Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘paul-depodesta’

Stumbled upon a couple items from SanDiego Padres front office folks. Here’s what they say:

Kevin Towers

“The ballpark is absolutely beautiful. It’s probably one of the nicest Class A ballparks in all of baseball. And I really think what it’s going to do for this downtown area as well, we kind of experienced that in 2004 in San Diego,” he said. “It kind of revitalized the downtown area and with the convention center and hopefully eventually the hotel and the condos in the outfield, I think it will bring some life around the ballpark.

“They did it right. From the scoreboard to the playing surface and just listening to the fans talk around here, it sounds like everybody is having a good time and enjoying it. For our ball players, it’s huge. To be able to come to work every day in a place like this makes you want to go out and play. With the type of support, more fans in the stands, it’s great for our young players” [LaMond Pope].

Paul DePodesta

The TinCaps seem to have adjusted well to their new name and new stadium. James Darnell leads the Midwest League with a .541 obp and his overall line is .304/.541/.609. Additionally, Matt Clark, Allan Dykstra, and Blake Tekotte all got it going to some degree this week. The real story in Ft Wayne, though, has been the pitching. Of the 13 pitchers on the staff, seven of them still have an ERA of 0.00, and the team as a whole is sporting a 1.30. Of the starters, Anthony Bass and Stiven Osuna have yet to give up a run in 22 combined innings of work. The bullpen as a unit: 0.89 ERA, 41.2 ip, 20 h, 8 bb, and 50 k’s [It Might Be Dangerous... You Go First].

There are many Wizards-related headlines that I need to catch up on. I’ve been passively collecting them as the final week of the season took place, so some may seem a bit old to you. Enjoy..

• Michael Cuddyer still hopes to return to the Twins this season. He has had an injry plagued 2008 season.
• Former Wizards Skipper, Randy Ready in enjoying being around familiar company with the Padres after September callups (himself included). Meanwhile, Wade LeBlanc and Matt Antonelli are hoping to make a splash during their opportunities this season.
• Clay Coundrey is happy to be nearing a personal milestone of staying with a Major League squad (the Phillies) for a full season.
• Dirk Hayhurst is hopefull that he’ll write the perfect ending (but not for a while) to the new era of his professional career.
• The Casper Ghosts recently won the Baseball America’s logos contest for “Coolest Redesign” and the Trenton Thunder took “Best Redesign” honrs. Wonder where this set’s the bar for the Fort Wayne team’s chances next year? Do you think they can do it? Let’s put out thinking hats and see what we can come up with!
• MadFriars has posted four segments of a Paul DePodterview. In part 1, he talks about prospects, Dominican players, trades and the draft. In part 2 DePodesta answers whether the Padres think Will Venable can be an everyday centerfielder in the big leagues, Matt Antonelli’s tough and if San Diego will ever move Kyle Blanks to the outfield. In part 3, DePodesta gives his assessment of Cedric Hunter, how Cesar Carrillo is progressing from his Tommy John surgery and sleepers in Fort Wayne. Finally, part 4 offers a posible glimpse into the Fort Wayne future; he let us know who may be the best player to come out of Eugene, the goods on Jeff Decker and breaks down some prospects from the Dominican League.
• Speaking of Paul DePodesta, he blogs about his thoughts on Antonelli and LeBlanc’s callups and chances.
• In what might have been Paul McAnulty’s last month in the Padres’ system, he earn’s one of the player of the month awards from MadFriars. Kyle Blanks, Eric Sogard, and Andy Parrino round out the other levels over Low-A ball. All of them are former Wizards. Methinks we’re going to see Blanks as a big leaguer sooner than later. Wade LeBlanc, Mike Ekstrom, Rolando Valdez and Jeremy McBryde take the pitchers of the month honors. Again, all of them are former Wizards. MadFriar’s also posted an interview with former Wizard, Manny Ayala.
• SignOnSanDiego has two good articles about former Wizards. In the first, they suggest that Matt Antonelli could finally be the answer to “who is going to play second base” – let’s just hope they don’t trade him to Cleveland. In the second, the article discusses how a move to a relief role for starting pitcher Mike Ekstrom may have saved his career.

• Kyle Blanks, the 6-foot-6, 270-pound former Wizards first baseman went 5-for-7 for the Double-A San Antonia Missions on Wednesday. He tied a career high with six RBIs and had run-scoring singles in the first and fourth before hitting a two-run shot in the sixth. In the eighth, he doubled (his 20th of the season). Then, he slugged his second home run of the game in the bottom of the 12th to give lead the Missions to a 14-12 win.
• Josh Bard returned to the Padres from the DL on Friday. To make room on the 25-man roster, former Wizards catcher, Luke Carlin, was optioned to Triple-A Portland. Carlin made his MLB debut earlier in the season and was hitting .154 in 91 at-bats on the season.
• Torii Hunter still feels strange when facing the Twins, the team with whom he spent the first 15 years of his career.”Hunter’s connection to the Twins can still be felt by the way he speaks about the organization. But with his team chasing the top record in the American League, Hunter wants to pull off as many victories over the Twins as he can right now. Still, he said he’s hoping that the two clubs might perhaps meet up again in the playoffs.”
• Lots of Wizards related news over at MadFrairs.
  • John Conniff interviews one of my personal favorites, Felix Carrasco and Brad Chulk (subscription required).
  • Padres minor league field coordinator, Tom Gamboa, and Padres vice president of scouting and player development, Grady Fuson, talk about the Padres’ prospects – which include many current and former Wizards players. (subscription required)
• Speaking of prospects, Padres’ front-office executive, Paul Depodesta talks about this year’s draft picks – both that were signed and those who were not. Hopefully we’ll be seeing many of them come through Fort Wayne real soon (seventh rounder, Adam Zornes is already here).

The San Diego Padres recently acquired right-handed pitcher Evan Scribner from the Arizona Diamondbacks for infielder Tony Clark. Scribner will be assigned to Single-A Lake Elsinore, but as Paul Depodesta reports, it was a call from Wizards’ skipper, Doug Dascenzo that may have gotten the wheels turning on this deal:

In addition to the reports we receive from our scouts, both amateur and pro, we also ask our player development staffs to weigh in on players in their leagues. Generally we don’t ask for too much volume or detail. After all, our staffs are busy enough managing their own teams. However, we do ask that they leave a voicemail with some specifics if there is an opposing player they particularly like. That way we can make sure our scouts follow up with a more formal report as the season continues. In this case, Doug Dascenzo, our manager in Ft. Wayne, phoned in a report on Evan earlier this season which initiated our interest.

See Also: Padres Press Release | Clark for Scribner at Friar Forecast

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.