Now we're talking

In Ryan Ludwick, the Padres get more than a .281 hitter with some pop and decent RBI numbers. They get a great signal from the front office.

In organizing this trade that involved Ludwick’s Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, Jed Hoyer pulled off the first three-team trade that the Padres have been involved in since around 1995, according to the MLB Network. Since Hoyer took over, I’ve been excited by the fact that the Padres seemed to have a plan they were actually sticking to – complementing good pitching with athletic, speedy players to better utilize spacious Petco Park. This Ludwick trade shows that he’s also willing get creative to achieve the plan.

Plus, Ludwick isn’t that expensive at $5.4 million and he is under contract for another year. I’m not saying he’s going to take the Padres to the World Series this year, but a front office with both a plan and creativity is a great start.

The Tejada Trade Via Text

After the news broke that the Padres would now be dressing Miggy T a couple thoughts went through my head:

1) Is Kevin Towers still the GM?

2) Is he playing SS?

3) I am gonna try to be optimistic.

Josh Elwell then texted me the official news and we had the following conversation via text.

JOSH: Looks like Miggy may be heading to SD. At least that means you get your wish since he'll probably take Oscar Salazar's roster spot.

JOSH: Yep, it's done. Tejada the Padre. He'll share time with Evereth at SS. Maybe even some 2B too.

DALLAS: He can't play short anymore! He's a f**&^ng third baseman!

JOSH: He played it last year. Played 158 games at SS.

DALLAS: How many this year?

JOSH: Come on. That wasn't my point. The O's needed him at 3B. But he's played th epast 10 or however many years at short. He can do it for two more months!

DALLAS: I'm not kidding you - I'm trying to be optimistic.

JOSH: I'm trying to be optimistic too. Definitely not excited. But, I'm pointing out he can still play SS. And he hit really well there for the Astros last year. Terrible this year though. But I'm hoping going to a first place team will excite him and we can get two good months out of it. And we gave up nobody.

DALLAS: True. He can't hit MUCH worse than Cabrera.

JOSH: Another truth.

DALLAS: I would have just rather worked on getting an arm and playing Jerry H. Jr. at 2nd till Eck comes back then put JHJR at SS fulltime.

JOSH: Well here's the latest: They're still in talks on a mystery trade. This won't stop us from getting an outfielder. And they could still get an arm in August.

DALLAS: I like Cunningham and El Dorkia. They have been good. ARM!!

JOSH: A poet! Tejada's quote: "Now I go into a situation where I can get a ring. It's not easy to get a ring. It's a lot of hard work."

It is indeed Miggy. Now you better start working!

Welcome.

... But you got Tejada

Sorry Josh, but it looks like Miguel Tejada and his penchant for hitting into double plays is coming to San Diego.

According to my co-worker from Baltimore, "It's hard to put into words how bad he is." Yikes!

I want Berkman.

Now that the Astros have their Lance Berkman replacement in Brett Wallace, maybe that last minute effort by the Padres to land Roy Oswalt will lead to a trade for Berkman - who has absolutely crushed the ball at Petco Park.

That's all I got.

Faaaantastic

Grab a seat fast, the bandwagon is starting to fill up.

As the Padres head toward the fifth month of the season still in first place, seems fans are finally taking notice. I went to the game last night (Tuesday) against the Dodgers, and the stadium was actually almost full, kind of sort of raucous, and a good 50 percent Padres fans. (As opposed to the usual 40 percent when the Doyers are in town). When Andre Ethier's pinch hit single scored the go-ahead runs for the away team, there were far more groans than cheers in Historic Petco Park.

I'm not the only one who noticed. This guy from the OC Register thought last night felt like October. Of course, as soon as the fans showed up, the Padres promptly lost. Maybe these guys preferred having the park to themselves.

The Kept Faith Podcast 006

For you Google Reader readers, sorry for the earlier post - technical difficulties. If you'd just start subscribing already, you'd have known this, but our latest podcast is up. Consider it an appetizer before your main course of a sweep over the Dodgers. But not really a healthy appetizer, more like if you ate dessert before the main course. Yeah, that's what this is.

Eckstein to DL. Padres still win.

And here I thought it was only the 15-day DL.

That's right. The "heart and soul" of Friar Nation is injured. In his place comes Will Venable. Let's get a quick head count on our Major League outfielders:

Gwynn (Jr.)

Hairston

Cunningham

Venable

Denorfia

Durango

Stairs

How...many...outfielders...can one team have? A little consistency is all I want. But with Eck out, it's looking like the trade deadline focus might shift to a middle infielder over an everyday outfielder. Meaning: the Miguel Tejada era may be on the horizon. It's scary. It's not what we want. It's not what we need. But it may be what we get.

My hope is Jed makes a call over to the D-Bags. It'd cost more in terms of prospects, but trading for Kelly Johnson over Tejada is like trading for something good over something bad. And when/if/I don't even care if Eckstein comes off the DL, Johnson could take over everyday in LF, leaving CF and RF for a history-making seven-man platoon.

One last thing. For all of Eck's know-how and the team touting their 41-30 record when Eckstein's starting, this also means the team's 14-8 when he's not starting. This also means nothing either way. Don't show off a stupid number if it's irrelevant. Forgive my Eckstein frustration. But I'd prefer a second basemen and someone hitting in the two-hole who scores more than 31 runs by July 22nd and gets on base at a better clip than .326, which describes approximately 80% of every other starting second basemen. Guys with stats like Eckstein who "play the game the right way" (a favorite of Eck-defenders) aren't players, they're coaches. And for the foreseeable future, little Davey will be exactly that: An extra coach on Buddy's bench.

And while I'll credit Eckstein on his '06 World Series MVP, I'll also credit him his horrific performance in the NLDS and NLCS of that year. He showed up for the World Series, but he also did everything he could to stop the Cardinals from getting there.

Eckstein to the DL. An excess of every-other-day outfielders. Not wanting Miguel Tejada. Wanting Kelly Johnson. Eckstein to the DL meaning nothing to us winning. This post has it all. For any TKF readers disgusted at my disgust for Eckstein, Dallas' Eckstein man-crush outweighs my distaste... and he puts up more articles here than I do.

Little Leaguers of America, this is how to be a baseball player. Davey said so.