The San Diego Padres have won consecutive NL West titles but have fallen short of making the World Series because they have lost consecutive playoff series' to the St. Louis Cardinals. My MLB prediction is that they'll get their disappointment much sooner in the2007 MLB season as the playoffs will be a long shot. If the Padres actually think Greg Maddux can make up for a pathetic offense, they have another thing coming. The Padres are listed as a 30 to 1 longshot to win the 2007 World Series at Bodog.com.
Pitching was supposed to carry the Padres in the playoffs. The starting rotation is by far the strongest part of this team. Chris Young and Jake Peavy are, perhaps, the best one-two punch in the National League. Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb may have something to say about that, but that is still to be determined. Maddux joins San Diego's two ace-quality pitchers. Clay Hensley and Mike Thompson are nobodies. I would like to stay positive, but I feel they'll be dead weight on the back end of this train.
The games best closer ever, Trevor Hoffman, can still get it done in the ninth. His NL-best 46 saves should have won the Cy Young last season as Brandon Webb ran into some struggles down the stretch for Arizona totaling just 16 wins for the season after winning his first 8 decisions. Hoffy should be money in the bag as usual in the ninth, but he likely won't get as many chances this season because of a weak lineup.
Terrmel Sledge takes over for fan-favorite Dave Roberts in the leadoff spot. Marcus Giles will give the Padres more strength up the middle defensively, and hopefully a change of scenery will help him have a better year offensively than he did in Atlanta. Brian Giles is among those who does not like San Diego's supposed hitter unfriendly park. This guy has a good on base percentage because of his eagle eye at the plate, but 14 homeruns in 158 games is not going to get the job done.
San Diego only have two guys who eclipsed the 20 homerun mark last season on this year's squad and no one drove in over 85 runs. Pitching has enabled San Diego to compete in the mild west, but its lack of pop has gotten the Pads embarrassed in the postseason. I think the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers leap frog them and maybe the Arizona Diamondbacks too.
The Padres are not going to be a profitable team on a day-to-day basis. There are too many uncertainties surrounding this club as you'll see in the early going. Our best option could be to play UNDER on this team in their home park. They won't score a lot of runs this season, and their starting pitching will keep them in most games at Petco Park where the long ball doesn't seem to fly out as well.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 50/1
Atlanta Braves: 30/1
Baltimore Orioles: 90/1
Boston Red Sox: 9/1
Chicago Cubs: 9/1
Chicago White Sox: 90/1
Cincinnati Reds: 45/1
Cleveland Indians: 20/1
Colorado Rockies: 100/1
Detroit Tigers: 5/1
Florida Marlins: 35/1
Houston Astros: 35/1
Kansas City Royals: 85/1
Los Angeles Angels: 10/1
Los Angeles Dodgers: 15/1
Milwaukee Brewers: 45/1
Minnesota Twins: 22/1
New York Mets: 9/1
New York Yankees: 7/2
Oakland Athletics: 20/1
Philadelphia Phillies: 15/1
Pittsburgh Pirates: 100/1
San Diego Padres: 30/1
San Francisco Giants: 10/1
Seattle Mariners: 100/1
St Louis Cardinals: 9/1
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 200/1
Texas Rangers: 40/1
Toronto Blue Jays: 15/1
Washington Nationals: 150/1
