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Padres Press Clips Tuesday, March 6, 2018 Article Source Author Page Carter Capps taking small, healthy steps forward in return SD Union Tribune Sanders 3 Carlos Asuaje acting (and playing) like he belongs with Padres SD Union Tribune Acee 5 Padres mailbag: left field battle; roster possibilities; Chase SD Union Tribune Acee 8 Headley; genius hair A refined curve could be 'separator' for Dinelson Lamet SD Union Tribune Sanders 13 Brad Hand debuts in Padres' loss to D-backs SD Union Tribune Sanders 15 Padres minor league pitcher Robert Stock made impression SD Union Tribune Acee 16 on Eric Hosmer Aspiring broadcaster Ted Enberg: 'I couldn't have asked for SD Union Tribune Miller 18 a better father' Lin: Friends Chan Ho Park and Fernando Tatis Sr. share The Athletic Lin 21 baseball history—and the desire to see top Padres prospect Tatis Jr. succeed Ross on 'right path' in bid for rotation spot MLB.com Ardaya 28 Lamet flashes arsenal in strong second start MLB.com Ardaya 31 When bad teams sign good free agents Baseball America Eddy 33 Eric Hosmer embraces new chapter with Padres - but USA Today Nightengale 40 won't turn page on time with Royals After Reviving the Royals, Hosmer and Cain Try to NY Times Kepner 43 Spark Other Teams Hand makes spring debut as Padres fall to DBacks FSSD Hovarth 48 With Tatis Jr. not too far away, Freddy Galvis to provide FSSD Hovarth 49 stability at shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. enjoying first big league spring training Fox 5 McMackin 52 with Padres

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Stinging For The Fences: Bees Swarm Padres Training Huffington Post Dicker 59 Camp Again #PadresOnDeck: 20-year-old Luis Urías is Already a Friar Wire Center 55 Threat at Second Andy’s Address, 3/5 Friar Wire Center 57

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Carter Capps taking small, healthy steps forward in return

Jeff Sanders

Carter Capps threw 15 of his first 19 Cactus League pitches for strikes Sunday afternoon, although many of them found a bit too much of the plate. The mechanics of his delivery — sans such a pronounced hop-step — are improving with every outing. The Padres’ 27-year-old reliever reported to the clubhouse Monday afternoon in good health.

These were the big takeaways from Sunday’s Cactus League debut, his first since undergoing surgery to correct thoracic outlet surgery in September. The expectation is that the results — three runs on four hits, including two homers — will follow suit in time.

“It's always nerve-wracking if you go out there your first outing and you can't throw strikes,” Capps said Monday. “That was a big focus — throwing strikes and working on a few different pitches. I threw quite a few change-ups I was happy with. All in all I was happy with how I felt.

“You'd like the results to be a little better, but I feel great today.”

It was encouraging, too, to rebound after Oakland’s first two hitters — Kevin Merrell and Anthony Garcia — greeted Capps with homers to start the eighth. He also sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a double and a run-scoring single before getting out of an inning that Padres manager Andy Green said was a small but significant stride in the right direction.

“Honestly, it was a step forward from what I'd seen the previous live batting practice and the live batting practice before that,” Green said. “He keeps taking steps forward. He's doing a better job releasing his backside than the last time on the mound. The results aren't there, but this guy's coming off a major surgery and the important thing is how he feels.

“If he feels good and keeps feeling better, you're going to see the (velocity) uptick and you're going to see his stuff start playing better.”

Minor league cuts

With minor league camp springing into action Tuesday, the first significant wave of cuts hit the clubhouse Monday: Right-hander Walker Lockett was optioned to Triple-A El Paso and right-handers Kyle Lloyd, Brett Kennedy, Jacob Nix and T.J. Weir were reassigned to the minor league side of the facility.

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Kennedy allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings in his three Cactus League appearances. Lloyd (2 1/3 IP) and Weir (3 IP) were unscored upon in their outings, while Nix’s leg injury had kept him from progressing him to Cactus League action.

“It just got to the point where he wasn’t going to throw for us,” Green said of Nix.

The Padres now have 62 players in big league camp.

Early impression

Only Kennedy and Clayton Richard entered Monday with more innings thrown than Adam Cimber. No one in Padres camp has been cleaner in Cactus League action than the 27-year-old non-roster invitee, who has struck out three over four perfect frames this spring.

That’s right. No hits allowed. No walks. Really, no problems at all so far for Cimber, a ninth-round pick in 2013 out of the University of San Francisco.

“He's been really good in camp,” Green said. “He's one of those guys that constantly gets doubted because he doesn't have the pedigree that some of the other players do, but he performs and he's performed his entire career.”

Health check

Slowed thus far by left oblique injury, Matt Szczur could make his Cactus League debut as soon as Tuesday. The right-handed hitting Szczur — who is out of options — is one of eight outfielders on the 40-man roster, is competing with the left-handed-hitting Travis Jankowski for a reserve role and is behind everyone but Alex Dickerson (elbow) in plate appearances this spring.

“It’s not the competition that matters; I just want to go out there and play baseball,” Szczur said Monday. “You try not to look at it like that. You go out and play your best and things will take care of themselves.”

Dickerson is not close to game action, Green said.

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Carlos Asuaje acting (and playing) like he belongs with Padres

Kevin Acee

There is something different about Carlos Asuaje.

And it is not just that he walked up to Ron Fowler when he saw the Padres’ executive chairman this spring and said, “We’re the only two team owners in here.”

The 73-year-old Fowler, of course, had no idea what Asuaje was talking about, even after it was explained Asuaje owned an esports team called Motiv8 that plays Gears of War.

But that’s Asuaje, 26, less than a year’s service time in the major leagues, confidently chatting it up with the big boss.

Asuaje walks around the Peoria Sports Complex with the unrestrained joy of a child and the inherent swagger of a Doberman Pinscher.

Maybe a miniature Doberman Pinscher.

Don’t worry, he’s used to the ragging.

“I’m very aware that’s my role on the team,” Asuaje said. “They call me the little brother of the team. I’m great with that. They tease me. I just kind of take it, make jokes and be goofy.”

At 5-foot-9, with 368 major league plate appearances spread over two seasons, Asuaje knows who he is.

“I am a major league player,” he said. “I deserve to be a major leaguer, and I can play every day in the major leagues.”

When you’re 5-foot-9 and maybe the 158 pounds at which your team lists you, you need that belief. And when you’re 5-foot-9 and maybe the 158 pounds at which your team lists you, you sometimes wonder whether it’s true.

“I think I made the mistake my first September when I got called up of thinking that I was less than the people I was playing with,” Asuaje said. “I was intimidated and kind of star struck by seeing Buster Posey behind the dish and Miguel Cabrera and all these people you see on TV, and all of a sudden you’re playing with them.”

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Asuaje’s first big league stint resulted in a .208/.240/.292 hitting line in 25 plate appearances over seven games at the end of 2016.

Still, after having gone .321/.378/.473 and being named Rookie of the Year in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, he entered the spring of ’17 with a shot at making the major league roster.

It didn’t happen. He was called up for a few days at the end of May and then for good a month later. In 89 games, he went .270/.334/.362 over 343 plate appearances.

There is a lot of spring left. And Cory Spangenberg, who is expected to play the field Tuesday, was sidelined for more than a week with a wrist injury. But Asuaje has six hits (including a double and two triples) and two walks in 20 plate appearances, asserting his claim to at least hold the second base spot until prospect Luis Urias is ready.

It was clear when Asuaje arrived in camp that he was here with the intent of staying.

He jogged — practically skipped — on and off the field, serious in every drill but quick with a smile, stopping to emphatically greet every teammate and coach he encountered.

This is who he is. But it wasn’t always this way.

That first call-up overwhelmed him in part because Asuaje was uncertain about how to act.

“I was quiet, shy,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what to do.”

When he was sent down last spring, he was understandably frustrated. But he took the feedback from coaches that he needed to work on his defense and consistency. And a part of that, he knew, was to be himself.

“I came back up last year and decided to be one of the guys,” he said. “They liked it, and I liked it too.”

From the time Asuaje came up until the final week of the season, the Padres played at nearly a .500 clip over four months. They were 15 games below .500 when he arrived.

“He ignited us in a way,” manager Andy Green said. “He and Jose Pirela coming up coincided with us having a run of respectable baseball. Those guys both bring energy. They play with life. In Carlos’ case, he doesn’t shut up in the dugout — ever. People enjoy that.”

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It’s who he is. It allows him to play his best.

“It’s pretty crazy at first,” Asuaje said of being in the big leagues. “But this year I decided, ‘You know what. They’re all just baseball players. We’re all baseball players.’ I’ve decided I can play at this level, and I’m going to handle myself like I can.

“(Last year) set the tone for my mentality where it’s like, ‘OK, yeah I’m playing against the best players in the world, but I’m doing well and I know I’ve established myself, I’ve shown everyone I can play here. So I deserve to be here.’ ”

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Padres mailbag: left field battle; roster possibilities; Chase Headley; genius hair Kevin Acee

We’ve reached a dangerous point in spring training, where there are enough results to draw conclusions but it is too early to truly know anything.

What a perfect time for a mailbag.

how is Urias looking to you, could he make the opening day 25 man roster? How do the padres want to handle him?

I wanted to take a healthy dose of skepticism into this spring about both Luis Urias and Fernando Tatis Jr. I felt I owed that to myself and to the fans. And look, I’m no scout or coach. But Urias, in particular, is a beautiful player. I can’t think of another word for it. He plays beautifully. Tatis is crazy talented, too. But Urias is ready.

Will either one be on the opening day roster? I am told not.

For one thing, the Padres need to be mindful of the free agency clock. They wait until mid-April, they get an extra season of control. Second, they both could use some work on the finer points – defense, baserunning.

But it shouldn’t be long.

Any chance Headley gets dealt still before opening day?

Yes. But probably not. It certainly is the expectation that won’t happen until the season starts and at some point a team needs a veteran third baseman enough it is willing to work a deal.

He gets on base, which is so very much an emphasis this year. I know that sounds funny. Why wouldn’t it always be an emphasis? It has been. But there is great value in having a player who does it at an almost .350 clip showing players how it’s done. Also, he values his role as a mentor almost as much as the Padres value having him be a mentor. There are relatively few men in baseball as fine as Chase Headley.

I suspect – based only on the amount of vitriol I see heaped on Headley via Twitter – that many people ignore the good things he brings. I predict that if/when the Padres are a

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winning team and have established a winning culture and Headley has been gone for a while, that the name “Chase Headley” will be brought up by those still with the team.

Based on what you've seen so far, who is winning the battle for the 3(?) remaining rotation spots?

This is early. It really is. But it’s a fun question.

Dinelson Lamet for sure. Luis Perdomo almost for sure.

And I will go Tyson Ross. I think he’s looked healthy. Free and easy, as they say. And if he’s healthy, why wouldn’t he be in a major-league rotation?

I want to add some names – like Chris Young – but you didn’t ask for more than three. So I will be brave and just stick to three.

It always looks like Margot cruises a mile to make a difficult catch look cake. Do you think there’s a chance he could capture the Gold Glove this season?

That is kind of cool to watch.

Let’s keep putting his name out there. There are some good center fielders who get a lot of love.

Until the Padres win more, I think the best we will be able to “officially” say about Margot is that he is Gold Glove caliber.

What do the Pads honestly expect to see from Hunter this spring, in order for him to lock down the other corner spot? Or are we just looking at a platoon, no matter what?

I feel like they are signaling a platoon, almost no matter what. Or should I say barring Hunter Renfroe going absolutely nuts all over right-handers in the Cactus League and/or Franchy Cordero and/or Jose Pirela cooling down significantly.

I believe the thought is, actually, that Renfroe might benefit more from playing every day in Triple-A than Cordero would. Cordero has the similar issues against LHP as Renfroe does with RHP, but he is a more dynamic.

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I don’t think anyone is giving up on Renfroe. To the contrary, they speak highly of his talent. But this team believes it is going places, and some people are going to be left behind if they don’t rise to a certain level. That is championship thinking.

Predict opening day outfield.

Who’s pitching?

It appears the Brewers’ opening day candidates are all right-handers. I will go with Franchy Cordero.

No, I changed my mind. I will go with Jose Pirela. He hits righties just fine, and he earned the spot by leading the Padres in average, OBP, slugging percentage and tied Wil Myers for the team lead in RBI from June 6 (when he was called up) forward.

All the talk in LF is about Franchy/Renfroe. Is Jankowski also in a real competition there?

He’s in a fight for his life, that I know. And that he knows.

Look, he hardly played last year due to a foot injury. He could go down and tear it up and be back with the Padres before we know it. He has value on the basepaths, he covers so much grass at all three outfield spots, he’s a great dude. These are reasons to want him on your team.

I know it's spring training, but some of the hitters are looking like they can exceed expectations this season and help speed up the rebuilding process. With that, do u think the padres might be inclined to trade for a frontline starting pitcher? Hitting looks (thumbs up) pitching looks (thumbs down).

The thought haunts me in my sleep. The possibilities are seemingly endless.

But I think we need to pump the brakes, because I think that’s what the Padres are doing.

Take a look at spring training numbers, especially in Arizona, over the years. While it is true a lot of guys are not only raking but doing things right in terms of plate discipline and how they’re playing, there are so many unknowns in spring regarding what pitchers and hitters might be working on, plus Arizona’s air is seemingly without gravity sometimes.

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That said, if a bunch of good players continue to be good, that gives the Padres options. And, yes, they are already considering those options. To be thinking ahead like that is the job of A.J. Preller and the personnel staff.

What is more likely for the Opening Day roster: an extra arm or bat? Of which, whom?Out of camp, a bat is more likely.

It’s early, and perhaps I haven’t considered some variables, such as options available. But I don’t think that comes into play here.

Now, as I’ve written, that won’t remain the case for long.

But the early strange off day after the first series (Easter Sunday) allows the Padres to go with a seven-man bullpen at the start. Then, if/when they get in a bind during a 17-day stretch of games – against pretty good offensive teams, no less – they will call up a pitcher.

That means they don’t necessarily have to trim an outfielder right away. Or maybe it’s Carlos Asuaje/Cory Spangenberg who makes it at first.

I have heard conversations about a six man rotation. Any truth to this?

Andy Green says not. And one of the reasons is that early off day.

I think they possibly make plans to eventually go with six if they think they have six. Chris Young? Joey Lucchesi? Or in the future if/when they’re loaded?

But I think five works for them.

I know it’s ST, but how excited is the front office and coaching staff about the way these guys are playing? I’ve never seen the Pads look this good in ST before

I don’t think this current staff has either.

They are tempering it publicly and checking themselves privately. But what they are seeing from current and future players has them believing, at the very least, they are headed in the right direction.

Notice, too, that I have tempered expectations accordingly. I’m trying to give you the real skinny on what I see and hear.

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The optimism from all parties is real. But so is the skepticism.

What is your hair doing?????

I’m pretty sure it’s a sign of genius.

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A refined curve could be 'separator' for Dinelson Lamet

Jeff Sanders Dinelson Lamet has shown can get by with just his fastball and slider. The Padresbelieve the 25-year-old Dominican can accomplish even more if he can develop a reliable third pitch, either a curve or a change-up.

The tinkering continued in Monday night’s 10-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.

“I thought overall his stuff was good,” Padres manager Andy Green said after Lamet’s second Cactus League outing. “To me, it’s just command the curveball. Drop it in when you can. It’s going to be a separator for him.”

Monday’s effort was largely a step in the right direction.

Lamet scattered a run, two hits and two walks over three innings as he pushed his pitch count to 47 (28 strikes). Both walks were four-pitch free passes to the switch-hitting Ketel Marte. The other left-handers in the lineup combined to go 1-for-5, including Rey Fuentes’ run-scoring, stand-up triple into the right-center alley in the second inning.

Green estimated that Lamet threw 10 pitches that were either curveballs or change-ups, two pitches that are a focus for him this spring. A change-up, Green said, resulted in Fuentes’ run-scoring triple.

“Outside of that, his fastball and slider were dominant like they always are,” Green said. “I think as he continues to grow comfortable with the curve it’s going to be a very effective pitch for him.”

To date, left-handed hitters have a .867 on-base-plus slugging mark against Lamet (righties have a .537 OPS). A third pitch could go a long ways toward evening that split for Lamet, who threw four-seamers 55 percent of the time in 2017, sliders 40 percent of the time and dabbled with a change-up.

Myers’ sore arm

Wil Myers was slated to start in right field only to have a sore arm crop up after outfield drills Monday afternoon. He remained in the lineup as a designated hitter.

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“It’s nothing of consequence,” Green said. “It’s nothing that I think is going to inhibit his next start.”

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Brad Hand debuts in Padres' loss to D-backs

Jeff Sanders

• Score: D-backs 10, Padres 3 • Batters box: C Raffy Lopez hit his second homer of the spring, a two-run shot in the ninth

inning off D-backs reliever Kris Medlen. Lopez has a .333/.500/.1.111 batting line through his first six games in camp. … SS Freddy Galvis went 2-for-3, including a run-scoring single in the sixth to plate the Padres’ first run of the game. … LF Travis Jankowski squandered a scoring chance in the second inning when he popped out on bunt attempt down the first base line with runners on the corners. Jankowksi also flied out to center with runners on second and third and two outs in the fourth and went 0-for-3 in the game. … 3B Chase Headley walked twice and reached on a fielder’s choice. … CF Manuel Margot went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. … C A.J. Ellis went 1-for-2 with a double and 2B Dusty Colemandoubled in two at-bats.

• Balls and strikes: In his Cactus League debut, LHP Brad Hand gave up a homer to Socrates Brito to start the eighth inning before retiring the next three hitters, two by strikeout. … LHP Buddy Baumann followed with a scoreless ninth. … RHP Colten Brewer allowed his first run of the spring on Chris Herrmann’s bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning before RHP Robert Stock stranded the rest of his base-runners with a strikeout. Brewer walked three and allowed a hit in 2/3 of an inning. Stock struck out two and allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings. … RHP Trey Wingenter also walked in a run in the seventh, one of three issued while recording just one out. His ERA ballooned to 16.20 when RHP Trevor Megill balked in a run and threw two wild pitches to plate two more. Megill allowed two runs himself in a six-run seventh on a triple that slid under the glove of RF Jeisson Rosario. … RHP Dinelson Lamet allowed a run on two hits and two walks in three innings in the start. … RHP Michael Mariot pitched a scoreless fourth.

• Extra bases: Lopez’s throwing error on Rey Fuentes’ attempt to steal third base in the sixth opened up a 3-0 lead for Arizona. … Entering Monday, the Padres’ .381 on-base percentage ranked first among all teams this spring. Their .545 slugging percentage ranked second. … In what’s become a yearly tradition, several Padres hit the ground Monday afternoon when a swarm of bees crashed pre-game warm-ups on the back fields.

• On deck: at Royals, 5:05 p.m. RHP Luis Perdomo will make his Cactus League debut after first appearing in a ‘B’ game. RHPs Chris Young, Cal Quantrill and Kazuhisa Makita are also scheduled to pitch.

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Padres minor league pitcher Robert Stock made impression on Eric Hosmer Kevin Acee

Andy Green called on a minor league pitcher to get the Padres out of a rough spot Monday night.

In came Robert Stock, who threw three pitches past Cesar Puello to end the fifth inning with the bases loaded.

It wasn’t the first time Eric Hosmer had seen Stock overwhelm a batter.

Hosmer hasn’t played with or against Stock at any level of pro ball. But the Padres first baseman vividly recalls when it was he first saw Stock pitch.

Hosmer was a member of the Cooper City Diamond Kings, a travel ball team made up of 11- and 12-year-olds from South Florida. Among his teammates were future major leaguers Adrian Nieto and Deven Marrero.

The Diamond Kings had swept through that summer of 2002 with, by Hosmer’s recollection, just four losses, winning tournament after tournament.

“We were a really good team,” Hosmer said. “We were kids from all over South Florida. We win this tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., and they invite you back for a championship week tournament. We go, and we are rolling through it. We get to the championship game, and we are playing this team from California. All they’re talking about is this kid, Robert Stock. He throws 85 mph as a 12-year-old. We’re all fired up. We’re like, ‘Nobody can throw it hard enough to get past us. It’s just going to work.’

“So we get to the stadium. There are about 5,000 people at this championship game. We’re looking around. All of a sudden we hear this pop. He’s warming up over there in front of the dugout. We’re like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ ”

The South Florida team actually touched Stock for a run in the first (on Hosmer’s RBI single) and another in the second.

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“We get a couple hits off him, and he busts out this slider,” Hosmer said. “And it was something we’ve never seen before. … It was game over. I haven’t seen a little league player like him.”

Stock would pitch all six innings, hit a home run and single twice, as his West Coast Rebels won, 5-3. Hosmer was the losing pitcher, allowing three runs (one earned) in four innings.

“It’s funny, because Robert Stock, he really motivated our entire team,” said Hosmer, who would strike out and walk his final two times facing Stock that night. “We were like, ‘Next year we’re going to the national tournament, we’re going to face Robert Stock, and we’re going to beat him.’ He was really the key for a lot of us down in South Florida, whether he knew it or not, as far as getting better.”

Stock went on to play both pitcher and catcher at USC and get drafted as a catcher by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was converted to pitcher in 2012 and has since played in the Pirates and Reds organizations, as well as a season in independent ball.

Signed to a minor-league contract in December, he has allowed two runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings this spring.

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Aspiring broadcaster Ted Enberg: 'I couldn't have asked for a better father'

Bryce Miller

Navigating puzzles sharpened Dick Enberg’s mind and helped him unwind. He loved to be challenged, to put in the work, to finish the task. He embraced filling in the big picture, just as he did during a singular, six-decade broadcast run.

As Enberg neared the finish line of one of those 2,000-piece jigsaws of a tricky landscape, he became frantic.

A piece was missing.

You’ve got to understand this about Enberg, the most diverse sports voice of the past half-century who died Dec. 21 at 82: The career he built, the reputation he earned, the path he carved — all of it took shape through tireless work, unmatched preparation and execution without excuse.

A missing puzzle piece? Not acceptable.

“He sent a hand-written note to the puzzle company in Germany,” said Ted Enberg, 29, his son and aspiring broadcaster in a shadow unlike almost all others. “He was adamant that they left the piece out of a puzzle he spent so much time on.

“He finally stopped accusing everyone in the house when the cleaning lady found it under a piece of carpet.”

That unrelenting work ethic and quest for perfection fueled Enberg, whose life will be celebrated in a public ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday inside of Petco Park — the site of his final full-time role as the play-by-play voice of the Padres.

Speakers include Billy Packer, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Pam Shriver. Video tributes are expected from Mary Carillo, Jim Courier, Dan Dierdorf, John Harbaugh, Marv Albert and Pete Sampras. (Attendees are asked to wear red in honor of Enberg’s favorite color.)

For a blossoming broadcaster with the last name Enberg who was named after Dick’s boyhood idol Ted Williams, there’s undeniable professional pressure. There’s also an immense sense of pride and embraced responsibility.

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“People compare myself to him,” said Ted, a broadcaster for Stanford University and the Pac-12 Network who lives in Palo Alto. “I have to work that much harder. People expect a certain level out of the gate, because of the name Enberg. You’re not starting from scratch. There’s a pre-conceived notion of who this person is.

“I’m not afraid of that. I’m very self-motivated.”

Much of that comfort as potential discomfort swirls around the mic is due to the father who created it.

Enberg became a 24-7 sounding board, mentor, coach and one-man cheering section for Ted. A proud father rarely missed his son’s broadcasts of swim meets or volleyball matches despite his own hectic schedule.

“Dad would be in Kentucky with some friends checking out horses and he’d say, ‘I can’t go to dinner. I have to watch Ted’s Stanford-UCLA swim meet’ or whatever. He wasn’t very tech savvy, so he got a little lost when the live stream connection went down or whatever, but he tried to watch them all.”

The elder Enberg routinely penned five- to seven-page write-ups, filled with loving critiques and tips. Ted never felt overwhelmed with the feedback. The opposite, really.

“We talked about how to get better,” Ted said. “That’s what made him special, he was never satisfied. Right at the end, he was working on his podcast. That’s who he was. He wanted to work harder, do more and get better. He instilled that in me.

“If I was struggling with something, he’d say, ‘We’ve got this. We’ll keep working on it.’ He didn’t have an ego — and he could have. He was a quirky, kind of nerdy sports lover. He was a kind, loving man who happened to be a sports broadcaster.”

Generational and genealogical worlds overlapped on Sept. 29, 2016, when Ted joined his father to call an inning of a Padres-Dodgers game on a night the team celebrated its veteran announcer.

The scene proved special, beyond words.

“Spending that time in the booth together as a father and son, it was such a powerful moment,” Ted said.

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Life as an Enberg meant annual trips to Wimbledon and the French Open. It meant handshakes with Tony Gwynn and seats next to Magic Johnson at the Olympics. It meant a glimpse behind the sports curtain.

The broadcasting trailblazer, however, ensured work never eclipsed family.

“We’d be at Wimbledon, but dad would make sure we always went to ‘Phantom of the Opera’ or ‘Les Mis’ or ‘Cats,’ ” Ted said. “People would say, ‘Wasn’t that kind of weird to go to Wimbledon?’ But since I was a baby, that was normal for us. We’d see our dad on the TV and that was normal.

“I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better father.”

The puzzles we all struggle to assemble — work and family, head and heart — are comprised of thousands of pieces. They’re jumbled. They’re challenging.

In the end, Enberg put the finishing touches on a beauty.

Daily reminder from dad

Ted Enberg, the son of late Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Enberg, saved a 2016 note from his father to make sure he sees it every day.

At Christmas, each family member writes a list of goals and wishes for the coming year. The last one from Dick hit four topics: “That (grandson) Archie will hit left-handed … That Ted will be a PxP (play-by-play) star, or on his way to be one … That Reni and Rio (Ted and his sister’s pets) will be the ultimate water dogs … That I’ll be more patient, less crabby.”

The last thought is followed by “only kidding.”

Ted, another Enberg broadcaster, keeps the note on his bathroom mirror for motivation.

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Lin: Friends Chan Ho Park and Fernando Tatis Sr. share baseball history—and the desire to see top Padres prospect Tatis Jr. succeed

Dennis Lin

PEORIA, Ariz. — You may have heard about the inning. On April 23, 1999, Dodger Stadium trembled as two swings of the bat launched opponents with disparate backgrounds into baseball’s record books. Fernando Tatis, a third baseman from the Dominican city of San Pedro de Macoris, walloped a grand slam off Chan Ho Park, a right-hander from Gongju, South Korea. Eight batters and two outs later, the young Cardinals infielder did it again. The feat was unprecedented. It has not been replicated in the nearly two decades since. Two grand slams in the same inning? Both off the same pitcher? Belted by a 5-foot-10 third baseman, not the 6-foot-5 teammate who homered 65 times that year? “That’s one of those crazy-ass things you just don’t believe,” says former St. Louis first baseman Mark McGwire. “You can’t even comprehend it happening.” Baseball is indeed a strange game. One morning last month, McGwire, now the Padres’ bench coach, introduced himself to a tall, lean shortstop. Less than 48 hours later, another team employee, a former pitcher, strolled through a hallway at San Diego’s spring training base. He stopped to exchange pleasantries with the same tall shortstop. Déjà vu had reported to the Peoria Sports Complex. The former pitcher’s name was Chan Ho Park. The shortstop’s name was Fernando Tatis Jr. *** Chances are, you haven’t heard about Park and Tatis’ first encounter, which unfolded several weeks before the 1999 season. Park was coming off a year in which he started 34 games and compiled 191 strikeouts. Tatis was coming off his second major league campaign. The Grapefruit League matchup proved one-sided. Three times, the Dodger struck out the Cardinal. “This guy is nasty,” Tatis remembers telling Eric Davis, the Cardinals’ veteran outfielder. “I don’t want to face him during the season.”

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Davis eased Tatis’ apprehension. He pointed out that, early in spring, the infielder had yet to regain his timing. Davis reminded him of the talent that had prompted the Cardinals to acquire Tatis from Texas the previous summer. Tatis’ mood brightened. “I felt so happy about it, that he told me those kind words and made me feel comfortable,” he says. “And look at what happened.” Tatis finished that season with a career-high 34 home runs. The two he swatted on an April night in Chavez Ravine were enough on their own to make him an international sensation. In the top of the third, McGwire loaded the bases with a single. Up came St. Louis’ cleanup hitter, wielding a bat borrowed from Davis. Tatis had grounded out in the top of the first. This time, he clobbered a 2-0 fastball into the left-field bullpen. There, the Dodgers’ relief corps stirred. Manager Davey Johnson picked up a dugout telephone and asked bullpen coach Glenn Hoffman to get a pitcher loose. Eventually, left-hander Carlos Perez would replace Park—but not before severe damage had been dealt. Eli Marrero homered. Two walks and a fielder’s choice reloaded the bases. Johnson was ejected after arguing a home-plate call. Two batters later, McGwire popped out. Up came Tatis again. “It just happened so quick,” says Hoffman, now the Padres’ third base coach. On a full count, Park hung a slider. Tatis pounded a drive into the left-field pavilion. An ovation ensued. McGwire stood, applauding in the visiting dugout. As Tatis approached, the sport’s preeminent slugger broke into a grin. The Cardinals had trailed, 2-0, but now led, 11-2. One of their youngest hitters had driven in eight runs in the inning, a major league record. “I didn’t even know what was happening,” Tatis says. “One of the guys came to me and said, ‘You just made history in baseball.’ And I realized what happened. I said, ‘Oh my God, what the heck is going on?’” Phone calls poured in that night from the Dominican, the U.S. and as far away as Japan. Sleep eluded Tatis, though he did not mind. “I thank God every day that that happened,” says Tatis. “It changed my life and my family, too.”

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*** Fernando Tatis Jr. entered the world on Jan. 2, 1999, the day after his father turned 24. The Cardinals third baseman had become Fernando Tatis Sr. Before the start of the season, Tatis Sr. brought the infant from the Dominican to St. Louis. His son would grow up around major league baseball. Tatis Jr. took his first steps inside the home clubhouse at Busch Memorial Stadium. As a toddler, he often brandished a plastic bat, sometimes with humorous, slightly painful results. “His grandma was sitting on the couch,” Tatis Sr. says, recalling one incident, “and he came from behind and took a swing and hit his grandma in the head. You can’t imagine how she was screaming, and I was laughing watching. And then he just started running the bases.” In time, Tatis Jr. graduated from imaginary basepaths to Dominican Little League competition and, with it, knowledge of his father’s greatest feat. Most places he went, a chorus followed. That’s the son of Fernando Tatis, the guy who hit two grand slams in one inning. “It’s impressive, and I’m glad it’s in the family, with my dad,” Tatis Jr. says. “Since I’ve had a memory, I’ve been hearing about it.” Inheriting his grandparents’ height, Tatis Jr. grew taller than his father. In 2015, his wiry frame, major league lineage and fluid actions at shortstop convinced the White Sox to sign him for $825,000. His stay with that organization lasted less than a year. Tatis Jr. never played a game for a Chicago affiliate. The following June, the White Sox traded him and minor league pitcher Erik Johnson to San Diego for James Shields and $31 million. It did not take long for scouts to suggest that the Padres had underpaid. Tatis’ professional debut—55 games between the rookie and short-season levels—included four home runs and 15 stolen bases. He was still 17. That September, Tatis Jr. reported to the Peoria Sports Complex for the start of the Arizona Instructional League. The setting would allow him to hone his skills, in advance of the offseason. His first full year in professional baseball awaited.

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Tatis Sr. also arrived in Peoria, for a look at his son’s development. Someone informed him that an old friend was on the grounds. “Oh, yeah?” the elder Tatis replied, pleasantly surprised. *** Chan Ho Park remembers April 23, 1999, as the low point of his career. But he does not regret his approach. “It was the worst thing that happened for me as a pitcher,” Park says. “But hey, that’s history. I’m in history. I gave up home runs 71 and 72 when [Barry] Bonds had his 73-home run season. I throw strikes. That’s all I can do. What was I supposed to do? Those are good hitters. You just have to tip your cap as a professional. It’s better than walking him. “I took a chance to get him out. He’s a home-run hitter and he hit a home run, it’s nothing special. Two grand slams is special. And in the same inning. That’s history. I don’t think it’s ever going to happen again.” Two years later, Park led the majors with 35 starts and pitched in the All-Star Game. Cal Ripken Jr., playing in his final Midsummer Classic, smacked a leadoff home run. Park responded by retiring Iván Rodríguez, Ichiro Suzuki and Alex Rodriguez. “When you think of Chan Ho, it’s not embodied by one game where he gave up a couple of grand slams,” says Padres bullpen coach Doug Bochtler, a former reliever who was acquired by the Dodgers in May 1999. “His body of work is much greater than that.” Park retired in 2012. He remains the winningest Asian-born pitcher in major league history. With vested interests in youth baseball and various businesses, he continues to be a celebrity in his native country. Even if you know Park’s credentials, you may not know his whereabouts in 2007. An assignment with Triple-A New Orleans reunited Park with a number of former teammates who teased the pitcher upon his entrance. The joke seemed particularly relevant—also in the clubhouse was the Zephyrs’ new third baseman, Fernando Tatis Sr. “He was very quiet,” Park recalls. “Other guys were trying to make fun.”

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Once opponents, the two men bonded as teammates. They shared a common interest in food and a goal of returning to the majors. Park had gone from making his first postseason appearance—two scoreless innings for the Padres in 2006—to being demoted after a poor spring with the Mets. Aside from 28 games with the Orioles in 2006, Tatis Sr. had not played in the big leagues since 2003. He’d spent the subsequent two years out of professional baseball. “Everywhere we would go, the people just focused on one thing,” says Tatis Sr., his voice rising in mock excitement. “‘Oh, that’s Chan Ho! Oh, that’s Fernando Tatis! Oh my God! They’re playing together! That’s the guy who hit two grand slams, and that’s Chan Ho, the pitcher!’ … I remember Chan Ho telling me, ‘Everywhere that we go, Tatis, the people just say the same thing. Can they talk about something else?’” By 2009, they had fulfilled their goal and returned to being on opposite sides. Park was reinvented as a hard-throwing reliever with the Phillies. Tatis Sr. was re-established as a Mets role player with some pop left. In six at-bats against Park that season, he collected two hits, including a double. They did not see each other again until a fall day in 2016. Park was a guest at the Padres’ instructional league camp. Tatis Jr. was introduced to the man he’d heard so much about. After a game at Peoria Stadium, the three of them traded laughs and memories as they walked back to the Padres’ side of the complex. *** Park officially returned to the Padres at the beginning of the 2017 season. An advisor for baseball operations and business, he is part of an ongoing mission to expand the organization’s footprint across the Pacific Ocean. The Los Angeles resident runs two Little League teams in South Korea, raises money for youth initiatives through the Chan Ho Park Dream Foundation, and keeps an eye out for players with professional potential. He also aids the Padres’ overseas marketing efforts and brokered a partnership with Nongshim, the South Korean food and beverage giant. Park credits relationships formed during his career in Los Angeles for his decision to join San Diego. Padres general partner Peter Seidler is a nephew of Peter O’Malley, who befriended

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Park while owning the Dodgers. Acey Kohrogi, a longtime director of Asian operations for the Dodgers, now works in a similar role for the Padres. “He wanted to come in and learn,” general manager A.J. Preller says. “Chan Ho’s got a lot of interests.” Like observers inside and outside the organization, Park has taken notice of the armada of talent floating toward San Diego. Tatis Jr., the youngest player in any major league camp, is at the head of the fleet. This spring, the 19-year-old has homered in his Cactus League debut, batted .381 and amassed four hits and a stolen base in a game against the White Sox, his former organization. He is, by general consensus, one of baseball’s 10 best prospects. “Senior is very proud of his son,” Park says. “Hopefully he can become a superstar.” Tatis Jr. emerged on a national stage last summer in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he’d pressed during a sluggish start. “When you have talent and you get stronger, and you know that you start to hit the ball out of the park, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad,” Tatis Sr. says. “I talked to him: ‘Let’s keep it the same way. Don’t try to get too big and hit the ball out of the ballpark. It’s going to happen, anyway.’” The son heeded the father’s advice. Tatis Jr. finished his time in Low-A hitting .281/.390/.520 with 21 home runs and 29 stolen bases. He received a late-season promotion to Double-A San Antonio, and seems likely to push for a September call-up to Petco Park. Says McGwire, “He got hotter than crap.” Last month, the Padres bench coach pulled out his phone after reading a quote from the young shortstop. “I’m going to prove I’m not this age. That’s my mindset,” Tatis Jr. had told reporters. “I actually sent a text to my kids,” McGwire says. “I said, ‘Read this. It doesn’t matter what age you are. It’s how you carry yourself, how you think mentally.’” Tatis Sr. will manage one of the Red Sox’ two Dominican Summer League teams this year. He remains famous in his home country, largely for what he did on an April night in 1999, but the conversation has begun to shift. These days, people remind him of what his son is doing. The possibilities seem endless. “Who knows? Maybe someone will hit three grand slams in the same inning,” Tatis Sr. says. “What I love about this game is if you think you know everything, you’re wrong. Baseball is something that every day, in every game, it shows you something weird, something that you think you’re never going to see.”

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Like a pitcher serving up two grand slams to the same hitter in the same inning. Like the pitcher and the hitter’s son, one of baseball’s best prospects, becoming members of the same organization. Like the pitcher rooting for the prospect to reach superstardom. What better way to do that than by replicating your father’s greatest feat? “I’ll be honest,” Tatis Jr. says, breaking into a grin. “I think that’s not going to happen. I think I just might have to do another record.”

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Ross on 'right path' in bid for rotation spot

Fabian Ardaya PEORIA, Ariz. -- San Diego Padres right-hander Tyson Ross has flashed All-Star capability at Petco Park before. Now, after battling his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome and having a difficult year in Texas, he's competing to get back into San Diego's rotation in his second stint with the club.

He may have a chance, largely due to the fact that there's essentially three spots available. Clayton Richard and Bryan Mitchell have essentially clinched spots within the rotation, leaving the remaining slots open to a variety of names, ranging from unproven talents such as Luis Perdomo to experienced veterans like Chris Young. Ross is scheduled to start Wednesday afternoon's game against the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium.

"He's got a chance," Padres manager Andy Green said of Ross. "He has to perform. I think he's performed at an All-Star caliber before, so he's definitely got that in his favor. He's coming off a long and tough year for him. I think for him to go out and string together consecutive good outings would bode well for his chances."

Ross last pitched in the regular season for San Diego as the club's Opening Day starter in 2016. He went on the disabled list after that start and underwent surgery to relieve his thoracic outlet syndrome that October. After returning to the Majors with Texas, he posted a 7.71 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts).

The Padres are attempting to be more deliberate in bringing Ross, a non-roster invitee, back into the fold. They hope to get him stretched out to four and five innings over his next few outings.

"He's definitely on the right path," Green said.

Cimber making the most of opportunity

In 306 1/3 career professional innings, Padres reliever Adam Cimber has posted a career 3.06 ERA and has emerged as a multi-inning relief threat as high as the Triple-A level.

But the big league call has yet to come, and as he took the mound at Camelback Ranch to face the White Sox on Sunday, he remained a relative unknown. Cimber tossed a perfect

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inning in his fourth consecutive appearance without allowing a baserunner to open the spring.

"He's one of those guys that constantly gets doubted because he doesn't have some of the pedigree other players do, but he performs," Green said. "He's performed his entire career."

Continued spring dominance could lead to Cimber making his long-awaited arrival in the Majors at age 27.

"If he keeps throwing like this, his chance will come quicker than if he doesn't," Green said. "He's on the right path. He's throwing the ball very well, and he's definitely a guy we're talking about and considering for our Major League club right now."

Capps struggles in spring debut

Carter Capps' first step toward making a big league comeback was anything but storybook on Sunday, but considering it was his first outing in quite some time, he'll have more chances as the month progresses.

Capps, auditioning for a spot in the Padres' bullpen, yielded three runs -- including two homers -- in one inning on Sunday against the A's.

"Honestly, it was a step forward from what I'd seen in the previous live batting practices and the batting practices before that," Green said. "He keeps taking steps forward, keeps getting better at releasing his back side last time on the mound. The results aren't there, but this guy is coming off a major surgery and the important thing is how he feels. If he keeps feeling better, we're going to see the velo uptick and you'll see the stuff playing better."

Capps has had a rough couple of years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016, had a slow recovery process and then underwent thoracic outlet surgery last September, ending his season.

Makita works quickly

Right-handed submarine reliever Kazuhisa Makita needed just six pitches to retire three A's batters during Sunday's split-squad tilt.

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"My main job is obviously to face as [few] batters as possible," he said through an interpreter. "In that respect, that's what I want to continue to do. I would like it to have a couple of runners on, too, to work on those situations as well."

Makita is next scheduled to pitch in the ninth inning of San Diego's game against the Royals on Tuesday at Surprise Stadium.

Roster moves

The Padres made some roster moves before Monday's game, optioning right-hander Walker Lockett and reassigning right-handers Brett Kennedy, Kyle Lloyd and Jacob Nix to Minor League camp.

Up next

Perdomo, one of the Padres' contenders to make the Opening Day rotation, is expected to start San Diego's game against the Royals at Surprise Stadium on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. PT.

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Lamet flashes arsenal in strong second start

Righty aiming to build off rookie campaign, lock up rotation spot Fabian Ardaya PEORIA, Ariz. -- San Diego Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet isn't yet penned into the club's starting rotation. His name may be written in pencil, however, particularly if he continues to put together performances this spring like the one he had in a 10-3 Padres loss to the D-backs on Monday night.

Lamet tossed three one-run innings, limiting Arizona to just two hits and two walks while striking out a pair. He regularly found the zone with his fastball, which hovered around 94 mph, and his slider, throwing strikes on all but 19 of his 47 pitches -- with eight of those balls coming when he walked Ketel Marte twice on eight pitches.

"I thought his overall stuff was really good," Padres manager Andy Green said. "He couldn't quite command the curveball quite the way he can. ...The fastball and slider were still dominant, like they always are. I think as he continues to grow comfortable with the curveball, it's going to be a very effective pitch for him."

Save for a sharply hit Rey Fuentes triple into the gap in right-center, Lamet avoided hard contact and excelled off his fastball-slider combination to flash some of the potential the 25-year-old could provide to a rotation full of unknowns behind projected starters Clayton Richard and Bryan Mitchell.

The potentially devastating fastball-slider combination could be Lamet's key to beating out the collection of arms vying for those final three spots. The rookie right-hander averaged 95 mph on his four-seam fastball last season, according to Statcast™, with the slider at 85.6 mph serving as an elite change-of-pace pitch with strong horizontal movement. He threw his slider 36.64 percent of the time, per Statcast™, drawing swings-and-misses 19.2 percent on that pitch, while yielding a hit just 3.5 percent of the time.

The slider proved effective again on Monday, resulting in swinging strikes on both of Lamet's punchouts, including a strikeout of Steven Souza Jr. to wrap up his evening. His stuff played up, drawing eight whiffs over those three innings of work.

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Beyond the slider, Green noted Lamet's changeup and curveball have been points of emphasis in providing ample secondary stuff behind the fastball. Green added that he saw Lamet throw around 10 non-fastball/slider pitches, including a changeup that Fuentes rocked for a triple.

"To me, it's just command the curveball," Green said. "Drop it in. That's going to be a separator for him."

Lamet is building off his first stint in the Majors in 2017, going 7-8 with a 4.57 ERA in 21 starts, including striking out eight and allowing just a run in his Major League debut against the Mets on May 25. Even with some noted rookie bumps, including consecutive June outings in which he allowed seven earned runs, Lamet made an impression. He excelled in August, putting together his best month with a 2.54 ERA and a 3.97 FIP.

"I think a lot of it's building off last year, and going into the offseason, making sure I was prepared over anything else," Lamet said Monday. "I knew that I could go into the offseason, work hard and get that preparation and then come in and compete, like everyone else does. Everybody here is fighting for a spot. I know that if I come in prepared, I can do that, too."

A spot in the Padres' rotation could be within reach this season.

"I always prepare as if I'm competing for the No. 1 spot in the rotation, but at the same time, the other stuff, I don't control," Lamet said. "It could be the No. 1 guy, it could be the long guy, it could be whatever. The only thing I can do is go out there and work as if I'm going for the No. 1 spot."

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When Bad Teams Sign Good Free Agents

Baseball America

March 06, 2018 By Matt Eddy

Teams coming off losing seasons occasionally wade into the expensive end of the free agent pool, but generally the marquee players in each free agent class gravitate to the top teams. This is only natural given top teams have the most to gain from purchasing a few extra wins in the marketplace.

Using top free agents from the 2017 class as an example, Yu Darvish signed with the 92-win Cubs, J.D. Martinez signed with the 93-win Red Sox and Lorenzo Cain signed with the 86-win Brewers. Others such as Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn and Mike Moustakas remain unsigned but could land with contenders.

The same is not true for two other prominent free agents. The 28-year-old Eric Hosmer signed for the most years (eight) and most total dollars ($144 million) in his free agent class, but he did so with the 91-loss Padres. Carlos Santana signed for three years and $60 million--eclipsing Hosmer in terms of average annual value--but did so with the 96-loss Phillies.

As one would expect, those instances of “bad” teams signing “good” free agents have produced mixed results. In this piece we will examine some of the most notable precedents from the past 20 years.

AAV refers to the average annual value of each player’s contract, with that total compared with the major league average salary--as reported by the players’ union--for the first year of the deal.

Success Stories

1. Jon Lester | 2015 Cubs Terms: 6 years, $155 million. Losses Year Prior: 89. | Three-Year Average: 95. AAV: $25.8MM ($22MM above average).

The Theo Epstein-led Cubs scored future MVP Kris Bryant in the 2013 draft and entered 2015 with the No. 1 farm system in the game. In that context, they committed $155 million to Lester, which was the second-highest free agent payout of that offseason. The plan worked. Chicago advanced to the NL Championship Series each year from 2015 to 2017--with Lester

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averaging 32 starts and a 123 ERA+--and famously won the 2016 World Series. Not to be overlooked: the Cubs' pro scouting department, which helped them round out their rotation with Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks.

2. Jayson Werth | 2011 Nationals Terms: 7 years, $126 million. Losses Year Prior: 93. | Three-Year Average: 99. AAV: $18MM ($15MM above average).

Averaging 99 losses in a three-year period helped fortify the Nationals for half a decade or more. Washington used prime draft position to select Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon in successive drafts from 2009 to 2011. Strasburg had already reached the majors--and had Tommy John surgery--by the time the Nationals signed Werth, but Harper and Rendon gave the organization the No. 1 farm system in baseball heading into 2012. Werth stumbled in his Washington debut but delivered a 120 OPS+ from 2012 to 2016, a period encompassing three Nats playoff teams.

3. Carlos Beltran | 2005 Mets Terms: 7 years, $119 million. Losses Year Prior: 91. | Three-Year Average: 91. AAV: $17MM ($14.7MM above average).

The 2005 Mets also committed $53 million over four years to sign a 33-year-old Pedro Martinez. While Pedro gave them only one good year, Beltran actually compiled a higher OPS+ (129) for the Mets than he did for any of his other six teams. The Mets advanced to the NL Championship Series in 2006, then narrowly missed the playoffs in 2007 and 2008 after late-season collapses. The Mets of this period had two homegrown stars in David Wright and Jose Reyes, but had they hit on top 10 overall draft picks in 2004 (Phil Humber) and 2005 (Mike Pelfrey), they might be remembered differently today.

4. Magglio Ordonez | 2005 Tigers Terms: 5 years, $75 million. Losses Year Prior: 90. | Three-Year Average: 105. AAV: $15MM ($12.7MM above average).

The Tigers of the 1990s and early 2000s weren't necessarily tanking in the way we understand the concept today. They just more or less bumbled their way through 12 consecutive losing seasons from 1994 to 2005, when they approached .500 just twice. The tide began to turn for the franchise when Dave Dombrowski took the wheel in 2002, and by

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2006 they were AL champions. The Detroit pennant winners benefited from the signing of free agent Ordonez and also Ivan Rodriguez (see No. 6 below) as well as strong draft picks such as Justin Verlander (second overall in 2004) and Curtis Granderson plus shrewd trades for Placido Polanco, Carlos Guillen and Jeremy Bonderman.

5. Randy Johnson | 1999 Diamondbacks Terms: 4 years, $53.4 million. Losses Year Prior: 97. AAV: $13.35MM ($12MM above average).

Though he grew up in California, Johnson had settled in the Phoenix area by the time he became a free agent after the 1998 season. This helped swing negotiations in favor of the Diamondbacks rather than Johnson's other suitors, the Angels, Dodgers and Rangers. The only problem was that the D-backs were a 1998 expansion franchise coming off a 97-loss opening salvo. In retrospect, Arizona was closer to contention than they appeared, thanks largely to an imminent breakout from trade pickup Luis Gonzalez and the signing of Johnson. The Big Unit reeled off four straight NL Cy Young Awards in his first four seasons for Arizona--the D-backs qualified for the playoffs in three of them--and famously starred alongside Curt Schilling for the 2001 World Series champions.

6. Ivan Rodriguez | 2004 Tigers Terms: 4 years, $40 million. Losses Year Prior: 119. | Three-Year Average: 107. AAV: $10MM ($7.6MM above average).

The memory of the dismal 2003 Tigers has faded a bit with all the tanking undertakings of the 2010s. But that 2003 Detroit team lost 119 times--one fewer than the 1962 Mets, a hapless expansion franchise. The Tigers in 2003 had the worst offense and pitching staff in the AL by wide margins. They carried three Rule 5 picks all season, which was unheard of until the 2017 Padres did the same thing. That is the context into which Rodriguez, a World Series hero with the Marlins the year before, stepped. The future Hall of Fame catcher was 32 when he played his first game for the Tigers, and for at least his first three seasons in Detroit he looked like a bargain by compiling a 110 OPS+ and guiding the 2006 pitching staff to the best ERA in the AL and the league pennant.

Things Didn't Go As Planned

1. Alex Rodriguez | 2001 Rangers Terms: 10 years, $252 million.

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Losses Year Prior: 91. | Three-Year Average: 77. AAV: $25.2MM ($23MM above average).

The 2000 Rangers lost 91 times, but the franchise at this time could not accurately be described as “bad.” After all, Texas won the AL West in 1998 and 1999 behind a hard-hitting offense that slumped to below-average in 2000. (That at least had the side effect of yielding Mark Teixeira in the 2001 draft.) After signing Rodriguez, the Rangers returned to the upper echelon of AL lineups in 2001, but the pitching staff allowed the most runs in baseball. The same general pattern held in 2002 and 2003, while the team averaged 90 losses per year. Defeated, the Rangers traded A-Rod to the Yankees in 2004.

2. Robinson Cano | 2014 Mariners Terms: 10 years, $240 million. Losses Year Prior: 91. | Three-Year Average: 91. AAV: $24MM ($20.6MM above average).

While the book isn't yet closed on Cano's time in Seattle, he enters his age-35 season with nary a Mariners playoff appearance, though his teams overall have been perfectly mediocre. The Cano-Nelson Cruz–Felix Hernandez Mariners will make one more go at the promised land in 2018 as they try to snap the longest playoff drought in American pro spots. One can view Seattle's string of high first-round picks from 2011 to 2014--Danny Hultzen, Mike Zunino, D.J. Peterson and Alex Jackson--and wonder what might have been.

3. Jose Reyes | 2012 Marlins Terms: 6 years, $106 million. Losses Year Prior: 90. | Three-Year Average: 82. AAV: $17.7MM ($14.6MM above average).

The Marlins feigned an attempt at fielding a winning team when they moved into taxpayer-funded Marlins Park in 2012. In addition to signing Reyes for the third-largest payout of that offseason, they also invited free agents Mark Buehrle (four years, $58 million) and Heath Bell to the party. The Marlins certainly didn't let their guests overstay their welcome. They traded all three after the 2012 season, and Miami fans are still waiting for the first winning Marlins team at the new ballpark. That timetable got pushed back indefinitely with the trades of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon after the 2017 season.

4. Chan Ho Park | 2002 Rangers Terms: 5 years, $65 million.

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Losses Year Prior: 89. | Three-Year Average: 82. AAV: $13MM ($10.9MM above average).

After signing A-Rod for the 2001 season and making no progress, the Rangers doubled down on their free agent gambit by addressing the team's weakest area--the rotation--on the open market. Unfortunately, the top free agent starter available for 2002 was Park, a 28-year-old righthander coming off an all-star season with the Dodgers. The flyball pitcher with a modest strikeout rate was a bad match for Arlington, and he never again had an above-average season as a starter. That same offseason the Rangers also signed old friend Juan Gonzalez for two years and $24 million, and he contributed a 112 OPS+ in two injury-plagued seasons.

5. Adrian Beltre | 2005 Mariners Terms: 5 years, $64 million. Losses Year Prior: 99. | Three-Year Average: 79. AAV: $12.8MM ($10.5MM above average).

The fact that the Rangers and Mariners make two appearances on this list is indicative of the struggles they face when courting premier free agents. Those clubs' owners have shown a willingness to spend, but to lure the the big fish--A-Rod, Cano, Park, Beltre--to their markets, they have to overpay. Beltre had finished runner-up in the 2004 NL MVP race when the Mariners signed him, and in Seattle his teams featured Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez as co-headliners. However, the front office never supplied a playoff-worthy supporting cast during this era, thus Seattle averaged 76 wins per season from 2005 to 2009. Of course, the minute Beltre left the Mariners he began to establish himself as a future Hall of Famer.

6. Miguel Tejada | 2004 Orioles Terms: 6 years, $72 million. Losses Year Prior: 91. | Three-Year Average: 95. AAV: $12MM ($9.6MM above average).

Tejada went mainstream with an MVP season for the 2002 Athletics, and he continued to produce at the plate after signing his megadeal with Baltimore. He played almost literally every day and compiled a 119 OPS+ in four years with the Orioles before the club traded him to the Astros after the 2007 season for, well, nothing in particular. Poor run prevention combined with poor drafting and player development--with the notable exception of 2003 first-rounder Nick Markakis--thwarted Baltimore's intention to be competitive during Tejada’s residency.

Two-Timers

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Some teams exit bad seasons with the belief that signing a few key free agents can remedy their situation. Here are a trio of teams of recent vintage that, despite signing two high-end free agents, fell short of their goal.

2013 Indians

The 2012 Indians lost 94 games but had been mediocre the year before. They must have sensed that a young core than included Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Corey Kluber was about to break through. That's because Cleveland invested heavily in a pair of 30-something free agent outfielders for 2013, signing Nick Swisher ($56 million) and Michael Bourn ($48 million) to four-year pacts.

The Indians reached the AL Wild Card Game in 2013--thanks to the young core--and ultimately wound up footing the bill for the decline phases of the two free agents’ careers. Of course, that didn't prevent the Indians from averaging 91 wins per season from 2013 to 2017 and winning the 2016 AL pennant.

2015 Red Sox

Smarting from a 91-loss season in 2014, but with the 2013 World Series title still fresh in mind, the Red Sox splurged on free agents Pablo Sandoval (five years, $95 million) and Hanley Ramirez (four years, $88 million) by showering them with the third- and fourth-most lucrative outlays of that offseason. The plan was sound, but the free agents weren't willing.

Not only did Sandoval and Ramirez immediately begin to show signs of decline--Ramirez's 2016 campaign is the only above-average season by either player--but Boston's strategy was almost immediately nullified when batters with above-average power began to grow on trees. The free agents didn’t pan out, but the Red Sox have soldiered on, and in 2016 and 2017 they strung together successive 93-win seasons with accompanying AL East titles.

2016 Tigers

The Tigers appeared in the AL Championship Series each year from 2011 to 2013, led by a rotation that featured at various points Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Rick Porcello and Doug Fister. The offense was keyed by Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. So while a Scherzer-less Detroit club lost 87 games in 2015, they didn't view their window of contention as closed. Verlander and Cabrera remained majors assets, and new stars such as J.D. Martinez and Michael Fulmer were set to assume prominent roles.

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This helps explain why Detroit signed Justin Upton (six years, $133 million) and Jordan Zimmermann (five years, $110 million) to lucrative contracts for 2016. The plan nearly worked, but the Tigers fell 2.5 games shy of a wild card in what proved to be a last hurrah. The franchise bottomed out in 2017 with a worst-in-baseball 98 losses, spurred by the trades of Verlander, Upton and J.D. Martinez.

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Eric Hosmer embraces new chapter with Padres - but won't turn page on time with Royals Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports PEORIA, Ariz. - It’s quiet this afternoon at the San Diego Padres’ complex, with just a dozen fans lingering as Eric Hosmer shags balls in the outfield, picks them up, carries a bucket to the pitcher's mound, and then takes batting practice.

Carrying buckets of balls may seem to be a simple gesture, one that Hosmer has done thousands of times in his life, but when you’ve just signed the richest contract in franchise history - $144 million over eight years - isn’t money supposed to buy privileges?

Hosmer has little interest in the baseball benefits afforded its rich. You walk into the Padres clubhouse, and his locker is tucked smack in the middle of a row. There’s non-roster pitcher Jonathan Aro to his left, outfielder Jose Pirela to his right, and no spare locker on either side that’s usually provided the team’s star.

This day, he even volunteered to be in the last hitting group just to accommodate his teammates who had tee times. When the batting practice ended, and his teammates scampered to the clubhouse, Hosmer was the last man to walk off the field, plopping down in the dugout.

Hosmer, now sporting a more conservative version of the modified mohawk replicated by hundreds of Kansas City's youth, covered plenty of ground in a 30-minute chat, from his love of his old city, honoring a fallen teammate, the odd free agent market and his new league, surroundings and role - that of franchise catalyst.

He doesn’t know everybody’s names yet, let alone where he may be living, but he’s a Padre now. They agreed to pay him $105 million for the first five years of his contract, providing an opt-out clause after 2022. The Royals also offered the highest contract in franchise history, but their contract proposal was back-loaded, and didn’t include an opt-out.

“I went into the process open-minded, and honestly, I was open to going back to Kansas City,’’ Hosmer tells USA TODAY Sports, “and try to continue what we built over there. I thought there was a good chance of going back. It would have been my dream to be the guy to wear the one jersey my whole career. I thought it would be nice because of what we started over there, the legacy we had. It just didn’t happen the way I thought it would.

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“I’m not going to sit here and plead my case now, but it was just too much for me to leave here on the table and too good of an opportunity not to go this way. I loved everything about Kansas City, my time there, the fans, the passion and energy they brought.

“I’ll say thank you to all of those people, but I’ve got to move onto a new chapter in San Diego, and hopefully be part of something just as special as we had in Kansas City.’’

Hosmer and a young group of prospects turned a struggling franchise into a baseball hotbed again, winning back-to-back American League pennants and the 2015 World Series. Hosmer was the cornerstone, their most popular player since George Brett, and meaning so much more to the Royals than just the numbers he put up on the field.

The Padres, and owners Ron Fowler and Peter Seidler, who met Hosmer during a December recruiting trip, fell in love with Hosmer right away too. They needed someone to lead their young team, a face to which thier fan base could grow attached. They needed charm, charisma, and a damn good ballplayer to restore the image of a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season in eight years, with a 12-year playoff drought.

“They’re getting a winner,’’ Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I have seen very few players like him that are complete personality-wise, maturity-wise and leadership-wise.

“He has everything you want.’’

Now he belongs to the Padres, for whom he will wear the uniform number 30 of Yordano Ventura, a Royals teammate who was killed in a car crash in January 2017, and bring along a proud piece of Kansas City jewelry.

Yes, that 2015 World Series ring.

“A couple of guys have been asking me about it,’’ Hosmer says. “I have no problems showing it off. Guys like to joke when you bring up the past, saying turn the page on it, but that’s one of the things I’m going to stress here.

“It’s something you don’t turn the page on. You really don’t. When you win a world championship, and you have a parade of almost a million people, and you see what it does for the city, and you see the people it touches, you realize what it means.

“So, there’s no shying away from it. I’m going to be talking about it all of the time. I want to stress how special winning can be to those guys. I want to open their eyes to it.’’

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Hosmer may have his money now, and didn’t flinch when he bought third-base coach Glenn Hoffman a Rolex watch in appreciation for giving up his uniform number, but he wouldn’t have come to San Diego if he didn’t believe they were committed to winning. He met with Padres GM A.J. Preller and manager Andy Green. He listened to them gush about their talented farm system. He walked away believing in their direction.

The Padres, who have baseball’s top-rated farm system by Baseball America, remind him of the Royals’ 2011 spring-training camp. That’s when all their prospects were together for the first time, and made their way to the big leagues later that season.

He can’t wait for the day he treats Padres fans to a Gaslamp District party, celebrating their return to the postseason, just as he did in Kansas City when he dropped $15,000 for the bar bill when they clinched the 2014 playoff berth, and invited every fan to join them.

“You want these guys to watch,’’ Hosmer says, “that’s part of leading, leading by example. You can talk a big game, or preach in the clubhouse, but if you’re not leading and doing what you say out on the field, it’s tough for guys to grasp that concept.

"Everything I preach in there, the energy I bring in the locker room, I want to equalize it out here on the field."

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After Reviving the Royals, Hosmer and Cain Try to Spark Other Teams

NY Times

By TYLER KEPNER

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Early in Eric Hosmer’s career, when it was clear he would be a star first baseman, a fan at a Rotary Club asked a pointed question to Dayton Moore, the general manager of the Kansas City Royals. For decades, the fans had yearned for a player like Hosmer with the talent and charisma to stir a dormant franchise. But this fan was worried. He wanted to know if the Royals could possibly sign Hosmer to a long-term contract.

“Just enjoy him,” Moore replied, recalling the conversation in a spring training interview last week. “Enjoy watching him play. And, no, we probably won’t be able to keep him here long-term. But that’s O.K. Just enjoy watching him play. Let’s not wish away today.”

The Royals made the most of their todays with Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain. After 28 seasons without a playoff appearance, they rumbled into two World Series in a row, losing in 2014 and winning in 2015. Every small-market franchise tries to build through homegrown talent, and most fall short of a title. The Royals actually broke through.

Now Hosmer is a San Diego Padre, after signing for eight years and $144 million last month. Cain signed a five-year, $80 million contract to rejoin the Milwaukee Brewers, who traded him to the Royals in 2010.

Other stalwarts from the World Series teams are also gone: Wade Davis, Ben Zobrist, Johnny Cueto, Ryan Madson, James Shields, Jarrod Dyson, and the unsigned Greg Holland and Mike Moustakas. A starter, Yordano Ventura, was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic before last season. Hosmer wears Ventura’s No. 30 with the Padres, a lasting bond to a team and a town he helped change.

“They kept hearing over and over again that guys that would come in and get back to being a playoff threat again,” Hosmer said. “It took 30 years for that to happen. We had a special relationship, and the fans appreciated the way we played. We would show emotion, and they would show emotion back.”

That was not always true in Kansas City, where hopelessness had sometimes reigned. In 1999, thousands of fans walked out of Kauffman Stadium in the middle of a game against the

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Yankees, protesting baseball’s tilted salary structure. Some littered the field with fake $100 bills.

The Royals lost 97 games that season, just another in a sad string of gloom. Moore arrived in 2006 and finally hit on the winning formula for a team with a modest payroll and a spacious park: contact hitters, slick defenders, dominant relievers and short-term No. 1 starters acquired for prospects.

It was always supposed to be temporary. That is how it works in modern baseball, and why teams scramble to align their top prospects’ peak seasons. If a bunch of young players mature at the same time, the team will probably get a few years of prime performance at affordable rates. When the players then get too expensive, most of them disperse.

The Royals have kept some of their core players; left fielder Alex Gordon is signed through 2019, and starter Danny Duffy and catcher Salvador Perez through 2021. Duffy, who earns $14 million this season, wanted more players to join them.

“I was hoping if one guy comes back, or two guys come back, maybe it’ll spark another guy to take that and run with it, too,” he said. “But the majority of guys I came up with are in other jerseys or unsigned. It’s tough to see those guys go, but that’s the nature of the beast. You definitely wish them well.”

Cain spends his off-seasons in Norman, Okla., and attended the Oklahoma City Thunder game last winter when Kevin Durant returned as a member of the Golden State Warriors. Cain remembers the vitriol from the fans, who jeered Durant whenever he touched the ball.

“It was not fun for him,” Cain said. “There were a lot of boos. Kind of tough to see, but that’s just how it is.”

Yet when Cain returns to Kansas City with the Brewers next month, he does not expect the same treatment. Some Royals fans in Arizona have already wished Cain and Hosmer well. Cain called Royals fans “the best fans in the world, for sure,” and no one around the team believes the players tarnished their legacy by leaving.

“They did so much for the game of baseball in Kansas City,” said Gordon, who grew up in Nebraska and went to Royals games every summer. “They were a part of changing the culture. Guys are going to come and go, and it’s not always their decision; it’s just how it is. But for what they did in Kansas City, the Royals fans are always going to be grateful.”

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Winning a championship does not guarantee a player a lifelong glow; Boston fans never forgave Johnny Damon for signing with the hated Yankees. But Hosmer and Cain left the American League and joined teams not known for spending.

Neither the Padres nor the Brewers had ever given such a lucrative contract in free agency. Neither team has won a championship, either — and, incredibly, Hosmer and Cain are the only players on either team’s 40-man roster who have ever played in the World Series. For both, setting an example is part of their job description.

Cain said that when Shields came to Kansas City from Tampa Bay, a regular playoff contender, “he showed us how to lead — and once he left, we all became leaders.”

“You need all 25 guys to come together and help push each other,” Cain said. “That’s what I’m trying to show these guys.”

The Brewers, at 86-76, had the best record of any team that missed the playoffs last season. In doing so, they sped up their competitive timetable. They agreed on Cain’s contract within hours of another bold move: a trade with Miami for Christian Yelich, a 26-year-old outfielder under contract for five more seasons.

The deals created a bit of a logjam for the Brewers, who also have Domingo Santana, who hit 30 homers last season, and the franchise pillar Ryan Braun in the outfield. The Brewers hope to find time for all the outfielders by sometimes using Braun at first base, where he could spell the slugging Eric Thames against some left-handers.

“You don’t really have any say over where you get traded, but I’m excited to be here,” Yelich said. “To be a part of an outfield with those guys, it’s going to be special. It’s exciting to go into the season expecting to win, hopefully for the foreseeable future.”

The Padres also added multiple veterans to their lineup, trading with Philadelphia for shortstop Freddy Galvis and with the Yankees for third baseman Chase Headley. San Diego has endured nine losing seasons in the last 10 years, but has hope in a slogan on Hosmer’s clubhouse T-shirt.

On the front, beneath a Padres logo, it says “#HotTalentLava,” with “= Major League Rock” on the back. Scott Boras, Hosmer’s agent, used those terms to describe the Padres’ percolating farm system, which MLB.com ranks as the best in baseball. For Hosmer, it is a familiar feeling.

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“There’s so many similarities to what I was a part of in Kansas City, as far as a group of prospects coming up,” he said. “It’s been fun. It’s one thing to hear about all the guys, but now to finally get out on the field and see what these guys are about, it gets you fired up.”

Moore could have left Kansas City, too, if he had pushed the Royals’ owner, David Glass, to allow him to interview for the Atlanta Braves’ general manager job last fall. Before joining the Royals, Moore had spent 12 years with the Braves, who now have a thriving farm system and seem much closer to contending.

Yet Moore was content to leave the decision to Glass, who did not want to lose his team’s architect. Moore’s passion for the job has never waned, he said, even as he starts over.

“Every team is special, regardless of the win-loss record,” he said. “And if you are leading in a relentless and focused way, it becomes exhausting, it becomes tiring, but that’s the privilege of leadership.”

The Royals had hoped to retain Hosmer as their leader in the clubhouse. But the Padres made a richer offer, and even if Hosmer had returned, the Royals still probably would have struggled. Their rotation was woeful last season, and Moore has been forced to chisel talent from the bullpen.

To entice teams to take expensive veterans off his payroll, Moore had to trade Scott Alexander and Ryan Buchter, relievers who are young, effective and cheap. Alexander went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-way deal that sent reliever Joakim Soria to the Chicago White Sox, and Oakland took outfielder Brandon Moss — who has since been cut — as a way to get Buchter.

Those deals saved the Royals $14 million, and they replaced Hosmer by giving a one-year, $3.5 million contract to Lucas Duda, the former Mets first baseman whose errant throw in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series allowed Hosmer to score the tying run in the ninth inning.

That sequence is etched in Royals lore. After Cain took a full-count slider to draw a leadoff walk against Matt Harvey, he stole second and scored on a double by Hosmer. Moustakas moved Hosmer to third with a groundout, and Perez bounced a ball to third baseman David Wright, who threw to Duda for the out at first. Hosmer charged home, knowing that both Wright and Duda had erratic throwing arms.

With a good throw by Duda, the Mets would have won the game. But Hosmer’s gamble paid off, embodying the will and urgency of a team that never cared about the odds. The Royals

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finished the night as champions, and their flag — planted by Hosmer, Cain and so many others in a proud alumni club — will always fly.

“They’re forever a part of Royals history,” Moore said. “We want all of our players, if they leave, to leave on a white horse.”

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Hand makes spring debut as Padres fall to DBacks John Horvath FOX Sports San Diego

Raffy Lopez homered, Freddy Galvis hit an RBI single, and Brad Hand made his first appearance of the spring during Monday night’s 10-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Galvis, who went 2-3 with an RBI single, was one of two Padres who had multi-hit games. Wil Myers, who DH’d, also singled twice in three at bats.

Backup catcher candidate Raffy Lopez drove in the other two runs on a two-run home run in the ninth inning.

On the mound, Dinelson Lamet made his second start of the spring for the Padres, who fell to 6-5 in Cactus League play. The 25-year-old right hander gave up one run on two hits over three innings. He also walked two and struck out two.

Fresh off a 3-year, $19.75 million extension that he signed in the offseason, All-Star southpaw Brad Hand threw his first Cactus League inning of the year. He allowed one run (a leadoff home run to Socrates Brito) and struck out two.

OF Reymond Fuentes went 2-4 with an RBI triple for Arizona, who won their fifth contest of the spring. DBacks pitchers struck out 13 Padres on the night.

The Padres will head to Surprise Stadium tomorrow to face the Royals at 5:05 p.m. PT. Rotation hopeful Luis Perdomo will start for San Diego.

The game will be available to live stream on FoxSportsGO. A replay of the game will be shown on Fox Sports San Diego at 11 p.m. PT.

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With Tatis Jr. not too far away, Freddy Galvis to provide stability at shortstop John Horvath FOX Sports San Diego

From now until Spring Training concludes, Fox Sports San Diego will preview each player at each position that is in big league camp.

Today we will take a look at shortstop, a position that has not been all too kind to the Padres in recent memory.

Here is a list of Padres players who have played shortstop since Khalil Greene was dealt in 2008: Chris Burke, Josh Wilson, Luis Rodriguez, Jason Bartlett, Jerry Hairston, Everth Cabrera, Alexi Amarista, Luis Rodriguez, Alberto Gonzalez, Pedro Ciriaco, Ronny Cedeno, Clint Barmes, Alexei Ramirez, Will Middlebrooks, Nick Noonan, Dusty Coleman, Allen Cordoba, Yangervis Solarte, Erick Aybar.

*takes deep breath*

Opening Day starter:

Seeking stability at the position for the first time in a decade, the Padres acquired veteran shortstop Freddy Galvis from the Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Enyel De Los Santos. Galvis had only one year left before free agency, and the Phillies were looking to hand the reigns off to talented SS prospect JP Crawford. The 28-year-old had previously spent 10 seasons in the Phillies organization prior to the trade, as he signed with Philadelphia as an international free agent back in 2006.

It was a trade that drew some confusion, given that the Padres (who are not expecting to contend in 2018) made a decision to trade a talented pitching prospect in De Los Santos for one year of Galvis.

The Padres did not look at it that way, though. The front office viewed the move as acquiring a very good defensive shortstop who will boost a rotation that had the highest ground-ball rate in the major leagues last season. Not only that, but Galvis would serve as a mentor for young SS Fernando Tatis Jr., whose major league debut might not be too far off.

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AJ Preller also did not rule out re-signing him after the 2018 season. Although Tatis Jr. is coming, Galvis has seen MLB time at second base, third base, left field, and center field.

At shortstop, Galvis has started all but 15 games in the past three years. In 2017, he was one of only a handful of players to play in all 162 games. At the plate, he slugged 12 home runs, stole 14 bases, and put up a .298 wOBA. The Venezuela native also played a solid shortstop with some range, as evidenced by his 3.6 UZR. He finished the year with a pedestrian 1.6 fWAR (which would have been the second-best season for a Padres shortstop in the last decade).

Galvis brings stability to a position that has had anything but that in recent memory.

Backup Options

The Padres would love to see Galvis play in all 162 games again, but if he needs a day off, the Padres might have to get creative. Carlos Asuaje and Cory Spangenberg seem like they could play shortstop in a pinch, but it does not seem like that is the case.

Today, Andy Green stated that the organization would “experiment” with 3B Christian Villanueva at shortstop. Villanueva is a natural third baseman, and has been sharing time with Chase Headley at the hot corner this spring.

If Galvis needed to miss time due to injury, the Padres would likely find their replacement in the minor leagues or externally.

On the farm

• Allen Cordoba

The former rule V pick has missed time this spring due to a concussion he suffered in a car accident. It is unknown when he will return to action. After spending 2017 with the Padres in somewhat of a utility role, the 21-year-old is expected to get consistent playing time in the minor leagues in 2018.

• Javier Guerra

Guerra hit .222 with a .615 OPS last season across High-A Lake Elsinore and AA-San Antonio. The Padres are being patient in hopes that the 22-year-old regains the form he displayed in

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the Red Sox organization in 2015, where he slugged 15 home runs with a .778 OPS in 434 at bats.

• Dusty Coleman

Coleman, a minor league journeyman, hit .227 with four home runs in 66 at bats with the Padres in 2017. He was re-signed to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training last November.

• Fernando Tatis Jr.

The Padres are hoping Tatis Jr. is their shortstop of the future, and the 19-year-old has only done things to affirm their belief so far this spring. Last year, Tatis Jr. hit .281/.390/.520 with a franchise-record 21 home runs for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. His performance earned him a promotion to AA San Antonio, where he played shortstop and third base for the Missions during their playoff run. This offseason, Tatis Jr. was named as the #8 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and the #9 prospect by Baseball America.

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Fernando Tatis Jr. enjoying first big league spring training with Padres

BY KALYN MCMACKIN

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Padres have a long list of top prospects, but Fernando Tatis Junior is atop the list.

At just 19, Tatis Jr. has already turned heads with his .381 batting average in the spring to go with speed and power and he's not phased by any of it.

The Padres shortstop is the youngest player in any Major League Baseball camp this spring.

"People always talking about it but I really don't care," said Tatis Jr.

He also remains unfazed being the Padres top prospect this season and rated as one of the top 10 prospects across the league.

"It is what it is," said Tatis Jr. "I don't care if I'm number one or number 30, I'm still going to work hard and still going to do my best and keep going."

Tatis Jr. quickly moved through the Padres farm system in 2017, starting in Single-A Fort Wayne and moving up to Double-A San Antonio. This year, he earned his first MLB Spring Training invitation.

"These guys are very hungry to play this game," he said. "They're very competitive and everybody is trying to get their job done but it's fun at the same time because you know everybody is working hard and doing their best."

Tatis says veteran shortstop Freddy Galvis, along with other position players, have helped him navigate big league camp.

"It is exciting," said Tatis Jr. "I'm having fun learning from the guys that have been here already and what can I say, it's a new experience and I'm just trying to do my best."

The Dominican Republic native says he hopes to make the Padres big league roster soon, realizing he still has some work to do.

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"It would mean a lot to accomplish my dream," he said. "Start the beginning of my career and let's see what happens."

The Padres continue spring training play until March 26 before they have Open Day against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 29th.

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Stinging For The Fences: Bees Swarm Padres Training Camp Again By Ron Dicker Huffington Post “The Swarm” sequel. The buzz at the San Diego Padres’ training camp on Monday wasn’t about the team’s hopes for the coming baseball season.

It was the bees invading the team’s Peoria, Arizona, facility and forcing the players to hit the ground.

This was “The Swarm” sequel for the Padres. Players last year had to take cover, along with their Spring Training game opponent, the Colorado Rockies, during another bee flyby.

USA Today noted that bee swarms are common in Arizona at this time of year, and many of them involve aggressive Africanized honeybees.

Looks like the players have the drill down.

Fans took a few swings at the uproar.

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#PadresOnDeck: 20-year-old Luis Urías is Already a Threat at Second

By Bill Center

Padres On Deck received a question from a follower last week wondering if the Padres were making a mistake by letting Luis Urías “age” in the minor leagues.

We get the idea. Urías has already spent four seasons in the Padres’ minor league system.

But here’s the catch.

Urías will be 20 when the 2018 season opens. He won’t turn 21 until June 3. He is only 18 months older than Fernando Tatis Jr. and has played two more full seasons.

Don’t get the wrong idea, however. The 5-foot-9 native of Magdalena de Kino, Mexico, is headed to the Major Leagues. Padres manager Andy Green was emphatic on that fact recently while discussing incumbent second basemen Carlos Asuaje and Cory Spangenberg.

“Urías’ at-bats have been scary good,” Green said while discussing Luis’ spring training performance. “Yesterday on a 2-and-2 slider down and away, he takes it. Didn’t even look like he was tempted to swing. Ends up walking. He’s hit every wall in the Cactus League already. He’s impressive defensively. He’s going to be good. I think we know that.”

“Asuaje and Spangenberg, they know Urías is coming. They’re smart guys. They look and they watch him play baseball. They see what he does. They know he is coming. Each one of those guys brings something you genuinely love. But you’re going to go with one guy over the other guys.”

Eventually, that “one” seems to be Luis Urias, who the Padres signed as a 16-year-old on Dec. 23, 2013.

Urías — who is ranked the Padres №3 prospect by MLB Pipeline and is the rating service’s 36th-ranked prospect in baseball — has never had more strikeouts than walks during a season.

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Urias has already played for every team in the Padres’ farm system.

As a 17-year-old he was quickly promoted from the Padres’ Dominican Republic summer league team to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .310 with a .393 on-base percentage.

During the season he turned 18, Urías was an organizational All-Star for hitting .299 with a .381 on-base percentage while splitting the season between short-season Single-A Tri-City and Single-A Fort Wayne. He was the youngest player in the Midwest League while with the Tin Caps.

The following season he won both the Most Valuable Player and the Rookie of the Year honors while being the youngest player in the advanced Single-A California League. He hit .330 with 26 doubles, five triples and five homers with a .397 on-base percentage for Lake Elsinore. He was also 4-for-9 while drawing five walks in a cameo for Triple-A El Paso.

Urías took the next step in 2017, hitting .299 with a .398 on-base percentage and a .778 OPS for Double-A San Antonio. He was a Texas League All-Star and had 20 doubles, four triples and three homers while drawing 68 walks to 65 strikeouts.

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Andy’s Address, 3/5 Andy Addresses cuts, injuries, Tyson Ross, relievers ping pong and Skip Schumaker

By Bill Center

The Padres sent five pitchers to their minor league camp Monday morning, including top-15 prospect Jacob Nix, who has been unable to pitch due to a leg injury.

“He’s coming along slowly,” Green said during of Nix during his daily media briefing.

“We sent him down today as a by-product of his inability to pitch due to his leg injury,” Green continued. “We made the roster move and he’ll do his rehab in the minor league camp. It got to the point where he wasn’t going to be able to pitch for us in big league camp so we made the move this morning.”

Green announced the Padres had dispatched four other pitchers — Walker Lockett, Brett Kennedy, Kyle Lloyd and T.J. Weir — to the minor league camp leaving 32 pitchers in the Major League camp.

Green also said Matt Szczur would be returning to action Tuesday or Wednesday. But Alex Dickerson “doesn’t appear to be close” with his elbow injury.

Green discussed right-handed pitcher Tyson Ross.

“Tyson has a chance,” said Green. “He has to perform. I think we’ve seen him perform at All-Star caliber before. He definitely has that in his favor. He’s coming off a long, tough year for him. I think for him to go out and string together consecutive good outings would bode well for his chances.”

“He’s going to continue to have his innings extended. This one is for three innings today and if he comes out and throws the ball well he’s definitely on the right path. We’ll get him to four and hopefully five the next couple of times out.”

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Green discussed 27-year-old, right-handed reliever Adam Cimber, who has been perfect in his spring outings thus far.

“He’s been really good in camp,” said Green. “He’s one of those guys who constantly gets doubted because he doesn’t have the pedigree some other players do. But he performs and he’s performed his entire career. He was challenged how to get lefties out better before last year and he went out and dominated left-hand hitters last year. He made some changes in the way he pitched. He’s been very impressive in camp. It’s been fun to watch. If he keeps throwing like this, his chance will come quicker than if he doesn’t. He’s on the right path. He’s throwing the ball very well. He’s definitely a guy we’re talking about and even considering for our Major League club right now.”

Green also talked about three other relievers in camp — Kazuhisa Makita, Carter Capps and Rowan Wick.

Although Capps gave up a couple runs Sunday, Green was happy with the improvement in his delivery.

“Honestly it was a step forward from where I had seen Carter in his previous live batting practices,” said Green. “Capps keeps taking steps forward. He did a better job releasing his back side the last time on the mound. The results aren’t there, but he’s coming off a major surgery and the important thing is how he feels. And if he feels good and keeps feeling better, I think you’re going to see the velocity up tick and you’ll start seeing his stuff play better.”

On Wick, the converted outfielder the Padres claimed on waiver from St. Louis recent, Green said:

“He’s got a live arm. His last outing wasn’t what he was hoping for. But you can see the stuff. He has a feel for the slider and a developing feel for the curve ball. It’s a live fastball. It’s a guy our scouts have liked and talked about for some time. He’s getting a little bit of an opportunity with us here right now.”

Green said Makita’s next appearance would be Tuesday night against the Royals. Makita threw only six pitches in a perfect inning Sunday. But the main reason why he’s pitching

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Tuesday is that the Padres are playing the Giants Wednesday. “I prefer to get him on the field against American League teams,” said Green.

The manager was asked about the Ping Pong matches and batting practice target practice going on in the Padres’ camp.

“It’s fun,” said Green. “The guys are competitive by nature. It’s why we got into sports in the first place. Ping Pong, cards, pool — it doesn’t matter. Guys are competitive. They want to win. If you can create a game out of batting practice, when you can crate games in the clubhouse, it brings energy, it brings life and the guys bring the competitive spirit.”

“Partner with the players on the forms of competition. I don’t do much of anything unilaterally. The Ping Pong last year, I came up with the idea but it was not a revolutionary idea to have a Ping Pong tournament.The year before I was here, Buddy (Black) had a basketball shooting tournament.”

“So I’m not the only manager out there doing things like this. It’s becpome a nice thing for us. You can play a match every morning and have fun with it. It kind of continues all the way through camp rather than trying to get it done in one day.”

Green recently spoke about new first base coach Skip Schumaker, who also works with outfield defense.

“I very aggressively pursued him for a couple years,” said Green. “There’s certain guys you see who everybody universally respects. And you know that when he speaks, people are going to listen. You know he believes the game was to be played a certain way from the way he was brought up under Tony LaRussa and Dave McKay as a primary influencers of his career.”

“Skip thinks there is a right way to play. We both agree on that. And to find somebody who is going to passionately convey the message on the fine details of the game. It’s harder than you think because most people brush them aside after time as no big deal . . . no big deal if he tagged the bag with his wrong foot, no big deal if he didn’t get the right kind of jump, no big deal if he didn’t take a great first step.”

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“Complacency not going to happen with Skip. He’s going to be on it all year long. I was looking for that type of vigilance in that role . . . that kind of passion for the fine details of the game. All you had to do was be around him for a little bit to see it. His takes on everything are outstanding. I already see it very positively.”