A Very Brief Look At The Padres 2011 Opening Day Roster

The Padres announced their 2011 Opening Day roster yesterday. The roster is likely to change considerably within a week - Mat Latos, Eric Patterson, Wade LeBlanc, and Joe Thatcher all seem destined to join the club soon - but for tomorrow afternoon's opener in St. Louis, this is the squad.

Pitchers

37 - Mike Adams: set-up reliever extroardinaire, has closer mentality

21 - Heath Bell: NL's best closer, period

43 - Samuel Deduno: Rockies cast-off, doubtful he'll be around long

39 - Ernesto Frieri: just might pitch every game this season

57 - Luke Gregerson: has an incredible slide piece, will anchor 7th

41 - Aaron Harang: former Cincinnati ace looking to reclaim glory

52 - Cory Luebke: future member of rotation, for now a lefty in 'pen

26 - Dustin Moseley: Jed and Bud like this guy for some reason

34 - Pat Neshek: hope he's not this year's Duaner Sanchez

50 - Chad Qualls: hopefully Petco Park can help him

33 - Clayton Richard: the one good player the Padres got for Peavy

46 - Tim Stauffer: my favorite Padre now that CY is gone

Catchers

4 - Nick Hundley: a guy the Padres need to be good

32 - Rob Johnson: probably won't be as good as Yorvit Torrealba

Outfielders

13- Chris Denorfia: he'll play a bunch and play hard

18 - Cedric Hunter: likely only around until Patterson is healthy

47 - Ryan Ludwick: will he rekindle his St. Louis pop?

24 - Cameron Maybin: he's just like Willie Mays ... Hayes

25 - Will Venable: if he improves, team has a chance to compete

Infielders

8 - Jason Bartlett: I hope he hits like it's 2009

3 - Jorge Cantu: led team with 13 ribeyes in Spring Training

14 - Alberto Gonzalez: would prefer if he was Jerry Hairston, Jr.

11 - Brad Hawpe: much rides on his ability to regain stroke

7 - Chase Headley: biceps are huge, but does that = Petco power?

1 - Orlando Hudson: a good player, talks a whole lot

Who Had The Better Week: Cedric Hunter or Shaka Smart?

When I heard the news today that Cedric Hunter made the Padres Opening Day roster, it occurred to me that he's having a pretty good week. Similarly, when VCU smashed Kansas in the mouth yesterday I thought to myself, "Man, you know who's having a good week? Shaka Smart."

So naturally today I wondered who is having the better week: Cedric Hunter or Shaka Smart?

I'll list the relevant facts and let you decide:

Cedric Hunter

- hit .435 in Spring Training earning a place on the Padres Opening Day Roster

- will make his Major League debut this week at the age of 23

- has a sweet first name that can be shortened to the nickname "Ced"

Shaka Smart

- led 11-seed VCU from play-in game to the Final Four

- will make his Final Four coaching debut at the age of 33

- has a sweet first name ... period

I guess I'd vote for Ced because, at the end of the day, I'd rather play baseball in the Bigs than coach in the Final Four. But it's close and I could certainly understand reasonable minds having a different opinion.

A View Of Spring Training

The PCI Blog's intrepid reporter, JJ Geleaux, captured this photo yesterday afternoon at the Pittsburgh Pirates' Spring Training facility in Bradenton, FL.

And today the Pirates announced that Kevin Correia will be their Opening Day starter against the Cubs at Wrigley.

Things are all coming up Bucco!

Are You Ever Going To Blog About The Padres?

I haven't written much about the Padres this Spring Training because, in part, I was once again drawn kicking and screaming into the Tragicomedy that was Illinois basketball during the reign of the 2011 senior class. But after last Sunday's loss to Kansas in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, the Mike Davis-Bill Cole-Demetri McCamey-Mike Tisdale era is over at the University of Illinois, and I can now avert my eyes toward the greatest baseball team in the history of known universe: the San Diego Padres.

Of course the Illini weren't the only thing occupying my attention this March. A few weeks ago, on March 7, my wife gave birth to our first child, a daughter we named Maia. "Maia" is a name of Greek origin. Neither my wife nor I are at all Greek but we liked the name. In Greek mythology, Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades. Until recently I never knew what the "Pleiades" referred to, but I now know they were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Maia was the oldest and most beautiful of the daughters, and also the shyest. I like those traits.

In not as good news, Maia was apparently raped by that sonuvabitch Zeus and conceived the bastard son Hermes. Hermes went on to become the god of travelers, sports, and literature, three of my favorite things, as well as found a very successful high-fashion luxury goods company based in Paris, so the rape wasn't a complete disaster. But if I ever come across Zeus in a dark alley I'm going to shove a lightning bolt up his -

Maia is also identified with Maia Maiestas, an ancient Italic goddess of Spring. Maybe I'll call my daughter Maia Maiestas sometimes. I kind of like that idea. It also supports a long held theory of mine that the best goddesses are Italic goddesses.

Tolkien also created some denizens of Middle Earth called the Maiar (singular: Maia). They are lesser Ainur who entered Ea in the beginning of time, supporting another theory of mine that Tolkien was a weird weird dude. (Though apparenly Gandalf the Grey was Maiar so it doesn't get much better in terms of Middle Earth denizens than that.)

Given her connection to the gods it comes as no surprise that Maia is also the name of a star. It's in the Taurus constellation and is a blue giant, which means it's about 10x as bright as the Sun, give or take. Maia in particular is 5 1/2 times the size of the Sun and is best seen in the high Northern Hemisphere during autumn and winter. I've wanted to buy a telescope ever since I saw Can't Buy Me Love. Now I have an excuse that doesn't involve Pat Dempsey.

There is a football club in Portugal called F.C. Maia. I need to buy Maia an F.C. Maia t-shirt very soon. I'd do it online if the team had an online store (Man Utd. they are not), but since their official team website isn't even working, I might need to take a road trip to the Portugese town of Maia and pay a visit to club HQ.

Maia is also the name of a Colombian singer who has a song called "Nina Bonita." In English "nina bonita" means "pretty girl" which, coincidentally, describes my daughter. Maia the singer hails from Barranquilla, Colombia, also the hometown of Shakira, Sofia Vergara, and Edgar Renteria, proving that no matter the track record, not everyone from a city can be really really good looking.

Finally, MAIA stands for the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents, the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, and the Martial Arts Industry Association. I can assure you she is named for none of those organizations, though she may learn a martial art, so she knows how to fight off Zeus.

Illini Threesome: Bruce Weber, Lon Kruger, and Bill Self

Well, ladies, who would you rather have take you to the Dance?

Meltdown Leaves Illini On NCAA Bubble

The Illini blew a 12-point lead in the second half to lose to Michigan and leave themselves, once again, at the whims of the NCAA Selection Committee.

The Illini were in disarray over the last 8 minutes of the game. They refused to push the ball inside, they stood around watching each other dribble, no one took matters into their own hands and drove to the basket, and, in a dazzling display of team ineptitude, Jereme Richmond, a freshman with one made three pointer during Big Ten conference play, was set up for a key three-pointer in the final minute. This on a team with four senior starters.

Jereme also had the ball in the last seconds and, down 5 with about 6 seconds to play, inexplicably passed up a three pointer and passed to Demetri McCamey who wasn't ready for the pass. The ball bounced to a Michigan player and the meltdown was complete.

More painful news came later in the day when Penn St. beat Wisconsin in one of the worst-played games in basketball history, and Virginia Tech beat Florida St. when the refs waved off FSU's apparent game-winning shot in the final second. Penn St. and Va Tech are competing with the Illini for the last available spots in the NCAA tourney. The results were doubly worse because Va Tech beat PSU earlier in the season, and that win now gives Va Tech another RPI top-5o win because PSU moved into the top-5o with its win over Wisconsin.

Of course the Illini also have a win over Penn St. so factor that in as you will.

The whole situation would be humorous if it wasn't so infuriating.

Will Venable, Cameron Maybin, Ryan Ludwick: Monsters?

Will Venable hit a 3-run bomb this afternoon in an early-Spring tuneup against the Rockies. That's a good sign because Will has a bead on starting in right field for the Padres this season, filling out an outfield that will also include Cameron Maybin and Ryan Ludwick.

Call me a wildly optimistic Padres fan, but I think this year's outfield has a chance to rival my favorite Padres outfield of the Petco Park Years: the '06 outfield of Dave Roberts, Mike Cameron, and Brian Giles.

Take a look at the numbers Roberts, Cameron, and Giles put up in '06:

Roberts: .293/.360/.393 ... 13 triples, 2 bombs, 49 bags
Cameron: .268/.355/.482 ... 22 bombs, 83 ribeyes, 25 bags
Giles: .263/.374/.397 ... 14 bombs, 83 ribeyes, 104 walks

I'll also add that all three had an OPS+ exceeding 100: 101 (Roberts), 121 (Cameron), 107 (Giles).

Meanwhile, here's how our three heroes, Venable, Maybin, and Ludwick, fared in '10:

Venable: .245/.324/.408 ... 13 bombs, 29 bags, 104 OPS+
Ludwick: .251/.325/.418 ... 17 bombs, 69 ribeyes, 104 OPS+
Maybin: .234/.302/.361 ... 8 bombs, 9 bags, 75 OPS+

Maybe I am overly optimistic. It will take quite a bit of improvement for these guys to match the '06 group. But I'm certain all three will improve over their performance in 2010.

The question is by how much.