For The San Diego Padres, Next Year Is Here

Speaker 1: 00:00 With California reeling from the pandemic surge and a host of incredible national events. You wouldn't think there'd be much time left over for sports news, but lately the Padres have slipped into the headlines. Several big trades have been exciting fans and have sports writers pegging the pods as a potential playoff contender Padres general manager. AIJ Pressler has been one of the most aggressive executives this off season making acquisitions of pitchers Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay, rays, you Darvish a Japanese player with the Chicago Cubs and shortstop Haas song. Kim and journey may is San Diego sports writer, Jay Paris, Jay. Welcome. Speaker 2: 00:40 Good morning, Mo. How are you doing? I'm doing great today. Thank you. Good. Speaker 1: 00:45 Now these trades seem to be revving up real excitement. Why is that? Speaker 2: 00:49 Well, I think a lot of it is the, uh, the landscape of the major league baseball. Uh, they are, uh, the revenue streams to put it lightly we're, uh, we're, uh, decimated last year with the COVID. And so it's not a really lot of activity out there on the market. Somebody forgot to tell AIG Perler, you know, those old blockbuster stores that are all out bankrupt now. Well, he did blockbuster trades all off season. I mean, the, the gentlemen, he picked up you Darvish second in the Cy young award last year for the Cubs or goes to the top pitcher, uh, Blake Snell. I mean, he was the Cy young award winner in the American league two years ago. We certainly saw what he did to the Dodgers in the world series before he was removed, which was a bad managerial decision, but these are key players and Kim from Korea, he can play all around the infield. Speaker 2: 01:36 Second, third shortstop. Of course we know the Padres have a heck of a shortstop and Fernando tatties Jr. And a third baseman, their $300 million man in Manny Machado, but there might be a spot at second base, a Kim Kim platoon with J Crow. And we're so, you know, they're set in the infield, but AIJ saw a good player and he pounced and, uh, the more good players you have, the more depth you can, uh, build up the better off you're going to be. So Padre fans, I'm telling you, they have waited so long and, uh, the patience of job, if you will, you know, nine straight losing seasons. And finally they have a roster that can, uh, it doesn't have to cower down to those big, bad Dodgers up North, Speaker 1: 02:15 But okay, I'll get to that in a minute, but, but you mentioned it. Okay. So what is this cost? Speaker 2: 02:21 Uh, those guys got plenty of money, please. Uh, you know, they've got a lot of balls in the air. Uh, I think too, you have to look at Peter Sidler, who's taken over for Ron Fowler. Uh, he's got some deep pockets now and, uh, you know, those, those guys aren't benevolent, it's, it's good business. It's good business to get people in the seats. And, uh, you know, it looks like they're going to figure out how to pay for it all later. But, uh, I, I can't remember the last time I heard of a baseball team going broke. Let's put it that way. Speaker 1: 02:51 Okay. So how do the Padres compare to the 2021 Dodgers who are, of course, just coming off a world series? Speaker 2: 03:00 Right. I think the pitchy is the key. That was the biggest difference between the two teams. When the Dodgers swept in last year in the playoffs, it's hard to quantify how important starting pitching is in the major leagues. If you got a good starting pitcher, you've got a chance to win that day. Now, realistically, the Padres have five of them. They can, can win any of those days. So the Dodgers are still the Dodgers and they're making some moves too, but, um, no longer, is it a wishful thinking no longer, is it pie in the sky no longer? Is it some outlandish speculation that the Padres will be playing meaningful games at the end of the season? This is a good ball club. They're going to be fun to watch Speaker 1: 03:37 Any predictions as to what the 2021 baseball season will be like. For instance, do you see some stadiums filling up again, Speaker 2: 03:45 You know, filling up maybe, maybe a stretch. Uh, they're still trying to figure out spring training and, uh, you know, we're the Heights of the, uh, the curve and this day in COVID-19. So, you know, I think, you know, spring training could be pushed back a little bit at the, I've heard people saying that they might start the season in Memorial day weekend, more, more so in may, than in April to see if we can get this, uh, dastardly disease under, under control. So that's the long answer. The short answer is nobody knows. And anybody that says otherwise, it's, uh, I'd like to see that crystal ball, Speaker 1: 04:18 You know, I would like to know before I let you go your thoughts now that Jack Murphy, Qualcomm San Diego County credit union stadium are all a thing of the past. And we're back to San Diego stadium in mission Valley. What does that make you think about, Speaker 2: 04:32 You know, being a sports writer? That was my second home. And especially when the chargers had their, their offices right there on the club level, uh, you know, I raised two boys and I know everybody else in San Diego, San Diego County is, has raised their kids. And just the memories in that place. Was it a great stadium? Not really. Were the amenities up to snuff? No, they weren't. Were things leaking and fallen down. Yes, they were. But the memories from there, everything from the rolling stones to the, to the Padres, going into the world series, it's, uh, it was part of the fabric, but I, I think that just, um, accelerate, it was accelerated when the chargers left. I mean, all those memories left and, but he's still kind of had Qualcomm, if you will, Jack Murphy seemed to drive by every once in a while and, and relive those memories though. Speaker 2: 05:19 That's not going to be the case. I'm excited to see what they construct there, but you know, it w it was like a stadium. It was our stadium. Yes. It had blemishes. We D we look past those wards. We had fun tailgating. We had fun at the ball games. It was as much as San Diego is, you know, fish tacos and a good sunset. I mean, people loved coming to San Diego stadium because of that big parking lot, very few stadiums that have the wherewithal to let you party before the game like San Diego. And as we know, with some of those charger teams, that's the best part of the day was before the game often said it during the game. Speaker 1: 05:55 So true. I've been speaking with San Diego sports writer, Jay Paris. Thank you so much. They positive and test negative. Okay.