The Chicago White Sox will be without one of their mashers next season. The White Sox have traded Carlos Quentin to the Padres for minor league pitchers Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.
Quentin, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2012 season, hit 24 home runs, drove in 77 runs and had a .254 batting average and .340 OBP in 118 games in 2011.
The 29-year-old Quentin is looking forward to the new opportunity that presents itself in San Diego.
“It’s exciting. First of all with the trade happening this morning, your whole life has been shifted,” Quentin said. “It will take time to set in but it’s exciting that it’s shifting to San Diego where I grew up. It’s definitely a positive to me and I look forward to contributing to the Padres.” Read more... (302 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)
After several near misses, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire finally got the recognition he deserves by wining his first manager of the year award.
Gardenhire, who had previously been the runner-up for the award on five separate occasions, was the clear front-runner in votes, beating out Rangers manager Ron Washington by 17 votes. The award has been long overdue for a guy who became the first manager in baseball history to win six division titles in his first nine seasons. But what might be most impressive about Gardenhire’s resume is that he has spent all nine years of his coaching career in Minnesota. Never having the sort of payroll to lure big name free agents to the team, Gardenhire was able to cultivate a young team of talented ball players that understood the fundamentals of the game. As proof of his coaching ability, he won his 800th career game in September this year and earned another division title despite playing the entire year without closer Joe Nathan and most of it minus former MVP Justin Morneau. Read more... (292 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)
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For the last seven years, hall-of-famer Tony Gwynn has been enjoying his time teaching young men the fundamentals of baseball as the head coach at San Diego State. But as life so often does, Gwynn was unexpectedly handed some devastating news: cancer. Yesterday, Gwynn, one of the most prolific hitters of all time who spent his entire 20-year MLB career with the San Diego Padres, announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer of a salivary gland. Gwynn told the San Diego Union-Tribune he has had three procedures since 1997 to remove non-cancerous tumors to the largest salivary gland. He also mentioned that the cancer was most likely related to his use of chewing tobacco throughout his career. Read more... (258 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)
It may have taken 162 games, but the Giants finally won the NL West on the final day of the 2010 season. Giants fans were undoubtedly apprehensive today as they entered AT&T Park, well aware of the fact their team blew their first two opportunities to knock off the relentless San Diego Padres in this intense season-ending three game series.
After Cain and Zito failed to deliver clutch pitching performances, Jonathan Sanchez stepped onto the main stage and delivered the best pitching performance in his young career. Sanchez went five innings, giving up zero runs and just three hits with five strike outs. The bullpen gave a solid relief effort and manager Bruce Bocky took no chances on letting the game slip away by bringing in the National League saves closer Brian Wilson (aka, “The Mental Assassin”) to seal the deal on the NL West division title, the club’s first since 2003. Read more... (227 words, 2 images, estimated 54 secs reading time)
The Giants were hoping that when Barry Zito took the mound today he would somehow revert back to his Cy Young form and lift the Giants over the Padres for their first NL West division title since 2003. Unfortunately for Frisco, Zito’s perormance was rather emblematic of his 9-13, 4.11 ERA season.
Zito went just three innings, surrendering three earned runs on four hits and four walks. Acting as his own worse enemy, Zito gave up consecutive bases-loaded walks in the first and was booed off the field when he was taken out in the third inning. But Giants fans can’t pin the blame solely on Zito for why the champagne needed to be put on ice. If they want to be upset with anyone it’s San Diego’s starter Tim Stauffer. The Padres right-hander gave a clutch performance, allowing three hits in 6 1/3 innings. And in case you’ve never heard of this guy, just know that while he has only had seven starts this season, he currently has a ridiculous 1.85 ERA. Read more... (331 words, 2 images, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)
For the Yankees, Twins, Rangers, Rays, Phillies and Reds, the postseason starts on October 6th. But for the Padres and Giants, the playoffs begin on Friday in San Francisco where the two teams will compete in a three-game series for the National League West.
The Giants have already won their game today with a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. In order for the Padres to remain two games behind the Giants they must win their game tonight against the Chicago Cubs, otherwise, they face the near insurmountable task of having to sweep the Giants to with a chance to qualify for the playoffs. Read more... (252 words, 2 images, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)
A month ago it seemed as though it would be smooth sailing for the San Diego Padres. But after their ten-game skid, the Padres were barely clinging to first place, desperately fighting off the relentless San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. If fact, things had been going so well for the Padres that most of their fans probably forgot all about Chris Young––you know, that guy who is the only Padres pitcher to win a postseason game since 1998.
The 6-foot-10 right-hander has been sidelined for the last 5 1/2 months with a strained shoulder. Luckily for the floundering Padres, Young, arguably one of the most consistent forms of talent on the club, who will return to the rotation on Saturday when the Padres face the Cardinals. It would be his first form of major league action since he went on the disabled list back on April 12. Read more... (241 words, estimated 58 secs reading time)
No one could have guessed that the National League West would be this tight of a race down the final stretch of the season. No one could have fathomed that the Colorado Rockies would be right in the thick of it, either. Thanks to the recent September woes of the San Diego Padres, the Rockies have managed to win their last ten straight games, pulling within 1 1/2 games of the Padres and San Francisco Giants for first place in the NL West. Read more... (297 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)
He may not have the dominant stuff that made a legend while closing games in San Diego, but that hasn’t stopped Trevor Hoffman from continuing to set milestones. His latest achievement was earning his 600th save to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2. The number “600” was unveiled next to the Brewers’ bullpen in left-center as Brewers players hoisted Hoffman on their shoulders and carried him toward the dugout where he was greeted by his family. Read more... (265 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)
Rarely have I seen such a total collapse in sports like the Padres. They were leading the NL west for months. Up until just last month they were leading by several games over their nearest competitor. Now, as of today they have lost 9 games in a row. Collapse may not cover it.
For the last 10, the Padres are 1-9. They are 2 games over the Giants and only 5.5 now over the Rockies, who they have lost 2 games to already this weekend. The pitching has gotten less and less effective and the hitting has been hit or miss at best. It’s been a downhill slide since the D-Backs game on August 26 when they gave up 11 runs and only put up 5 of their own. Read more... (257 words, 1 image, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)
