2009 San Diego Padres Predictions

Written by Jason Lowry

Padres Baseball The Padres were about as close as you can get to trading their prized starting pitcher Jake Peavy to the Cubs, but the trade fell through leaving one of the best pitchers in the game on the Padres for now. 2008 was not a good season for this team, as they had the 4th worst record in baseball finishing dead last in the NL West at 63-99. Not much has been done to make 2009 a big turnaround, as the two biggest additions to the team were backup outfielders Cliff Floyd and Scott Hairston, along with probable starting shortstop David Eckstein. A very familiar face will no longer be apart of the team in the 9th inning for Padres, as the all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman is now a Milwaukee Brewer. The team also traded away short stop Khalil Greene, who has been a part of this team since 2004. Here is an even closer look at the 2009 San Diego Padres with my take on how they will finish in the NL West this season.

Offense:

There isn’t much to talk about when you look at the Padres offense, but the big bats of 1B Gonzalez and 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff are vital for this team to keep it respectable. Gonzalez has turned into a star, belting 36 home runs with 119 RBI last year. Kouzmanoff seemed to be more of a power hitter in 2008, as he hit a career-best 23 home runs and had 84 RBI in just his second full season in the big leagues. The team has a solid veteran presence in RF Brian Giles, who had one of his best seasons in years, hitting .306 with 81 runs scored. Giles needs to get on base as often as possible hitting ahead of the two sluggers if this offense is going to produce. The team also has high hopes for CF Jody Gerut, who had his best season since his rookie campaign in 2003, hitting .296 with 14 home runs. The Padres are hoping he can be a solid leadoff man for this team. David Eckstein can add some much needed fire to this team, and Padres are hoping he can return to the form of 2007, where hit .309 with the Cardinals. It looks like Matt Antonelli holds the early edge over Edgar Gonzalez for the second base job, while Chase Headley is expected to hold of the new additions of Floyd and Hairston in left field. The catching duties go to Nick Hundley, and its hard telling what to expect in a full season from him.

Pitching:

Returning ace starter Jake Peavy will at least ensure this team 15 wins in 2009, but they need him to have a monster season if they want any chance of climbing out of the bottom of this division. No. 2 starter Chris Young missed a lot of time in 2008, but still went 7-6 in 18 starts, and was really strong down the final stretch of the season. Next in line is likely Cha Seung Baek, who hopes to improve in his first full season as a NL starting pitcher. The final two spots go to the very talented prospect Josh Greer, who went 2-1 in his first 5 career starts, and Wade LeBlanc who has just 4 career starts in the majors. The new closer is set to be Heath Bell, who has been a great set-up man with 57 holds over the past two seasons, but has been shaky in his limited action as a closer, including last season where he failed to convert on all 7 of his save opportunities. The main set-up roles go to Cla Meredith and Justin Hampson. Mike Adams was in prime position to take over the main set-up job, but will be out for at least half the season in 2009 thanks to labrum and rotator cuff surgery. We like the top of the rotation, but thats about it. Padre fans will be rightfully scared for this team with the lead late in game, as it is doubtful Heath Bell is the long-term solution as the closer.

Prediction: 5th in NL West

I just don’t think the Padres will have anywhere near what it takes to win in this division, and that is saying a lot, considering this isn’t a very strong division to start with. There are just a few key players on this team, and they just don’t have the talent to win in 2009.

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