Hoyer in; Fuson out

Jed Hoyer was officially announced as the GM of the Padres yesterday. I watched the press conference on Padres.com. I’d say it was a good start for Jed. He’s very focused on the draft and development, which can never be a bad thing.

Everything I’ve read and heard about Hoyer so far has been good. Tom Krasovic, who is clearly enjoying the freedoms of his new blog, mentioned how prepared Hoyer was for his interview:

Howser put himself “head and shoulders” above the other GM candidates, Moorad said, by compiling a detailed analysis of the Padres baseball talent, including a breakdown of how he envisioned the front office working. He needed a binder for the treatise, which runs some 50 pages.

He apparently took six months preparing for his interview with the Red Sox back in 2002.

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With new people running the show, it is not surprising that there are going to be some changes in the organization. Grady Fuson is the first to go, reports the UT’s Bill Center. Fuson was the VP of scouting and player development, and had been with the Padres for the past four years.

According to the NC Times, scouting director Bill “Chief” Gayton has been reassigned to another position in the organization. It is pretty clear that there is going to be a new direction in scouting and player development

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I apparently missed this during my hiatus, but Jeff Kingston, director of baseball operations, left the Padres in September to join the Mariners as an assistant GM. Kingston is only 32, having graduated from Dickinson University in 1999 with a degree in economics. Like Jed Hoyer, Kingston worked under Theo Epstein early in his career, back when Epstein was the director of baseball operations with the Padres. Kingston took over that position in 2002.

Kingston, as his title might imply, was a pretty integral part of the Padres. From an old Tom Krasovic profile:

Enters eighth year in baseball operations department. Heavily involved in all player contract negotiations including coordinating club’s salary arbitration efforts while also overseeing Padres statistical analysis and video scouting systems. Recommended getting pitcher Cla Meredith in trade from Boston. Spent 2000 working as a sports producer for an Internet company in downtown San Diego.

You may also remember, Chris Long mentioned Kingston as one of the three guys (along with Paul DePodesta and Josh Stein) that he interacted with most in the Padres front office. No idea who will fill Jeff’s position.

It’s Jed Hoyer

It looks like the Padres are going to announce Jed Hoyer, (soon to be) former Red Sox Assistant General Manager, as the new GM later today.

Hoyer graduated from Wesleyan University, where he played baseball for four years. After that, he worked in the admissions office for his alma mater and Kenyon College, and also was an assistant coach at Wesleyan for two years. He joined the Red Sox in 2002 as an intern and quickly moved up the organizational depth chart. When Theo Epstein briefly left the Red Sox in late 2005, Hoyer had already built up enough trust with the Boston higher-ups to be named co-GM.

What we’re getting here, in baseball terms, is an elite prospect. In contrast, Towers was the wily veteran. He had a long track record, we knew his tendencies, we knew he was capable of handling the responsibilities that came with the GM gig (and doing a pretty good job at it, too).

With Hoyer, we simply don’t know as much. We don’t really have a track record to go by because, except for a few months, Jed Hoyer hasn’t been in this situation. He hasn’t ran the show. At the same time, we know enough about Hoyer to be excited about his arrival. We know he’s smart. We know he’s quickly moved up the ranks of one of the better organizations in baseball. He appears to be a guy that not only values scouting and stats, but wants as much information that’s attainable before making any decision.

What I also like about the move is that it shows Jeff Moorad is going to go out and get what he wants. He’s not going to dance around it. Let’s face it, Moorad’s vision, whatever it is, is going to shape this organization. He wanted someone who would adopt a more “strategic approach” in the draft, and I think he got him.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to following the Hoyer era in San Diego. No, it won’t be easy to out-do what Kevin Towers did with the Padres, but I think it’s time for something different. Like with the acquisition of any prospect on the field, there’s a high risk, high reward component here, no doubt. Hoyer could be the next Billy Beane or Theo Epstein, or things could get ugly fast. But if Moorad and company have done their homework, I think we’ll be looking back on this day as a great one in Padres’ history.

Kouzmanoff’s fielding

Websoulsurfer compares Kevin Kouzmanoff’s fielding to some great all-time third basemen. He also makes the case that Kouz has been better with the glove this season than Ryan Zimmerman.

I just don’t see it. If we look at THT’s advanced fielding stats, we see that Zimmerman has a substantial lead over Kouzmanoff in plays made. He also has more in-zone chances. If we give Kouz the same number of opportunities in his zone as Zimmerman has, Kouzmanoff would indeed be 3 plays better than Zimmerman. However, Zimmerman would still have 45 more out-of-zone plays than Kouzmanoff. So, they are similar with balls hit in the BIS-defined third base zone, but Zimmerman makes a bunch more plays outside of that zone.

By the way, Zimmerman’s UZR is at +16 runs, while Kouzmanoff is at +6. Kouz has had a good season in the field by most measures, and his fielding percentage is impressive, but I’m not really sure that he’s anything more than an average defensive third basemen.

Fans’ Scouting Report, 2009

It has been quiet around here lately, but I wanted to point you to Tango’s annual Fans’ Scouting Report.

As of right now, the Padres only have 8 reports filled out, which is the third lowest total. Get over there and have your say!

Draft talk

Tom Krasovic gives us a bunch of quotes and info regarding the Padres’ draft and their philosophy.

Seriously, great stuff – well worth a read.

Williams and Sampson signed, Tate close

Today is the deadline to sign players from the 2009 amateur draft. According to Baseball America, the Padres have signed second round pick Everett Williams for $775,000 and fourth round pick Keyvius Sampson for $600,000 (not verified).

The Pads are also apparently getting close to signing top pick, Donavan Tate, for $6+ million, spread out over multiple years. If that happens, it’ll cap off a big day for the organization.

As I mentioned over at Friar Forecast (lots of good discussion in that post, too), drafting Tate, Williams, and Sampson was one thing, getting them signed is another.

Eckstein is who we thought he was

Year	PA	Hits	Singles	Doubles	Homers	Walks	HBP	SF	SH	GDP
2008	376	86	63	21	2	31	9	3	9	7
2009	368	86	64	19	1	24	8	3	9	6

 

Seriously, I could go on and on. Anyway, I was just browsing his stats at Fangraphs, and thought it was remarkable how similar his last two years have been.

It shouldn’t be too hard for the Padres to determine how much on-field value Eck will bring to the team in 2010. He’s basically been the same type of hitter for the last seven years. At this point, he just isn’t that good. The value he provides as a role model to the young players is another thing, however — I can’t tell you how much that is worth. 

Draft talk at Friar Forecast

Nothing ground-breaking here, just some thoughts on the upcoming draft pick signing deadline. August 17th is a big day for the Padres.

Gaudin to the Yanks

On Thursday night, the Padres traded right-hander Chad Gaudin to the Yankees for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The 26 year old starter is under contract through 2011. Gaudin’s strengths are his strikeout rate (8.97 k/9 this year; 7 per 9 for his career) and his ability to keep the ball in the park (.60 hr/9 this year; .91 for his career). His biggest weakness is his control, with a career walk rate of almost 4.3 per 9 innings. His career ERA sits at 4.58; his FIP at 4.45.

Gaudin’s a pretty nice pick-up for New York. He might even be around average as a starter, and he should fit in nicely on the Yanks’ pitching staff (be it in the pen or rotation – or both). Signed through 2011, he probably wasn’t a guy who really fit into the Padres’ long term plans. Still, he’s a solid starter with two years left under contract – hopefully, the Pads get something of use for him.

Interview at Mets 411

I answered some questions about the Padres for the Mets’ blog, Mets 411. Fun stuff; check it out.