This week has been a good week to be a Padres fan. Not because waiting for the Padres to sell off assets is a Padres tradition unlike any other. Not because the team got swept by the Rockies to strengthen the tank (although that was good). No, it’s because this blog’s all time favorite player Jabari Blash not only got called up, but excelled. He is currently the leader in WAR for the month of July after a week. I’m just personally thankful that the brown Blash jersey I bought is relevant.

Let’s get to the hot new feature that’s sweeping the nation:

Days Since Marver Actually Wrote Something: 33 days

We did actually record a podcast this week, but as I pointed out last week, Marver blew off the opportunity to do an in-person podcast. Also like I pointed out last week, if you happen to run into Marver, be sure to kick him right in the crystals.

Gwynntelligence Posts:

Gwynntelligence Podcast: The 2017 Trade Deadline and Kevin Towers

We finally recorded an episode and had an interesting discussion about how the tank is going. Obviously the record speaks for itself, it’s not going great. Given the huge dropoff from the #1 draft pick to the #2, and the even bigger dropoff from 2 to 3, the Padres dropping down the draft board is extremely detrimental to the rebuild. This is obvious. If you hear someone say “well it’s not like the #1 or #2 pick is a guaranteed star”, go ahead and kick them in the nuts. Nothing is guaranteed. Here’s the thing, the #13 pick is EVEN LESS OF A GUARANTEE. If you need a guarantee of something to think it’s a smart or good idea, you’re not a person I need to listen. But here’s the bigger issue. It’s feasible that the team playing better and not tanking for a high pick could be a good thing. If core players that will actually be needed during the 2020 competitive window are playing in exemplary fashion, then great. That means the rebuild is a little ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, every one of those core future players isn’t playing well. Margot is OPSing .680, isn’t playing great defense, and kind of has a noodle arm. Hedges can’t consistently hit, and his yearly 2 week spurt of home runs isn’t enough. Myers is decidedly above average but not the franchise player, or even star caliber player, that the team has deemed him as. He’s also admittedly quit trying for half a season and has problems putting forth full effort, which honestly, is a bigger issue than him setting the Padres all-time record for strikeouts in a season (HISTORY!). And Renfroe is basically Matt Kemp in right field with counting stats like home runs not making up for sub-Kempian defense (by the metrics). This is not ideal. The team is winning, but on the backs of expendable place fillers like Jose Pirela, Jhoulys Chacin, Trevor Cahill, and (this hurts me) Jabari Blash. That is the worst possible combo of winning enough to be mediocre, and not seeing contributions from future core players.

Padres Blogosphere Posts:

Gaslamp Ball: Chris Denorfia Bobblehead’s For Sale On Craigslist

I’ll never be tired of this story of the legendary canceled promo giveaway of Chris Denorfia bobbleheads after Norf was traded away for Abraham Almonte, and how they reappeared dumped at a UTC condo. Well now they are for sale for $3. I want to buy like 25 of them but am too lazy to go drive to UTC. I’m also watching the Padres-Giants game and seeing a promo behind home plate for their Charlie Brown Bobblehead giveaway this weekend and my blood pressure doubled like it usually does when I realize that other teams don’t have blundering buffoons running their marketing.

Padres Public: The Stats We Use: DRS and UZR

Defensive metrics are the most confusing of the saber stats. They also are the newest field of saber analysis and certainly have their shortcomings. Sac Bunt Dustin dug into them and what can influence them in this post, all while framing it around Jedd Gyorko who now is an offensive superstar putting up great defensive metrics for the Cardinals. I can understand the logic behind trading Gyorko, even though I don’t agree with it. What I don’t understand, and never will understand, is why AJ decided to get Jon Jay, a below average veteran outfielder coming off a terrible year, in the trade. Like do we think he couldn’t have asked for an Allen Cordoba or something really fringey but young?

Madfriars: Q&A With Mark Conner

David Jay did a good interview with Padres scouting director Mark Conner. Obviously, Conner says everyone they drafted is great, which is to be expected. It’s not like he’d ever say something like some player is never going to make the big leagues. Literally every one of them has great tools and a high ceiling. Anyways, it’s full of details on some of the Padres lower picks (and Gore), and it gives what the team’s perspective is on some of these guys.

Padres Public: The Padres Public 2017 Midseason Top 20

The gang over at Padres Public did their midseason top 20 prospects list with write-ups for each of them. This is roughly the 74th prospect ranking of this season coming out of the Padres blogosphere, and that’s with Marver just sitting on his thumb like a turd instead of publishing his top 740 Padres prospect ranking.

East Village Times: A.J. Preller Is Overplaying His Hand

Let me preface this by saying I think AJ has overplayed his hand in the past. I don’t think holding out for a price that you set is a good strategy. I’d like to sell my house for 2 million dollars, but I’m not going to put it up for sale at that price. It wouldn’t sell. I’ll set the price at what the market will bear. That being said, I think a lot of the quotes and rumors sneaking out about pricing and strategies for the Padres trade deadline are planted there to create leverage and obscure negotiations. I think the storyline that the Padres may just keep Hand is a desperate attempt to create trade leverage, which is why I’m not freaking out yet. It’s just the nature of the beast. Now if AJ actually holds onto Brad Hand, I’m going to leave a poo dollar outside of his office.

Padres Prospectus: Javier Guerra Promoted to San Antonio

Javy Guerra is clearly not lighting the world on fire. Even with his “hot” streak the past few weeks, he’s still performed dreadfully at the plate. I’ve seen him play a lot and what I notice the most is how downtrodden he gets when he faces adversity, either on errors in the field or after a strikeout. That being said, his defense is magical and I’d be fine watching him hit .150 in the Major Leagues and showcase his arm at shortstop.

Padres Prospectus: On Prospect Rankings

Marcus wrote a great post outlining some of the prospect ranking lingo. This is an important read because some terms like “ceiling” aren’t well understood.

The Golden Age of Padres Podcasts:

The 5.5 Hole: Week In Review, Padres Twitter Stuff

Eric and Dashing Danny Ortiz put this out and I have no idea what they talked about. Let’s just say that they should release their Thursday episodes earlier in the day if they want a real write up here. One thing we can be sure of is they will discuss adult baseball leagues (I’M LOOKING AT YOU TOO STEVEN WOODS) which is as important as discussing your fantasy team.

Make The Padres Great Again: When Is The Right Time To Trade Wil Myers

This is the week that the traditional media really turned on Wil Myers. I mean, not the U-T, they’re too busy desperately fellating anyone related to the Padres. But guys like Scott Kaplan devoted big blocks of time to discussing if it’s time to cut bait on Myers. John Gennaro dug into Myers in this episode as well (we did too on our pod), so new media is crushing him too. As is usually the case with Padres marketing, expectation management is the real problem here. If Myers hadn’t been repeatedly built up as the “face of the franchise” by the Padres and their surrogates, fans wouldn’t be expecting him to be at that level.

The Kept Faith: AJ Cassavell

Nick McCann was back for this week’s Kept Faith episode. The gang had a thought provoking discussion on what the tank really means (no one discusses the sociology of the tank’s effect on fans better than the Kept Faith). They also brought on AJ Cassavell, Padres PR specialist I mean beat writer. Another great episode even though Dallas McLaughlin suddenly and deliberately attacked yours truly as bashing In N Out. Let it be known that when I lived in DC, I had In N Out Double Double’s literally flown out to me as carry-on baggage for anyone that was making the flight. While we’re having #burgerchat, the best burger in the county is Neighborhood’s, and the best value is Tip Top Meat Market’s Big John Burger, which is only $6 for a 1/2 lb freshly ground burger with fries and a soda; that’s fast food prices for a world class burger made from freshly ground beef from the best butcher shop in the county.

Padres Prospectus: The First Half, Minors Update, And Promotions

Here’s the truth: I haven’t listened to this yet. But isn’t it great that we have so much amazing Padres content that we can’t squeeze it all in during a workweek? At this point, I’m already looking forward to my long run this weekend because it means catching up on podcasts.

Padres and Pints: Episode 39

As shocking and rare as a Padres playoff appearance, Padres and Pints put out a second episode in two weeks! It’s almost like they’re a real podcast again! This episode was a great reminder of how Padres and Pints used to be as it features only RJ’s Fro and Sac Bunt Chris just talking Padres. I missed it and wished they’d do more of these. Guests are fine, but I’m partial to smart people just talking about the Padres, and that’s what Rick and Chris talking baseball is.

The Reindl Report: Nick McCann from The Kept Faith

I didn’t know this podcast existed until Nick from The Kept Faith tweeted about his appearance. Paul Reindl, the 1090 producer for the terrible Kevin Acee Show and the short-lived Chris Cantore Show, has been doing a sports podcast for a while now. This week’s episode has Nick on it, and the commentary about Padres Twitter, the tank, and the effect of the tank on fans is fascinating. His segment begins at roughly the 15 minute mark if you are trying to avoid non-baseball chat.

Tweet Of The Week:

And the Jaggy goes to…

Hand-Yanks possibility threatens Sox. — Aztecs Killing Him (@AKH_blog) July 19, 2017

There was some great innovation in the field of Brad Hand beat off puns this week, led by this one.

Terrible Marver Tweet Of The Week:

Oh man, they're going to have to reprimand their head of football ops for not doing his homework. "Go to your room, John." https://t.co/KoGfGVqkb4 — Change the Padres (@ChangeThePadres) July 19, 2017

SHUT UP ABOUT THE CHARGERS ALREADY

Nick Canepa Is An Out Of Touch Irrelevant Old Timer Or Maybe Doing A Bit Tweet Of The Week:

There's one bad thing about prospects, Bob. They're prospects. — Nick Canepa (@sdutCanepa) July 19, 2017

It should be noted that Canepa wrote one of the worst columns I’ve ever read this week. At some point, U-T Sports Editor Jay Posner has to realize that Canepa’s allotted space could be better allocated, right? I mean, or not. Print media seems to really be doing great [snicker].