The Padres have a GOLDEN opportunity…

The Padres have a GOLDEN opportunity…

Padres’s seem to have a golden opportunity to add some power into the lineup. Let’s talk about the latest headlines and everything going on with the Friars. Back on another episode of Padres’s Digest. Thank you everyone for tuning in. I’m Christian Pettison, one of your two hosts of the show that is currently confused as to why there is rain falling from the sky in Southern California. We didn’t sign up for this. We didn’t sign up for the cold, but what we did sign up for was a lifong uh curse of mediocrity for me and the Padres. But hey, there could be hope. uh there that you know there is always hope. But on the serious notes, we’ve got to talk about another international. Let’s let’s call this one a power hitter. Not quite a star, but a power hitter that the Padres’s have been linked to. As always, I love hearing from you guys. Drop a comment below on anything this video related or if there’s something else that you want to see a video on. And if you want to join our our little our little community of of nerd duwells and uh and miscreants, cuz that’s what you all got to be if you’re Padres’s fans. Um if you have committed to this life, something has to be a little off. But hey, if you want to join us, hit the subscribe button. Let’s talk about one of the latest headlines that I have seen of the Padres’s and it’s another international. This one though uh is is Kazuma Okamoto. I want to talk about Kazuma Okamoto. He is another international star that the Padres’s are being linked to. And I I think that if you dig a little bit deeper here, you know, sometimes with the international stuff, we got to um you know, you’re taking a uh a little bit of a gamble on it, but uh the Padres’s, according to this article, are officially doing their homework on Kazuma Okamoto as post a Japanese slugger hits the MLB market. I I don’t know what Padres’s doing their homework on it means. Padres’s do I I I will give I will give a lot of credit and props to different parts of the Padres’s organization and I will also call out different parts of the Padres’s organization. One thing though that does seem to stand pretty true and consistent the last let’s call it five years maybe maybe slightly more than that is that the international scouting and signings have been pretty good. We just talked yesterday about Kyle Hart coming back and I, you know, admittedly was eh on that, but that was still in the sense that like he didn’t perform as like the best pitcher in the KBO. So there’s always some degree of like this person’s game is going to change a little bit like but I can’t entirely dismiss international signings as just being like, oh, whatever he was doing there isn’t going to perform here. Here’s the long thing on Okamoto, and apologies as always to everybody doing this on a phone. Uh, he’s a true middle-ofthe-art presence who has already banked six home run titles, 248 career home runs, and six straight 30 homer seasons from 2018 to 2023 in Japan. That kind of sustained production at age 29 is going to draw interest no matter what league you’re in. He’s primarily a first and third baseman, but with Manny Machado locked in at third for the Padres’s, the cleaner fit would be at first base and designated hitter. Two spots on the depth chart where San Diego has been searching for a reliable everyday presence. All right, so a 29year-old Japanese power hitter is a little bit older than like the standard issue. Usually it’s guys coming out at 25 and getting like bidding war top dollars. And there is also already other Japanese stars kind of above Okamoto this year who are maybe going to draw a little bit more of a um bidding war or attention or fight or if you will. But here here’s here’s what I like and kind of what I disagree with about that uh that assessment there. They said Manny is locked in at third for the Padres’s. So a first DH thing is what the Padres’s are probably seeking. I I would say that Manny is not Manny is locked in at third base in so much as that I just I don’t necessarily see Manny um sprinting over enthusiastically to like, oh yeah, I’ll become a first baseman on team behalf, but I don’t see Manny locked in at third base in the sense of like he’s never willing to take a day off in the field to uh to DH and let his knees or his back or or is whatever rest, recover, load management. Uh I I’m I’m not trying to, you know, knock on studio wood, uh but I’m not trying to say that Manny’s going to get injured, but Manny is Manny is going to be a Padre through his 30s and into his 40s, and it’s unlikely that he stays at the hot corner for 160 games a season every single year, like with cat-like reflexes. So, that being said, Manny, I I think you could see someone like Okamoto coming in and being like, you’re going to play five out of six games this week or six. Like, you’re going to play every day, but it’s going to be in a situation where one game’s at third, two games are at first, and uh you know, a game or two at DH. Look, here here’s here’s where I’m at right now. is is looking up and down this and I this is the depth chart of all the infield positions and I and apologies as always to people who view this on phones if my graphics are a little bit small. You don’t need to know too much here other than I think this the the the point of this right here is just to say that we are not one piece away from this being murderers row. This is a good not great situation. Having um minimal to no depth really at any of these positions I think puts us in a situation where if the Padres’s come in and land like one big killer dude who’s going to be at first B like that that only fit that that fits for that one day that that lineup is there. But what happens over the course of 162 when that guy goes through a little bit of a regression or when our second baseman you sprains his calf sliding in or something like baseball’s a randomization sport where during the year there are just moments where like the team’s just kind of held together with duct tape and goodwill. So I kind of like the thought of yes we want somebody to be our first basement. Obviously, we want somebody to be our DH, but I kind of like the thought of of some of you guys said this yesterday with the Kyle Hart video of let’s just accumulate arms. Let’s just see what sticks. I I I’m okay right now with let’s just accumulate bats and see what sticks. And if we can get somebody like uh like a Kazuma Okamoto and sign back Oh Hearn and get like a cheaper older JT Real Muto and then we’re you know we brought back Lauriana and left all of that collectively there might not be an individual piece that we’re like oh like perfect it fixes everything but like being in the category for sticking the mod podge of like four dudes who all can hit something 12 like something doubledigit home runs could be a windfall for the like this could be what the Padres’s actually need instead of inserting you know prime time best player ever like look at I look look at the Angels Mike Trout generational greatness show generational greatness they couldn’t get it done with both of those guys I don’t I think baseball is a sport where you can build a big three type vibe. I think baseball is a sport where unless you’re going to spin like the Dodgers and just have everybody good at every single position kind of sometimes you just got to scattershot it and accumulate mid-tier assets. And not that a guy who is 29 and has crushed a ton of home runs is a mid-tier asset, but he’s not the biggest best prospect out there right now from the Japanese league. So I think the Padres’s could kind of slide in and be like, “Hey, international slot.” Like I said, let Arias walk. They let CE and King go. They get some draft picks there. They put some other mid-tier guys in the rotation. The bullpen is elite. The team gets a bounceback year from some other stars. I know I’m trying to get into the whatifs a little bit, but I I kind of like this. I like being linked to guys who at least have some power. So, that’s where we’re at right now. Padres’s they’ve got another major or another uh Japanese professional baseball player that they have targeted. We will keep you updated on all things going on with him and all other international signes and intrigue from the Padres’s off season. Let me know though what you think specifically about Yakamoto, but also just in general about the Padres’s approach this offseason and how they’re going to fill and handle some of these uh needs and vacancies on the team. And as always, if you want to hit the subscribe button, I ain’t going to hate you for it. Talk to you next time.

On this episode Christian Pedersen reacts to the latest news on international signings.
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