San Diego Padres: 2008 Preview

The date is October 1, 2007. The Padres are batteling the red hot Colorado Rockies in a one-game playoff for the wildcard spot in the playoffs.

Bottom of the 13th, the Padres are up, and seem to be on there way to a third straight playoff apperence thanks to Scott Hariston and his two-run homerun to put San Diego on top.

Hells Bells plays in the minds of Padres fans as Trevor Hoffman is put in to send the Padres to the playoffs. Kaz Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki hit back to back doubles of the all time saves leader, then Matt Holiday steps up to the plate and drives a triple through the gap to tie the game once again. San Diego then would intentionally walk Todd Helton to bring little Jamie Carrol up to the plate with the wild card winning run on third base. Carrol hits a fly ball to Brian Giles, Holiday tags, Giles guns the ball to the plate, Michael Barrett can't hold on to the ball! Rockies win the wild card! Sorry Padres.

And to think that this game didn't have to happen, all San Diego had to do was beat the Milwaukee Brewers. But thanks to another "clutch" performance by Trevor Hoffman, they were sent to play Colorado at home.

What's changed for the Padres for 2008? Let's see, they let there gold glove center fielder Mike Cameron walk in free agency, and picked up slightly injured Jim Edmonds who hasn't played in 120 games in two seasons. They also added Mark Prior, who isn't exactly 100 percent, Randy Wolf, and Tadahito Iguchi.

Even with one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, I don't see the padres getting enough offense to win games.

Here's a look at the Padres roster..
 

Pitchers

B/T

Ht

Wt

DOB

	21 Heath Bell	R/R	6-3	225	09/29/77
	57 Justin Germano	R/R	6-3	205	08/06/82
	52 Enrique Gonzalez	R/R	5-10	210	07/14/82
	51 Trevor Hoffman	R/R	6-0	215	10/13/67
	49 Wilfredo Ledezma	L/L	6-4	210	01/21/81
	30 Greg Maddux	R/R	6-0	180	04/14/66
	43 Cla Meredith	R/R	6-0	180	06/04/83
	44 Jake Peavy	R/R	6-1	180	05/31/81
	38 Glendon Rusch	L/L	6-1	225	11/07/74
	50 Joe Thatcher	L/L	6-2	230	10/04/81
	25 Randy Wolf	L/L	5-10	200	08/22/76
	32 Chris Young	R/R	6-10	260	05/25/79
	Catchers	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	28 Josh Bard	S/R	6-3	210	03/30/78
	8 Michael Barrett	R/R	6-3	210	10/22/76
	Infielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	7 Tony Clark	S/R	6-7	245	06/15/72
	27 Callix Crabbe	S/R	5-7	185	02/14/83
	23 Adrian Gonzalez	L/L	6-2	220	05/08/82
	3 Khalil Greene	R/R	5-11	195	10/21/79
	-- Justin Huber	R/R	6-2	205	07/01/82
	10 Tadahito Iguchi	R/R	5-10	200	12/04/74
	5 Kevin Kouzmanoff	R/R	6-1	210	07/25/81
	Outfielders	B/T	Ht	Wt	DOB
	15 Jim Edmonds	L/L	6-1	210	06/27/70
	33 Jody Gerut	L/L	6-0	210	09/18/77
	24 Brian Giles	L/L	5-10	205	01/20/71
	12 Scott Hairston	R/R	6-0	200	05/25/80
	18 Paul McAnulty	L/R	5-10	220	02/24/81

 The starting positioning should go like this...

1b: Adrian Gonzalez, he's going to be the backbone in this lineup and they need him to come through.

2b: Tadahito Iguchi, his speed will really help spark this offense. This might be the best addition to this team.

SS: Khalil Greene, he's got to keep up his power success and he be a major cattlist for this team.

3b: Kevin Kouzmanoff, this guy has some pop, he has the potential to be a power threat.

C: Equal time between Josh Bard and Micheal Barrett because I think Barrett can provide some offense that San Diego needs.

LF: Scott Hariston, this guy saved the Padres butts with some clutch hitting last season, I expect him to really grow this year.

CF: Jim Edmonds, but he has to stay healthy or else the Padres just won't hve enough experience or big bats in there lineup.

RF: Brian Giles, if he can draw walks like he always does, and drive the ball into the gaps, he has the makings to be quite a lead off hitter.

Pitching: Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Greg Maddux. May I say more?

On the bench they have Tony Clark who I see coming through, and Paul McAnulty who I haven't seen hit the ball more than twice since his major league debut a few years ago. 

  All in all the San Diego Padres have the makings to be quite a team, as long as they can hit the ball, and let the pitching take over.