San Diego Padres

Before we get to Mr. Scruggs' comments during his "Newy and Richie" show on 105.3 FM in Dallas this morning, let me start by saying that I'm a big fan of Newy's and a loyal listener to his show.

That being said, I grew up as a San Diego Padre fan and lived in Southern California for almost eight years of my life. I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons at Petco Park watching the Padres and guys like Trevor Hoffman, Jake Peavy, and Adrian Gonzalez.

2009 was a tough year for San Diego Padres fans, starting with getting used to not watching the all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman close out games and then their ace, Jake Peavy, was sent to the Chicago White Sox midseason. 

The release of the longest tenured general manager in MLB would follow, as Kevin Towers made way for 36-year-old Jed Hoyer, former assistant GM of the Boston Red Sox.  The question becomes will the Padres blend together quickly enough to compete in the National League West this year? 

There is hope Padre fans and there is life after Jake Peavy...I promise.

Not to put unneeded pressure on 6'10" righthander Chris Young, but, well, the San Diego Padres' 2010 season is riding on that over-the-top right arm. They're counting on him to be the new team ace and they're counting on him to stay healthy, something Young hasn't done over the last two seasons.

Everth Cabrera has the makings of an elite base stealer.

Not only did he have 25 stolen bases in 103 games last year (which projects to 39 in a full season), but he had 73 for Single-A Asheville in 2008. 

The problem is: you’re getting zero power from him.

The New York Yankees are arguably the MLB organization of the year; 27-time World Champions, 103 regular season wins, and an unobstructed run to the World Series.

You ask, how can the TinCaps of Fort Wayne, the Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres, top the evil empire ?

So far this offseason, the San Diego Padres have yet to make a change to their roster in trade or free agency.

According to Bill Center of the San Diego Union Tribune , that could change prior to players reporting to spring training next month.

Owner Jeff Moorad has already been quoted as saying the team has about $5 to $6 million to spend and with that money the team could go bargain hunting for a few free agents that are still on the market.

Over the next couple of days, Jorge Says No! will be highlighting some of the forgotten free agents. You know, the guys that aren't getting much publicity or action on the open market even though they could have a lot to bring to the table.

Though the trade talk between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres surrounding first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has died off, there could be a new rumor floating to the surface.

The Chicago Cubs have had previous interest in Jacoby Ellsbury; there's no question the Red Sox would love to add Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to their lineup; and the Padres have already asked for Clay Buchholz and top prospects Casey Kelley or Ryan Westmoreland.

The rumors don't seem to stop even when a prominant ESPN writer says not to take any of them seriously.

There was talk of the Boston Red Sox going hard after San Diego Padres' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, then there were rumors that the Mariners and Orioles could possibly get involved. All three never seemed to get anything accomplished and the rumors died off quietly.

For the better part of two months, the only thing fans in Boston and San Diego were talking about was whether the two teams were going to work out a deal that would send Padres' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox.

During that same amount of time, ESPN's Jayson Stark had continued to tell people not to put any stock in the rumors surrounding Gonzalez. Unfortunately for us rumor fans, no one was really listening, because the rumors continued.