Great News for the Padres

[Mikey]

This morning they signed Jackson Merrill to a nine year extension for $135 million.

Merrill came up last year as a 20 year old rookie shortstop, and agreed to switch to CF. He played in 156 games, hit .292 with 24 homers, 90 RBIs,16 stolen bases, .500 SLG and .826 OPS, and was a major reason the the Padres made the post-season. Won a silver slugger award and made the All Star team. He should have won ROY, but was beaten out by pitcher Paul Skenes of the Pirates. Plus, he's just a really down to earth nice kid and a team player.

The Padres already have Tatis, Machado, Bogaerts and Cronenworth in long term contracts. Merrill will be 22 in a couple of weeks. There has been a lot of discussion about if and when they would offer to extend him, and this is great news for the team. I'm really gonna enjoy watching him grow up in San Diego.

Oh yeah, after signing the contract this morning he hit a two run homer this afternoon in the Padres' 5-2 win over Cleveland to extend their record to 7-0. Right now, Merrill is hitting .417 with 2 HR, 8 RBI and 1.153 OPS.

[Rootbeer]

Merrill is a great talent. The Padres will fall apart in the playoff like always but enjoy the ride until then.

[HighHard1]

Sounds like the real deal-unlike Julio Rodriguez's signing after his rookie year with the M's, as management decided to make him the next Griffey. He sucks-0 discipline at the plate, goofs on the field all the time like when a guy makes a good play on a ball he's hit. Every spring, team announcers are jocking him, how he's made adjustments, then season starts and he's swing at sliders a foot off the plate. Same shit. Worst signing ever.

[Mikey]

Merrill is a great talent. The Padres will fall apart in the playoff like always but enjoy the ride until then.

That’s a pretty safe bet. If they make the playoffs. But you know, every spring brings new hope. I was listening to the radio broadcast this afternoon, which I don’t do very often. One of the two guys on the broadcast team is Tony Gwynn Jr. His voice is a “dead” ringer for his dad, which is cool.

The Padres don’t play the Dodgers until June 9. It would be pretty amazing if they were both 66-0 when they finally get together.

[Rootbeer]

My Cubs dealt Mikey's Dads their first loss. Heck of a good game.

[Mikey]

My Cubs dealt Mikey's Dads their first loss. Heck of a good game.

I was listening on the radio. The kid pitching for the Cubbies is pretty forking good. Padres had a chance to tie it in the ninth but couldn’t get the runs across. Good baseball all around.

[Rootbeer]

After the Tatis solo shot, the Cubs announcers were praising the Padre faithful for selling out the stadium on a Monday night. Thought you'd like to know.

[Mikey]

Thanks. That’s a nice compliment to the team and the fans. Petco is really a great venue and the team is putting on a pretty exciting show right now. Great comeback by the Dads tonight. I’m not sure but I think they may have sold out every game so far this season. I know that there’s a waiting list for season tickets. They’re pretty much the only show in town.

The Cubbies have a good team. The Padres have to go up against Imanaga tomorrow, who pretty much shut them down at Wrigley. Best way to beat the Cubs is to get into their bullpen, which seems pretty horrible. Gotta be patient against the starters and get the pitch count up.

[Rootbeer]

It's been fun watching the Cubs. They are competitive whill still positioned well financially. They can spend an additional $50 million this year before they hit the luxury tax. If they are sniffing the post season in a serious way they might be aggressive buyers at the trade deadline.

The bullpen gives me cancer though.

[Mikey]

I like the Cubs, love Chicago. Fun to watch and some great young players. Nico Hoerner played at Stanford with Tommy Edman (the only Dodger I can tolerate), and they did one of those “during the game” on-field interviews with him the other day. Seemed like a pretty cool guy. I went to a game at Wrigley and ate a Chicago style dog about 30 years ago so I was able to cross that off my bucket list.

Good game tonight even though I was disappointed with the outcome. I’m hoping the Padres and the Cubs can get together in the postseason.

[Rootbeer]

Padres are better than I have given them credit for. I had Cronenworth and Bogaerts on my fantasy team a few years ago and both of them disappointed. They're much better now.

Edman was one of my favorite Cardinals. I didn't love it when he went to the Dodgers. He needs to be in the NL Central.

I would not have predicted 4 of the top ten teams in baseball would be in the NL West. That is bananas. Rockies are going to get pummelled in the division.

[Mikey]

Cronenworth and Merrill are still both on the IL. Hopefully they’ll come back soon and start another 11-0 run at Petco. Actually I’m putting a hold on my optimism until they start playing the Dodgers (not until June), Giants and DBacks.