After winning 88 games in 2007, most of the baseball world had the San Diego Padres pegged as contenders this season. That was before Jake Peavy and Chris Young got hurt, Khalil Greene was useless and an outfield of Scott Hairston and Paul McAnulty fell flat on their face. Now, in a pivotal offseason for the franchise, the Padres are doing everything they can to completely dismantle the franchise.

We know all about the likely Jake Peavy trade. Even though Peavy has one of the friendliest contracts in baseball for a top-line pitcher, he’s on his way out, likely for nothing more than a bundle of prospects. But the real issue I have is the Padres’ treatment of franchise icon Trevor Hoffman, who has amassed 552 of his 554 career saves for the Friars. After some tense negotiations (and a rejected head-to-head meeting), Hoffman’s lowballed $4 million offer was withdrawn last night…VIA FAX.

Classy. Here’s a franchise that’s had two icons in the last 20 years. One of them, Tony Gwynn, went out as a Padre and is now eternalized in center field at Petco Park. But how awful is this Hoffman situation? Without Hoffman, a great argument can be made that the Padres’ downtown stadium would not even exist. He’s been that pivotal in the franchise’s organization

“Trevor is upset with the way they’ve handled the situation,” one of Hoffman’s agents said. Gee, ya think? This is about more than baseball wins and losses. Sure, the argument can be made that paying a closer $4 milion for a 100 loss team isn’t a great financial move. But giving the finger to Hoffman is an enormous PR hit, and it’s going to hurt them for years. You think Adrian Gonzalez wants to extend his contract after 2010?

You stay classy, San Diego.

These are a collection of thoughts I’ve had about the world of sports the past few days.  None of them really deserve a full length article, so they’re all just kinda thrown together here.

I’m not quite sure what the Dodgers are trying to do with their offer to Manny Ramirez.  It’s rumored to be two years for $45 million.  I understand the concept of low balling to start of negotiations, but I get the feeling that Scott Boras is going to do to that offer what manager Lou Brown did to Roger Dorn’s contract in Major League, that is, take a piss on it.

Major League Baseball should probably take away the San Diego Padres right to call themselves a major league organization.  The only players who matter in San Diego (Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, and Trevor Hoffman) have all indicated that they have at least some interest in playing elsewhere because the team apparently has no plans to try to win.

These reports that MLB would never let Mark Cuban buy the Cubs are somewhat troubling to me.  If he is the highest bidder (which is probably a safe bet) why not let him buy the team?  Apparently Bud Selig is afraid of having an owner who will have the guts to stand up and say how bad he sucks as a commissioner.

It’s probably a safe bet to say that if Nick Saban went to Washington he could make the Huskies a contender within 3 years, right?  It’s also probably safe to assume he isn’t going to stay at Alabama for too long, he doesn’t exactly strike me as the loyal type.

I’m wonder what sort of golf karma is going to hit this idiot.  Here’s a guy who has recorded five hole-in-one’s in one week, something bad has to happen to him on the course right?  He must have had the worst bounces ever seen to man for the past 10 years in order to deserve recording a hole in one five times in one week.

The Worst Announcing Crew Ever: Usually I can live with some sub-par announcing, but Holy Hell, Joe Buck and TIm McCarver redefine suck.  The simple fact that Fox puts these clowns on the air makes me not want to watch any playoff baseball.  The sad part is that isn’t an exaggeration.  Joe Buck has admitted he doesn’t even like calling baseball, and we all know he doesn’t even deserve a job in the announcing business (seriously, name someone who has been for a ride on their fathers coattails for longer).  He brings zero excitement to the games, and sometimes just declines to call the action on the field instead opting to do God knows what, probably give McCarver a tug job under the desk.  And then Tim McCarver comes through with unprecedented levels of fail with his “color commentary” which is about as insightful as listening to a baby who is just learning how to talk. Fox should take a step back and realize the reason for a decline in World Series rating isn’t just because it was Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay (two of the most exciting young teams in baseball) but it was because they have more fail in an announcing booth than was previously thought possible.

Bud Selig: This abomination of a commissioner just needs to quit while he’s this far behind.  Who knows why the owners decided to give him an extension, everytime this clown faces a crisis he somehow manages to bungle it beyond what anyone thought was humanly possible.  Scott Eyre hit it on the head when he allegedly said that he wouldn’t trust Selig to supervise one of his shits.  I couldn’t agree more. It’s time for this idiot to disappear forever, and take Buck and McCarver with him.

Everyone knows that Philadelphia has a nice history of sports failures.  The Phillies were the first team in Major League history to pick up 10,000 losses, accomplishing that not so glorious feat last year.  The rest of their professional sports teams while not reaching that level of futility have struggled as well.  The Sixers, Flyers, Eagles and Phillies have managed to put the city of brotherly love through an excruciating title drought for a city which has a professional sports team in all the major leagues.

Now with their entry to the World Series, the Phillies have given the people of Philadelphia hope.  They should also be feeling a sense of dread.  If the Rays beat the Phillies, then they will have a completed an AL East sweep of the Phillies in the World Series.  I’m not sure if this has ever happened before, although I would assume it hasn’t.  It seems to be the type of thing that only a city like Philadelphia would be forced to endure.

In 1915 the Phillies lost to the Boston Red Sox 4-1
In 1950 the Phillies lost to the New York Yankees 4-0
In 1983 the Baltimore Orioles beat the Phillies 4-1
And in 1993 the Tornonto Blue Jays and Joe Carter put that famous smacking on the Phillies 4-2

That means in World Series games the AL East is a combined 16-4 against the Phillies.  If history is to repeat itself then the Phillies appear to be doomed to a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Rays, and the AL East would officially make Philadelphia its collective bitch.

Talk about a great series, wow.  To me, this Boston Tampa Bay series epitomized a great matchup of two teams with great pitching and timely hitting.  You look at the Boston Red Sox, a team I picked to win this AL Championship, and you scratch your head.  To me, Josh Beckett clearly didn’t pitch like the Josh Beckett I know and John Lester struggled in both starts he made.  And if you look at Big Papi, it’s obvious that he’s not 100% healthy.  I think that really had an impact on this series.

Then you look at a team like the Tampa Bay Rays.  To me, this team epitomizes a young, exciting, motivated baseball team.  You look at a guy like BJ Upton, a guy who only had a handful of home runs all year, and you look at how many clutch home runs he’s had so far this post season.  To me, Upton is a guy who has really matured in this post season, especially when you consider the motivation problems he had earlier in the year.  Then you look at a guy like Evan Longoria who has become an MVP type player in his first season.  To me, these are some of the reasons the Rays were able to overcome the powerful Boston Red Sox in this series.

Looking ahead to the World Series it’ll be a tough matchup for both teams.  But I like the Philadelphia Phillies.  I’m looking to get my first prediction right this post season and I think the Phillies match up well with what the Rays bring to the table.  To me, Ryan Howard is about to take his game to the next level and Chase Utley will show why he should be the MVP that I predicted.  Nevermind that the Rays have better pitching and arguably a better lineup top to bottom, to me this series will come down to the middle of the Phillies order hitting.  When you have a lineup like that, it’s tough to pick against.

If you’ve ever visited Hawaii, you may know the Hawaiians love their spam as much as they love waves and beaches. Shane Victorino, the only Hawaiian in Major League Baseball (by my estimation), is no exception. Known as the “Flyin Hawaiian,” Victorino has publicly endorsed his love for spam, something that the folks at PETA are not a fan of. Today, they released a statement directed at the outfielder.

“We suspect that the cruelty in every can of Spam will infuriate Shane more than a high Hiroki Kuroda fastball,” says Shannon. “If Shane likes Spam a lot, he should buy tickets to the Broadway play but leave it off his dinner plate.”

While I chuckled at the first part of PETA assistant director Dan Shannon’s statement, I have zero idea what he’s talking about with the second part. Spam is a play? PETA has hated Spam for a long time because of the atrocities (if you want to be depressed, you can read them here) that take place at the hands of Hormel, the assholes responsible for Spam. If Peta is going to call out Victorino, they might as well call out the fatties on Hawaii’s offensive line that probably bathe in the juice. 

Calling out Victorino comes as a surprise because PETA actually has a strong relationship with the Phillies, naming Citizens Bank Park the best vegetarian park in baseball for two years running. We’ll see if these criticisms do any damage to Victorino’s psyche tonight. If PETA wants to complain about Shane Victorino, they should probably complain about Jonathan Broxton too, who has probably endangered three species of pig by himself.