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Padres News:Bruce Bochy Impressed with New Look San Diego Padres

By Daryll Dorman

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Division rivals are taking notice of these new San Diego Padres. That includes former Padres manager and player Bruce Bochy, now the manager of the team that has won the World Series every even season since 2008 the San Francisco Giants.

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As reported by the UT’s Tom Krasovic earlier this week, Bochy has certainly taken notice of another division rival in the rear view mirror:

"“This Preller, it looks like he was ready to shake things up. He changed their ballclub, and we know it. Obviously I’ve got enough on my plate here with mine — but everybody knows what he did this winter with the club…Obviously they’re a team to be reckoned with.”"

The Padres certainly hope so, and their fans are already sensing the excitement with an uptick in ticket sales since the December to Remember. The Giants find themselves once again in an interesting position as defending World Champions in that several key players have left the team without being replaced.

Gone is World Series MVP and veteran Pablo Sandoval. Gone is Michael Morse who had a career year in left field for the Giants and several huge post-season hits.

A year older are starting pitchers Tim Hudson, Ryan Vogelsong and Jake Peavy. Tim Lincecum, who continues to confound the Padres by throwing a no-hitter every season against the Padres but struggling against nearly everyone else, will be given another chance to hold down the fifth spot in the rotation.

Of course, they still do have catcher and leader Buster Posey – who still has won the World Series every season he has stayed healthy except for 2013 – Hunter Pence in right, and Madison Bumgarner, who just wrapped up arguable the best post-season pitching performance in history. If you missed it, make sure to watch.

All that to say don’t count out the Giants just yet, and the Dodgers of course will always be strong and countering with Clayton Kershaw, fresh off another Cy Young but disastrous post-season performance. While the Padres will bring in their highest payroll ever to a season, they are still just about half of the Dodgers behemoth payroll.

It is easy to forget though that the Padres actually tied the Giants for third place in the National League West just two years ago in 2013, and how quickly the disparity in baseball can be filled. The Giants did not re-make their roster between 2013 and 2014. They had a few games here and there that went their way in 2014 and not in 2013.

Yet the difference between a third place finish and World Series champions is not as large in baseball as it used to be. The wild card spots allowed the Giants and Royals to get into the playoffs and the opportunity to win it all. With the changes on the Padres roster they have added talent, experience, and a new mindset that this is the year.

For Bruce Bochy, who has managed or played on all five Padres playoff teams, he looks forward to a renewed rivalry between his former club and his current club. No doubt we will be watching these two teams battle it out all summer long.

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