Farewell, Skip

The Padres made many moves over the offseason. One of the moves was acquiring utility man Skip Schumaker, who was a free agent after spending the past couple of seasons in Cincinnati. Before that, he played in St. Louis, winning a world series with the team in 2011. It was announced the other day that he had retired. Although he did not want to refer to the R word when he told manager Andy Green. He said that his "journey is complete." Of course, Schumaker's numbers are not the most ideal for a major-league utility man. But he brought such leadership to a young clubhouse that really needs it. Perhaps we will have to rely on James Shields and other players with similar talent and experience to pave the way for the team. Speaking of the rest of the team, the Padres have been struggling in spring training play. Of course these games don't count at all for regular season play, but day after day we are being blown out with the opposition scoring at least five runs in each game. You'd think we would make things at least a little bit more interesting. But who knows. We will just have to wait and see what happens in the regular season. But things are not looking good, especially today when James Shields yields three home runs to the White Sox. Here are your scores:

- Saturday: Rockies 9, Padres 5
- Sunday: White Sox 8, Padres 1; A's 6, Padres 5
- Monday: Padres 8, Brewers 2
- Tuesday: D-Backs 8, Padres 8
- Wednesday: D-Backs 8, Padres 4
- Thursday: Indians 9, Padres 4

You're not going to win too many games allowing that amount of runs. Hopefully the team can figure it out and get into a groove by the time opening day arrives in about three weeks. Talk about exciting, right? Opening day is so close! In terms of the Padres roster, I'm hoping to see Jemile Weeks stay instead of Alexi Amarista. Comment below to say who you would like to make the roster out of the ones competing for a roster spot.

In the NFL, there is some big news coming out of Denver. Peyton Manning has decided to call it a career and retire. What a career he had. And he was able to cap it off with a super bowl victory. Wow. Now that Broncos have to figure out how to refill the QB position. Brock Osweiler became a free agent after the end of the year and now has signed with the Houston Texans. It is unknown why he did that, since he could get the hunch that Peyton would soon retire and therefore become the next Broncos starting quarterback. But perhaps being benched in favor of Peyton at the beginning of the playoffs kind of left an impression on him that he was not wanted as much as Peyton. Now that he is going to be the starting quarterback in Houston, he can rest peacefully knowing that he has a shot at the playoffs on a good Texans team. In other news, the Browns have released Johnny Manziel after being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft. Manziel has been linked to alcohol abuse and has been given second and third and fourth chances to try to fix his issue but has been unsuccessful. With him being released, I will be surprised if he signs to another team.

Now to the NBA. With the start of the playoffs looming closer and closer, the top teams in each conference seem to be shifting their focus to that time. Both the Spurs and the Warriors have large active home winning streaks that keep going and going. And with the Thunder starting to stumble a little bit, will they be relinquish the three seed in the west before this is all said and done? Will the Cavaliers be able to hold on to the top spot in the east with the Raptors right at their heels? These are tough questions to answer, but I think the way the standings are right now is what they will be like come the end of the year.

Well that should do it for this week. Feel free to comment below on what you want me to write about or what research you would like me to do. Have a good week!

Woeful First Two Games

The Padres played the Mariners for the first two games in spring training, as per annual tradition. As usual, we lost the first game, but it was a blowout - 7-0 M's. The next day the Padres usually rebound and get their first win of the spring. Again, another loss, even though it was a competitive one. The score came out to be 6-5 even though it was 6-1 Mariners at one point. The only thing that was good to come out of game one was that top prospect Hunter Renfroe beat out two infield singles and that Robbie Erlin delivered a scoreless first inning. Other than that, Luis Perdomo, Cory Mazzoni and Daniel McCutchen all yielded multiple runs in their first outings of the spring. If Mazzoni does not show signs of improvement, then I don't want him on the team. An ERA of 21 last year over 9 innings pitched is absolutely not acceptable. I'm upset he pitched even that much. The next day, things got a little better, save for a few moments which led to the loss. Starting pitcher Phillip Humber delivered two scoreless innings after which only two pitchers gave up the most damage. Yangervis Solarte committed a huge error which proved costly. Hopefully the defense this year improves because last year, we were in the cellar when it came to DRS (defensive runs saved) compared to the rest of the league. Pitching and defense is what wins games in San Diego. Let's find out a way to win. Meanwhile, the most impressive part of the spring so far was Christian Bethancourt's at-bat with two outs in the ninth inning and a man on. He fouled off five pitches or something like that before blasting a home run off the batters eye in center field. Perhaps he will be the one to back up Norris this year and give Hedges some more seasoning in AAA. Whatever the case may be, We have some pretty good catchers in this organization. I sure hope we can show some grit this year. I had a feeling last year that 2015 was not going to be good but that 2016 would. Let's hope that that gut feeling comes to fruition.

In the NBA, the Thunder are falling. They have lost 7 of their last 11 games, even though many of them have been tough road games against good teams. I feel like they can turn it around, however, especially since they have time to get hot before the playoffs begin next month. They can't afford to stay cool too long though, because doing so would prevent them from receiving the best seed they can possibly be in the playoffs. But I guess in order to be the best, you have to beat the best, right? Makes sense. The Warriors is one of those teams who has beat the Thunder. In fact, Steph Curry helped his team beat the Thunder twice in that stretch. Once on a buzzer-beater in Oklahoma City and another last night in Oakland. This all is sure dramatic for the entire league, but the most important thing is to make the playoffs and win from there. The teams who are in position right now to do that are sure going to enjoy the ride.

Tune in next week when we will continue our spring training coverage and then go into March Madness! Thanks for reading!