San Diego Padres 2002 Season Preview

by Adam J. Ulrey

The Padres are doing things right.

Remember the following names: Jake Gautreau, Xavier Nady, Mike Bynum, Jacob Peavy, Mark Phillips and Dennis Tankersley. They hold the key for the future of this franchise. Over the last three years this organization has gone about building a championship caliber team by rebuilding the depleted farm system. During the last couple of years they have brought in Ryan Klesko, Mark Kotsay, D'Angelo Jimenez, Ramon Vazquez and Phil Nevin through trades to form the core of what could turn out to be a very good hitting team this year. They have built for the future and never tried to hide that fact from their fans. The crowds have still been there because the organization has kept its word and now has Kotsay, Nevin and Klesko signed to long term contracts so that when they move into their new stadium in 2004, look out. I love it when a team realizes that you are only going to be as good as your farm system is. You can only sign so many free agents. You must have some homegrown talent or your chances decrease dramatically. Just look at the Yankees and their current run, Jeter, Posada, BWilliams, Soriano, Pettitte and Mariano Rivera all came from their minor league system.

Phil Nevin was a former number one draft pick who came to the majors thinking he was The Man. Instead, he was humbled like a lot of players who take this game for granted and it took him almost five years to show some glimpses of his immense talent. He finally has arrived, having put together three consecutive great years. He has increased his power numbers from 24 homers followed by 31, then last year he blossomed with 41 dingers. He also drove in 126 runs and finished his second year in a row with an average above .300. He will be making the move from third base to first base, but look for him to make a smooth transition. With Nevin moving over to first the rest of the infield will be completely different from last year.

Second base will be handled by D'Angelo Jimenez, who will move from short to second which shouldn't be a problem as he has played both positions. He came from the Yankees last year and batted a solid .276 for the Padres. They will be unveiling a new short stop in Ramon Vazquez, who they acquired in an off-season trade with the Mariners. His upside is huge as he has a little pop in his bat and a terrific glove. Third base is where the phenom Sean Burroughs will finally get to strut his stuff. He has been a high average hitter at every stop in the minors and so far this spring has been stinging line drives all over the park. The power numbers aren't there yet, but look for them to improve in the next couple of years. They traded Ben Davis, who never did reach the potential that the Padres thought he would, to Seattle. Now they hand the catching duties over to Wiki Gonzalez. He has a solid bat and is an above average catcher with a good arm, which should control the running game.

In the outfield you have Ryan Klesko making the move from first base back to the outfield, where he mostly played for the Braves. Since coming to the Padres two years ago Klesko has taken his offensive game to a new level. He hit 30 homers last year with a career high 113 RBI, but the strange part of it is that all of a sudden he has a running game. He never had more than 6 steals in any year, yet he has had 23 in each year with the Pads. At the age of 31 he is starting to attain superstar status and along with Nevin gives the Padres a great middle-of-the-lineup. In center will be former number one pick Mark Kotsay, who came over from Florida last year in a trade. He was one of the ones who signed a long term deal with San Diego, so he will be in center for years to come. Kotsay has been a good doubles hitter, but has not supplied the power that most scouts thought he would. At the age of 26 he's on the verge of putting it all together and finally reaching his potential. Left field will be a platoon of Ray Lankford and Bubba Trammell. Lankford will get the opening day nod, but with his tendency to get hurt, look for Trammell to end up with more at bats. How would you like to be Trammell, who goes out and puts up 25 homers and 92 RBI, only to have the Pads trade for the 35-year-old, quickly fading Lankford? This is the one bad decision that the Padres brass made over the past year.

The pitchers are mostly young, but the Padres have two veterans at the top of the rotation in Bobby J. Jones and Kevin Jarvis. Jones lost 19 games last year with a very high 5.12 ERA, but he is a savvy type pitcher who will give them innings. Jarvis, on the other hand, really had his breakout year after six years in the bigs. He started the most games in his career with 32 and went 12-11 with a 4.79 ERA. He has pitched really well this spring and could improve on those numbers. Brett Tomko will be number three in the rotation after coming over from Seattle. Tomko will be counted on to get double digit wins for the Pads and to give them some stability. The fourth and fifth starters are the kids Brian Lawrence and Brian Tolberg. Over the last third of the season Lawrence was probably the Pads best starter, going 5-5 with a 3.45 ERA. With 84 K's and only 34 walks this kid has got great control. Tolberg was a solid 10-4 last year in his 19 starts with a 4.30 ERA. This is not a staff that can compete with the Giants, Dodgers or Arizona, but is not that far off either. Remember they have some studs in the minors and by next year Adam Eaton will be back from Tommy John surgery. The future looks really bright on the pitching side.

Besides Mariano Rivera, the game's best closer is Trevor Hoffman, who has 314 career saves for San Diego. He is lights out most every time he steps on the mound. This year the Pads added veterans Steve Reed and lefty Alan Embree to fill in the innings between the departure of the starter and the arrival of Hoffman. Former Blue Jay Tom Davey will help, along with Brad Clontz, Jose Nunez, another lefty, and Jason Boyd. It's a solid bullpen and should help make the starters better by holding leads until they can get to Hoffman.

I really like this team and think they are only going to get better in the future. They have rebuilt their minor league system into one of the best and added some quality young ball players through trades. They have not gone for the quick fix, building instead from within and by making smart trades.

Ten Years Ago...

Our Padres Preview from April 1992, by David Ochoa:

Strengths: Fred McGriff, .278, 31, 106, .494 slg %, .396 OBP, 84 runs. Tony Gwynn, .317, 27 2B, only 19 K's. Tony Fernandez, .272, 23 SB. Benito Santiago, .267, 17, 87. Caught 151 games, got strong towards end of season. Bruce Hurst, 15-8, 3.29, 221 IP, 141 K, only 59 BB. Andy Benes, 15-11, 3.03, 223 IP, 167 K, only 59 BB. Craig Lefferts, 23 SV, Larry Anderson 13 SV, led team in practical jokes. (Both relievers had sub-par years, but come with good resumes. At least one will bounce back.) The food in Jack Murphy Stadium.

Weaknesses: Everyone else-2B (Shipley?), 3B (Teafel, Faries), CF (Darrin Jackson), LF (Jerald Clark, Thomas Howard). The rest of the rotation and relievers. Maybe Howard and Ricky Bones, both rookies in '91, will blossom. Greg Harris did OK as starter at end of season. New acquisition Randy Meyers will probably help feeble relief corps, and he and Anderson will keep them loose.

General Outlook: 4th, only because Giants and Astros are even worse. No chance vs. Braves and much-improved Reds and Dodgers. Uneven offense must rely on several big guns going off at once.

Perspective: Joe McIlvaine came down from NY, made the big trade with Toronto and ran through about 50 players last year. Pads are a club in flux, in flux almost every year. However, '91s 83-79 record was third best in clubs twenty-three year history. Mc and Riddoch brought a touch of class to a franchise with a history of being a Kroc of .... soap operas.