We'll start with the Padres this week. Kevin Towers, the long time GM of the team and architect of some incredible NL West champion seasons over his tenure, is now gone. Who is going to replace him? No one knows. Is the team going to be dismantled? We'll have to wait and see. However, there are some hopeful numbers for our young Padre team. They ended the season 37-25 in their final 62 games. They kept the Dodgers from winning the NL West in San Diego, even though I think the Dodgers tanked the games so that they could win the title at home and sell out a few more games in the process (which they did). Heath Bell led the NL in saves with 42 (the Padres were 62-3 when leading after 8 innings). Anyone still missing Trevor time now? Kevin Kouzmanoff ended the season with a .990 fielding percentage, the highest ever by a third baseman. Finally, Adrian Gonzalez, once again, if not for the fact that he plays the same position as and is the same league with Albert Pujols, should have won the NL MVP this season.
Seems like there is a lot of hope for next season with all the young talent, here's the problem. The team will be operating on a $40 million dollar budget next season. Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriquez, makes more than that. The Padres will have one of the stingiest payrolls in Major League Baseball next season. That's not to say they can't win, look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. However, Kouzmanoff and Bell are due hefty raises and after this season, they'll be looking for their pay day and if they don't get it, there will be a lot of teams waiting with check book in hand. If this occurs you lose two major pieces to puzzle. However, it will all remain a mystery until we find out who will be the new GM. Will they want to come in and rebuild the team in their own imagine or realize that there are some signs of life with the squad they have now?
Finally, an alarming number for the front office, attendance was down 21% this year! That is an incredible down turn. I have worked in ticket sales for six years and have been able to sell everything from baseball to hockey to exhibition tennis. Beyond a new General Manager, the Padres desperately need a new sales staff with a new strategy for filling up Petco Park. San Diego has one of the premier destinations for baseball and the fact that they only had 3 sale outs (two of them thanks to Dodger fans) is unbelievable. The fact of the matter is, you have to price your tickets based not on what you've got in the past, but on what the fans are willing to (and can) pay for now. A combination of economic strife and poor first half performance turned Padres fans off from attending live games, but if you are sympathetic with the fans and create ticket packages and pricing that can fit their budget, you'll see a positive turn out at the games, which leads to concession and merchandise sales and most importantly, shows the fans that you care and understand and when things turn around for them, they'll be willing to pay more, provided there is a winning product on the field to go with that increase. I can guarantee that if these suggestions are not considered and the team performs equal to the way they did this year while the economy continues to be poor, attendance will continue to drop and so will the payroll for the team.
Onto our beloved, beleaguered, and bemoaned Chargers. Yes, they wanted to get off to a fast start and not have to wait until the last week of the season and an 8-8 record to win the division, however, it's looking like the mirror image of last season all over again (as I predicted a few weeks ago). I don't think it is time to panic just yet, as I knew that competition outside of the division would be rough. The test comes next Monday vs. the undefeated Denver Broncos at home. As long as the Chargers can hand the Broncos their first loss of the season, we'll still be on track to see the Chargers make a post season run. Yet, the defensive problems must be fixed immediately. Sunday night's game versus the Steelers was one of the most pathetic displays of defense I have ever seen the Chargers put on. Every Steelers scoring drive was at will and at minimum 75 yards. That is insane. Special teams came up big and after a shaky first half, Philip Rivers got the pressure that he enjoys playing under and along with Antonio Gates, brought the team to within a touchdown. Alas, the Charger defense could not get a crucial stop and what looked to be an exciting finish, fizzled out. There's no need to hit the panic button just yet, but this Monday's game will set the stage for the rest of the season.
A couple thoughts on sporting news going on outside of San Diego: After her major meltdown at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams is once again ranked #1 in women's tennis after winning an event in China this weekend. Hopefully she won the title without offering any of the lines people a tennis ball sandwich. The Bret Favre revenge tour got one step closer to accomplishing its overall mission, by beating the Packers last night. Yet, the prophecy will not be fulfilled until #4 takes the field in Green Bay and wipes the turf with the Packers for a second time. Remember Favre heads, he started quick with the Jets last season and fizzled out. Don't start anointing the Minnesota Vikings as the Superbowl Champions just yet. Today there will be exciting one game playoff for the AL Central Division title between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Lions, it was supposed to be played yesterday, but as always the NFL supersedes and the Monday Night Football game took precedence. I'm not sure who will win, but I am sure that they will lose to the Yankees in the first round.
Shout out to the Manning brothers and Matt Schaub, you guys won me $690 this week in Vegas (and yes I know you were respectively playing the Seahawks, Raiders and Chiefs).
A not so cool to Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards for punching a friend of LeBron James at a nightclub last night. Edwards is 6'4, this guy was 5'7. James called Edwards "childish" and said "it was like hitting one of his kids." Edwards will most likely be suspended. However, the issue here is picking a fight with James, who is the biggest star in Cleveland whereas Edwards has been nothing short of a disappointment for the disappointing Browns. Edwards may be run out of town for this.
Until next week. I hope to see you at my book signing at the Borders in Chula Vista on Saturday, October 17th from 4 pm – 6 pm.
Joey - you are right on about the Chargers defense. Made it hard to watch the game.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment about the Padres "dismantling". Hope that's not a reality.