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San Diego Padres

2012 – Finished fourth in NL West

Record: 76-86

The Padres were one of the worst offensive teams in 2012, coming 23rd overall in runs scored and 22nd in batting average. It’s pitching didn’t help that much either, its ERA coming 17th out of 30 total teams. People may think I’m mad then that I’m going to predict the Padres will finish above Arizona in the NL West, but that’s more to do with the moves the Diamondbacks made as opposed to the Padres work, which isn’t exactly extensive.

While division opponents like the Giants and Dodgers have done a lot of work to keep their existing players and strengthened where they needed to, San Diego has opted to stay out of the free agent market and instead stick with what they have, which isn’t a great deal considering they won just 76 games last year. To make matters worse in this division, the Padres’ payroll is roughly one-quarter of the Dodgers. One thing San Diego fans can take from last year is their second half performance where they went 42-33 after the All-Star break. The team is full of young, hungry players and they have plenty of depth. Outside of Chase Headley there wasn’t a single veteran player that could say they had a good year, and there need to be more breakout years for veterans while the pitching staff needs to stay healthy.

INCOMINGS

P Freddy Garcia, Tyson Ross, Sean O’Sullivan, Fautino De Los Santos, Chris Rearick

OF Travis Buck

IF Cody Ransom

OUTGOINGS

P Andrew Werner, Matt palmer, Josh Spence, Neil Wagner

IF Andy Parrino

OF Blake Tekotte

Most of the names on that list are on minor league contracts, so while that adds depth and talent it doesn’t give the Padres instant hits that can come into the 40-man roster straight away. The Padres need to pick up where they left off in September, because coming back from way under .500 with a lot of youngsters would be tough.

Outfielders

Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin and Will Venable make up the Padres outfield while Chris Denorfia will be the utility outfielder. Quentin is very injury prone – he played just 86 games in 2012 – but on the flipside of that he is a great power hitter; Quentin had 16 home runs in 284 at-bats. At Petco Park your power numbers will naturally take a hit but if he stays healthy he has the ability to knock it out the park. Maybin used to have massive potential but the wait has gone on too long and he will bat around .250 with around 25 steals if he stays healthy. Venable is a clone of Maybin with just as many strikeouts. In any other team these two would likely be fourth outfielders, which brings us to Denofria who has a career .281 batting average (.293 in 2012), so he is a solid backup.

Infielders

Yonder Alonso plays first and when he came over to the Padres he was ranked the 33rd top prospect in the country. 2012 was his first full season and he batted .273 with nine homers and 62 RBI, but the question will remain whether he can improve that consistently. Logan Forsythe was unimpressive in his 315 at-bats last year at second, batting .273 with 45 runs scored. Everth Cabrera had a terrible average last year (.246) and he is just .240 lifetime, and he strikes out a lot. However, his speed and defence will keep him in the starting lineup. Chase Headley is at third base after a terrific 2012 breakout season – .286, 31 home runs, 86 RBIs, 95 runs and 17 steals. It’s too early to tell whether he is for real but with the fences being brought in at Petco, Headley could be in for a big year.

Catchers

24-year-old Yasmani Grandal will start the season with a 50-game suspension for testosterone use, but when he returns he has the potential to be a .300 hitter after a solid first 60 games in the major leagues last year. Nick Hundley is average at best and batted just .157 over 204 at-bats last year, but he and John Baker will have to do while Grandal is out.

Starters

Edinson Volquez and Clayton Richard are the top two pitchers in the Padres staff but including those two everyone is young and had bad seasons in 2012. Volquez went 11-11 last year with a 4.14 ERA and walked a lot of batters. Richard was perhaps the only bright spot, going 14-14 with a 3.99 ERA. Jason Marquis went 8-11 with a high 5.22 ERA, and Eric Stults pitched only 14 games after arriving from the White Sox going a very nice 8-3 with a 2.91 ERA. 33-year-old Stults has never performed like that, so don’t expect a repeat.

Relievers

The Padres bullpen is surprisingly good and probably their best feature on the team. Huston Street is a very reliable closer and despite some injury problems in 2012, he had a career year with 23 saves while posting a 1.85 ERA. Luke Gregerson is a solid set-up man and fill-in closer who posted a 2.39 ERA last season. Brad Brach, Joe Thatcher and Dale Thayer are all solid middle-relievers with mid-three ERAs.