When You Become the Baseball Albatross

In Coolidge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" a sailor kills an albatross that, at first, appears to bring him and his crew good luck. It is only later, upon running into heavy seas and running out of drinkable water ("water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink") do they all realize that the albatross was good luck, leading them to safety. And that by killing the albatross the sailor had doomed their ship. As his punishment, he is forced to wear the albatross around his neck, which is of course where that idiom comes from.

What does all this have to do with baseball? I'm not entirely sure. But I know that somehow I have become bad luck when it comes to the San Diego Padres.

To be honest, this extends beyond the San Diego Padres now that I'm thinking about it. For a few seasons now I have taken to calling myself the "no-hitter cooler." In the same way casino's bring in "coolers" to stop some guy on a heater at a blackjack table, I have found that more often than not I have the same effect on no-hitters. You know the situation. You're at home when on the ticker or in a Tweet you learn so-and-so has a no-hitter in the 8th inning. You quickly turn to that game to see some history. And the very first batter you see breaks up the no-hitter. Like they knew you were watching. This has happened to me on countless times, so much so that I wouldn't turn the Padres no-hit bid vs the Dodgers on earlier this season.

Cooler.

On July 27th, I publicly announced my bandwagon jumping support of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since that day they have won once. 1-10. They have been swept by the Phillies, Cubs and are one game away from being swept by San Diego. It is collapse rivaled only by another 10 game losing streak that anyone who reads this blog is well aware of (the streak that shall not be named).

Now the Padres have scored 28 runs in the past 2 days. I have not seen or heard one play from either game. On Friday night, it was simply due to an east coast start time and me being at work. On Saturday, it was on purpose, to test the theory: do I make the Padres nervous? Am I the "harbinger of death" (if you'll excuse the slight bit of hyperbole there) when it comes to scoring? I think the evidence is clear...

Yes.

This was, sadly, not new. Opening Day 2011 I posted about how I was unable to watch the Padres game despite my best efforts to see them open 2011 in St. Louis.

Padres win. I'm nowhere to be found.

The last time I remember watching the Padres win a game I think I was still into ska music. It's been awhile.

The Pythagorean record for the Padres is 56-58 (reality being much crueler at 50-64). I can only imagine their record if I didn't have cable or an internet connection.

So, until they lose, I have put a personal moratorium on watching or listening to Padres games. I will rely on my Twitter feed to determine whether they are winning or losing.

Apologies for whatever albatross I shot down.

Knee Jerk Reactions on the Trade Deadline

Here are a few thoughts moments after the deadline. I look forward to regretting putting these thoughts down in writing in a few days:

- If there is one thing I knew coming into July 31st, it was that Heath Bell was DEFINITELY going to be traded. Until he wasn't. The Padres decided to hang on to their All-Star closer (at least for the time being), opting to move Mike Adams instead. No one seems to be more surprised than Adams himself, quoted as saying "It was quite a bit of a shock," adding "I came in this morning prepared to be the closer." (courtesy of @theMTbrain)

- The Padres obtained from Texas Robbie Erlin and Joe Wieland. Robbie Erlin doesn't appear to know how to walk people which is as good a quality as you can hope for in a pitcher in Petco. Let them put the ball in play and you will likely be ok. Keith Law ranks Erlin as the #5 prospect for the Rangers. Joe Wieland threw a no-hitter a few days ago in AA. So there's that. Two #3-#5 starters for Mike Adams seems like a pretty good haul. Of course, we won't really know for a few years.

- Perhaps more notably than who WAS traded was who wasn't. Heath Bell remained a Padres at 1:01pm on July 31st to the surprise of most everyone. Now the question is, was that smart? It became clear over the last week or so that Adams was the valuable asset in the minds of other GM's. Younger, better numbers and controllable beyond this year so that makes perfect sense. What didn't make sense was that reports had come out of San Diego that Adams was told specifically that he would NOT be traded. Then that report was debunked, then it wasn't and in the end nobody knew anything. In the end, GM's weren't willing to meet the price Jed Hoyer had presented for a rental.

- The question now is, was keeping Bell smart? That question doesn't really have a legitimate answer. From a statistical standpoint, it made more sense to trade him. At the end of the season the Padres will get two compensation picks assuming Bell does not accept arbitration. Those two picks have been predicted to possibly be in the mid-20's and then the mid-40's. Now there is talk of signing Bell to an extension. I'm fine with that. There was no gun to Hoyer's head to trade Bell like there was with Adrian Gonzalez or Jake Peavy. The Padres can afford to keep Bell and Bell has every desire to stay in San Diego. Also there is this. Right or wrong, the front office had to look at how this would look to their fanbase. I'm not crazy about making moves simply to appease the fans, but, in the past few years Padres fans have seen the two most recognizable players traded. Bell currently represents the face of the franchise, the lone All-Star and one of the few players on this team that casual fans are familiar with. Tickets need to be sold and I can only assume that there was some concern of playing into the stereotype of Padres front offices that simply trade away everyone. So, from that standpoint, its a small time risk to sign Bell.

Therefore, unlike with Peavy and Gonzalez, the Padres could wait for a package that enticed them. If it didn't come, then no reason to trade Bell. This can't be about making trades simply to make a trade. My guess is the package the Rangers gave over for Adams is similar to what San Diego wanted for Bell. But, as mentioned above, that's a lot to give up for a rental.

Now, if you think the Padres are within a year or so of contending, then you have a closer for that period. If you believe they are a few years away, then you have someone the fans can cling to while waiting for "the future." And if they resign him, nothing to say they can't trade him next year at the deadline if the Padres are in a similar position.

- Oh yeah, the Padres also traded Ryan Ludwick to the Pirates for slightly more than a bucket of balls (PTBNL). Unfortunately, as you know, Left Coast Bias has chosen the PIrates as our bandwagon team for the rest of the season. So it looks like I am stuck rooting for Ludwick the rest of the season (accept next week, obviously).

- With Ludwick gone, left field is now wide open for Kyle Blanks. So, I guess now is the time we find out if Kyle Blanks can play left field and hit MLB pitching.

In the end, the Padres lost a great bullpen arm today but added two strong young arms to their farm system. The Ryan Ludwick experiment mercifully came to an end. And Heath Bell remains a Padres. Worst things could have happened today. We could be Astros fans.

Turn That Frown Upside Down

What is there to say about the San Diego Padres right now? At times, they are nearly unwatchable. Other times, they are merely watchable to see in what way they will fail in spectacular fashion (Orlando Hudson throwing the 2nd out to the ball girl who promptly gave it to a young fan was the highlight of futility of 2011 so far).

The most interesting question revolving around this team right now has been when they will trade their most recognizable player and lone All-Star. In my mind, Heath Bell has already been traded. As has Ludwick. I'm less inclined to buy into Mike Adams rumors as that appeared to me to simply be a "hey, let's ask for the moon for him and see if someone bites." And hey, it's July 27th, someone still might.

So here we are. Just over two months to go and the best I got for you is "When is Heath Bell going to be traded?" Personally, I have already found myself emotionally detaching from Heath Bell. As his trade is not so much a "if" but "when," it's time to prepare for life post-Heath. The nice thing if you are a Padres fan is that the All Star Game was a nice going away party in many ways. The Padres lone All-Star was all over that game, between being mic'd for the Fox broadcast to "The Slide," Bell gave Padres fans a fun night on a national stage. But by the end of the weekend, the Heath Bell era (at least version 1.0) will likely be over.

These, my friends, are dark times. Though they could be darker. The Padres could have lost 17 games in a row. Vedder Cup karma.

There is a lot to be blue about these days, so here are a few positives that Padres fans can turn to as we enter the final two months of the season:

1) Hey, only 2 more months to go!
- This has been a brutal season by any standard. Watching your favorite team lose close to 100 games a year removed from winning 90 is a bit of a shock to the system, no matter how prepared you may have been for it. "Oh, but I knew they would be bad because they traded Adrian..." Really? Did you know they would be this bad? And were you prepared to watch them play this poorly? Didn't think so.

2) Anthony Rizzo is KILLING it...in Tucson






















- Ok, ok, this is really more bittersweet than anything. If this season has taught us anything, its that the offensive stats the Tucson Padres put up are not quite what we should be expecting when these players are called up. Part of that is elevation of Tucson (2,389 ft above sea level), part of that is poor pitching in the PCL. But, I still believe that Rizzo is going to be a good MLB player in the future. And the fact that he continues to destroy AAA pitching only buoys my belief. I just don't think that day is this year (though I can only assume we will seem him back by September at the latest).

3) Trevor Hoffman's Number Being Retired













- As mentioned before in this space, there are really only two players that I consider to be iconic Padres. Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman. On August 21st, the Padres will retire #51 in a post-game ceremony. Quick, try to name the next Padres who will have his number retired. Wherever he is, he doesn't play for the Padres currently in all likelihood. So let's enjoy this.


4) World Records!!!!

















- Trivia time! What MLB team set a World Record on Wednesday, July 27th? Only one, and its your San Diego Padres! Now, the world record was most dogs in costumes in one place (or something like that), but still, don't see the Dodgers setting any World Records.

5) Chance to Bandwagon for Two Months










- With the Padres playoffs long since dead, the final two months will give Padres fans the opportunity to bandwagon on another team and enjoy some peripheral playoff race excitement. This doesn't mean you forsake the Padres by any means. Whatever team you choose to bandwagon with, when they play San Diego we are all expecting you to root for San Diego. The official Left Coast Bias bandwagon pick for the final two months: Pittsburgh Pirates. Not super imaginative but I really can't imagine anyone (outside NL East fans) not rooting for the Pirates.


Some side notes. All kidding aside, the number one positive thing (other than the prospects Texas is going to hand over for Heath Bell) has been Cameron Maybin. I don't know if the Padres have ever had a player more tailor made for Petco Park's centerfield. He is young, with a high ceiling, and has provided some of the most jaw dropping plays in CF this year. He is, by far, my favorite new Padres. And as of July 31st, he will move into position as "favorite Padre" for Left Coast Bias. I'm excited that he is going to be here for a long time.