The Padres will likely lose 100 or more games this season. I don't
think this current roster can avoid that. We (and many other teams)
have had 100 loss seasons, it's just the way the game is. What really
concerns this Padre fan goes beyond this season. Will the current
level of play continue into the 2009 and possibly the 2010 seasons,
and beyond? Why do I ask this question? For one, take a look at our
minor league system. The current crop of call-ups are mostly 4A type
players, players who do well at the AAA level, but are overmatched
once they get to the bigs. Want evidence our minor league system is
substandard? The last 10 or so players we sent down, that were out of
options, had to exposed on the waiver wire. None of them were claimed
by other teams. NONE. How was the Padres 2008 draft rated by
observers? Has any seen any ratings of the 2008 draft? Not that it
matters much. I look at the current callups from AAA, and unless the
front office does a much better job of stocking the farm system than
this, the future does not look good. The Padres are are not going to
sign any impact free agents any time soon. We are not going to be able
to trade prospects for key players anytime soon either, unless we
start putting real prospects into the system. I do not trust the
current management team of Alderson, Towers, and DePodesta to do this.
They are in love with their moneyball system. They can open all the
training facilities in the Dominican Republic they want. But, until
they do some real scouting and drafting, and not just punch stats into
their moneyball computers, what good will it do? The outlook? It does
not bode well for 2008, and beyond.

Signed: Padre P. Dog
40th season as a Padre Fan