Padres Update: This Didn't Exactly Go Their Way Edition

Well, the good news is the Padres have a guy with 40 saves, a major Rookie of the Year candidate, two solid starters, and have gotten some prime material out of Manny Machado.

...this seems to be the only good news I can presently report as far as the Padres are concerned.

You know the spiel, 'one contract can't change a team', 'one call-up can't revolutionize a tired roster', yada yada. We've been over this before with San Diego, not just this year but this decade. I feel like when people make their rankings of each team's decade-long performance (which is gonna be tough because the only teams that were competitors for the entire decade, Yanks & Cards & Dodgers and such, only have a few WS-contending years, or none at all, to hold them back) the Padres will be very low on this list.

I mean, let's be really critical- what have they accomplished this decade?

In 2010, they finally get a playoff-caliber team ready, by trading for Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick, and getting prime material out of Adrian Gonzalez before his contract expires. This doesn't work, as they come 2nd in the Wild Card race despite 90 wins. The fact is...if 2010 followed modern-era wild card rules, the Padres would play a one-game playoff game against the Braves, but...probably wouldn't have gone well.

2010 is the only time this team finishes over .500 this decade. You think of the wealth of talent that's come through SD, including but not limited to Mat Latos, Wil Myers, Chase Headley, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Eric Hosmer, Brad Hand, Franmil Reyes, Manny Machado, and TWO different pitchers named Luis Perdomo (YES, REALLY. LOOK IT UP). This team has been through two different contract uprisings; 2015 and 2019, where new blood was brought in to save the team. Neither one worked. And of the 2015 additions, only Wil Myers has stuck around. And Myers isn't really a household name anymore, is he?

I'd like to be optimistic and say that the 2020s will be better for the Padres, but...knowing their recent luck, I'm not even sure. Even if Joey Lucchesi and Chris Paddack stir up better numbers in Eric Lauer, Matt Strahm and Cal Quantrill next year, is this still a competitive team? Do they still have a ways to go, even WITH Tatis and Machado?

Food for thought, I guess

Coming Tonight: I feel bad for Topps. They spend the whole summer hyping up a huge Blue Jays rookie, then right near the end an even BIGGER Blue Jays rookie comes around.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Padres

 Fun fact: the Miami Marlins have a longer playoff drought than the San Diego Padres. The Marlins, since 2003, have had Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich, Martin Prado, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis and J.T. Realmuto all have fantastic seasons...and yet they haven't gotten to October.

The Padres, since 2006, have had landmark seasons from...Chase Headley...Jake Peavy...Adrian Gonzalez...Heath Bell.........yeah, that's pretty much it.

Look, I don't know what the problem with this team is, but I don't think even management knows either. They have tried everything- giving the team to the farm system, scrapping the farm system and getting a bunch of contracts, mixing both. They hired Dave Roberts for a day, decided they didn't want a guy who'd get them to the postseason, and went with Andy Green.

2018 was just another example of nothing working. Eric Hosmer didn't bring the team out of the hole, the pitching continued to suffer. Austin Hedges is a fine catcher, but only improved slightly from his disappointing first few seasons.

 Joey Lucchesi was one of the few bright spots of a dark rotation, with a low-for-San-Diego 4.08 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and a passable 8-9 record. He's not much, but to the Padres, he's Nolan Ryan.

And this year's lineup rookie guy was Franmil Reyes, an outfield prospect who outdid even the Manniest of Margots, hitting 16 homers in 80 games, with a .280 average. He's kinda similar to Margot, but if both of them could play to expectations, the Pads could have a heck of a team on their hands.

Coming Tomorrow- My hometown team, who got so close to October...and just missed.