Multiple Padres Land on MLB's Early 2023 Disappointments List
Money, money, money. That is all people are going to be talking about for a while unless the Padres are able to continue the positive momentum they've built this week and get back above .500. It is mostly their fault and not because they decided to invest so much into star power.
The World Series aspirations were strong with this group before the season and at the very least, most experts crowned them as the eventual NL West champions after seeing the Dodgers lose some big names. You had veterans such as Rougned Odor and Matt Carpenter revealing that they signed with the franchise for a chance at some hardware.
But even though the Friars have had their moments like the infamous 16-run game in Mexico City and their big win at Yankee Stadium, they still sit at 26-30 and their offense has been far from consistent. It seems like once one star figures it out, they pass their slump onto another one.
Two months into the 2023 campaign is a great time to reflect on how everything has come to be and Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller opted to pinpoint ten of the biggest disappointments so far.
As you can guess, multiple guys from San Diego were included.
"If this is the beginning of the end for Darvish, hoo boy. The 36-year-old is in the first season of a six-year, $108 million extension signed in February. Don't want to overreact to just 10 starts—and he did have a 3.67 ERA prior to a recent implosion against the Yankees—but he simply hasn't been as crisp as he was in his first two seasons in San Diego."
(Via Bleacher Report)
"Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts are at least mostly living up to their $20 million-plus salaries, but between Yu Darvish ($25 million), Joe Musgrove ($20 million), Manny Machado ($17.1 million) and Blake Snell ($16.6 million), the Padres are spending $78.7 million for...precisely 0.0 wins above replacement as of Wednesday morning."
(Via Bleacher Report)
But like I said, the Gaslamp Guys have been showing signs of figuring things out as of late so we can only hope that continues.
