What the Padres and US Dollar have in Common....

• The Attendance has been falling since the Inaugural year of 2004 despite having a winning record.
• The offense has been declining since the Inaugural year of 2004 while the D'backs and Rockies offense has been improving.
• The lack of speed has been declining since 2006 season despite playing in one of the biggest ballparks in the Majors.

BACK to BASICS.....

First it was thought Padres ex-Batting Coach Dave Magadan was the blame to the offensive woes during the 2005 season and was subsequently fired mid-way through the 2006 season. Magadan was replaced by supposedly hitting guru coach Merv Rettenmund and the results were practically the same. The carousal continued, Rettenmund was fired at mid-season of 2007 and replaced with Wally Joyner, suddenly the Padres offense had awaken. Coincidentaly, the Padres had acquired OF Milton Bradley within a few days of the hiring of Wally Joyner. From then on, when Bradley was in the line-up, the offense clicked. Fast forward to the 2008 season, the Padres have lost Cameron and Bradley, both whom had that 'EDGE' and could put some fear into the opposing team with their multi-skills (power and speed). This current Padres team does not have that EDGE factor and is NOT built for Petco Park. If the team is not a power hitting team, why is the team leading the league in Strikeouts ? I thought getting rid of Mike Cameron and Marcus Giles would have cut the strikeouts down. Apparently not !! Maybe, one of the reasons of a decline in attendance --average product--

Perhaps people want to believe the economy has a play into the decline of attendance. But that theory can be thrown out the window. Especially when the Dodgers and Pirates, yes Pirates ! drew over 50,000+ on a Wednesday night in LA. Statistically, the LA housing market has taken a beating just as well as the San Diego market. Another so called reason ---weather--- I just laugh at this, give me a break !! We live in San Diego California and blaming it on the weather is just plain laughable ! Being a true baseball fan and loyal season ticket-holder over 20 yrs (1988-1997 Dodgers and 1998-2008 Padres), I can honestly say the blame for the decline of attendance is DUE to the product on the field. This is no direct knock at any of the current players, but the majority of fans want to see an organization pull off some deals that can bring in some talent who are in their prime years, as opposed to their pre-retirement years. For instance, the Chargers have made two significant mid-season trades that have brought in (2004) WR Keenan McCardell and (2007) WR Chris Chambers. In comparison, the Padres have brought in (2005) Miguel Olivio, Joe Randa and (2007) Rob Mackowiak. Where are those players today ? Yes, not on the Padres current roster.

Since 2004, the Padres roster has decline in terms of crowd pleasers (big time players). Granted the ROIDs era created some excitement for any fan to come out and watch the ball fly out of the yards. On the 2004 Padres roster were names like Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Brian Giles, Ramon Hernandez, rookie Khalil Greene, David Wells, Jake Peavy, and Trevor Hoffman for a total of 8 players. On the 2005 Padres roster were names like Ramon Hernandez, Phil Nevin, Khalil Greene, Ryan Klesko, Brian Giles, Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman for a total of 7 players. On the 2006 Padres roster were names lie Mike Piazza, Khalil Greene, Mike Cameron, Adrian Gonzalez, Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman for a total of 6 players. On the 2007 Padres roster were names like Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, Mike Cameron, Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux and Trevor Hoffman for a total of 6 players. On the 2008 Padres roster names like Jake Peavy, Greg Maddux, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff for total of 5 players. 

If you collectively analyze those crowd pleasers above in the years mentioned, you will noticed that Khalil Greene, Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman have been the mainstays. Of those three, Khalil and Jake are on the upswings of their careers with a supporting cast of Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Kouzmanoff. It just happens to be Peavy, Greene, Gonzalez and Kouzmanoff are the corner stones of this franchise. The problem lies in the other positions wher the Padres talent level has dropped off significantly since 2004. Catcher is not the same since Ramon Hernandez has left, 2nd base has not been the same since Loretta/Barfield days, left filed has never been the same since Ryan Klesko days at the Q, centerfield has lost it's glory with the recent departure of Mike Cameron....and right field ??..Well, Brian Giles did have 23 hrs and 94 rbi's in Petco Park first year (2004). But ever since that year, mother nature has caught up with Brian, who is now our leadoff hitter.

No Pain No Gain....

I had read something the other day which I gave alot of thought and still do not understand the logic with the Padres. The D'backs had promoted 3b Mark Reynolds mid-season last year when Chad Tracy went down with an injury. Reynolds did well on the field and held his own, despite only 200+ at-bats in Double A. In comparison, Padres have Chase Headley who was the MVP in Double A and had a splendid spring training and did not make the team. Reason ? The Padres wanted Headley to get more opportunities in left field in the minors. I would think, having played baseball for 12 years that if Headley can play 3b, he can also play left field, he's a talented player and no reason to have him down in the minors when the ballclub is struggling offensively. The Padres have an over abundance of pitchers in their minor league and it's time, GM Kevin Towers pulls on a plug for a big time trade. Something has to be done in order to win back some fans, the Petco Park Honeymoon is over....If Angels Owner Artie Moreno can lower the prices of beer, the Padres surely can make a trade with their beer price increase...