My mother and I have been Padres season ticket holders since 2004 when the team moved to Petco Park. We have experienced a lot over the last seven years. We have experienced a 99 loss season, two division championships, and Barry Bonds's 755th home run just to name a few.
Since moving to Petco Park I have always felt confident about the Padres because they have always put a competitive team on the field despite their payroll. And new management has taken over the team and has promised the city a winner.
Last year’s team was built around one player (Adrian Gonzalez) but now there is no player to build this year’s team around. Which brings me to my point; the Padres have to do a better job of keeping players that are productive at an affordable price.
It would have been an absolute miracle if the Padres reached an agreement with Adrian Gonzalez to keep him in San Diego. I am not talking about keeping guys like Gonzalez; I am talking about keeping guys like Jon Garland, David Eckstein, and Tony Gwynn Jr. Even though these players were not the stars of the Padres last year, they were a big reason why they won 90 games last year.
Now you might be wondering why were they so valuable to the team? They were valuable because they would execute on all of the little things that some teams take for granted. For example, Gwynn Jr. last year had a bad year at the plate, but he made up for it with his tremendous defense in the outfield. And on those rare occasions where he did get on base, you could count on a base to be stolen. Eckstein was a guy who made clutch sacrifice bunts to move runners over into scoring position. These are players that the Padres could have kept but decided to let them go instead. They need to do a better job of keeping players. These are the kind of players you can build a team around.
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