It's Official...Jim Edmonds Hates San Diego

Seriously? Two scolding doubles last night? Jim Edmonds, the poster child for every player that plays past his sell date hit two doubles for the Chicago Cubs last night. Edmonds you'll remember was so anemic at the plate that even on a team full of anemic hitters he stood out, to the point that he was finally released. Now this...and so it goes this season.

The Cubs are in town this week with the best record in baseball. Not many could have hoped for a win last night between Carlos Zambrano and newly acquired starter Baek. Still, ever the optimist, I thought the fight shown by the Padres (and I guess really I mean Adrian, more on this in a second) was inspiring. Look, things can be spun however you want. The Padres went 5-5 on their last home-stand. Improvement? Yes. Satsified? No, not when those 10 games come against the Cardinals, Reds and Nationals. Still, the point was the same. Fans can see a clear difference in the style of play on the field, even in a loss.

Adrian Gonzalez is having some kind of year that is being lost in obscurity here in 4th place San Diego. AGon hit his 17th home run last night and is now the NL leader in RBI's, an amazing feat considering he has almost no protection in the lineup and does not exactly hit in a Murderer's Row of a lineup. It seems more than likely now that AGon will be the Padres representative at the All-Star Game.

What's amazing this year is as bad as things have seemed (and really, part of me just thinks this team is snake bit), the Padres are only 9.5 games back. A large deficit for sure but not insurmountable considering the quality of the NL West and that Arizona has finally come back down to earth. Of course, this goal would be buoyed by the promotion of Chase Headley...but that's for another time.

Tonight, the Cubs send Jason Marquis against Wil Ledezma (is it me or does it feel like the Padres have about 10 "starters" right now while Peavy, Young, and Estes are DL'd?)

BIG NEWS!!!!!
Left Coast Bias will be making the trip East in three weeks to see for the first (and only) time Yankee Stadium as the Padres take on the Yankees in mid-June. Full report on the activities later but wanted to give you a heads up.

Trade Winds are Blowing

Ding! Ding!

Welcome to San Diego Michael Barrett. The much maligned Chicago Cub catcher has been traded to the San Diego Padres today for Rob Bowen and a minor leaguer (Kyler Burker from Single A). Many know Michael Barrett more for his punches then his catching, having been in the infamous fight with A.J. Pierzynski (pictured) and of course his fight with Carlos Zambrano eariler this year. He was also in a supposed shouting match with Cubs starter Rich Hill earlier this year.

Now, what does this do for the Padres? Well, obviously Josh Bard is not performing up to the .333 avg he had last year, currently batting .253. Worst of course, is that Josh Bard has more often than not found himself in the number 5 hole with that .253 avg. Certainly, if you want to look at an entire body of work, Barrett is an upgrade offensively, batting .287 for a career at Wrigley with a home run every 21 at-bats. Petco is no Wrigley. No short fences, no wind to help push the ball out, just deep alleys. So, are the Padres getting the hitting for avg and power Barrett or the 5-33 slumping Barrett that shoved the Cubs starting pitcher? One hopes for the former and perhaps a change of scenary will do the trick.

The next issue of course is Josh Bard. Who is the Padres starting catcher? Finanicially speaking, the Padres are only paying $700,000 for Barrett with the Cubs picking up the rest of Barrett's salary ($2.2 million still due) so it's not a slam dunk that Barrett steps into the starters role. What's more, how will Barrett and his hot head match with the Padres pitchers such as Jake Peavy. Certainly, anything that disrupts this rotation is devasting. At the same time Josh Bard has not been hitting as hoped and is not performing stellar behind the plate (dropped ball at the plate last night is only one of many examples). But, he is catching the best pitching staff in the majors so he must be doing something right.

Overall, the Barrett trade is an upgrade in offense, a draw on defense and a very large question mark on temper. Maybe Barrett just needed a change of venue. Maybe playing for a winning team will do him good. Maybe not. But if the Padres pitchers don't match well with him, Barrett has to go.

Finally, let's hope this is not the move Kevin Towers had planned to protect Adrian Gonzalez. I don't think it is as the talks had just begun a few days ago (presumably when San Diego was in Chicago). My bet is Kevin Towers is still mulling ideas over. The Padres catching core offensively has been dismal and this looks like an inexpensive way to potentially fix it...hopefully, not at the expense of the pitching staff. I give Towers the benefit of the doubt, after all, he brought Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Bard, and Cla Meredith here for next to nothing.

Coming Up:

Boston Series Preview Tomorrow. How Big Is a Series in June Really?

The Red Sox are Coming, The Red Sox are Coming

Quick post today. Heading down to Petco for tonight's game with Peavy going against the now manager-less Orioles. A few quick notes from the weekend.

- Chris Young and Derrek Lee were suspended 5 games each for their part in the fight at Wrigley. In all likelihood Young will appeal and rightfully so. Unless something was wrong with my t.v., Lee came at Young and swung first. Not sure what MLB would like Young to have done in that situation. Now, Lee is a classy player and one I personally like a lot. This was out of character for him. But he was the aggressor and should be punished accordingly, or, more to the point, Young should not be punished as severely. Either way, it would appear that this will not affect Young's availability this weekend when Boston comes to town.

- Congrats to Chase Headley on his first major league hit. Forgot to give him props when he got called up on Friday. Must have been quite a thrill to get your first MLB start in Wrigley Field. Congrats Headley.

- Mike Cameron is ridiculous hot right now, letting us all forget the terrible April he had. Interesting article in the U-T today about the Padres pitching and offense. Let me say this, the offense is not as bad as you think. Avg is low yes, but the Padres rank 9th out of 16 in runs scored and, when adjusted for ballparks, their slugging pct. plus on base pct. is fifth in the National League.

- That said, would still love to see Griffey Jr. in the outfield. Jose Cruz and Terrmel Sledge are good players, but not everyday players. Griffey Jr. has the power and speed to play into Petco and can protect Gonzalez. What is he worth? Clay Hensely perhaps? Mike Thompson? Wouldn't blow up the bullpen, but might be worth looking into. Pure speculation on my part though.

Full Boston Preview ahead on Thursday. For now, the Padres look to increase their lead in the West and build on what is now the best record in the National League.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE PADRES IN THE ALL-STAR GAME. 10 DAYS LEFT!!!