Profiling The Padres

San Diego is one of the more interesting franchises in FCM. After winning the NL West in 2051 and 2052, they took a quick plummet to the division's basement by 2054 and have won an average of 56 games since.

When will the Padres compete? It could be this season. However, it's tough to rely on a lot of first and second year players and expect to win. Although, that's exactly what I was able to do with Cleveland in 2057. The assortment of talent the Decker has built is quite impressive. Let's have a look.

What They Already Have

CA Max McGuicken 87 (Age 25)
A Gold Glove this past year helps you forget that he wasn't as good as you'd hope offensively. It could be Petco Park or it could be a young hitter still getting settled in. I don't like the talk of 4th best or 7th best, so I'll say Guick is a fine catcher, certainly well above average for FCM.

1B Kevin Bryan 90 (Age 24)
I don't think you can rely on his 2057 introduction to the majors for what's to come. In a full season's stats, his power numbers would be around 30 doubles and 25 homers. Let alone that his 4 triples were more than he had in his entire organized baseball career to that point. That being said, he's a very good player. He should hit for a good average and walk a decent amount. His power numbers aren't all fluff and should expect around 30/20 pop.

2B Dan Webb 92 (Age 22)
I feel guilty, because he's terrible defensively and surely someone who should DH and not take the field. Evetually, he should hit for a good average, walk a bit, and have nice doubles power. He isn't overly fast, but has decent speed, and is a solid baserunner.

SS Graham Ringer 81 (Age 24)
He's not very good offensively, but he's Gold Glove material and that makes him worth talking about. Most bench players aren't worth sending through Arbitration, but he's the kind of guy you eventually slide to the bench when the real starter is ready and don't mind paying a defensively specialist a few million.

RF Pat Hirata 90 (Age 25)
I don't know what to say about this guy. I like him, but then I don't. He should hit for a good average and walk a ton. However, what he displayed in 2057 is probably his true power (30 doubles, 10 homers). He also doesn't run well and plays just passable defense. He's decent, but someone that I'd say would be valued in the mid 80's in a trade.

DH Mickey Bailey 93 (Age 31)
If you needed any insight to where this team is heading, here it is. I don't know if Decker plans on competing this season or not. But even if not, this is a brilliant move. If you think you're close (which in the least the Padres are), you should get talent when you can as there's no telling what next year's FA Class will look like. Here you get the NL MVP.

CL Alex Worrell 89/93 (Age 26)
It's short and sweet. This guy could very soon be a reliable, dominant Closer. In Mogul Land, he's a strikeout Reliever with very good control and dominant movement. His ability to keep the ball in the park and on the ground will only be elevated in Petco.

What's On It's Way

SS Umberto Garcia 73/88 (Age 21)
It doesn't appear that he jumped during the 2057 season, or if he did, it was very minial. However, when he aged, his peak didn't fall very much, so that's a good indication that he has plenty of time to develop. We already know he'll be good defensively, but what about his offense? There's speculation that he follows in line as Eduardo Alvarez. That would make Garcia someone who hits for a solid 275-285 average, walk a good bit and have 30/7 power with 10-15 steal speed. I don't know that Garcia gets to elite status, but he plays a premium position and very good players at those positions are just as valuable as elite players on the corners.

LF Rusty Younger 77/81 (Age 23)
For all intents and purposes, he's likely peaked. He's yet to his his career window, so there is a little boost to be excited for. He'll wind up with solid contact ability, should walk a little bit, while playing good defense with solid speed. He's definitely upgradable, but he's also starter worthy for the time being.

CF Alan Presti 79/93 (Age 22)
He's rather peculiar. On draft day, I was unsure how to project him. He's very fast, but he doesn't use it to steal bases. It looks like the speed should enable him to become a great, rangey defender, and a major triples threat. He should wind up a versatile bat that you can plug in about anywhere.

SP Brett Wright 85/94 (Age 23)
It looks like he's ready now. His quality control and movement still have plenty of time to become even better, much better. Without better power, I still have a hard time believing he'll be consistently dominant. Someone might say, "But Speedy Canamar doesn't have good power." However, Canamar is a RP convert and that's a different breed. At any rate, Wright will be good, very good, and will run into seasons of being dominant.

SP Paul Wilson 79/92 (Age 22)
He's very advanced for his overall and that's just...well it's very nice. It's a nice feeling to have. He's pretty much the left-handed version of Wright. And I'd feel though Wilson is about as good as Wright while being 6 points under him, with Wright's better peak, they're still about even for where they can end up. Both guys will keep the ball in the park and on the ground and should enjoy lots of success wherever they pitch.

SP Trace Handford 88/91 (Age 23)
He looks like a guy who'll always be viewed as overrated, but that doesn't mean he won't be good. With still a year left to develop, he could turn into a quality 85/75/88 vitals split arm. Like the others above, he doesn't look like he'll give up many homers and should play into Petco's hands.

SP Jernard Burns 79/85 (Age 25)
This guy could be good, I mean really good. He only fell 1 point when he aged last year. It's not something to expect every year, but I would be surprised if he peaked out before 2060. With 2.5 seasons to improve, he could wind up with a slash vitals resembling 85/70/90. He won't look as juicy as some of the other SPs in the rotation, but he'll be reliable.

SP Alex Ritter 78/90 (Age 22)
He's another guy, who when he aged he didn't fall very much. With only falling 2 points, he should have another 4 or 5 years to develop (depending on if he falls 2 or 3 points when he ages). I was very high on him in the draft in '56 (a green guy) and he's looking the part of a high quality arm. His control should be plenty good with solid strikeout ability and movement bordering on elite. If there's any pitcher that I think could turn out to be dominant, it's this guy.

SP Speedy Costello 70/85 (Age 21)
He had all the makings of a guy who zoomed through the system on draft day. However, his development has been slow, which still isn't entirely bad. He's still in line to make the majors at the standard age of 23. He should have great movement, but the control is a little bit of a question. It should get into the low 80's to get him into rotation status, but he may be better served as a reliever with the other SPs on board.

RP Mario Coss 73/88 (Age 23)
I think he's more likely to be trade bait than anything else. While I didn't hate him, I wasn't exactly high on him on draft day. I still question if he'll be starter material. His control still probably ends up borderline. He should have good movement, but to me  he looks too much like a bullpen arm.

What Else Is Needed?

Third Base
So far it looks like Decker is deploying the plug-n-play method with Adam Thompson and Clint Parker. You don't need a great option at every position, so you can get away with a decent bat and great defensive player. However, if the opportunity comes around, grabbing a quality, young, controlled 3B would do the future well.

Corner Outfield
As I said early neither Younger or Hirata are guys I'd want to rely on long-term. Another big bat or a great defensive player as an upgrade at either (or preferably both) is in order.

Setup Man
Maybe it's Coss, maybe it's Costello. But as of right now, no one looks set as the 8th inning man. This is something that I value highly. There's nothing worse than your starter going 7 innings strong and your average Setup Man blowing a chance for your Closer to save the game.

Second Base
With pitchers like Wright and Wilson, this is a huge need. Both guys pitch to contact and the poor defense of Webb up the middle will cost the Padres runs and probably wins. Ringer does have some predicted stats at 2B and I might say he's a better option there long-term than Webb.

Right-Handed Bats
San Diego's future lineup looks very lefty-laden. This all sounds good until you run into a team featuring lefty starters. If it's in the playoffs, they could be doomed as some of the Padres' bats are not good at all vs southpaws. They don't necessarily to go after right-handed hitting starters where they're currently stable, but adding bench bats to platoon or righties at 3B/OF/2B would be a good idea,

As it looks, the Padres should be very good. The thing I worry about the most is Second Base. If you're pitching to contact, that just has to be addressed. I also worry about the team's handicap against LHP, but it's not as bad. Many GMs in FCM are scared of southpaws. However, if someone gets the bright idea to stock a few and they play San Diego in the playoffs, it could be an early exit for Decker.

Outlook

If I had to guess, I would say that 2058 will be a year where San Diego starts to show some promise, maybe 70-75 wins. 2059 will be a year where they have a chance to compete and 2060 will be the year that they take off. From there, they have at least 5 years of highly competitive baseball and most likely much more as this is without saying Decker does anything with the draft picks over that period to re-stock.