Manny Ramirez paying price for quitting on Red Sox

Manny Ramirez may very well find himself as a man without a team when the 2009 Major League Baseball season starts.

No doubt, Ramirez thought he was in the driver’s seat when he turned down proposals of two years, $45 million; then one year, $25 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Surely, he and his egotistical agent Scott Boras thought someone would come along with a four-year contract worth in excess of $100 million.

Hold on.

People certainly haven’t forgotten how Ramirez quit on the Boston Red Sox last season; even though he was at the end of an eight-year, $160 million contract.

Sure, he was the sparkplug that sent the Dodgers from the middle-of-the-pack to the NL Championship Series.

It all comes down to one question: Would you sign Ramirez to a long-term contract, considering how he quit on the Red Sox last year?

I didn’t think so … nor do general managers think so throughout MLB.

Padres should close out Hoffman era

Sorry, but it’s time for Trevor Hoffman and the Padres to go their separate ways.

This is certainly not a knock on Hoffman. Nor is it one on the organization.

With all of the acrimony at this point, it would just be best for everyone if Hoffman departs.

If Hoffman has anything left at age 41, then he should be part of a pennant contender. It isn’t going to happen in San Diego.

Since the Padres are obviously rebuilding, they need to discover the identity of their next closer.

Hoffman, the all-time saves leader in Major League Baseball, has been an icon in San Diego for more than a decade.

But last season, it became apparent there wasn’t much gas left in his tank. His 2008 ERA of 3.77 paled in comparison to his career ERA of 2.78.

And remember, Hoffman came to the Padres in 1993 as part of a fire sale from the Florida Marlins.

For those old enough to recall, Hoffman was booed during his early years with the Padres because he represented (not by his own desire) the fire sale of the franchise.

Now, in a very similar situation, it’s time to find out whether Heath Bell can come within 50% of being the next Hoffman.

Maybe he will. Maybe he’ll be the next Gary Lucas.

But in either case, it’s time for Hoffman to join a contender … and the Padres to find their next closer.

New York teams say 'bye' to MLB playoffs

What’s the best storyline about the upcoming Major League Baseball playoffs?

How about the fact that there are not any New York teams involved for the first time in more than a decade …

As much as the TV networks jam New York down our collective throats, it’s nice to see the playoffs commence with some truly compelling possibilities for smaller market teams.

What about:

Tampa Bay being in for the first time ever
Milwaukee being back for the first time since winning the World Series in 1982
The chance of Minnesota getting back in if it survives in the AL Central

Then the bigger markets:

The Chicago Cubs trying to win a World Series for the first time in 100 years
The Los Angeles Dodgers trying to win their second playoff GAME since a World Series title 20 years ago
Philadelphia looking for its first championship in 28 years
The Anaheim Angels shooting to win it all for the second time in six years
The Boston Red Sox attempting to make it three titles in five years

The happiest guy of all in the playoffs may be Manager Joe Torre of the Dodgers.

He’s taken so much criticism for the Yankees seemingly losing in the first-round each year lately. (Without him, the Yankees won’t face such a fate while looking from the outside in from the beginning.)

That coincides with the best news of all: No New York teams!

Padres problem: Not the hitting coach!

Dave Magadan was fired as hitting coach of the Padres in June 2006.

Sixteen months later, he was hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox when they won the World Series.

Merv Rettenmund replaced Magadan and was fired in July 2007.

He was long considered among the best hitting coaches in Major League Baseball.

Wally Joyner has just resigned as hitting coach of the Padres.

Does anybody see a pattern here?

Maybe, just maybe, it isn’t the hitting coach. Gee, do you think that maybe the problem is the hitters … not the hitting coach … for the Padres?

Give somebody chicken salad and that’s what your final product will be. But give them chicken manure … and guess what that smells like?

How about the Padres hitting …

Certainly, Petco Park has been a hindrance to Padre hitters the last five years. But other teams play in expansive parks, and they don’t go through hitting coaches on an annual basis.

Rather than continue the merry-go-round on hitting coaches, isn’t it about time that the higher ups in the front office be held accountable?

Milwaukee Brewers need to quit crying

The Milwaukee Brewers need to quit crying over whether CC Sabathia pitched a no-hitter Sunday in Pittsburgh.

There are two reasons Andy LaRoche’s leadoff single in the fifth inning deserved to be called an infield hit:

No. 1: Sabathia tried to bare-hand the ball. Whenever somebody does that, it means they know there is a 50-50 chance at best of getting the runner.

If every player was given an error who tries to bare-hand a ball, Major League Baseball would need to change its scoring rules and call hundreds of more errors each season on such plays.

No. 2: Sabathia is left-handed. He not only needed to pick up the ball; he needed to turn his body to make the throw (it would have been much easier for a right-hander.)

There’s even a third compelling reason not to change the call. Had the play been ruled an error, the Pirates may have played the game differently from then on in an attempt to get a hit.

(Perhaps someone could have tried for a bunt single to break up a no-hitter; such as Ben Davis of the Padres did years ago vs. Curt Schilling of the Padres; or Steve Garvey of the Dodgers did vs. San Diego’s Bob Owchinko in the late 1970s.)

The Brewers are a great team. Here’s hoping they win the World Series ... and quit crying about a one-hitter by Sabathia that should stay that way!

Padres: Things may only get worse

Now we’re hearing rumors that the Padres may have a $40 million payroll in 2009.

Do you know what that means?

It would amount to likely the second lowest payroll in Major League Baseball. Only the Florida Marlins, at $22 million, have a payroll below $40 million in 2008.

If $40 million is the going rate for the 2009 Padres, look for another last-place finish in the Weak, Weak NL West.

Four players alone are down for $25 million from the Padres next season: Jake Peavy ($11 million), Khalil Greene ($6.5 million), Chris Young ($4.5 million) and Adrian Gonzalez ($3 million.)

Should the Padres hold true to a $40 million payroll, it would mean $15 million for the remaining players beyond Peavy, Greene, Young and Gonzalez.

Sure, the Padres will try their best to unload Greene’s salary on somebody else. But considering he had his worst season ever in 2008, it just isn’t going to happen.

If you can remember the fire sales of the early 1990s by the Padres, you have a good memory.

And that time period may also be a look into the team’s near future.

Sad.

Wishful thinking: An all-Florida World Series

Wouldn’t it be great to have an all-Florida World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins?

OK, it’s not going to happen; but at least the Floridians are proving you can win on the cheap.

With two of the three lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball, the Rays (first-place AL East) and Marlins (tied for second NL East) are at least in contention at mid-season.

Not only are the Marlins doing it with baseball’s lowest payroll ($21 million); they are also a contender with the youngest pitching staff in the majors.

No team outside of the Marlins has a rotation of starters exclusively 25 years of age or younger. They are:

Ricky Nolasco; 25 years, 209 days
Scott Olsen; 24 years, 179 days
Josh Johnson; 24 years, 158 days
Andrew Miller; 22 years, 49 days
Chris Volstad; 21 years, 288 days

As the dog days of summer continue, one can only hope that the Marlins and Rays continue to dog the big-name teams such as the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Umpire Joe West needs to eject himself

Even when Major League Baseball umpire Joe West gets it right, he gets it wrong.

West rightfully overturned a call by third base umpire Chris Guccione in the Florida Marlins’ 3-1 win over the Padres on Monday night.

Guccione called a line drive by Hanley Ramirez fair in the seventh inning; replays showed it was barely foul and West made the right call in overturning Guccione.

Then West did what he does best; he made the wrong call with his overly aggressive actions.

As soon as Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez came out to argue, West put up his hands up as if to tell Gonzalez not to come out. Within five seconds of arguing, Gonzalez was ejected by the hot-headed West.

Great umpires over history such as Doug Harvey let managers have their say and don’t eject people right away for arguing overturned calls. Ones like West think they are the show; and they are only too willing to prove they are the boss, such as West did Monday night.

“To me, that’s when an umpire tries to get a little bigger than the game,” color analyst Tommy Hutton said on the FSN Florida telecast. “That’s not his job.”

Hutton’s comments were right on.

If anybody needed to be ejected, it should have been West for trying to be bigger than our National Pastime; which he’s not!

Hot dog! Padres should lower ticket prices

So the Padres are offering $1 hot dogs and $1 regular size soft drinks – as well as $1 off beer – at all home games in July.

Hot dog! How about lowering the ticket prices at Petco Park while they’re at it?

The team’s home attendance is down more than 10 percent from last season.

You could blame it on our country’s weak economy. Or you could get real and blame it on the fact that the Padres have the second-worst record in Major League Baseball.

Let’s face it: You get what you pay for, and the Padres’ years of signing old veterans to contracts and getting lucky has finally run out on them.

Back to the hot dogs: Isn’t it ironic that the lower concession prices come in a month when the Padres have only nine home games; the fewest in any month this season?

Here is the team’s spin on the July concession prices:

“We are excited about this program, which is based in part on input from our fans,” CEO Sandy Alderson said. “We hope July Dollar Days will provide some relief to our fans from higher gas prices and the current overall economy.”

If the Padres really want to provide relief to fans, how about providing some relief in their bullpen (among other things) and a few more wins?

Edmonds key reason Chicago Cubs are winning

The St. Louis Cardinals didn’t want Jim Edmonds back after eight seasons with them.

The Padres didn’t want him around after the first 1 ½ months of the 2008 season.

So what is Edmonds doing these days?

How about helping the Chicago Cubs on their way to a possible first World Series title in 100 years?

The Cubs have Major League Baseball’s best overall record (48-28) and have won 14 straight at home.

In his last 10 games, Edmonds is batting .333 with three home runs and nine RBIs.

In Saturday’s 11-7 win over the Chicago White Sox, Edmonds hit two home runs in the same inning.

“Whenever you get done tying me to the Cardinals, it'll be fine so I can start getting a little bit of Cubs' history in my background,” Edmonds told reporters after Saturday’s game.

It now appears the Padres let Edmonds go too early. Perhaps they/he rushed him back into the lineup too soon after suffering a spring training injury.

For now, it looks like Edmonds is the Cubs’ gain … and a big loss for the Padres and Cardinals.

As injuries get worse, Padres get better

Remember not so long ago when the Padres had the worst record in Major League Baseball?

Then starting pitchers Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Shawn Estes were injured.

Catcher Josh Bard also went down; ditto with second baseman Tadahito Iguchi.

So, with this many people sidelined, what happens?

The Padres are on a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

With a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers this Tuesday-Thursday, the Padres could conceivably move into a tie for second place in the NL West.

How do you explain this?

You don’t.

It seems the more Padre players have fallen; the more the Padres make their opponents fall.

When everybody finally comes back (hopefully by the All-Star break), the Padres could be in contention because of their substitutes. More likely, they could have a very difficult time when they begin 15 games of interleague play Friday against the much stronger American League.

During a 162-game season, every team gets hot at some point. It’s interesting that the Padres’ hot streak has come when you would least expect it.

Padres aren't even best of the worst

Remember back when we all thought the NL West might be Major League Baseball’s strongest division?

Come to find out, it is actually the weakest division in MLB.

Sure, the Arizona Diamondbacks got off to a great start; but that was only because they were playing fellow NL West teams.

As the season has progressed, the division could just as well change its name to the NL Worst.

That being said, consider the records of each NL West team going into this weekend in games played outside of the division:

Arizona 10-16
Los Angeles 15-18
San Francisco 10-22
Colorado 13-12
Padres 13-19

Overall, that’s a cumulative record of just 61-87 in games outside of the NL West.

This is such a reminder of 2005, when the Padres won the West with an 82-80 record. They lost 12 of 13 games at one point that season but hardly lost any ground because everybody else in the division was losing, too. Ditto the Diamondbacks in 2008.

May the best of the worst win the division!

What happened to Padres' starting pitching?

Remember when the Padres bragged about having perhaps the best starting pitching rotation in Major League Baseball?

Well, don’t look now, but …

Jake Peavy (4-2, 2.47) is not pitching like a Cy Young winner.

Chris Young (3-3, 3.94) has turned very average.

Greg Maddux (3-3, 3.60) will probably be gone to a contending team in July.

Randy Wolf (2-3, 5.16) has had a terrible May.

Aging Shawn Estes will make his first major-league start in more than two years tonight against the Chicago Cubs.

The starting pitchers were once thought to be the only strength among the Padres. Now, it looks as if the team does not have any strengths at all.

Padres making more desperation moves

In case you missed it, here are press releases from the Padres over the past 24 hours.

With five straight losses and the worst record in Major League Baseball, there is surely more to come:

The San Diego Padres today purchased the contract of catcher Luke Carlin from Triple-A Portland and optioned catcher Colt Morton to Double-A San Antonio. Executive Vice President/General Manager Kevin Towers made the announcement.

The San Diego Padres today recalled outfielder Jody Gerut from Triple-A Portland and requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Jim Edmonds. Executive Vice President/General Manager Kevin Towers made the announcement.

The San Diego Padres announced today that they have claimed left-handed pitcher Sean Henn off waivers from the New York Yankees. Executive Vice President/General Manager Kevin Towers made the announcement.

Sean Henn is not to be confused with Sean Penn; Madonna’s ex.

With the way the Padres are going, maybe they should sign Sean Penn for some publicity. (And maybe bring up George Carlin instead of Luke!)

Who cares about the Padres?

Have you stopped caring about the Padres?

Join the crowd.

A couple weeks ago, people were mad at the team for losing. Now it’s a could-care-less attitude, which should do wonders for home attendance, lol.

Just when you think they can’t reach a new low, they did by losing for the 17th time in 21 games with Thursday’s 5-4 loss at Atlanta.

How significant was it?

Atlanta was the first team since the 2000 Houston Astros to lose its first nine one-run games. The Braves were the only team in the major leagues without a one-run victory until now.

A week ago, we suggested the Padres should get rid of Jim Edmonds when people still cared about them. Now that fans could care less, the esteemed San Diego Union-Tribune is also calling for Edmonds to go.

Last week, we all would have cared that Joe Thatcher dropped to an 0-4 record with a 6.75 ERA in the latest loss to the Braves.

But at this point, who cares about the Padres; the team with Major League Baseball’s worst record?

Padres should demote more than Germano

The Padres have demoted starting pitcher Justin Germano to the bullpen because of his 0-3 record and 6.35 ERA.

If you’re going to demote Germano, don’t forget:

Catcher Josh Bard, his .216 average and inability to throw out base stealers.

Shortstop Khalil Greene with his .213 average and one home run.

The whole left field tandem of Scott Hairston, Justin Huber and Paul McAnulty.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds with his .171 average and inability to get to fly balls anymore.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget starting pitcher Chris Young (2-3, 4.31 ERA) along with the bullpen trio of Trevor Hoffman (0-2, 6.52), Glendon Rusch (1-2, 6.26) and Joe Thatcher (0-3, 6.75).

With so many underachievers, no wonder the Padres are tied with the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in Major League Baseball at 12-21.

Padres' schedule is a little too strange

If you enjoyed watching the Padres play the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Tuesday night, get used to it.

The teams will play six times at Petco Park this season, before they ever meet in Colorado.

Advantage, Rockies; if it comes down to the end of the season between these two teams.

For some reason, the Major League Baseball schedule is more quirky than ever this season … especially for the Padres.

They play the Los Angeles Dodgers nine times in September, the first time one can ever recall teams meeting in three series during the same month.

And playing the Rockies nine times in Colorado from June 30 on is not a picnic for the Padres.

With the Padres already being in a five-team division in the NL West, somebody always is going to be playing outside of the division. In fact, six of San Diego’s last nine games are against the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates.

But playing the Rockies six times in San Diego through May 11, then not visiting Colorado until June 30?

That’s a little too strange.

Peavy: Victim of dirty photo, or dirty pitcher?

So, Major League Baseball will be watching Jake Peavy for dirty play … or dirty fingers … when the Padres staff ace pitches Friday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

We all know by now that Peavy was caught on Fox TV with dirty fingers (see photo above) during his start last Saturday against the Dodgers.

Peavy has laughed off the incident; Padres Manager Bud Black says it might just have been residue from the resin bag.

Black’s theory is interesting in that a white resin bag probably wouldn’t make someone’s fingers black.

Anyway, Peavy better hope he has a good start Friday against the Dodgers; a team against which he owns an incredible 10-1 lifetime record.

If he does well, Peavygate will most likely fade into the sunset. If not, there will be questions about everything he has accomplished thus far in his brilliant career.

Even though the Friday is only one start out of about 35 per season for Peavy, the lingering suspicions of Peavygate make it among the most critical starts of his career.

Padres: Moneyball or Cheapball?

Too bad the local television stations have fallen for what “great ticket deals” the Padres have going in 2008.

If they did their research, they would discover that is not the case at all.

According to Team Marketing Report, the Padres have the 12th highest average ticket price among 30 Major League Baseball teams this season.

San Diego is also 11th in Fan Cost Index (the price of four average tickets, two small beers, four small sodas, four hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two adult-sized caps.)

Last season, the Padres ranked 15th and 14th in these respective categories, so they jumped up three spots in both ticket prices and Fan Cost Index.

Looking around the NL West, the Padres are second among five teams in both categories. Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Dodgers are first (sixth and ninth, respectively.)

San Francisco is 18th and 17th, Colorado is 22nd and 23rd, and Arizona is 30th (last) and 22nd.

Also, one must consider that the Padres are only 19th out of 30 in team payroll. Los Angeles is seventh; San Francisco 17th; Colorado 20th and Arizona 23rd.

Based on these statistics, four out of five teams in the NL West have a team payroll that parallels their ticket prices and Fan Cost Index.

The exception, of course, is San Diego; whose ticket prices and Fan Cost Index both rank much higher than the payroll.

What are the Padres playing here; Moneyball or Cheapball?

Hoffman is key to Padres' playoff hopes

Trevor Hoffman has been so taken for granted that Padres’ fans may finally find out this season just how good he was.

Hoffman, the all-time Major League Baseball saves leader, could be counted on about 90 percent of the time to hold any lead in the ninth inning.

He proved human in his final two appearances of 2007.

First, there was the triple by Milwaukee’s Tony Gwynn Jr. off Hoffman that prevented the Padres from clinching a playoff berth.

Then, there was Hoffman giving up three runs to the Colorado Rockies in another game that could have propelled the Padres into the playoffs.

Either these were two blips on Hoffman’s great career, or they were a sign of things to come.

When Hoffman blew consecutive saves in potential playoff-clinching games, San Diego fans got a taste of what people in many others cities throughout baseball experience.

Nowadays, the hardest thing for a pitcher to do is record the final three outs.

Nobody has been better at that than Hoffman.

But if he slips at all from his personal high standards in 2008, the Padres’ chances of making the postseason are very minimal.