insidethepadres

Newsstand

2013-05-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

A few articles from recent weeks: the Headley situation (part 2); the Padres penchant for ending up covered in mud when they make a big spending splash; and Ron Fowler's feisty past as a team owner.

Newsstand

2013-04-24T10:35:00.002-07:00

Another day, another Padres story: is it better to be putrid than mediocre?

Newsstand

2013-04-22T19:48:00.004-07:00

Thanks for dropping by the place. Don't mind the cobwebs.

Here, following, are several Padres-related articles I've written in recent weeks: Why Giants fans owe Padres fans a gift or two; the benefits and challenges of an "extreme pitcher's" ballpark (hint: this one's in San Francisco, where the fences aren't being moved in); what course to set regarding Chase Headley; an AL exec's interpretation of what awaits Carlos Quentin; new ownership's embrace of Josh Byrnes; and a reminder that boring Old Petco was good to the Padres, at least on the field.

The beer man

2013-04-01T10:51:00.001-07:00

Ron Fowler, the new control owner of the Padres, is used to being an underdog, and succeeding as one. My story on him.

Scouts chat Padres, MLB

2013-03-27T20:43:00.002-07:00

2013 Pink Pony Scouts Chat.

Pony update

2013-03-26T23:06:00.003-07:00

Yes, the Pink Pony Scouts Chat will return, marking the third spring in a row we hear from several of MLB's scouts and evaluators. They'll review an unusually long spring training and on occasion look ahead. Keep an eye on utsandiego.com's Padres page, and I'll also post a link here.

Mysterious Snakes

2012-12-12T13:58:00.001-08:00

Diamondbacks fans are furious. They say Kevin Towers is ruining their team.

Snakes fans can't believe the Gunslinger has traded Trevor Bauer, the No. 3 pick in of 2011 draft, for a Triple-A shortstop who swings a glass bat. If Snakes fans are correct about the trade, the Padres stand to benefit from Towers' moment of delirium in the desert.

Frankly, I don't know what to make of the trade, but having written about Bauer while he was at UCLA and when he was rising up Arizona's farm system, I'm curious to see how his career develops. There's no doubting Bauer's repertoire is that of frontline starter. Typically, teams embrace such a prospect.

Towers told reporters the trade had nothing to do with Bauer's quirky pregame throwing routine or his reported disagreements about pitch selection with Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero. It's simple, the GM said. The Diamondbacks sought Didi Gregorius, the Reds shortstop prospect, and getting him meant dealing Bauer as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Indians. Cincinnati already had a starting shortstop in Zack Cozart. Arizona's expectation is that Gregorius will provide defense that ranges from good to excellent. In time, it's hoped that he'll become a decent hitter.

For what it's worth, young Brandon Crawford, another deft fielder whose lefty bat was thought lacking, helped the Giants win a World Series as their regular shortstop this year.

Bauer is said to have some growing up to do, so I asked scouts about the bright 21-year-old, who studied engineering at UCLA.

Is Bauer a candidate to wind up on a police blotter? No.

Has he fallen in love with Lindsay Lohan? Not that my sources knew of.

Is he lazy? No. In fact, it's said that he may overly prepare both his body and mind.

Here's what I gleaned from scouts about Bauer's intangibles:
* Bauer is very competitive. Sometimes, he blames others when he'd be better off looking at his own role in a bad result. Example: veteran teammates thought he showed up Diamondbacks Triple-A manager Brett Butler last September when Butler removed him from the Triple-A championship game.

* Bauer can come off as too devoted to his famous long-toss throwing regimen, in which he throws from foul pole to foul pole. Example: when the Diamondbacks were in muggy Atlanta and Cincinnati, they wanted Bauer to scale back his long-tossing so that he'd have enough energy during the game. Bauer apparently disagreed, and appeared gassed when he pitched in those cities.

* The Diamondbacks thought he defied their pitching gameplan in some outings.

I'd file all of the above under, "Live and Learn." It's hard to believe those incidents led the Diamondbacks to trade Bauer. It'll be interesting to see if Bauer performs as well as Jarrod Parker did for the A's last season. Parker was another pitching prospect traded by the Gunslinger, as Snakes fans were quick to point out after learning of the Bauer trade.

Scouts say Bauer's arm is tremendous. Nitpicking, some evaluators wish the righty were more athletic, which would allow him to have better body control. Some question his ability to get major league hitters to chase pitches out of the strikezone, a key to his dominance at UCLA.

I wish the best for Bauer, who is one of the more interesting propects of recent years.

For Gregorius, the challenges will include the infield surface at Arizona's ballpark. Shortstops say it's one of trickier surfaces because it's quicker than most and can be less true than, say, Petco Park. Scouts say Gregorius has the tools to become an above-average defender, regardless the venue.

Hail the victors

2012-10-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Bruce Bochy and Tim Flannery, World Series champions.

What a run it's been for the two former Padres players and staffers who reunited with the Giants in late 2006.

In two postseasons under Bochy, the Giants have won all six series, defeating six different franchises and twice prevailing as World Series underdogs. I've never seen a manager have a better postseason than Bochy did in 2010.

It's gratifying to see, because having covered all 12 of his teams in San Diego, I found Bochy to be fair-minded, generous, funny, humble and, above all, passionate about his craft.

He's also smarter than he let's on.

Bochy may not have taken the Giants' job if he hadn't persauded Flannery to sign on. The baseball life is a grueling one, and Flannery, able to recharge his batteries in between jobs, has been rewarded with two World Series titles as San Francisco's third-base coach.

They're both decent human beings. That's the takeaway here.

Watching them celebrate in Detroit on Sunday night took me back to the 1984 World Series and the opening two games in San Diego. The Murph was very loud, and it was an organic loud, not the trumped-up loud created by a stadium sound system. It felt like a baseball stadium back then, too, more open, because the outfield sections hadn't been added for football.

It seems so long ago.

Newsstand

2012-09-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

The Padres are playing so well, their draft position for 2013 has gone from No. 1 to No. 11 in the last 10 weeks, with no sign of stopping. Over at U~T San Diego, I wrote about the Chargers, who opened their season last night with a victory over the Raiders.

Newsstand

2012-09-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Former Padres exec Andy Strasberg has released a nostalgic book, Baseball Fantography, A Celebration in Snapshots and Stories from the Fans. "Sometimes," writes Bob Costas in the foreword, "it is the personal snapshot a fan takes that best demonstrates what the game can mean to those who care about it." The Padres are well-represented, whether it's the San Diego Chicken attempting to distract Don Sutton, snapshots of players being photographed for their baseball cards, including Tito Fuentes, Bobby Tolan and Dave Freisleben, or Tony Gwynn swinging for a video shot at UC Riverside (with a no pepper sign in the background.) The hope is that fans will share other snapshots with Strasberg...Over at ESPN.com, I preview college football's title race, writing a West Coast Bias perspective on the SEC's dominance and USC's chances of unseating the next SEC champ...Bravo to the Padres for honoring Jerry Coleman, statue of whom will be unveiled on Sept. 15. Last year I stumped on the Colonel's behalf.

Ticket prices going up

2012-08-30T11:04:00.003-07:00

This may have appeared in the mainstream media, so excuse me if I'm late to the story. In any event, I'm told by several Padres season ticket-holders that their seats will be more expensive next year. They received a renewal notice calling for increases of 5-9%. Two of these folks have field level seats, and I'm told at least some of premier seats will be more expensive in 2013. I don't know if prices for other seats also will go up (the Padres made no mention of raising ticket prices at yesterday's news conference introducing the team's new owners). My flip reaction: Giants and Phillies fans have money to burn, now the Padres will get more of it.

The $200-million take

2012-08-29T22:14:00.003-07:00

I asked new Padres boss Ron Fowler if it's true: Did $200 million in Padres TV money go out the door when John Moores finally sold the team?

"Yes, it's true," Fowler said.

And, regarding Padres TV money being diverted from the club, what if Jeff Moorad's group had bought the Padres from Moores last January?

"We didn't anticipate that being the case if the Moorad group had been allowed to close," said Fowler. "But that decision was made well above my pay grade."

The Padres today announced Fowler as their control owner, the role Moores had filled since 1994. Fowler, the former San Diego Sockers owner, teamed up with the O'Malley family and others as part of the $800 million purchase approved by MLB owners two weeks ago and celebrated today at Petco Park.

Previously, Fowler was part of Moorad's group, which, per its agreement reached with Moores in 2009, expected to complete its $500 million purchase last winter.

The Moorad bid drew strong opposition from a few owners, most notably White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, a heavyweight in ownership circles.

Moorad, who needed approval from 75 percent of the other owners, withdrew his bid in March, also stepping down as CEO.

Say what you will about Moorad's stewardship potential, having an additional $200 million in TV money probably would be a good thing for a ballclub, especially a ballclub located in a bottom-five TV market.

"We are reacting to it," Fowler said.

After Moorad exited, Fowler could've chosen to cash out his stake, at a potential big gain. Moores had raised the sales price to $600 million, the amount he first targeted in negotiations with Moorad in 2008. With TV money pouring into the baseball industry, franchise values were soaring.

Fowler decided to align with the O'Malleys, even if it meant putting more of his own money into the bid.

"We feel comfortable we have what we need to run this ballclub and run this ballclub in a competitive manner," he said.

When Moores also claimed a chunk of the $1.2 billion money due the Padres from their 20-year deal with Fox Sports San Diego, the would-be owners didn't panic.

"It was not a surprise," Fowler said. "The focus was, 'OK, what do we have, can it work? Can it work effectively?'

"We made the informed decision that, yes, we can make it work."

Moorad, giving ammo to his foes, initially had targeted the club's TV windfall to fortify his purchase. This infuriated other owners such as the Angels' Arte Moreno. Months later, in December, when his group sent $152 million into escrow, the final payment to buy the team, Moorad warranted that he'd not taint his bid with any TV money or use TV money to pay back any of his partners. Whether his initial mis-step was fatal is unclear.

Not long after the for-sale sign went back up, so did the franchise's market value. (As for Moorad, if he had a number of shares in the club, his consolation prize may be a large stack of cash.)

The actual quality of the product seemed irrelevant to the Padres' rise in franchise value. The Padres hadn't sniffed a playoff berth in three of the last four years. The farm system moved up the rankings, thanks in part to the team trading off its best player, Adrian Gonzalez, holding extra draft picks and picking high in the draft because of poor win-loss records.

In Moorad's two full calendar years as Padres CEO and Vice Chairman, the team spent less money on ballplayers -- major league payroll combined with the amateur markets -- than any of the other 29 clubs, according to a study by one front office.

The Padres started out 19-40 this season and halfway through had their worst yearly TV ratings on record.

Compensated at more than $20 million per year, Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, can point to the $800 million sale of the small-market Padres as proof that his industry is booming. Only three years ago, the big-market Cubs sold for $845 million. Selig's bosses, the owners, may hyperventilate at the prospect of putting their clubs up for auction.

As for the $200 million in TV money leaving the Padres, perhaps it's best thought of as only one piece in a complicated puzzle. At least, that's what I gleaned after asking a few questions, on the record, to an MLB official at today's introductory press conference for the new Padres owners.

"I understand that scenario A had this, and scenario B has this, and it seems scenario A has $200 million more dollars, so I understand what you are asking," said Laurel Prieb, V-P of MLB's western operations and special projects. "But I would think that MLB would tell you to look at each case on its own merits, and scenario A, it wasn't a signed purchase back in January for a variety of reasons, and that one went by the wayside.

"This one is looked at it on its own merits. Ownership is looked at on its own merits. It's looked at as the foundation being very solid, and one that will take the franchise forward. You really look at it at that basis."

Ownership numbers

2012-08-29T20:09:00.001-07:00

When John Moores bought the Padres, team execs revealed the ownership's pie chart. Reporters learned Moores owned about 80 percent of the club, with the rest divvied up among a handful of minority partners, including Tom Werner. On the same topic, the new ownership group was less forthcoming today in its introductory press conference.

Ron Fowler described the O'Malley-Seidler family as the primary owner and said he's the control owner. As such, Fowler will represent the team to MLB. Fowler gave no percentage breakdowns of ownership positions. A reporter asked for percentages from Peter Seidler, a nephew of Peter O'Malley and spokesman for the O'Malley-Seidler family. Seidler holds one degree in finance, another in business administration. He oversees an investment firm worth about $1.5 billion. His response:

"I'm probably not good at math, but I'll do the best I can. I think Ron gave a great statement earlier talking about our objective of having a great product on the field, and the spotlight on the field, and less attention on the owners. As it relates to the ownership group, Ron and our family control the franchise. We have a small group of super people that are part of the ownership group with us, but when it comes down to decision-making and the financial control of the franchise, all of that is in the hand of Ron and our family."

In the Padres' press release, eight additional members were listed within ownership: Rick Barry, Glenn Doshay, Alexis Fowler, Patrick Graham, Alfredo Harp Helu, Harvey Jabara, Lee Ross and Wayne Seltzer.

Seisler said he expects Phil Mickelson to join the group in two weeks, which, by my count, will raise the count to 14 people who either own or will own shares in the Padres.

Fowler said Jeff Moorad's group, which attempted to buy the club from Moores, numbered 26 participants.

Doshay held a minority stake in the Padres when Moores entered into his layaway plan with Moorad in 2009.

Family affair

2012-08-28T11:28:00.002-07:00

What an electric night for the Kelly family, Casey throwing six scoreless innings in his major league debut on Monday, the same day that his dad, Pat, looking on at Petco Park, celebrated his 57th birthday. Casey's brother, Chris, had to be thrilled too. Beyond the blood connection, the brothers are both Padres. Chris scouts amateur players in the Florida panhandle and Georgia. "He's doing a good job for us," Josh Byrnes said. Pat Kelly played pro ball for 13 years as a catcher and has managed for 22 years in the minor leagues. He directed Padres affiliates in Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A. If Casey and Chris have strong instincts for baseball, it's not hard to figure out the nature and nurture angles.

The trade

2012-08-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

Adrian Gonzalez is a Dodger. Following are my rapid reactions to the amazing trade that sent the Tijuana and Chula Vista product to Chavez Ravine:

* I'm happy for Gonzalez. He seemed miserable in Boston.

* The Dodgers spending like the Yankees is good news for new Padres ownership and executives. Our rich guys can portray themselves as gritty smart underdogs compared to the big-spending Dodgers, especially if the Dodgers over-reached by taking on $250 million in guaranteed salary to three players who are all past the typical peak years. In my years of covering the Padres, John Moores and team execs, notably the Smartest Man in Baseball, embraced the underdog role, even cultivated it. If nothing else, it gave them a built-in excuse when things didn't go well. Padres players, to a man, seemed to like the "poor little Padres" schtick, David Wells being a notable exception. With the Dodgers playing the role of gluttonous villains, it'll be easy for the Padres to sell themselves as scrappy upstarts. They can talk about winning the old-fashioned way, through patience and player development. The on-field rivalry could grow as well. San Diegans love to hate L.A. Make no mistake: what's good for the Dodgers can be good for the Padres in a financial sense. A stronger rivalry for the Dodgers will bring higher TV and radio ratings and should sell more tickets (yes, Dodgers fans are among the Padres' customers). If L.A.'s revenue pie grows, the Padres stand to get a bigger slice of financial aid. Although I question whether the Dodgers are on the verge of becoming a strong team, if they are, it's about time that happened, given their market size and incredible tradition. In any event, the Padres have no reason to sulk. They should be excited.

* Competition is a good thing. Tampa Bay outpaced the Red Sox and Yankees to win playoff berths and go to a World Series.The Rays out-smarted their problems. For many years, the Dodgers have underachieved. If they finally were to build powerhouse teams the way the Yankees and Red Sox did in recent years -- and, again, I'm not sure they will -- the Padres may be spurred to be more aggressive and resourceful. Anything the Rays can do, the Padres should be able to do.

* I thought of Tom Werner when the Red Sox agreed to send Gonzalez to the the Dodgers. I was told that Werner, a member of Boston's ownership team, made it known when the Red Sox got Gonzalez from the Padres that he was against the move. I count that as another reason to root for Adrian.

* Don Mattingly, be good. Be very good.

* The Dodgers must know they're going to make an absolute killing on their next TV deal.

* I thought back to something Sandy Alderson told me in the years that Gonzalez was golden for the Padres (as the baseball execs say, his performance-above-cost was very good). Alderson said the Padres needed to take advantage of Gonzalez's brilliant low-salaried work, plus the same from Chris Young and a few relievers. The implication was that at some point, Gonzalez would become too expensive for the Padres. With Gonzalez as their first baseman from 2006-2010, the Padres won one division title and came very close to winning two other playoff berths, but they weren't able to take advantage of his talents to the extent that Alderson said they needed to do.

Casey Kelly

2012-08-25T19:06:00.002-07:00

The Padres aren't allowing Adrian Gonzalez and the Dodgers to have all the fun.

On Monday, the Padres will unveil their top pitching prospect, Casey Kelly, who will start against the Braves at Petco Park. You'll recall, the Padres acquired Kelly in the Gonzalez trade two offseasons ago.

Kelly, 22, will be making his major league debut when he confronts Chipper Jones and friends.

The right-hander began the season with Triple-A Tucson. In his second outing, he suffered an elbow strain that would sideline him for three months. In a story for Baseball America, I wrote at length about the Padres' concerns that Kelly threw far too many curveballs in that game. At the time, Kelly was humming his fastball in the mid-90s.

A nerve irritation in his elbow prolonged Kelly's time on the disabled list.

Kelly began his comeback in the Arizona rookie league. He since has made three starts with Double-A San Antonio. Scouts say he has two pitches that are better than average, a fastball and curveball, and his other offspeed pitches can be above average. As would be expected of a player who was started his professional career as a shortstop, Kelly, 6' 3" and 195 pounds, earns high grades for his athleticism.

For the season, he has 39 strikeouts against only three walks over eight games and 37.2 innings.

Kelly's major league debut should be an unforgettable birthday gift for the pitcher's father, Pat Kelly, who will turn 57 on Monday. Pat manages the Reds' rookie-league affiliate in Billings, Montana. A catcher in his playing days, Pat spent 13 years in the minor leagues. He reached the big leagues with Toronto in 1980. In his major league career, Pat appeared in three games, all with the Blue Jays. The California native, a third-round selection of the Angels, has managed for 22 minor league seasons. At one time, he managed in the Padres' system.

Homework on ballpark

2012-08-23T13:37:00.001-07:00

Whatever new ownership decides regarding Petco Park's dimensions, it will not lack for options.

The front office has studied the subject to death. Small changes, big changes, no changes -- the Strategic Thinkers have batted around a raft of scenarios and generated loads of data in recent months and years. Amid all of the brainstorming, they've taken some mighty cuts too. For example, they've pondered a right field wall that's 15 feet closer to home plate, from the foul pole all the way to the beach in right-center. They've also studied smaller advances -- 10 feet closer, for example -- for either all of the right-field wall or parts of it. Heck, they've even studied tweaks for left-center or center. And for the paying customers, they've envisioned a large patio for beyond right field.

Again, it all may amount to nothing, or something minor.

However it turns out, the Padres will have done their homework, and I think that's reassuring. It's a tricky business to project how a ballpark will play. The Padres of all teams should be respectful of how difficult it can be. Nearly 10 years ago, they hired consultants to predict how the ball would carry on their patch of downtown, only to discover that the projections didn't match the reality. Petco played larger than the experts said it would. At least, that's what the Padres told us.

I'm not going to rehash the whole Petco debate about whether bigger is better. I do think Petco is having a very good year for the Padres. In fact, if I had to pick a runner-up to Chase Headley for the team's MVP award, I'd pick good old Petco National Park (somehow, I don't think former Rockies closer Huston Street is pining for the days of Coors Field). For five months now, the Padres have handed the ball to a slew of Nos. 4 and Nos. 5 starting pitchers, along with several young relievers who are trying to establish themselves in the big leagues. I've made the point for years that Petco isn't only a great ballpark for pitchers, the conditions also are close to ideal for defenders. This year, the Padres opened the season with four regulars who scouts described as worse-than-average defenders. The club later introduced a young shortstop thought by some scouts to be more suited to second base and a young second baseman who's more suited to third base. If momentum indeed is tomorrow's starting pitcher, Petco has done many good deeds for this particular Padres team.

Taking care

2012-08-20T11:14:00.002-07:00

The only titanium Bruce Bochy wants in his life is a titanium driver to hit golf balls.

Titanium knee joints have alleviated a lot of suffering for a lot of people, and Bochy's knees were killing him. Thousands of hours of squatting behind home plate had caught up with the 6-foot-4 former Padres catcher. Managing the San Francisco Giants was torture enough, given the team's inability to hit home runs in its own ballpark. Unless Bochy reduced the strain on his knees this year, he'd probably need to have his knees replaced, perhaps as soon as the 2012-13 offseason.

It was a wake-up call for the 57-year-old. Bochy has been managing in the majors since 1995. His solution to hard times, which are inevitable in baseball, is to work harder. Defeats gnaw at him, sapping him of sleep, raising his stress, causing him to ask what he could have done differently. His health habits had suffered.

When Bochy came through San Diego this weekend, he looked healthier than he usually does this time of year. He'd been eating better, had walked more, both on the road and at home, and said he'd been "drinking a little less vino." He'd lost about 20 pounds. "I'm keeping a pretty good routine," he said.

He still appeared in pain when he walked to the mound, but he said his knees are holding up. He called the improvement amazing.

Two years after directing the Giants to the World Series title, Bochy is ready for a pennant race, his team half-a-game behind the first-place Dodgers going into today's game. He loves the grind of trying to get the most out of a ballclub. He admits that he may never learn how to move all the way past the defeats.

"They stay with you longer," he said. "You're always thinking, 'What if I could have done more?' You think, 'What if I had dome something differently, whether it's with a move or the lineup?' "

Desert hope

2012-08-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Padres fans, be encouraged that Wade Miley is having the best year of any Diamondbacks pitcher, even if you detest the Diamondbacks.

The same scout charged with drafting players for the Padres pushed for Arizona to select Miley in 2008. Chad MacDonald scouted Miley when the lefty pitched for Southeastern Louisiana University. Even though Miley didn't often face top-flight opponents, MacDonald, Arizona's assistant scouting director, still liked him--a lot. When Miley's name came up in the club's predraft talks, MacDonald did the Khrushchev thing. "Chad really pounded the table for us to draft him," said Josh Byrnes, Arizona's general manager at the time.

"He was an easy one to like -- left-handed with three major league pitches thrown for strikes," MacDonald said. "He was durable. I thought a little more was in there. I wasn't the only one in the organization that liked him. Give (scouting director) Tommy Allison all the credit in the world for drafting him."

Following are several words about the challenges of pitching in Arizona. The arid climate bedevils many pitchers. They say the dryness makes the baseballs too slick. Batted baseballs go faster and farther in Phoenix than they do in San Diego. For a grounds crew, it's more difficult to maintain a uniform playing surface in Phoenix, where the ballpark is air-conditioned part of the time and baked at other times. Outfielders and infielders alike says it's trickier to play defense in Phoenix than in San Diego, which is a paradise for defenders. Dave Roberts, a former outfielder who played for three NL West teams, said groundballs to the outfield in Phoenix sometimes "snake." This makes an outfielder cautious, making it easier for runners to take an extra base. In San Diego, groundballs stay true. What's more, flyballs here dawdle in the cool coastal air, allowing Cameron Maybin to take a false step or two yet still run down the ball.

Miley has breezed across the difficult terrain to deliver a 13-8 record and a 2.96 ERA. His ballpark-adjusted ERA listing by baseball-reference.com is 146+. Average is 100; the higher the number, the better the performance. Every Padres starting pitcher who's made at least six starts has an adjusted ERA below 95.

Miley is far from a cinch to repeat the success he's having. All the same, the Padres won't complain if MacDonald's evaluations for them are as successful as his read on Miley, who was drafted 43rd and has far outperformed Arizona's No. 26 pick of that year, Daniel Schlereth, another lefty pitcher. Byrnes joined the Padres as a consultant late in 2010. Last November, one month after becoming GM, he hired MacDonald and put him in charge of the draft. As it happened, the first player he selected for the Padres was a lefty pitcher, Max Fried. I've heard great things about Fried from scouts not affiliated withe Padres.

"You're always more surprised when things don't pan out with a player you like than when they do," MacDonald said. "Wade had a good look in his eyes, which made it little easier to take him."

Miley didn't evolve on his own into major league pitcher. He had rough patches early in his minor league career. Good for him that a veteran baseball man, Bob Gebhard, took a keen interest in him. Gebhard is a gruff but caring teacher who has spent 48 years in baseball. Last winter, he received the Chief Bender award, baseball's top individual honor for player development. Gebhard, who can be blunt, challenged Miley to better prepare himself, to toughen up. To his credit, Miley took the words to heart.

"I wish him all the success in the world, except when he faces us," MacDonald said.

Safety net

2012-08-15T10:16:00.001-07:00

We're going to read and hear a lot of happy talk about new Padres ownership in coming weeks, assuming that major league owners approve the O'Malley/Fowler/Mickelson group, which I'm told also includes other significant investors not yet mentioned in the maintstream press. It's my hope that all of the happy talk is justified. Take this to the bank: If Ron Fowler's Padres teams are 80 percent as entertaining as his San Diego Sockers teams, we're headed for a fun ride.

No doubt the new owners will talk about "building within," about the need for a "strong farm system," about "wanting to win," and about being "willing to spend if it makes sense."

Bulletin: All owners say this stuff.

New owners grab headlines by spending money on ballplayers, too. Think back, and it happened here. Yes, boys and girls, there was a time when John Moores was a sainted figure in San Diego and not only because he gave millions of dollars to hospitals, San Diego Diego State and local charities.

Padres fans loved the guy, never more so, as it turned out, than when he doubled the player payroll within two years of buying the team in late 1994 and by October 1996 the Padres were in the playoffs for the first time since 1984. The spike in spending extended to marketing and community relations. True, Moores had extra incentive to excite San Diego's taxpayers about their local baseball club. He wanted a downtown ballpark built as part of a gigantic real-estate play. To get the ballpark built, he needed voters' support. In the end he got $300 million in public money.

If there's a real-estate play tied to this purchase of the Padres, it's been kept quiet. Does that mean there's less incentive now than in the mid-1990s for new ownership to invest ahead of the club's revenues? I don't know. But in one big aspect, the baseball industry isn't the same as it was in 1994. The revenue pie chart for teams like the Padres has changed for the better, thanks in part to Moores, who admired the NFL's business model and tirelessly pushed for more revenue-sharing within MLB. (Moores also sought a larger postseason, a wish that was granted this year with the addition of one wild-card berth per league.)

This remains an under-appreciated fact: The Padres are getting far more financial aid from within the industry than they did in Moores's first 10 years as owner. From what I'm told, the total annual assistance is $60-75 million, which includes not only revenue sharing from other teams but monies from MLB's wildly successful advanced media ventures. No one will confuse me with Warren Buffett. But if I wanted to buy a small-market baseball team, I'd probably be more interested if I knew that regardless of whether the team succeeded on the field, I'd still get scores of millions of dollars in revenue from outside sources. The Padres, in that sense, have a safety net underneath them that they didn't have when Moores bought the team.

Clear thinking

2012-08-14T11:22:00.002-07:00

In April, I asked Chase Headley if he was feeling left out.

A few weeks earlier, the Padres had showered three of his teammates with money. Cameron Maybin received $25 million, all of it guaranteed. Nick Hundley got $9 million and Cory Luebke got $12 million as part of a deal that could reach $27.75 million. All three had provided fair returns in 2011. None, however, had established himself as a big leaguer. In fact, not one of the newly enriched Padres had done as much for the franchise as had Headley.

That's why I wanted to know if Headley was feeling left out.

"I don't worry about that stuff," he said. "I know that if I go out and play the way I'm capable of, I'm going to be OK in that department, whether it's here or somewhere else."

In two decades of covering sports, I'd seen several athletes become engulfed by jealousy. Maybe it was the attention a teammate received from the press or fans. Maybe it was a teammate's salary. The Padres, to be sure, weren't immune to the problem.

Headley told me he wasn't going to drift off course. If the Padres chose to lock up three of his teammates, that was their business. He would do his job as well as he could. The bigger salaries would come if he earned them.

"I know that if I go out and play the way I'm capable of," he said, "I'm going to be OK in that department, whether it's here or somewhere else. I think that's a trap you can get yourself into. To think about that just brings an added distraction."

Headley joined the Padres in 2007. He saw a lot of teammates come and go, including players he described as role models such as Adrian Gonzalez and David Eckstein. He understood what the club was trying to do in locking up young players before they reached arbitration and free agency. He understood baseball economics as it applied to a smaller-revenue club.

"I do think it's important that the Padres develop continuity," he said. "I'd love to be here. It's a great place to live. It's a great place to play."

Headley is now deep into the best season of his career. In return for $3.47 million in salary, he's given the Padres pretty good defense at third base, along with a .370 on-base percentage and a team-best 19 home runs and 73 RBI. He's played in all but one game.

Whether the Padres decide to keep him or trade him and give the job to prospect Jeff Gyorko, who is 24 and has little if anything left to prove in Triple-A, Headley has made good on his comments of several months ago. He's earned a larger salary for 2013. By doing it the old-fashioned way, he's also increased his leverage should the Padres or another club seek to lock him up long-term.

Bad ping pong

2012-08-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Donald Sterling's ghost is still haunting San Diego. The ghost's latest victim: The Padres.

When major league baseball last month staged its first "competitive balance" lottery, a Clipperslike result ensued for San Diego's team. The Padres hoped to get a draft pick in the 30s next year. They instead received the 70th selection, and that after seeing No. 34 go miraculously to their rivals in Arizona. "We have not exactly had the horseshoe this year," Padres GM Josh Byrnes told me.

The lottery was created as a sop to the teams either in the 10 smallest markets or the bottom 10 in revenues. The Padres and Diamondbacks, both double-qualifiers, were among the 13 teams eligible for one of the charitable draft picks. Because the lottery was weighted to favor the teams with more losses in 2011, the Padres, coming off a 71-91 season, were a top-5 candidate to land in the A group of picks from 32-37, a penthouse compared to the B group at 70-75.

The Diamondbacks had almost no chance of landing in the A group. The defending National West champs had 94 victories in 2011, sixth-most in MLB.

Channeling Sterling, the longtime Clippers owner who moved his NBA franchise from San Diego to Los Angeles, where draft-day failures have remained a specialty, the lottery handlers plucked six consecutive clusters of ping pong balls that didn't bear the SD logo.

The Diamondbacks had just a 2.6 percent chance of landing the first selection, wrote MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, yet the lottery gods favored them with the third pick.

Byrnes said the details are fuzzy to him now, but the way he remembered it, "our logo was on 13 percent of the balls as compared to three percent for Arizona."

NBA teams go into the draft lottery clutching talismans for good luck. I asked Byrnes if Padres officials did the same.

"We did not do anything for good luck," he said. "Maybe we should've had the Friar attend."

Headley's leverage

2012-08-10T20:56:00.002-07:00

(UPDATED) An unfortunate statistical mistake by a previous Padres administration is coming home to roost as Chase Headley, who's emerged this year as the team's best player, gains earning power.

Because the Padres failed to make certain Headley wouldn't qualify for early arbitration, Headley will command larger salaries the next few years than CEO Sandy Alderson and GM Kevin Towers planned in 2007-08. Whether the Padres decide to trade Headley or make him a long-term offer, his value to them would be greater if his career time in the big leagues was less by just one day.

The Padres limited Headley's work-service time early in his career largely because they didn't want him to qualify for arbitration until after the 2011 season. Unfortunately for them, Headley got there in late 2010 as a result of earning Super Two status.

One extra day in the big leagues put him over the top. The Padres said they were shocked after learning he slipped into the Super Two class.

Headley has gained millions of dollars in arbitration-enhanced salary as a result, with the promise of more windfalls to come.

Committed to Kevin Kouzmanoff as their third baseman in 2007, the Padres delayed promoting Headley to keep his work-service time down. He came up in June and started five games at third base as part of a 10-day cameo. The Padres brought him back late in the season and used him in one game -- the 163rd game against the Rockies -- with a wild-card berth on the line. (Headley hit a pinch single in the 13th inning.)

The Padres waited until June 17 to promote Headley in 2008, likely heedng their projections for his Super Two eligibility. They didn't wait long enough. At the time, the Padres were 31-40 and 6.5 games out of first place. They still had Kouzmanoff at third base. Headley really wasn't needed. The Padres ended up last in the National League West with 99 defeats.

Such decisions can be complicated. Headley, for instance, was an advanced prospect who had little left to learn in the minor leagues. As it was, the Padres weren't doing his career any favors. They required him to play left field, a foreign position to him. Towers later was known to be lukewarm about Headley, saying after the 2009-10 season that both he and Bud Black preferred Kouzmanoff. If the Gunslinger doubted Headley could become a reliable regular, he also may have attached less significance to Headley's work-service time. All the same, limiting that time was the driving force behind the timing of Headley's first promotion in 2007 and his recall in 2008.

As part of on-the-record comments, Alderson, in reviewing his four years with the club, told me that two mistakes on his watch stood out: Upper management's decision to expose Joakim Soria to the Rule 5 draft against the recommendations of several minor league staffers and at a time when the club had several open rosters spots; and the trade that brought Jim Edmonds and sent David Freese to the Cardinals. Together, Alderson and Towers presided over several good moves, most notably the trade for Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young. I do wonder if Alderson has regrets about not waiting longer to recall Headley in 2008 Alderson was a stickler for process. He often said the Padres had to be smarter than other teams because they weren't going to out-spend them. On a positive note for the club, Headley's Super Two status didn't affect his eligibility for free agency. He can become a free agent after the 2014 season. At $3.47 million, his salary this year looks like a bargain.

Fox Follies

2012-08-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

Kearny Mesa is home to San Diego's Fox TV affiliate. As you'd guess, several folks who work there would like to watch the Padres telecasts produced by Fox Sports San Diego, even if only for a few minutes. Fox employees watching a Fox telecast inside a Fox building--what's the story here? The story, said one of those Fox employees, is that the FSSD feed doesn't enter the Fox building. "We can't watch Fox Sports San Diego; it's not on the TVs there," the Fox person told me.

Let's review: Fox is paying the Padres about $30 million this year -- twice what Cox paid last year -- as part of a 20-year deal worth about $1.2 billion, yet because of a stalemate between Fox and cable providers, more than 40 percent of San Diego County still doesn't get the telecasts, and even the Fox TV affiliate in Kearny Mesa can't get the cable feed. The Padres say they're not to blame. Fox says greedy Time Warner is to blame. Time Warner says greedy Fox is to blame. And one of the well-paid execs within MLB, talking to me in March, said Bud Selig isn't to blame because cable negotiations are "hand to hand combat."

At this point in the skit, a television is blown to smithereens. Wait, this isn't a skit?

Quentin, Street

2012-08-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

Were the Padres wise to sign Carlos Quentin and Huston Street to extensions?

My gut reaction is yes, although my head wonders if they'd be able to stay healthy in a heated pennant race. When the on-field stakes for a team rise, frontline players are asked to run on fumes. Closer Heath Bell, to pick an example, red-lined like a champion down the stretch in 2007 and 2010. Quentin and Street have the skills for it, but when both were free agents last winter, some clubs had doubts about their durability. Of course, any problems posed by a heated pennant race should be welcomed by the Padres, who, barring a miracle, will miss the playoffs for the sixth year in a row.

I think the Padres had geography on their side in both negotiations. Street, no dummy, knows that San Diego is an easier place to be a pitcher, even more so a relief pitcher. Quentin, explaining his decision, noted that he grew up in San Diego County and called it an "amazing opportunity" to stay in his hometown. "My family is very excited," Quentin told mlb.com.

I wrote at length last month why the American League, or even the National League Central, may be a better fit for Quentin strictly in a baseball sense. Players also take lifestyle into account, however, and that often plays in the Padres' favor if the club is willing to make a representative offer.

Quentin also said he believes in the organization. I took that as an endorsement of Bud Black, who has done a nimble job of protecting Quentin's surgical knees. To that end, I think Alexi Amarista, the super-utility man who looks comfortable whatever position he plays, is a nice complement to Quentin.