A bold experiment in actually trying: The 2015 San Diego Padres

I'm not sure what all the moves will add up to on the field, but it's pretty fun to be a part of the conversation for once at the start of the season!

Here's a fun Fangraphs piece on Odrisamer Despaigne's changeup:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/theres-nothing-out-there-like-the-odrisamer-despaigne-changeup/

BassmanUW
Upton/Myers/Kemp in the outfield in Petco is going to be pretty historically awful defensively though, right?

Keith Law
If you could take a dumpster, set it on a flatbed rail car, light it on fire, then derail that train in a collision with another train, you'd get the idea.

Maybe, but at least our payroll is still lower than the Mets'.

i kinda hope the padres pull something off so that there could be a team in the NL west that's fun to watch aside from the dodgers

(the giants, madbum/underpence freakouts notwithstanding, are frankly boring as hell most of the time)

We have Aoki now! How's that for entertainment?

and kimbrel strikes out the side

No results found for "the blame for this game falls mainly on despaigne"

:(

this is pretty great, btw:

The Padres have signed a wheelchair-bound ex-pitcher for 20 straight years

i remember when that happened!

http://a4.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2015%2F0411%2Fmlb_u_shields1_1296x518.jpg

I wonder if regret started to set in this morning when the new guys saw their camo uniforms.

i just noticed they have 4 will/wil 's

Wil Nieves
Will Middlebrooks
Wil Myers
Will Venable

but will they make the playoffs?

i'm hilarious today

hey a will middlebrooks strikeout i remember those

leading the nl in runs scored ...

4th in team wRC+ so it's not exactly a fluke yet

4th in the majors, i mean

http://media.fyre.co/951bM7RCqJJD6YdvJqlA_myers-1.gif

bonus to the kid who appears to catch the ball after it rebounds off of myers' dome

good unis

great route to the ball there wil

well

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/5/2/8536093/the-padres-have-a-gold-testicles-trophy

rip bud black

I don't get it

mook gets the scoops before there are links

@suss2hyphens
this leaves Lloyd McClendon as the only active black manager

Two days ago, the Padres overtook the Rays as the team with the worst all-time record. Tampa Bay held the record every day from 9/24/1998 - 6/13/2015. We're #1!

http://grantland.com/features/aj-preller-mlb-san-diego-padres-national-league-west/

But what A.J. Preller has wrought in San Diego has been as quick as it has been destructive. Like an abandoned stadium earmarked for implosion, a baseball team can be demolished in a fraction of the time it takes to put it together.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/justin-upton-throws-helmet-in-anger--hits-teammate-yonder-alonso-in-head-040749686.html