With the new O'Malley/Fowler ownership group firmly in place, fans expected them to do one thing the Padres owners in recent years have not done, spend. With promises of a payroll between $70-$80 million, there were high hopes of the ownership group landing a prized free agent.
That never happened. Instead, General Manager Josh Byrnes decided to keep the same unit that had the fifth best record in the National League in the second half last season. Byrnes is banking on the team duplicating their performance that they had in 2010 which also followed an impressive end to the '09 season.
The problem is there are two glaring differences between this team and the '10 team that was eliminated on the last day of the season. That problem is the veteran leadership.
Gone are the days of the retirement home we called Eckstein, Stairs, Hairston Jr and Torrealba. These players held down the clubhouse keeping the young players like Venable, Blanks and Headley focused on the goal.
Now those young players, who are still young, are the veterans on this team and really only by tenure, a measly 5 years. Will these guys be the leaders when Jed Gyorko, Casey Kelly and Alexi Amarista became to cocky for their own good.
My guess is no. Byrnes failed to bring in players that have a strong clubhouse presence that would be able to benefit a young team.
Byrnes has insisted on adding starting pitching depth due to the colossal amount of injuries the Padres had to endure and he has done that although not how we all wished. He traded for a player who went 2-11 last season in Tyson Ross and signed Freddy Sanchez and Sean O'Sullivan. Not exactly household names while also not being locks to join the rotation.
The GM is also open to signing or trading for a pitcher during this Spring Training.
The one name that still stands out is Kyle Lohse. He has spent the last few years as a starting pitcher for the Cardinals and has been in the Cy Young conversation the last two. He is also over 30 and coming from St. Louis, would know a thing or two about leading a team.
The problem is his cost might be too high and the Padres could potentially lose a first round pick in the upcoming draft. I say take a chance.
We have a strong minor league system who are almost ready to compete at the major league level so why not go after a really good starting pitcher and solidify your stance as a win now team and a team that will be contending for the next few years.
For now though, most will watch and we will all wait.
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