Opening Day is only a week and a half away and I could not be any more excited for the start of the new baseball season. Recently people have been asking me for my thoughts and opinions about the Padres. As a fan you always want your team to be the best that they can possibly be. There are some cases where teams overachieve for one season, and then there are other cases where teams underachieve.
As it relates to the Padres, I think they completely overachieved last season. Last season the Padres only had one star player (Adrian Gonzalez) who was traded during the offseason to the Boston Red Sox for minor league prospects. Not having Gonzalez in the lineup this season is going to hurt the Padres chances at winning the division championship. Gonzalez is the type of player that can hit 40 homeruns and drive in over 100 runners in a season. 
Jon Garland is another player that the Padres are going to miss. Garland signed a 1 year contract with the Padres last season and was not offered arbitration by the team. After searching for a new contract he got an offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers and signed a new 1 year contract. Garland will be missed because of his experience. Garland is a player that won a World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and has been a consistent 10 to 15 game winner during his career. 
And finally, the player that has a heart bigger than his body, David Eckstein. For the past two seasons the most consistent play has come from David Eckstein. He is a player that has been criticized because of his size (5 feet 7 inches tall) which is below the average major leaguer. But he plays the game with passion, desire, and heart. Eckstein is also a winner; he is the only shortstop in Major League history to win a World Series as the starting shortstop in both the American and National League. That type of leadership is not replaceable and will be missed this season. Eckstein is currently a free agent still waiting for a contract offer from a team. 
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