| November 16th, 2005 10:24 AM |
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| lotsajizz |
Padres General Manager Kevin Towers declined to discuss David Wells yesterday for fear it might be construed as tampering.
Mick Jagger, however, has no such qualms. You spend your life with Keith Richards and you learn to let some things slide.
During Friday's concert at Petco Park, the venerable voice of the Rolling Stones made note of the pains taken to protect the playing field and its possible bearing on Wells' future in San Diego.
"I told management you'd be careful with the sacred dirt of Petco Park," Jagger told the crowd, "or else David Wells may never return."
Sympathy For The Devil? You make the call.
"What's he care?" Padres manager Bruce Bochy said of Jagger's joke. "He probably didn't know the Padres play here."
Still, you've got to hand it to Boomer Wells. The man really knows how to network. One day he's asking the Boston Red Sox for a change of scene. Next thing you know, he's got Jumping Jack Flash stumping for his Satisfaction.
If baseball's enduring Street Fighting Man is intent on pitching again at Petco Park, he can probably make it happen. The Padres are already short on starting pitching and likely to have more urgent need if Adam Eaton is traded to address other needs.
Granted, You Can't Always Get What You Want, but you could do a lot worse than a fearless, strike-throwing lefty with local ties, big-game credentials and rock-legend lobbyists.
Unlike most major league outposts, the Padres know what they'd be getting in David Wells and, more to the point, they still think he's worth the aggravation. The Red Sox are not so deep in 15-game winners that Wells would come cheaply, but the Sox might be hard-pressed to find a more motivated buyer than the Padres.
With outfielder Brian Giles, catcher Ramon Hernandez and closer Trevor Hoffman all subject to free-agent bidding, the Padres might be headed for a hard Winter. If the club does not extend itself for some high-profile players – particularly its own – it risks retribution at the box office.
Getting David Wells might blunt some of the backlash. That is, of course, provided that fans have finished their cartwheels over Vinny Castilla.
Taken as individual cases, Giles, Hernandez and Hoffman might each have priced themselves beyond the Padres' comparatively modest budget. Collectively, though, their loss would be close to catastrophic.
Fans know the Padres will never be a big player in the free-agent market so long as John Moores is signing the checks. But fiscal restraint is harder to rationalize when it involves local icons like Hoffman and the Home Team is playing to 83 percent of capacity in a publicly subsidized ballpark.
Baseball's debt service rules notwithstanding, the Padres must be mindful of the perception that they are cutting corners and pocketing profits in a ballpark sold as a competitive necessity. It says here that Moores has the right to manage his business as he sees fit – he's the one risking an attendance plunge, after all, not the first-time caller/longtime listener – but a business as public as baseball depends on goodwill as well as good judgment.
Right now, John Q. Public could use some persuasion – if not in the form of David Wells, someone equally substantial. Right now, Friars fans are conspicuously short on excitement and knee-deep in dread.
Two weeks ago, just before he removed his name from the GM searches in Boston and Los Angeles, Towers said he was more interested in improving the Padres than in preserving the status quo.
"We're not putting all of our eggs in the Giles-Hoffman-Hernandez basket," Towers said. "It would be tough losing those guys, but our main goal is to be better than we were last year. If it means changing the complete complexion of this ballclub, we'll do it."
Then, this remark sounded suspiciously like a negotiating ploy. Now, it smacks of resignation. The New York Mets have expressed interest in both Hernandez and Hoffman. The New York Yankees have made repeated inquiries about Giles. Consequently, the cost of poker may soon skyrocket.
"Anytime those (New York) teams get involved, history has shown it shoots the bidding up," Bochy said. "That's what you want to stay away from as much as you can with the market here."
Bochy said he was still optimistic the Padres can retain Giles and Hoffman, but confessed he was short on first-hand information following a hunting trip to Oregon.
"I know our priority was to try to get these guys done," Bochy said. "Worst case, if that doesn't get done, I think that's where we huddle and see what direction we do go."
Like Towers, Bochy recused himself from questions concerning David Wells. Mick Jagger was unavailable for comment.
Tim Sullivan, San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE
November 15, 2005
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| November 16th, 2005 10:39 AM |
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| glencar |
Bochy's a dick. |
| November 16th, 2005 11:57 AM |
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| lotsajizz |
I remember when he played in the majors in the 70's...Seattle I think |
| November 16th, 2005 12:01 PM |
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| Saint Sway |
saw Wells hanging in the VIP balcony at the Stones Roseland gig in NYC a few years ago.
It was smack in the middle of the playoffs. He had a game the following night. He lost.
I guess he's a fan. Then again, everyone likes the Stones on some level and every pseudo celeb leaches their way into shows. From what I've heard Wells is more known as being a big metal head. Muscially and otherwise. |
| November 16th, 2005 04:28 PM |
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| DAVINO |
Mick should shut his mouth about baseball, it's just a way that he tries to connect with the crowd, I'm sure he wouldn't know the Padres uniform if he saw it. |
| November 17th, 2005 04:22 AM |
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| Shawn20 |
I saw Wells at the Stones' No Security concert in Tampa in 99. He was playing for the Yankees at the time. Paul O'Neill was with him. I met him in the beer line. Go figure. |
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