Peavy Unanimously Wins Cy Young, gets extension talks; Pads to wake Clement up from his 07 slumber to pitch in 08?

Congratulations Jake! Peavy unanimously won the Cy Young award today, and deservedly so. No surprise after dominating almost every NL pitching category and providing one of the most dominating seasons the NL has seen in a while. Articles popped up around the same time as the Cy Young announcement that the Padres are in extension talks with Peavy. I guess that should cool off some of those ridiculous trade rumors going around right now. I hope Jake can repeat his 07 performance in years to come and that we have him for a long time. He is our big name star and we really need to lock him down for a long long time. Just think, the Padres could have had 2 cy young award winners in back to back years after Trevor was in the top running for the award in 06. As much as I am frustrated by Peavy’s struggles in critical games, I love the guy and am so proud that he finally brought home the Cy Young award.  I’m sure he wont mind the bonus that gets triggered in his contract when he wins a Cy Young award either.  It was only a matter of time before it happened, and this is what should be the first of many. We now have a rotation that contains 2 cy youngs and a CY (young).

Ouch. Kinda a mean picture considering he is really unconscious and profusely bleeding from his head after being hit by a shot back up the middle in this picture. Regardless, rumors have been picking up intensely that the Padres are interesting in brining Clement back to pitch for the Padres. Most likely he would take the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation after being out for the entire 07 season. I’m not against bringing clement back, I think he could be solid if he recovers well enough from his injury. This seems like a typical low risk high reward Towers move, and I like it. As long as Towers stays away from brining back any of the following: Darrel May, Tim Redding, Dewon Brazelton, Ismael Valdez, Kevin Jarvis

Casting for “Padres: The Movie”

Hopefully by the end of the offseason I will be able to cast the entire team. For now I will start with this:

Brian Giles will be played by Aaron Eckhart (from Thank You for Smoking)

Getting Caught Up

I was gone on a cruise for a week or so, so needless to say I was disconnected with the real world. I will recap some of the latest Padres news to keep us up to date…..

1. Cameron tested positive for banned stimulant for second time, suspended first 25 games of 08 season

Mikey Mikey Mikey…. the SECOND time? yikes. Of course he claims it was a tainted supplement. I guess if you are looking for tainted supplements SD is a great place to get them, just ask Shawne Merriman and Mike Cameron. Cameron’s 25 game suspension might actually give him a chance to NOT set strikeout records in 08, although if he does manage to set a club strikeout record it seems like it will be with some other club as Towers seems very unlikely to shell out the large multi year contract for the declining (vision especially) Cameron. I like Cameron, but I won’t be too sad to see him and his poor eyesight go. (I say that now but when Hairston is in CF for 08 I am going to regret it)

2. Padres looking to extend Khalil Greene’s contract

I really like this move, and it really was only a matter of time. Despite declining average and OBP we really take for granted Greene’s solid fielding. Add in his 27 home runs and a surplus of doubles and you have a solid shortstop. I just cant seen Greene moving to any other team, he is a one of a kind character and the Padres have gotten used to him.

3. 2008 Schedule Released

Seems like schedule makers decided to make up for last year by putting us at home to start and end the season, and giving us the Pirates the last series. It is a tough schedule with the Padres playing only 38 home games the second half of the season, and traveling to Cleveland and NY during inter league play. Of course, if the 08 padres are anything like the 07 Padres playing on the road more second half wouldn’t be a bad thing.

4. Torre’s a Dodger, ARod to follow?

Torre managing the Dodgers really shouldnt make too much of a difference. Torre is used to managing a team of superstars in an offense heavy AL east. Now Joe is stuck with a team in transition balancing time between youngsters and older stars in a very competitive NL west. Should be very interesting how he adapts to managing in the NL with the team he has. Of course if he gets ARod to come over there, his job becomes a little easier. Lets just hope that doesn’t happen.

5. Maddux wins yet ANOTHER gold glove, and resigns with the Padres for 08.

The gold glove was real predictable, yet much deserved. It really makes me happy that Mike enjoyed the 07 season with the Padres and is having a great time in San Diego. Having him in the rotation for next year only means good things. He seemed to have taught Jake and CY some valuable lessons, and will continue to mentor them next year. His knowledge of the game makes him almost a player manager, not to mention the 12 wins he throws in along with post season experience.

6. Trevor gets his elbow tuned up

Unfortunately no surgeon in the world could bring his arm back up to 1998 status

Welcome

This is the first post in what will most likely be a pretty bad Padre blog. Hows that for confidence in myself?

I figure since I am thinking about the padres about 60 percent of my day I might as well jump onto the blogwagon and write about them too. Since I am starting in the off-season it will most likely be a very slow work in progress, hopefully picking up more as Padre news starts increasing.