San Diego Padres' Plan for 2009

With the San Diego Padres' 2008 season in a tailspin, it is now being reported that the mid-revenue club may be cutting their $73.6 million payroll to around $40 million for next season. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune states that veteran outfielder Brian Giles was painted a "stark fiscal picture" of the 2009 season as part of a pitch to convince him to accept a trade to the Boston Red Sox in early August. Giles ultimately exercised his veto power and remained with the Padres.

That the Padres would actually consider reducing their payroll by such a large amount will be the subject of much debate between now and the beginning of spring training in 2009. That plan, if indeed enacted, certainly won't engender confidence in the fans who are already exasperated by the club's cellar-dwelling performance this season. While their 2008 attendance has fallen drastically from previous years, it might even be worse next year; many season ticket holders had threatened non-renewal of their seats for 2009 long before there was any talk about a payroll reduction.

The Padres entered the 2008 campaign believing that their club could win the NL West, which has turned out to be the weakest in the majors. At this writing, the first-place Arizona D'Backs are only two games over .500 and are barely leading the L.A. Dodgers. As it stands right now, the Padres are amongst the three worst teams in both leagues. The other two teams are the Washington Nationals and the Seattle Mariners.

What went wrong for the Pads this year? Well, practically everything. In addition to some bad off-season acquisitions, they've suffered a spate of injuries and their once-heralded bullpen (best in baseball last year) has fallen on hard times. Of course, it doesn't help when you're starting pitchers rarely make it past the sixth inning. The short outings have really taxed the much-maligned Padre bullpen. That's why they've been carrying an unprecedented thirteen pitchers of late.

While their home run production (eighth in the NL) has been decent, their overall team average is one of the lowest in both leagues and they have no speed. Case in point: forty-two-year-old pitcher Greg Maddux got the Padres' only stolen base in the month of July.

Except for watching their team play the role of spoiler to rival clubs like the Dodgers and D'Backs, Padre fans have absolutely nothing to look forward to for the remainder of this season. And, with their top minor league prospect (Chase Headley) already with the club, there probably won't be any significant call-ups when the MLB rosters expand in September. The manager, Buddy Black, recently said that there could be three spots open in their starting rotation next spring. In the same interview, however, he stated that none of their top pitching prospects currently at AAA Portland will be promoted. Too bad{Font: Times New Roman Symbol: 133}it might be nice to see what some of the younger guys could do between now and the end of this season.

What rankles many of the long-time Padre fans is their belief that the organization hasn't lived up to the promises they made while campaigning for a new ballpark back in 1998{Font: Times New Roman Symbol: 151}which was the year they went to the World Series. The fans were under the impression that the owner of the club, John Moores, would open up his pocketbook to higher quality players once they moved into Petco Park. Even though they have been operating with a slightly higher budget since then, the perception is that they've been unwilling to allocate the funds it would take to bring in a quality player who could carry the team deep into the playoffs and possibly into the World Series.

Such was the case in 2005 and 2006 when the Padres won the NL West and in 2007 when they lost the divisional race by only one game. In all three seasons, the fans implored the club to make a significant move prior to the trading deadline for the purpose of solidifying the team and increasing their chances of going deeper into the playoffs. However, no such moves were made and the Padres were swept by St. Louis in the 2005 and 2006 divisional series.

Prior to the deadline this year, the Dodgers shocked everyone by acquiring Manny Ramirez from Boston. Their only real competition in the NL West, Arizona, just acquired Adam Dunn from Cincinnati. Had the Padres made a similar move last year, they would've won the West.

It's believed by many that John Moores' much publicized divorce is the reason for payroll deduction. That, of course, may or may not be true. At any rate, in order to reduce their payroll to $40 million, the club would have to rid themselves of players like Brian Giles ($9 million option for 2009 or a $3 million buyout), Trevor Hoffman (free agent), and several others whose salaries will be in the $5 to $6 million range. Players eligible for salary arbitration would probably be shown the door (the Padres have a history of avoiding that process). And, although I doubt it will happen, there could also be a few surprise trades involving marquee players such as Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez{Font: Times New Roman Symbol: 151}the only two Padres with any real trade value.

Perhaps the Padres have a plan for rebuilding the club that doesn't involve cutting their payroll. If that's the case, why have they refused to comment on Krasovic's report?

In the meantime, we always have the Chargers...at least for now.

Dean Whitney, a semi-retired music producer & publisher and avid baseball fan, recently self-published his debut novel, Pinch Hitter. Dean also writes a baseball blog.



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