The entire schedule of when team recaps will be. Team: San Diego Padres
2007 Regular Season Record: 89-74
Cost per Win: $58,110,567 / 89 = $652,927 per win
2007 Season Recap: The Padres had an interesting season to say the least. Especially the way they ended it. When the season ended the Padres found themselves tied with the Rockies for the wild card spot. This all meant that they had to play one more game to earn their way into the playoffs. 11 innings and a controversial call at home plate later the Padres found themselves on the wrong side of the outcome and missed out on the playoffs. If it makes them feel better they lost to the team that made it to the World Series.
On the field the Padres got some very good performances. One of these was by starting pitcher Jake Peavy. Peavy finished the season with 19 wins and 6 losses and a 2.54 ERA. This earned Peavy the unanimous vote for the NL Cy Young award. The Padres also got quality performances from Trevor Hoffman who set the record for most saves in a career; he had 42 saves this season.
On the offensive side of the game the Padres had several quality performances but no one player stood out from the crowd. One person I want to note is Milton Bradley. I’m a big fan of Bradley even though he needs to find a way to control his attitude. His on the field performance has always been solid and he helps his teams a lot when he is playing. IN 2007 he batted .313 after being acquired from the A’s. After coming off an injury he split time for a portion of the year so he didn’t see as much action as he deserved, Bradley is a free agent though so hopefully a team will get better use out of him next year.
Key Free Agents: CF Milton Bradley, CF Mike Cameron, C Michael Barrett, 2B Marcus Giles; I find it very interesting that the Padres haven’t come to a deal with either Bradley or Cameron. They now go from having 2 great center fielders to having nothing at that position. Luckily for them there are several quality center fielders available but it will definitely cost them.
Offseason Needs: Their first need is definitely at center field. They are losing 2 good bats and need to find a way to replace them if they want to contend at all. Other than that they need to find another second baseman. The one thing they don’t need is pitching, something most team can’t say. Their rotation will include Peavy and Maddux and any time you can hand a lead over to Hoffman a victory is a pretty good chance. They just need to find the guys to score runs so they have those leads late in games.
Prediction for the 2008 season: If you are a Padres fan I would recommend you look away now. Things aren’t going to be good for them. The Dodgers look like they could be stronger and I don’t think they have the offensive talent to keep up with the D’Backs and the Rockies. What that all means is that I see the Padres finishing 4th in the division even though it will probably be a somewhat close margin from the top to the bottom of the division. A few key free agents and that could all change in such a close division.
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