don't.
You see, judging spring training stat-lines in fantasy baseball can be helpful, but you don't want to get too caught up in it. After all, the games are meaningless. Most established veterans are just going through the motions in attempt to get their body ready for the real season. For them, the stat-lines are meaningless. Thus, I don't care that Haren has sucked thus far. I'd still draft him with confidence.
Let's take a deeper look at a when they matter, when they don't, and why.
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.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
The 
Starting Five
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. 
Throughout the history of baseball, fans of the game have always sought out the players they could relate to. Sure, the superstars of the game receive a lot of love and adulation from their fans, but those fans also realize that they're never going to be able to hit 755 homers or hit .400. That's why there are always those cult favorites on every team. The scrappy guy who doesn't have the most talent, but through his hard work and dedication he gets the job done.
The San Diego Padres, picked to finish last by pretty much everyone who follows baseball, have stormed out of the gate to a 6-2 start. This has to be a shock to even the majority of the team's own fans. Then again, they've got 154 games left to play, and it's difficult to imagine them staying in the thick of things for long, even in that sub-par division. Personally, I still believe they'll finish last. 
