HEARTBREAK: Padres Postseason Dreams CRUSHED by Cubs | Will Heads ROLL in San Diego?

HEARTBREAK: Padres Postseason Dreams CRUSHED by Cubs | Will Heads ROLL in San Diego?

On today’s what usually is called fun Friday is the least fun of all fun Fridays possible. The San Diego Padres’s officially eliminated from the postseason losing the last game against the Chicago Cubs with no offense showing up. But it is fun Friday. So I’m being joined by Caric Vancerman of CBS8 Sports to go through it all. And look, it’s a safe space for all Padres’s fans. Don’t worry, we’re going to talk all about it. Biggest questions for the offseason as well. Let’s get to it. [Music] You are Locked on Padres’s, your daily San Diego Padres’s podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another edition of Lockdown Podies Podcast, which is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day for Friday, October 3rd. As always, I’m your host with sometimes the most, certainly not the most today, Javier Reyes. I’ve been covering this team for nearly six years now, not just for this podcast, but also various other outlets, including just baseball.com, chief among them. Today’s show, guys, is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. And for today’s show, I am being joined by my good buddy Carik Vancraman of CBS8 Sports San Diego. He is not live on the scene, but he is live on our screens and in your ears uh saying, “Hey, man. We’re here safe space for Padres’s fans. We’re going to talk all about yesterday’s game, the general vibes of the team.” And honestly, this is going to be a super stat heavy show. Uh I don’t want to do all that. We’re just going to kind of let it out. And then final segment going to talk about the biggest questions that I have, the immediate big questions for the offseason. But Caric, man, uh, how are you holding up? You doing all right? The vibes are off, man. I mean, what is this? We we after the trade deadline, Padres’s Nation was so hyped that this team maybe had all the pieces that they need from the hitting to the bullpin to get things going and all of a sudden the Padres’s are out in the NL wildard series to the Cubs, man. And I mean, like, it’s it’s a bummer, especially because the Padres’s gave you that one last glimmer of hope at the end of the season where they’re starting to put the runs up on the board. Pitching is looking good enough, and you’re like, “Okay, this team’s about to make some noise with some momentum, and then the offense falls flat. Pitching wasn’t bad.” Injuries like Raone Lauraniano and Jason Adam ended up being big talking points by the end of the year. We didn’t know how big they would be as the NFL wild card series came, but I don’t know, man. For for what felt like at the trade deadline like all of a sudden this team’s going to be one of the most dangerous to sitting where we are now, it feels like a disappointment. Look, uh, let’s just start at the end there, you know, having hope for a second. I will say that personally, having covered this team for a while, this is not nearly as bad of a loss as the others that I’ve experienced. last year obviously being number one. The NLCS against the Phillies, even the wild card against the Dodgers back in 2020 or I think it was the NLDS against the Dodgers in 2020. That was the coming out party and it still stunk a little bit because it was the Dodgers, but overall it was just really tough, man. And I know that a lot of people I just want to come out and say, look, the Cubs defense played phenomenal this year. Danby Swanson, Swanson, but it hit the wall to save his life, but this is why defense matters sometimes, right? Nico her a couple good plays and Ryan O’Harn great series for him that could have been even better arguably getting three hits three on bases uh robbeds from him but I I so again gotta give them a lot of credit and I know that there’s going to be some Potteries fans saying dude we got robbed bring in the ABS system now Xander Bogarts with a really really bad strike they call that is objectively true it should have been a walk and considering that um you know Keller hits the next two batters and then Merryill has had a solo shot in that inning already there’s a little bit of a dang like what if it was bases loaded nobody out do things change but you can’t go that direction bottom line is that the Padres’s Tatis 0 for four with threeks Manny goes over for you Darvish I mean he’s been on the watchwatch for a while after yesterday’s game only lasting inning and don’t get me wrong that was not the reason they lost because the pitching was outstanding yesterday but it was just like yeah we might have to you know time of death for you Darvis you know what I mean the the the monitor isn’t picking up any signs of life for He’s obviously going to be on the team still next year with the contract, but not great for him. But it’s just really tough, man. And I will say that I had predicted the Cubs. People who watch the crossover on Tuesday know I picked the Cubs to win the series. My reasoning was that I just didn’t trust the offense enough. And that’s what happened here. You basically had a series more or less, Caric, where you got one major hit and that was the main Machado home run in game two. Other than that, and don’t get me wrong, I understand Jackson Merrell’s hit was good. But like runners on base uh is the story for the Padres’s this series in scoring position. They’re like what two of 23 uh in this series. I don’t have the number right in front of me, but they were one of 12 in the second game and then they were over for in the first game. Just really, really bad stuff from the team. And I I’m I’m I’m sad, right? Like I still want to keep covering the team. And like you said, they had a big trade deadline. So there’s a lot of expectations for this team. There’s a lot of hope that maybe they could come out and be great, but unfortunately this Cubs team just they had it more. They had the home field advantage and they just got this round and now we have what is going to be a very dare I say the one of the longest uh off seasonasons vibes-wise uh for the Padres’s upcoming. Yeah, it’s definitely going to be an interesting off seasonason with all the guys that are, you know, unrestricted free agents, guys that have options, etc., etc. But yeah, I mean the Padres’s had a million and one opportunities to to get some hits and it’s really disappointing when Tatis bats under 100. Manny Machado bats about a hundred like you know that that doesn’t help. Xander Bogarts and Freddy Fine hit well as you mentioned Ryan O’Harn got robbed of some hits. Uh you know it just wasn’t there. You know I picked the Cubs in three on our streaming show for CBSA and my reason was though the opposite side. I felt like the offense kind of turned it on at the end, but I didn’t really trust outside Nick Pavetta, the pitching. Like, I just didn’t know what it was going to be like. I mean, we’d see Michael King not really get into full shape. I know he didn’t end up being named a starter. He was used out of the pin for an inning in in game three. I didn’t know what Udarish would be, even though like he hasn’t given up a bunch of runs and he’s given pretty good innings. Dylan CE, but I thought Dylan CE pitched really well. Nick Petta pitched overall well. It’s just they didn’t put up the runs. you you can give up two, three, still win a baseball game, but when you score one zero, you know, makes it harder. It makes it a lot harder. One run’s not good enough. It’s just not. And, you know, as you said, outside of that, that one big hit from Manny Machado. Yeah. They’re one run pretty much every single game. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. Like, and and the first game was like a sack, right? Like this is just a a team you’re just begging for them to get that one double. And again, it might be I’m going to talk about this offseason, but like this could also be a roster building strategy. We know the Padres’s are all about base hits and wanting to have low strikeouts, but you have seen in the playoffs. And you see every year, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have your Luis Arise, Jake Kernorth, uh, Xander Bogart’s types. But guess what? You know what has decided series? Big home runs, right? And just a team that, and forget home runs, just extra base hits. Things that aren’t little grounders right through the infield or little bloopers, but instead stuff that you’re like, “Wow, that was a bomb. that was a double. All these sort of things and some guys did show up. Got to give a shout out to Jackson Barrel, the early favorite to lead the Padres’s all frankly like advanced statistics next year. That guy might be a seven- win player next year. He was awesome towards the end of the year and had a very good series as well. I love just seeing like him get that solo home run and yelling at Bogey like, “Come on, let’s do this.” But unfortunately, too little too late, but not too little and not too late for you guys to stay tuned on this. I messed that up. Not too little info on today’s podcast though. I almost had it, man. I’m not as, you know, TV refined as you are. But we’re going to keep talking about this series, talk a little bit about the pitching and a little bit of a Mike Schult decision that I think is worth at least bringing up. Although that certainly isn’t the person to blame. You’re listening to Locked on Padre’s podcast, guys. Be right back. Let me just tell you guys real quick about one of our sponsors. That is our friends, Prize Picks. Folks, we love it. Every day we make decisions, but on prize picks, being right can actually get you paid. 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Adrian Mhorn the Mason Miller viral uh pitches that I’ve seen all over Reddit and whatnot um over the last 24 hours. And then you have Udarish who only goes an inning in this game unfortunately. Uh, he looked really bad. It wasn’t lucky hits that the Cubs were getting. They were ripping the ball. Kudos to Mike Schult taking him out. Jeremiah Estrada, just a tiny little nice little moment. That guy’s been struggling like crazy for the past couple months. I still think he has crazy talent. Comes in, bases loaded, no outs, and an elimination game is an impossibly hard situation. He does allow one walk, but gets out of the jam, gets the double play, and he goes one more inning after that. And then for the rest of the game, Michael King goes one inning. You get Wani Peralta, he does okay. Robert Suarez doesn’t give up a run with a solo shot, but at the same time, look, the bullhead was gassed. They were using all these guys, Boron and Morgan. They showed up. Not much to complain about there. I will bring up though, uh, Michael King only going one inning, I think is something that is going to be a question for people because look, again, the storyline and the reason they lost is not pitching just for sake of asking the question. It is very weird that Michael King, a starting pitcher, um, who has been a multi-inninging reliever before. So, I thought he was going to go maybe two, three innings, and instead Schult defers and decides to go with some of these guys like Suarez and Mon who might be a little bit gassed. You saw what happened with Suarez. It’s a little bit of a question. So, what I’m saying now is not even playing Mike Shel as much, but if you’re a Padres’s fan, you’ve got to be wondering like, is there anything going on with Michael King? Does he have a little bit of an injury? Was it just a matchup thing? I don’t know exactly, but that was definitely one thing that I noticed for sure. Could you imagine telling a Padres’s fan before the season, you’re going to get to the postseason, you’re gonna be in the NL wild card and Michael King’s only going to go pitch one inning in the three-game series. Yeah. Could you imagine telling Padres’s fans that? I mean, like, I know like you don’t give him the full context of the nerve injury he had in his shoulder. you don’t give him the full context that he’d go through a left knee inflammation injury and that he’d be on the IIL for a really long time and he missed a lot of games and he really wasn’t able to get built up. But it is just crazy that he did not pitch more in game three of this game. When we came into this postseason and Mike Schilz had named, you know, Nick Paveta, Dylan CE, U Darvish, I figured, you know, I figured what was going to happen was Cease was going to pitch three or four. You bring in Michael King for three maybe and then you you kind of ride it out and and see what happens because I know King hasn’t been fantastic. I mean, that Mets start awful and you know, he started against the uh the White Socks there towards the end of the year. He left the bases loaded by the time he left the game. He was still struggling with his control. I get it. But as you mentioned, because you had just used Mason Miller for an extended period of time, pitched him in both. You had Adrien you pitched him a lot. Robert Sores as early as he was was a little bit of surprise, but I mean that as we know, they didn’t really have that many people, which is kind of why I refer back to why Jason Adam not being a part of this team in the postseason was a big loss. But I was I was scratching my head a little bit when Michael King didn’t go, you know, a couple of innings because he threw well in the inning that he pitched. And, you know, it felt like he was good. Didn’t really feel like he wasn’t having his control, I’d have given him at least the start of the inning and see how he did. And you know, I think for Suarez to go as long as he did. Yeah. I know that Mike Schultz said in the postgame press conference that he was fresh and and they really hadn’t used him much because, you know, had some time off and then game two was, you know, when he pitched, but it just felt I don’t know, man. They never use Robert Sores. And I mean, they have, but like not commonly in an extended period like that where he’s getting over 30 pitches. And I do feel like that’s the reason why Bush was able to hit that home run as I don’t think Suarez is used to keeping his stuff going for as long as he did. And as you said, it didn’t end up costing him, but maybe it could have. Who knows? You know, you you alluded to it earlier and you’re like, I don’t want to talk about the ands, ifs, and buts of Xander Bogarts getting on base, but if you are in a bases loaded situation with no outs, let’s just say that’s what ended up happening and you’re only down a run compared to two, it changes the ball game a lot, a lot. And you know, you gota you got to play for not at the end of the day. Bullpin, you know, with Suarez only gave up one inning Adrien despite as much. He’s pitched came in and was phenomenal. um you know you you have that but in a in a series where you knew it was going to be tight why even risk give up a run is kind of the question that I asked. Not that Michael King may have not have but you know that’s just kind of where I was. And again you still we got to wait to see maybe we’re going to get a report that’s like Michael King’s injury was bad and they were like we don’t know if he’s going to fall apart. I even floated a conspiracy to my man Big Jim Greece who does the postcast here for the Black Ops channel. But I floated a conspiracy theory like is there a Josh hater situation going on? For those who don’t remember Josh Hater very infamously uh basically was like I’m not pitching more than my usual three outs because I’m a free agent and I got screwed over by the Brewers so many times. Michael King potentially a free agent. Like is that part of this? I don’t really think so. Again, this is me just being totally totally hypothetical and I have no this is all pure speculation and it’s frankly probably wrong, but it is something that popped into my head because it was such a bizarre decision, but and and like you said, one run lead, maybe that changes things dramatically. It’s true. It makes you think like why aren’t you saving some of your bullpen guys for a little bit later or having Michael King go longer, especially when he struck out three batters in his one inning um appearance in this one. So, that is a question, but again, it’s all about the offense, man. I mean, a nightmarish series for Jake Cronorth in particular. I don’t believe he got a hit in this series. He made some contact, right? And he didn’t swing at the worst pitches, but the contact wasn’t good. He couldn’t draw any walks. Freddy Fine, uh, an amazing final game, right? Not only does he get two hits, a double in this one. He played well in the series. Yeah, he played well in the series. He had some clutch factor to him. Throws out two runners in this game. He showed up. Right. Xander Bogarts considering that he’s been this roller coaster of just I think the W for Xander Bogarts this year was just like okay thank god he’s a serviceable yeah like at least he’s a serviceable player right because there was a moment this year where it was like this guy’s a 240 hitter and we have him for nine years at least he’s going to at least be okay a slightly above average player and he did slightly above average player things in this series right he had some walks the stolen base should have had another walk at the end of the game so he was fine and Manny Machado has the one hit But then it’s like Tatis 0 for four with threeks. The swings that he had too. I mean, he looked indecisive. The the half swing that he did on a pitch outside, swinging a miss, a strike on the pitch that practically almost hit him, as my dad would call it, a sucker pitch. Like all all really really bad from this lineup, but you had some positives, but overall the story with this Padres’s team all year was runners and scoring position. They just didn’t do it. And this is why prioritizing some guys that yes, they’ll strike out. Yes, god forbid they might have a low batting average, but as long as they hit for power, those are the type of players you have to try and have in your lineup sometimes. I know they’re missing Lauraniano, but uh they just didn’t come through um in this series. And it’s unfortunate because there are a lot of questions now, unlike the Cubs where I think that they are still on kind of the beginning of this next era of Cubs baseball post their 2016 2017 run. Um there’s a lot more questions for the Padres’s because of what they gave up at the deadline. So we’re going to talk about some of those questions. If Caric has any major big questions as we head into the off season. Um this is the Locked On Sad Friday Padres’s podcast, guys. We’ll be right back in just a second. But first, let me shout out our friends over at FanDuel. With the NFL season here, FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. Whatever you want, guys, whatever game you want, FanDuel is here for you all season long. It’s great. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fandle.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. And just like that everybody, we are into the waning moments of the Lockdown Padres’s podcast. The the not so fun fun Friday, but I’m glad to be joined by Caric Vancraman of CBS8 Sports San Diego. Let’s do it, man. Let’s I mean, this is what you have to do after a season like this. AJ Per gives up a golden egg top tier prospect who’s like 19 years old. I’m not talking about because some people like they get a little bit confused. I’m not saying that I think that dude is necessarily going to be a stud, but it was a huge asset, right? An asset that you use to improve the team via trade. Um, and they don’t necessarily have that many guys. AJ Prowler, you know, it’s going to be really interesting what offse what he does in the offseason. Can they bring back Michael King is in my opinion one of the big first questions. He’s got a mutual option. And considering that he didn’t throw much in this postseason, considering that he didn’t throw much this year at all, I actually think that strangely that could be a silver lining because if he did deal this season the way that say Blake Snell did for the team in 2023, right? Then Exactly. like you might see him go out and get paid that 150 million contract, but now it might behoove him to maybe sign a little bit of a two-year deal or maybe just take the mutual option that a lot of, you know, Boris clients tend to do where they take the prove it deal like a player option for three years. I can opt out after each one, then I could go get paid. It’s potentially helpful for the club and the player. It’s just a new trend that we’ve seen, especially with Boris clients. Um, so that’s a big question and I think that it also goes handinhand with whether or not uh Michael King potentially had he was banged up and we didn’t know. Maybe that’s why he only went one inning. It was very bizarre during the broadcast when they interviewed Schult and they’re like, “Hey, you know, use it all the pett and he’s like, yeah, we’ll find a way.” And I’m like, “Well, the way is Michael K.” So, I would like to know, was he banged up? Because that was your guy to go another two innings potentially. Um, so that’s my my first main question. And the second main question before I kick it over to you. Sure. Is anyone getting fired? And I am not a fan of it. I do not I’m gonna I look I’m fresh off the loss, but right now I don’t want to fire anybody. I’m totally cool with Mike Schult right now. Uh I have some questions for him certainly, but I would rather keep him. And AJ Prowler, look, he’s potentially the best scout in the game. I will say if you are someone that is saying someone should be fired then you would probably just as someone who’s watched sports for a while you cannot say well I want to get rid of Schill. The reason why I don’t think you could do that is because this will now be like the eighth manager that AJ Peller has hired. What’s the common denominator if you guys want something someone fired? It’s AJ Prell, right? Usually guys, if you see an organization that hires like 10 head coaches, it’s usually on the GM. And if it’s not on the GM, it’s on the owner. That’s just in my experience. You don’t just happen to get unlucky eight times in a row with who you’re hiring, right? And if you think Schult’s bad, then AJ Peller hired him. So that’s a thing. But I’m not for that. But it is going to be the question. Peter Sidler’s passing, he was really close with AJ Peller. Like that was a big um alliance, you know, partnership that those two had. and with new ownership, uh, everything’s on the table potentially. So, that’s what I have for my two biggest questions. Can the team retain Michael King slash was there sort of injury with him? And number two is AJ Prowler, Mike Schill, hitting coaches, pitching coaches. Is anyone getting fired? What about you? Yeah. Uh, Michael King, you know, just to address that, he did say after the game that he’s going to be weighing all his options. Uh, he said it would be easy for him to, you know, after the season he had kind of settle and, you know, pick up that mutual option as long as the team’s willing, of course, with it being a mutual option. uh you know and stick with the Padres’s but something he’s gonna have to weigh and I do think you know the Padres’s financially it’ll help him the fact that he didn’t play games and uh this year and you know the Padres’s will probably point to that and you know they probably got him for less in the arbitration than he’s pro he probably was worth coming into this year and so I think that will kind of be played out into this upcoming contract whether he just picks up the option whether an extension happens I don’t know I think it would really behoove the Padres’s to keep He’s a beast and then you assume that you’re bringing back you know I’m not assuming you’re bringing back you Darvish and Joe Musgrove presumably will be good to go and hopefully he’s of the the Joe Musgrove of old and obviously you’re going to lose Don’t cease but you have Nick Paveta and that’s pretty solid you know if Michael King can stay healthy and return to what we know him to be Nick Paveta continues to pitch anywhere in the stratosphere of which he pitched this year can stay healthy and return to what we believe Udarvish could be just now I know those are a lot of ifs but you know putting all that together. Great core. Love to see Michael King back with the Padres’s obviously uh because you know it wasn’t a great season for him. As for firing, I don’t think there’s a chance and you know what that anybody’s getting fired. I just don’t see it. I think that AJ Prowler, you know, I think he’s going to get a little bit of a leash. Still relatively like young dude and I think he does get the job done bringing in talent. You also have to remember that San Diego is a medium-sized market. Like they don’t have the money that like the LA’s and the Yankees do. So, you know, for me it’s one of those things that I think they continue to figure out. Obviously, you know, what is the leash on that? You have these talented players. It’s not like the Padres’s are, you know, just Guardians level worth of talent. You know, that’s my team, so I’m going to throw out that. But like where you just have like a Jose Ramirez and then trying to figure out guys careful, you’re trying to figure out guys like George Valera to come in and try and save you and Big Christmas isn’t there or whatever. Anyway, I’m on my rampant because my guardians lost, but uh my point being is like they still have talent on the team. So, that is the line like at that. But you know, Mike Schil, man, he’s been two years and he’s got 91 seasons in back-to-back seasons. The best underpellar 91 seasons, third place being Bob Melvin in 23 or I’m sorry, in 22 when he had 89 wins. And to the other fact, like this team’s relevant like I know Schult wasn’t here for four postseasons in the last six seasons, but he has contributed a major part to that in backtoback years for the first time in, you know, quite some time. We’re talking decades and and years. So, it’s just, you know, for me it’s I don’t think that’s going to happen. I also think the Padres’s are big clubhouse family oriented thing. You know, Ruben Yabel is not going anywhere. I feel like the way that he managed this bullpen and honestly with how injured his pitchers were, he still found ways to get stuff out of them, he’s not going anywhere. So, you it to me, I don’t I don’t foresee any firings happen. I think it’s just a matter of you have to re-evaluate the talent on this team and you got to figure out how it needs to be better. I don’t know how that is. You know, I’m not a general manager myself or I’m not a manager for that matter. You know, the farthest I’ve ever gotten in baseball is playing bench for little league baseball. So, maybe I’m not the one to answer this question, but I do know that, you know, for the second postseason in a row, the Padres’s go out in flames with their offense not coming up big. Y and Fernando Tatis Jr. talked about it after the game, too. Offense wasn’t good. He used more profane words than that. I’m not going to repeat him, but you know, they’re obvious they’re obviously not happy with, you know, how how things ended and why this offense has has sputtered seemingly again in in a big moment. And um that’s tough. That’s something they got to re-evaluate and they got to figure out how they get bats consistent. And frankly, the bats weren’t consistent the whole year. So, you know, this is kind of a product of where we are. We I guess, you know, many hope that we would be at this point and the way that the season ended. Maybe they had just figured it out as Tatis was going bonkers. Machado is going bonkers. You mentioned Jackson Merrell picked it up at the back end of the season played great. Xander Bogards after coming back from that fractured foot still was hitting the ball well enough. And yeah, they just got to figure it out, man. And Raone Lauriano not being there I think definitely hurts them. When he was at the bottom of the lineup after they got him from the trade deadline, the Padres’s were awesome. They were. So, you know, I think there’s questions to answer and how much of that is would Raone Lauraniano at the bottom of the lineup helped out a lot more? Uh was is do we need to reevaluate guys like unrestricted free agents like Luis Rise? Do we do we bring him back or do we seek other options or what what that will be is going to be very interesting. I know there’s been a lot of debate at the top of the lineup with a guy like Luis Rice too. So yeah, those questions I guess are going to get answered and you know those are kind of my same questions. I am interested to see what they do with a rise and you know what they do at the top of that lineup and they try to go for more power ops type of deal or they just want to get guys on base. Sometimes it worked. It worked in you know the first game where uh Tatis gets on first, Rise moves him over with a single, Tatis steals third and they do get that sack fly in for a run. So you know there is value to playing you know that kind of small ball. Price can also bunt, but there’s going to be questions like that as we go to the postseason or the offseason, I should say. The postseason’s over. Uh, you know, what what will the Padres’s do and how will they reinvent their lineup because frankly, it just has to be better. It was a good summation, man. I think what I’m going to conclude today’s episode with is my TLDDR for the offseason. And what I mean by that is I’m going to It’s like the Here’s how I should say it. the meme of the kid who’s looking at the castle. And it could either go in the dark haunted way or the light shining way. Let’s go with the dark way. The dark way is that everybody’s a year older. Ma Bashau is going to be a year older. Udarvish is going to be a year older. Joe Muskro is going to be older. This is a team that already has a high payroll and has shown an interest in lowering it. Not necessarily a ton to the point where they’re going to be what they used to be back in ’06 when they or back in 2013 when they can’t even pay Chase Headley like $50 million, right? I don’t think that’s necessarily happening, but with roster constraints, not a team that necessarily is going to be able to hand out a big free agent contract. And again, that’ll be another thing for the offseason, the free agents. So, that’s not great. The farm system very depleted, especially after the Leo Dere trade. On the positive side of things, just to give everybody maybe a silver lining heading into the weekend, right, is Raone Lauraniano going to be back next year, player, club option. He’s going to be back for sure. Luis Rise, he’s a free agent. I personally don’t think that right now uh that that is the type of player that you need in this lineup and I think that he has not shown that he can be a good player on a good team at the moment. Uh if he returns to 2023 or 2022 level maybe but as of right now don’t like the defense. He had a moment in this game when he maybe didn’t run as hard as he could by the way to first base. We didn’t talk about that. That wasn’t great. He’s not fast. Can’t play could have brought him in on a run potentially that ball hits the corner if he does get the first. So you might have a new batter there instead of a rise at the top of the order. You might have a little bit extra cash there potentially to spend. Um and speaking of Jackson Merrill, Jackson Merrill, if there’s one thing he showed us in the last month and a half of of the season and in the postseason is this guy could be a super duper star and be a seven- win player next year. He was in and out of the lineup all year. If you just have him all next year, that might be enough along with Tatis with his all-around play. And then if you bring back Michael King, considering, like I said, considering he didn’t pitch too much, what we talked about with him, your rotation could potentially look like Nick Paveta, uh, in no order. Nick Paveta, Ud, Darvish, Joe Musgrovev coming back from Tommy John, Michael King, and by the way, Udarvish as a backend starter, not the worst thing in the world to root for. And I believe personally, Mason Miller is going to be a starting pitcher next year. I believe that’s why they gave up a big prospect. He came into league as a starter. I think Peller was like, I’m willing to do this because he helps us out this year and I could turn him into a starting pitcher next year. They’ve had some luck with that with Seth Lugo in the past. Um, and it’s been a little bit of a trend in baseball. So, that could be a rotation. That doesn’t sound too bad, right? You have Lauriano, you still could have a guy like Sheeps, sheets, a cheap decent bat. So, there are silver linings for this team uh to keep an eye out on. You have Freddy Ferine for the whole year, right? a decent solid catcher, more of a backup, but a solid catcher at the very minimum who’s going to have good defense, going to call games and all that sort of stuff. Ethan Salah, their top prospect remaining at the very minimum from what I’ve been told. Extremely extremely gifted defender at the minimum. So maybe he becomes your backup next year. That feels pretty good. So basically what I’m trying to say is it’s not all over. But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t be full u you know, full disclosure. I said it many times this year. I said it last year, right after the playoffs ended. I said it this year at the beginning of the season. It really feels like 2024 was the year. It really does. 2025 was a little bit more of the the corpse of a great 2024 team. A corpse that was lingering on, right? It was doing it was Doctor Strange in that one movie when he’s carrying the dead body, right? Like he’s still doing stuff with it, right? He’s Deadpool. You can’t put him down, right? But still a little bit weaker. Um but we’ll have to see, guys. We’ll have to see. But that’s it, man. That’s it. Caric, man. Tough out here. It’s tough out here, man. It happens. Everybody, thank you as always for tuning in to Lockdown Podies podcast. The only pod that may be better than the Padres themselves. Leave your comments in the comment section below. I imagine we’re going to get a lot of Dodgers fun people uh using the term Madres, and that’s a self-t report when used as an insult. But I’m looking forward to the comments. We’ll be answering them all throughout next week. All the comments, all the takes. And again, we’re still back next week. Gonna be talking free agents, big questions, all sorts of stuff. It’s not going to be fun necessarily. It’s not going to be thrilling. And I understand some people might not want to even listen or talk about the Padres’s for weeks, but I will be here if you would like potentially being your little therapist on the side. And of course, go check out Caric over at CBS8 Sports San Diego. My man, any final words before we depart? Hopefully next season’s better, man. Hopefully next season. There’s always next year. Thank you everybody for listening and until next time, stay safe and of course stay faithful. My fire faithful homies, take care.

Padres’ postseason dreams shattered as Cubs clinch Wild Card series. Can San Diego bounce back in 2026?

Host Javier Reyes and CBS8 Sports’ Karthik Venkataraman break down the Padres elimination, highlighting offensive woes and pitching decisions. They analyze Fernando Tatis Jr.’s struggles, Yu Darvish’s disappointing start, and Michael King’s limited usage. The duo also explores crucial offseason questions, including potential roster changes, free agent targets, some silver linings for 2026 (if anything), and whether or not Mike Shildt and AJ Preller’s jobs are on the line. It’s been an honor, ya’ll. Go Padres.

0:00 Intro: Padres are done.
5:42 Offense struggles and missed opportunities
11:50 Pitching decisions and bullpen usage
16:12 Key players performances in the series
22:01 Immediate questions for the offseason
29:01 Some silver linings

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