Michael Barrett and Josh Bard are known for the bat than the defense they play. Barrett & Bard threw out only 16 of 209 baserunners that tried to steal on them last season and that is amazing. Look for opposing teams to steal at will on the Padres in 2008. 31-year old righty swinging Michael Barrett played in 101 games for the Padres and Cubs last season and he was 84 for 344 (.244 avg, .653 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 9 homers and 41 RBIs. Pitchers had a 4.16 ERA with Barrett behind the plate despite throwing out only 8 of 80 (10%) base runners attempting to steal on him.

30-year old switch hitting Josh Bard could get more playing time than Barrett this season if he just could throw a little bit better. Bard only threw out 8 of 129 (6%) base runners but Padres pitchers liked to throw to him as they had a 3.44 ERA with him behind the plate. Bard played in 118 games last season for the Padres and he was 111 for 389 (.285 avg, .768 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 5 homers and 51 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C-

The Padres were smart in the off-season as they made a bunch of nice moves. The Padres traded for center fielder Jim Edmonds and they signed Tadahito Iguchi to start at 2B. It’s probable that they will out perform Marcus Giles and Mike Cameron who started for them last season. The Padres also signed Tony Clark and Robert Fick to give them a couple of nice bats off the bench.

The Padres signed veteran lefty Randy Wolf to serve as their #4 starter and he should benefit from pitching his home games at Petco Field. The Padres brought in rehabbing Mark Prior, Shawn Estes and Glendon Rusch to battle for the #5 job in the rotation and they might get lucky with one of them. Enrique Gonzalez will also get a chance to win the job.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE FOR THE OFF SEASON: B

The Padres got a nice bargain in signing 35-year old switch hitting 1B to a 1-year contract to back up Adrian Gonzalez. Clark is an outstanding bench player who should give the Padres a potent pinch hitting threat during the season. Clark played in 113 games last season for the Diamondbacks and he was 55 for 221 (.249 avg, .821 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 17 homers and 51 RBIs. Clark has now played in 1,415 games in his major league career and he is 1,142 for 4,315 (.265 avg, .830 OPS) with 610 runs scored, 244 homers and 789 RBIs.

The Padres have claimed 25-year old righty starter Enrique Gonzalez off waivers from the Nationals. Gonzalez only pitched in 1 game last season for the D-Backs and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.50 WHIP. Gonzalez has now pitched in 23 games (18 starts) in his major league career and he is 3-7 with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. This was a nice move by the Padres as Gonzalez has the potential to be a much better pitcher than he has been so far in his major league career.

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