Imagine for A Moment That You Were the San Diego Padres on July 29th, 2005

by Asher B. Chancey, Baseball Evolution

You were in first place in the worst division in baseball.

The team on your tail is 4 games under .500.

You were about to start a three game series against the Cincinnati Reds.

In the last game of the series, you are going to face Eric "Home Run King" Milton.

You have a player in Phil Nevin that people want to acquire via trade.

Where did the Padres go wrong?

The Padres have been playing strong all year, and as recently as 13 games ago, they were 50-42, eight games over .500 and in cruise control in their division. However, after being swept by, of all teams, the Cincinnati Reds this weekend, the Padres are now 51-54 and, somewhat unbelievably, tied for first place with Arizona, while the ten-games-under-.500 Dodgers are a mere 3.5 games back.

But things are worse than just falling under .500 and into a tie for first. In being swept by the Reds, the Padres got outscored 24-5. On Saturday, Pedro Astacio walked 6 in 4.2 innings in a 9-1 loss. On Friday, Brian Lawrence lost for the fifth time in six July games. He was on fire in June but shut down in July. On Friday he gave up 7 earned runs in 5.1 innings. On Sunday, Woody Williams completed the weekend trifecta of terrible pitching, giving up seven earned himself in five innings.

The Padres have also been bringing out the best in some terrible teams. In being swept by the Cincinnati Reds, the Padres managed to lose three straight to the team that came into the series tied for the second worst record in the league. Adam Dunn, who came into the set hitting .245 with 28 home runs and 63 RBIs (RBI/HR = 2.25), raised his average seven points in three games while going 6 for 14 (.429) with three homers, two doubles, and nine RBIs (RBI/HR = 3.00). Today he managed to hit a grand slam.

Eric Milton, who has given up 31 home runs through the end of July and would appear on his way to the Major League record for homeruns given up in a season, and who came into today's game with a 4-11 record, a 7.03 ERA, and a K/BB ration of just over 2 (77/36) pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 6 and walking none to lower his ERA 38 points to 6.65. It was the first time ALL SEASON that he failed to give up an earned run, and only the fifth time this season he has failed to give up a home run. The win improved his record to a still dismal 5-11.

Help is on the way though. On Saturday, the Padres traded the oft-injured and high priced Phil Nevin to the Rangers for pitching help. This is a great move for the Padres – Nevin has been hurt quite a bit in the last few years, and the Padres pitching has been very poor. Not only that, but the Padres almost traded Nevin for Sidney Ponson, which would have been a disaster. The Padres were so lucky that they managed to get out of the Ponson trade, so that they could hold out for . . . Chan Ho Park?

That's right, the Padres just decided to solve their pitching woes with Chan Ho Park. Park is 8-5 this year, which is good because he hasn't finished a season more than one game over .500 since 2001 with the Dodgers. He has an ERA of 5.66, wich is lower than his ERA in both 2002 and 2003, and is only .2 higher than it was last year. He has pitched in 20 games, which is the second most he has posted since 2001. His K/BB raio is less than two at 80/54. Oh yeah, and he immediately has the highest opponents batting average on the Padres staff at .299.

All of this is not to say that the Padres aren't trying to improve their team. They have essentially given up on one time sure-thing Sean Burroughs, and shipped Geoff Blum out to the White Sox for pitcher Ryan Meaux. They then turned around and picked up Joe Randa from the Reds in exchange for minor league pitchers. So, in essence they shed Blum, Burroughs, and Nevin in exchange for a consistent everyday third baseman in Joe Randa and a terrible pitcher in Chan Ho Park.

The good news is that Padres are still in first place, and none of the teams around them are playing particularly well. This makes them different from the Nationals, who have recently lost their lead in the NL East and seem to have no hope in returning to first because of the Braves, and the Red Sox, who maintain a slim margin in the AL East despite the resurgence of the Yankees.

The bad news is that there is no real end in sight for the Padres. Outside of Adam Eaton, Jake Peavy, and Brian Lawrence half the time, they have no legitimate starting pitching. They have solid but not fantastic hitting, and a really solid bullpen which isn't going to help them if their pitchers can't hold opposing hitters.

This is a team desperately in need of a spark. I do not think that Joe Randa or Chan Ho Park are going to provide it.