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2008 San Diego Padres Predictions & Season Preview

The Padres missed a third straight year in the postseason by going down to the Rockies in a 13-inning wild-card tiebreaker game last season. The Rockies went on the World Series and the D-Backs and Dodgers have both made improvements. Find out where that leaves the Pads in Jimmy’s 2008 San Diego Padres predictions and season preview.

Starting Rotation/Bullpen

Ace Jake Peavy was the unanimous winner of the NL Cy Young Award in 2007. That little piece of hardware earned him a $52 million contract extension. Peavy started the All-Star game and went on to win the pitching triple crown, leading the bigs with a 2.54 ERA, 240 strikeouts, and pacing the NL with 19 wins. The 6’10’’ Chris Young also pitched in the 2007 All-Star game and gives the Padres a deadly one-two punch. The second half of the season did not treat him as well as he ended up just 9-8 and battled injuries. Greg Maddux was still able to win 14 games last season at over 40 years of age. After Maddux, there is a big dropoff. The Padres signed lefty Randy Wolf and righty Mark Prior, both of whom are coming off shoulder injuries. Wolf is planning on being back by Opening Day while Prior isn’t scheduled to return until mid-to-late May. Justin German will likely take the fifth spot until Prior is ready. It is almost certain that injuries will affect the success of this rotation.

The bullpen still has the all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, but blown saves in two of the Padres final three games (costing San Diego the playoffs) could be a sign that this is all she wrote for Hoffy. Setup man Heath Bell is a stud. Outside of that, the Pad’s pen could struggle.

Batting Order

It looks like rightfielder Brian Giles will be thrown into the leadoff spot again with the Padres lacking a prototypical number one hitter. He’s coming off knee surgery and his hitting has been less than spectacular in pitcher-friendly Petco anyway. Tadahito Iguchi comes to town off a nice stint in Philly to replace the struggling Marcus Giles at second base. Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff may be the most anonymous three-hitter in the league. He had 18 homeruns and 74 RBIs last season. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez has impressed in the field with the way he attacks the ball, but his tendency to fall into lengthy slumps at the plate does not make him and ideal clean-up hitter. Still, his 30 bombs and 100 RBIs are as good as it gets for the Padres. Centerfielder Jim Edmonds is coming off injuries and may just be making a short stop in San Diego. Still, this is his contract year and we expect him to get healthy and produce in hopes of landing one more solid deal. Shortstop Khalil Greene had a breakout season with 27 bombs and 97 RBIs. I look for him to hit higher in the order. Catcher Michael Barrett suffered at Petco with his power numbers almost non-existent and leftfielder Scott Hairston rounds out the order.

If completely healthy, the Padres pitching staff will be solid, especially in pitcher-friendly Petco. The offense still lacks pop and its inability to score runs is what will keep San Diego out of the race in 2008.

No other handicapper on the planet know the MLB like Jimmy Boyd. Mr. Boyd is coming off another MLB World Handicapping title in 2007 profiting his clients a ridiculous +5005 units. You’re just not going to find better. Play with Jimmy Boyd in 2008 and beat the books on a consistent basis.

Odds to win NL West: 20/1
Odds to win 2008 NL Pennant: 8/1
Odds to win 2008 World Series: 11/4

Other Predictions for the 2008 Season:

Updated February 23rd, 2008