So far so good

I feel like I need to do some rants since there are many things that I need to cover. For both Padres and baseball in general, things are looking so far so good.

1. Good, acceptable roster changes

Padres made some roster moves by sending outfielder Drew Macias, catcher Eliezer Alfonzo and infielder Luis Rodriguez to Triple-A Portland. This is a great job done by the Padres because three of them did not do so well and barely contributed for this team.

1. Drew Macias

(I couldn’t find a great picture of him in a Padre uniform.)

He’s a gorgeous guy but his average was way too low and lacked in almost all categories that involve a bat and a glove. Although he has the strong potential to play in the big leagues, he’s not ready yet. During the regular season, he was back and forth in the minors and major because of certain players being injured and he was the one who usually got called up. Drew needs more time in triple-A and hopefully he can get called up again during middle of regular season next year. When he proves that he is prepared, I would love to see him play at the outfield along with Will Venable, Kyle Blanks and Anthony Gwynn Jr.

2. Luis Rodriguez

Luis Rodriguez in the other hand, is an experienced baseball player. In fact, he played in the majors for five years now. He was the starting shortstop in 2009 opening day and was an everyday player when Everth Cabrera was sent to the disabled list. However, something did not seem right when I observed him playing this year. He can play every position in the infield and has a little bit of speed. His average was average but I expected more from him. Hopefully this move will help him and like Drew, I would love to see Luis bounce back and improve from this season. 

3. Eliezer Alfonso 

Even though he has a cool first name, I can’t forgive him for what he did for the Padres this season. He was just flat out terrible. Let’s see. He left ton of runners on base especially when it came to bases loaded situation. That’s enough, to the point, and straight forward. I’m so glad he got sent down to triple-A. Hopefully, I will not see him playing as a Padre next year. When he proves that he has the strong ability to play in the big leagues again, my mind will definitely change. But I’ll never know until Padres baseball grows again in next spring.

2. At last! Kevin Kouzmanoff’s glove arrives at Cooperstown.

This may seem like a regular, shiny, leather Rawlings glove but it means much more than that. This glove owned by Kevin Kouzmanoff is going to the one and only the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Can you believe that Jeff Idelson, the Hall’s president, visited the Padres clubhouse to pick up Kouz’s glove?   

Kouz’s glove deserves to go to the Hall of Fame because of his fantastic, jaw-dropping defensive work by that glove and his talent. This season, he only made 3 errors in 311 chances with .990 fielding percentage. See, he was the guy who made 22 errors in his first full major league season with the Padres. And look how much he progressed. I give him a round of applause for the great accomplishment. Great job man! Can’t wait to see more of your flashing, brand new glove next year.

3.Angels are NOT done.

After sweeping the Red Sox, the Angels are looking forward for seven game series against the Yankees. Sorry for the sweep Red Sox fans but that’s the way it went and never change that result again. When the Cardinals, (my number two team) got swept from the Dodgers, I was extremely disappointed because I had high hopes for the Cards. Unfortunately, they made themselves, the fans, and myself feel like crap. To make me feel much better, the Angels (my number three team) cheered and boosted my energy up by playing solid baseball. I’m ready for ALCS. Here’s to hope that the Angels will crush the Yankees and move onto the World Series.

(EDITED: I’ve been thinking about the Angels a lot lately. This club impressed me so much by having the strong desire to play solid baseball everyday. All of them have one thing in common: they are letting their hearts out and playing for the fallen angel, Nick Adenhart.)