The first wave for the release of Jim Edmonds has started with a great column by Tim Sullivan in the San Diego Tribune.
FIrst, what the h*ll were the San Diego Padres thinking when they signed Jim Edmonds? The passed on Mike Cameron because he was going to start the season suspended for violating MLB's drug policy.
Anyone who knows the Padres know that historically April is their worst month, so what would have been the downside to having Mike Cameron on the bench while giving a hot prospect like Chase Headley an opportunity to prove himself?
No, the Padres do what they've also done. They go shopping for past their prime, over the hill players who "have always wanted to play in San DIego." Note that they never say they want to play for the Padres, they just want to play in San Diego. They also have a history of picking up players who'll take discounted deals.
Now Cameron in back in uniform for the Milwaukee Brewers. Edmonds has had almost 3 times as many AB's as Cameron & here's how the stats look.
Both have 6 Runs / Hits: Edmonds 16, Cameron 8 / HR's: Edmonds 1, Cameron 3 and Cameron has 1 more RBI than Edmonds.
Mike has a .235 BA while Edmonds is hitting an anemic .179 / Cameron has a .529 slugging % / Edmonds is at .239 slugging %
It seems to me that the Padres were doing okay with Kevin Towers as GM. While he is still GM, he's got the "genius" of Sandy Alderson pulling the strings. Alderson may be an intelligent man but he can take his tired act back to the MLB offices & the Padres would be a better organization for his departure.
It goes to prove, at least for me, that sabermetrics, Excel spreadsheets, analytical & statistical data will always lose to a good baseball man. This is coming from someone who sells software, is a business consultant for several software publishers, builds websites, etc. & truly believes in the power of the above listed data, but it has it's place.
I'd bet anyone that a long time, knowledgeable baseball fan could pick a better opening day roster for the Padres than Sandy Alderson.
Note to John Moores; get rid of your computer wiz kids who sit around all day runnning statistical data to show why one player is better than another in a snowstorm in Chicago, during a doubleheader against left handed pitchers who used to stutter as a child. Get the point? The point is that most of the data is useless.
Hire baseball players who answer to men who know baseball better than they know how to turn on a computer.
Back to Edmonds: Need any help packing?