Padres Battle Royale: Left Field

The Battle For Left Field:

The Front Runner: Scott Hairston

I believe that Hairston earned the front runner spot from his amazing month of Sepetember/Oct. in 2007. Although the blown save by Hoffman wiped his 13th inning tie breaking homer from the memories of many, that home run was by far the most clutch hit of the year. Through the month of September he showed how clutch he was with at least 2 other walk off home runs. Overall he hit 8 home runs in only 87 at bats with the Padres with 20 RBI and a .644 slugging percentage and a .287 average. From these stats alone, Hairston deserves the first look and should be the front runner who has proven success in the bigs and with the Padres, even if it was a short period of time. He has the potential to be a solid everyday player and we know the guy is clutch. Defensively he is not the most mobile or solid candidate but he brings an intensity to the field and goes hard for every play.

The Prized Prospect: Chase Headley

Straight up Chase Headley is the Padres number one prospect. He is the player they have been getting excited about for years and years and now that he is ready the Padres have a little problem…his position (third base) is backed up by another potential all star in Kevin Kouzmanoff. So the Padres are going to give Headley a long look out in LF this offseason, a position he is not comfortable with. The hope is he can learn LF and become comfortable enough fielding that his potential offensive superstar side wins him the position. Of course he has the overpowering numbers in the minors that many believe he will be a star in the major leagues. The question is whether he is ready and what position we can stick him in. If he has a monster spring with the bat and doesn’t mess up completely defensively than he could easily win this job. There is a LOT of upside with Headley and the Padres have been waiting to unleash him in the majors for a while now.

The Sleeper: Paul Macanulty

Beleive it or not PMac is still around and still fighting hard to become a starter in the majors. His offense has been highly touted for the past few years, but he has never had a real opportunity to show off his stuff, limited mostly to pinch hit appearances and random sub appearances. Mac showed up at camp 20 pounds lighter (he has been labeled through his career as overweight) and he is in high spirits, setting the goal of earning the LF starting position. He has put up good on base percantage throughout his career in the minors and has drawn comparisons to some solid major league hitters. Defensively he will not be the most agile of fielders but he could probably give us a Ryan Kleskoish defensive season (yikes). Again it his offense that will win him this job if he can show Bud Black he is the best candidate during spring.

The Wildcard:Jeff DaVannon

JDV was accquired in the offseason after a poor season in 2007 where he split time with the Dbacks and the A’s. He is a wildcard because he has shown in the past that he can play a solid outfield. His best year was with the Dbacks where he batted .290 in 87 games and put up a .448 OBP. He has some speed and can play a solid defensive OF but he may not be the best option for the Padres to start. He may be a solid 4th outfielder to sub in from the bench late in the game. The only way JDV wins this starting spot is if he impresses with the glove and the bat and shows he is ready to have a solid year. I don’t see this happening, but he would be a welcome addition to the bench adding depth to our shallow list of outfielders.

There is also a possibility of trades still. Towers said once the cactus league games start up he will look into trades again. Names that have been rumored: Nady, Bay and Murton…..

5th spot in the rotation battle royale to come soon….