Can The Padres Be 2013′s Surprise Team?
In a division that contains the defending World Series champion and the defending spending champion, the San Diego Padres have had a quiet offseason. That is usually the case in San Diego as the franchise is rarely a player in the free agent market and usually find pitchers willing to come to Petco to resurrect their career in the best pitcher park in the league. But, it is a bit unusual this winter as the Padres quietly finished the 2012 season with one the best records in the National League. After beginning the season with a 34-53 record, the Padres went on to win 42 of their last 75 games. Buoyed by an extraordinary second half by Chase Headley, the Padres finished strong, giving hope that they could be the 2013 version of the Oakland A’s or Baltimore Orioles.
There is no way to predict if a team is going to have that magical season where everything clicks. Everyone missed on the A’s because nobody really could foresee that their young pitching would come together so quickly. Nobody could say whether or not Yoenis Cespedes would be so good so quickly. And, of course, there were callups such as Brandon Moss and Chris Carter who provided an offensive spark for periods of time. As for the Orioles, nobody could guess that they would get so much from their organizational pitching, their bullpen would be elite, and that they would win so many one run games.
Category: FCP on OS
