What is the best way for Padres to handle Rizzo?

Baseball, Popular HeyScan! Questions 11 May 2011

Within one week of the season starting I started getting emails from fans asking, ” When are the Padres going to call up Anthony Rizzo?”

By week two that question had turned a little more pointed into, “WHY haven’t the Padres called up Rizzo yet?” With the Padres offense still struggling (although they did scorch the Brewers staff for 19 runs, and 33 hits over their past 13 innings of play), and other teams calling up some of their hot young prospects, the chant to call up the shining light from Tucson seems to get louder each day.

I found an interesting article written by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, questioning the wisdom of the Royals calling up one of their future superstar hopefuls, Eric Hosmer. Other than the Royals having a winning percentage .123 points higher than the Padres, the similarities of the decision at hand were strikingly similar to me. I think it would be an interesting read for any Padres fan wondering why a team, especially one struggling to win games, would hesitate to call up its young talent.

I submit for your review and comment Eric Hosmer Arrives Too Soon (click to view), or click here for selected excerpts, and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

Scan

2,395 Comments

Luigi Novello via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 8:58 pm

bring him up

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Tomas Mejia via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 8:59 pm

Give him the chance.

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Saundra Sassie via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm

Bring him up, why not? Then try to bundle up those higher dollar players that were supposed to relieve the pain of losing Adrian and try to get some players that can deliver

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Luigi Novello via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm

if the padres bring up anthony rizzo and then alots of padres fans will start going to the padres games and see anthony rizzo and maybe have a sell out crowd at every home games and then put brad hawpe in left field behind ludwhick

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Bob Scanlan via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:04 pm

Saundra – Did you read the article?

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Andy Man via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:06 pm

Let him develop in the minors for now & then in September let him get his feet wet & call him up. I dont think we should rush the kid & take a chance ruining him. Then next year if he’s ready which it looks like he will be let him compete for a spot with the Big Boys! I just don’t think cuz were doing bad that we should RUSH the kid, that’s my opinion.

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Andy Hochman via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:10 pm

We stink. He needs to stay in the minors and work on his craft. Next season the Padres need to seriously ask themselves what direction they want to take this franchise. A lot of fans feel betrayed by the Padres and once they leave, many don’t come back, something Moorad doesn’t seem to truly grasp.

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Salomino Rosas via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:11 pm

Let him develop some more in the minors. We are only 1/4th into the season and there are many games to be played. I’m still waiting for Hawpe to break out of his slump and the Pads are only 5.5 games out of first. No need to panic and put pressure on Rizzo just yet.

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Raymon Garcia via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:12 pm

I say handle it the same way we did headley. You dont want to runin him for later especially if its not going to get us to the playoffs. Playoffs are our goal not putting people in the seats cause of one guy. What if he cant produce then they will jump on him hard and break him. Trade LuWACK to get someone who can hit better than 200

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Diego Ornelas via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:14 pm

Hawpee is still a great veteran hitter that just needs to b more consistent. Bringing up Rizzo may b later this year the same way SF handled Posey. Are we really gonna rely on a 21 year old hitter to do the heavy lifting?

Think about Jesús Guzmán who’s also hitting above .340 and definitely MLB ready. He too was a SF top prospect.

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Bob Scanlan via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:18 pm

Speaking of Brad Hawpe has anyone noticed he is hitting .340 with 5 doubles over the past 13 games?

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Andy Hochman via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:21 pm

That doesn’t make me Hawpey. We need consistency….talk to me when he’s hitting .340 in July.

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Saundra Sassie via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm

Scan, couldn’t read it all. Worried about too soon? Keep him in the minors for better trade material? How about a few times this summer when Cantu gets hurt? (not wishing that, just saying )

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Diego Ornelas via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:23 pm

I did and he’s returning to colorado where he beat san diego pitching all the time

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Salvador Barajas via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:32 pm

I would like to see Rizzo before we have to trade him away like we do so often our up and comers.

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Byron Lovelace via Facebook
May 11, 2011 at 9:46 pm

I completely agree with both Andys. Especially with fans desperately looking for someone to root for, Rizzo would be under a lot of pressure to perform immediately. It’s not worth it, we gave up Adrian for these kids, squandering them on a team that’s already not built to win is foolish, let them develop. Tell “Bad Hawpe” to kick rocks. He’s heard me say it before, although not in those exact words.

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William Bibaeff via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 5:45 am

Didn’t read the article about Eric Hosmer because it’s an ESPN insider article and I already pay enough in that direction just to have ESPN in my cable package. That aside, I think they should keep Rizzo down until September – not only for financial reasons, but to continue to have Hawpe and Cantu battle it out at 1st.

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Eat2surf
May 12, 2011 at 9:18 am

Scan,

The article requires membership to read more than the intro… so we don’t get to read what the guy’s thoughts are on the situation.

People… why are you pissed at Scan? He doesn’t charge you a dime for anything.. he’s just trying to give people perspectives that they may not get from casual fans.

These players get a lot of money.. but they are still people. Not robots.. not slaves.. not computer programs that you can upload, uninstall and reinstall and have them function exactly the same.

Every move has it’s time and place. I think there is enough going on in the club house with all the new faces and personalities that adding another face with the “savior” label wouldn’t help.

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Dave Crowell via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 9:20 am

The article requires membership to read more than the intro… so we don’t get to read what the guy’s thoughts are on the situation.

People… why are you pissed at Scan? He doesn’t charge you a dime for anything.. he’s just trying to give people perspectives that they may not get from casual fans.

These players get a lot of money.. but they are still people. Not robots.. not slaves.. not computer programs that you can upload, uninstall and reinstall and have them function exactly the same.

Every move has it’s time and place. I think there is enough going on in the club house with all the new faces and personalities that adding another face with the “savior” label wouldn’t help.

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Bob Scanlan via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 10:20 am

Sorry that some of you could not read entire article – did not realize the link would be cut off. I will try to post some snippets without infringing on ESPN licensing issues. Thanks for alerting me to that.

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Bob Scanlan via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 11:34 am

Excerpts posted above.

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Byron Lovelace via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 2:58 pm

Ir’s not about Scan, or the players who can perform or at least are even close to performing. Bad Hawpe however took a lot of money (compared to the rest of us make for the most part) knowingly being unble to defensively play 1st base. He’s hurting fans and getting paid. Sorry, but that pisses me off. The owners too for thinking so little of SD fans that they produce this product. Scan is fair, I seldom fully agree with him but he’s honest. Overall if you’re curious as to why people are pissed you can look at our performance, the number of times in april that we were SHUTOUT, and the bleak looking future for any serious change. We had to make anbobblehead giveaway for our MANAGER! Yes, I like Bud Black but he’s not supposed to be our only Allstar that does 9 innings a night.

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Byron Lovelace via Facebook
May 12, 2011 at 3:01 pm

By the way, its owners, coaches and leagues that treat players like robots. Some people played on teams where creatine was mandatory and taking certain classes wasn’t an option. Fans just expect what they pay for.

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