Sez Me …
Let’s get real and not tiptoe around on pointe shoes.
The Padres don’t have many players who should not be touched. From the farms to the Show, they do have all of three — Fernando Tatis Jr., Mason Miller and Jackson Merrill.
Maybe you’re surprised by one of my choices. More on that in a second.
In baseball, The Untouchables have nothing to do with Eliot Ness. Or Capone. Or Prohibition. Or the FBI.
They are the players who are invaluable. In most cases, those traded away cannot be replaced. Unless the team — usually a desperate, penurious stiff — gets lucky and finds a Rembrandt hidden behind some hack’s chromo in a dusty attic.
I know I haven’t gone easy on Tatis. Called him a bust. But a different kind of bust. A power bust. But you can’t give up on a player who still can hit a ball 450 feet.
There’s something wrong, somewhere. To trade him would be a grievous error. He’s young. He turned 27 in January. He’s the finest right fielder (when not playing a very legit but unnecessary second base) in the sport. He can run. He seems healthy.
Watching him go somewhere else and shine would bring shade to this franchise and city, which would lose its most popular player.
Jackson Merrill? He’s a fine center fielder. Very young (23 as of April), with some power. You need a center fielder in Petco. He’s homegrown. They’re not easy to find.
Meanwhile, in that GM A.J. Preller has left himself few options — with the big club, where huge money is being spent on low production, and the farm, which he has dried up — there have been rumors Miller could be traded.
Allowing the best closer in the game to depart would be one of the biggest mistakes made by a franchise that has made too many of them.
Miller, who’s now more dominant than any closer who’s ever closed, is under club control for three more years. If anything, he should be locked up and extended.
The worst rumor in the sporting world has had the Padres trading for Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, who, like Miller, can throw 100 mph-plus.
Chapman is 38. Miller is 27. This is first-grade arithmetic.
There is a small corner Preller has painted himself into, and there isn’t a Rembrandt he can just hack over. …
Is Brandon Aiyuk really worth all this attention? He’s a wide receiver, No. 1, which makes him more important off the field than on it. No. 2, he deserted the 49ers last season (he blames his ex-agent). No. 3, he’s not exactly Jerry Rice. …
Adding to his problems, Aiyuk apparently wants to play for the Commanders, who aren’t jumping out of their shorts to grab him. …
If you think the most impressive player in an NFL camp is a backup quarterback, then you’re either watching a bad team, or can’t get it through your head that 7-on-7 drills are for amateurs. …
Justin Herbert has spent most of the NFL Team That Used To Be Here’s minicamp working on footwork prescribed by new offensive coordinator/physician Mike McDaniel. Justin knows how to throw to open receivers, even off the wrong foot. …
The NFL has nixed Brendan Sorsby’s attempt to get The League to hold a supplemental draft. Know what this means? Green supplements for lawyers. …
Does this insinuate the NFL no longer will have a gambling partner? Hypocrites don’t have the teeth to bite the hand that feeds them. …
If Sorsby wants to play in Canada, he might try hockey. The CFL doesn’t want him, either. …
Man, the stars are shining in this World Cup. The big boys have come out to play. …
Ivory Coast soccer coach Emerse Faé criticized Germany’s lack of “fair play.” Didn’t Churchill first say that? …
I don’t know if Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player of all time, but if he’s not, he will be in 50 years. …
Mbappé really is good, too. But Messi and Ronaldo are easier to pronounce and spell. …
Meaningless World Cup games are NFL exhibitions — only with wild fans. …
Shohei Ohtani homered for his new child. The Dodgers lost. That’s OK. Congratulations all around. …
You do not choke the U.S. Open. The U.S. Open chokes you. …
Stalin would have received more appreciation from New York golf fans than Wyndham Clark. …
All majors should adopt Masters protocol. No cell phones. No running. Idiots who yell are thrown out. …
If it’s not in Great Britain, where things are British — and thus, different — I like my golf courses with trees. …
I thought the NASCAR races at North Island were beautiful. I wonder how many people know it’s the birthplace of Naval aviation? It is the military’s Kitty Hawk. …
Hopefully, NASCAR returns next year to the Naval Station Coronado turns. But please, please, not on the Fourth of July. How much bending can that bridge endure? …
Wimbledon begins Monday, and Serena Williams will take part in singles competition. I’d be more excited if it were Steffi Graf, but, as much as I admire the Williams sisters, Steffi knew when her time was up. …
In 1885, a German professor discovered that most of what you learn cramming for tests goes away in 48 hours. I crammed — really crammed — for one test at SDSU. Right up to game time. Thought I knew every answer. Got a 74. C. Thanks, prof. …
The Heat gave up a ton to the Bucks for The Greek Freak. But nobody in the NBA is smarter than Pat Riley. This is his last stand. …
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson is the best pure player in this NBA draft. His rap is health. He missed games due to cramps. But this is pro ball. He can miss 20 games, easy, and be Rookie of the Year (which has no restrictions). …
Is it true an American canoeist was arrested for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool? Hadn’t that already been done by reconstruction? …
The pool is a disaster, but at least they found Jimmy Hoffa. …
Oklahoma won the College World Series. Finished 11th in the SEC. Stunk coming into the tournament. Baseball. It can not be figured. …
Great retirement to ESPN’s Linda Cohn. Groundbreaker. Thirty-four years of getting it right. …
Dusty May, who just won an NCAA title at Michigan, is leaving to coach the NBA’s Mavericks. College coaches have a great recent history of success once reaching the NBA. Kind of like Napoleon vs. the Duke of Wellington. …
See where Finland has been named the happiest country. So the Finns have a real reason for not allowing me in. …
There are things that can’t be explained without aid from a higher authority. The persecution of Caitlin Clark is one. If there are lucky stars, jealous WNBA players should thank them for Caitlin every waking moment. Without her, they are four letters. …
Caitlin should go play overseas. That’ll teach ‘em. …
Watch parties are fun. I never knew “Storage Wars” was so popular. …
Giants teammate Monte Irvin on Willie Mays: “It was his solemn duty to catch a ball that wasn’t in the stands.”