Quote from fenn68 on September 14, 2023, 7:31 am

Abrams … Gore … Wood … plus

But the Padres got Soto for three playoff runs and three World Series … so worth it ..

OH WAIT I am missing something

Quote from WindsorUK on September 17, 2023, 6:31 am

Quote from fenn68 on September 14, 2023, 7:31 am

Abrams … Gore … Wood … plus

But the Padres got Soto for three playoff runs and three World Series … so worth it ..

OH WAIT I am missing something

So many times the right move is no move.

AJ should have taken his toys off the table and gone home.

Abrams and Gore are already solid MLB players, with Wood on the come.

Quote from Randy Manese on September 20, 2023, 6:22 pm

I'll concede that Abrams and Gore are solid MLB players but didn't the Padres effectively replace them with Kim and Wacha?  Check out their respective stats and then throw what Soto did on top of that.  Wood has some awesome tools but his K rate is now over 33% as he moved to the AA level, which has to be something of a red flag.  Further, while Abrams and Gore are solid, they are not without flaws and may never rise to the superstar level; in fact, it is possible they may never be as good as Merrill and Snelling will be over time.

Not saying I'm not disappointed with Soto's uneven season, but I'm in the good versus bad trade camp, especially if we either (a) land a premier prospect(s)/major league arm for Soto or (b) get to the World Series in 2024, where I am positive the Nationals will not be even with Abrams and Gore.  With the exception of his BA (which also impacts his OPS), Soto's overall year is very comparable to what he has done, on average, over his major league career.  That lower BA could definitely be the Petco Park effect, which is one of the tougher parks to hit in.   A frustrating season for all us Padres fans but there are so many unpredictable reasons why this season went South other than not having Abrams and Gore on the roster.

Quote from fenn68 on September 21, 2023, 3:17 am

Maybe a good decision on the Soto trade … at the time … but a bad outcome if the rationale was winning a World Series in Soto’s tenure (but we do have 2024 to come so hold all bets).

Not so much about Soto’s performance with SD … but not winning while paying premium money for 2.3 years of Soto versus the alternative of 6 years control of the prospects at low cost and extending the chance to win longer. Money could have been used to fix other holes … Abrams may have been the CF (over Grisham) and Gore would have displaced FA to be Lugo (or been that missing 6th SP … a big hole in 2023).

A bit of the fallout of losing … all moves were bad moves with the unknowns of  alternatives and the future. Signing Bogaerts (although after a mid-season slump he has been brilliant offensively), extensions to Machado, Cronenworth, Darvish for big money hamstring the team for years looking at their collective bad performances in 2023.

Win in 2024 and with those four performing to expectations … and all the moves were brilliant … so, we need to let the story play out.

Quote from MrPadre19 on September 21, 2023, 4:03 am

Sotos’ OPS+ is the 2nd best of his career if you don’t count 2020….and I don’t for this stat.

Not sure what we were expecting if this is “disappointing”.

Maybe his defense and baserunning have frustrated us enough we don’t realize how good he’s been at the plate?

 

Quote from fenn68 on September 21, 2023, 4:35 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on September 21, 2023, 4:03 am

Sotos’ OPS+ is the 2nd best of his career if you don’t count 2020….and I don’t for this stat.

Not sure what we were expecting if this is “disappointing”.

Maybe his defense and baserunning have frustrated us enough we don’t realize how good he’s been at the plate?

 

Soto is suffering from the team not winning combined with his start in 2023 (even if his stats were not bad the expectations were much higher) creating a reverse halo effect that has carried on through the season. Easy to pick on his obvious defensive / baserunning flaws (but most knew that going in). The $23MM pay check does not help.

Soto did struggle in “clutch” situations early … and given the high expectations and the team starting to lose put focus on him (more so tht Machado, Cronenworth, et al). Fans tend to lock into initial opinions … good or bad … even if latter performance is different.

A 30+ HR / 100+ RBI / .900+ OPS is a very very good season … so the focus on Soto as a problem is probably not currently justified. PETCO is still an issue but at the core he can hit so maybe some time to adapt … poised to be a critical piece towards winning it all in 2024. Same logic on Bogaerts … looking at his post-All Stats (and post cortisone shot) he has been hitting at All-Star caliber … both cases where that transition time to a new team and PETCO is more of a challenge than we think.

Might actually have the opposite scenario concerning Machado who is riding the halo effect of an outstanding (statistically) 2022 and has been a “average” performer at best in 2024 after signing that huge extension.

Quote from WindsorUK on September 21, 2023, 9:28 am

Definitely expect more from the next Ted Williams. He's got All Stars hitting in front of, and behind, him. Yet, as I posted before, roughly 40% of the time at the plate he makes ZERO contact.

If he settles for what other .260 hitters with 30 HR power make, then that's fine. $25 million? Whilst I've not seen a great deal of games of him in a Padre uniform, what I have seen of him on the base paths and in the field tells me he's rather limited outside the batters box( the place he doesn't make contact 40% of the time)

Yes, his numbers( HR, RBI, OBP) are all good but comparing him to say, Machado of 2022, those numbers don't equate to wins. Same as Bogaerts. Started hot, ending hot but when the season mattered, he was replacement level.

I want these guys to win as much as anyone. I just think the money that Juan( read: Boras) will demand, could be spent SO much better. Shame these aren't like the old days and you could spend as much as you want without penalty( when the Padres were really poor). But with financial constraints, I'm thinking 3 $25 million+ a year guys( FTJ, MM, X) are enough.

Spend that money on pitching. I think we all agree we can never have enough of that. Funny how the return of Profar coincides with our first winning streak of the year? Imagine if he'd have been in LF or 1B all year, where we'd  be right now? More to a team than just numbers.

Quote from MrPadre19 on September 21, 2023, 12:18 pm

There are FOUR players with 30+ HR's and a .400 OBP:

Ohtani

Acuna

Betts

Soto

and Soto is the youngest of them all and won't reach his "prime" for 3-4 more years.

It seems everyone discounts the fact that he could still very easily get even better.

I guess because even at 24 he's been in the league for 5 seasons already?

I mean....there have only been a handful of players in MLB history,over 100 yrs, with numbers like these at 24 yrs old.

I guess I'm just still surprised when someone is disappointed in this kid with these stats at this age.

It wouldn't take much improvement for him to be clearly the best MLB hitter of all time in 10 years....maybe not even any improvement needed.At his current pace,and ignoring any improvement,he would have 450 HR's at 34 years of age.

That's pretty mind boggling and doesn't even consider his OBP

 

Quote from WindsorUK on September 21, 2023, 1:20 pm

Imagine if he took the bat off his shoulder and took more cuts? His OBP might take a hit, but it also might improve( he takes a lot of called 3rd strikes. With his bat skills, take a chance, put a ball in play)

I don't dislike Juan. I just think his money could be spent in different areas that might actually help us win.