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Michael Arndt's avatar

I am a very optimistic Padres fan. Folks are definitely sleeping on what was the hottest team in MLB in the second half. And the key reason they were able to withstand a real nightmare of injuries in the first half is Mike Shildt. He really has gotten everyone rowing the boat in the same direction. The Padres were a .500 team midseason last year and ended up with 93 wins. The Padres beat writer pointed out Shildt won 90+ games his first three years as Cardinals manager. Now he has won 93 in his first year as Padres skipper. I live in South Carolina and dont get to see alot of the games but I saw maybe 60 last season and Machado was not himself til June after elbow surgery and Tatis was suspended for ‘23 and after 32 games Brian Kenney was saying Tatis was a bust without steroids as they showed an on-screen graphic comparing his ‘24 season stats (254 batting average, a .321 on-base percentage, a .446 slug rate and a .112 adjusted OPS.) to the far higher numbers he had in his career before the suspension. But from June on, Tatis and Machado returned to being who they were, Jackson Merrill just kept getting better and better and the team really jelled. Hats off to the Dodgers for shutting us out those last two playoff games. But before those 18 innings of gripping the bat too tight, the Padres were favored to beat the Dodgers and go to the World Series and its like NO ONE remembers that!

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OzRob's avatar

Not keeping Yarbrough was a head scratcher to me.

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Richard Griffin's avatar

I believe it’s not as simple as that. I truly believe the Jays thought he would make the team but he had an opt out clause to force their hand to put him on the 26 man or set him free on that final Sunday. I believe that before they could tell him he made it he took the opt out and left and immediately signed with the Yankees. Tampering?

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OzRob's avatar

Interesting. I assumed the Jays just chose not to add him to the roster. I can’t help thinking this will be a bit of a blow. I was tempted to make a joke about your first name for Lovelady but don’t think I can go there.

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