Baseball in Fort Wayne

One blog I have been passively following for about a month is that of San Diego Padres’ Special Assistant of Baseball Operations, Paul DePodesta. He has been maintaining his blog, “It Might Be Dangerous…You Go First” for about two months now and I have found it fun to follow some of his musings and ramblings about former Fort Wayne Wizards.

Here is a brief sample of some:

•  AA Rotation: DePodesta talks about a quartet of talented pitchers at AA San Antonio. Among them is former Wizard, Matt Buschmann.
• The Past Week: A review of the progress of three former Wizards; Matt Antonelli, Nick Hundley and Will Venable. You Will Venable doubters out there better wake up!
• Calling Up Headley: DePodesa tells his readers to let him have it by asking any questions about the decision to call up uber-prospect, Chase Headley. Interestingly, he had to answer very little because other commentors answered for him. But still, quite insightful.
• Baek for Wells: Insight into the trade that sent Jared Wells to Seattle.

Jared will be out of options next season, meaning that he has to be on the Major League roster for the entire year or be placed on outright waivers. Though we like Jared quite a bit, there were three elements in play: 1) given our current injuries, the need for immediate help at the Major League level, 2) the impending lack of roster flexibility with Jared, and 3) our other internal bullpen options going forward. Those three elements combined helped us to make this deal. It’s not as though we don’t think Jared Wells is a good pitcher – we do. Remember, when you make trades, you have to give up something of value – you don’t get something for nothing.