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 CNN/SI Preview: San Diego Padres
Posted: Friday March 19, 1999 04:33 PM
Player to Watch: Ruben Rivera, OFBaseball has been waiting five years for Ruben Rivera to stop being a prospect and start being an All-Star. The San Diego Padres hope the watch can finally end this spring. Rivera was tabbed as the New York Yankees' top minor-league player two years in a row before he was traded to San Diego in May 1997 in the deal that brought Hideki Irabu to New York. To date, the $3 million the Padres got with Rivera has been the only thing keeping both sides of the deal from wondering who came out worse. Rivera batted just .209 last year in a limited role that saw him hit six home runs with 29 RBIs in 172 at-bats. With Greg Vaughn and Steve Finley gone in the offseason, San Diego is banking on Rivera being able to step up and be an every-day outfielder. Pro-rate his 1998 statistics over 500 at-bats and Rivera finishes '99 with 17 home runs and 84 RBIs -- that won't be enough for fans who saw Vaughn hit 50 homers and drive in 119 last year. Rivera, just 25, needs to stay healthy and get his average back to the .284 he hit in his first cup-of-coffee with the Yankees in 1996. The holes in the San Diego outfield give him tremendous opportunity -- either to succeed or fail -- in 1999. 1998 Recap (98-64, 1st in NL West)Despite a late-season fade that saw the Padres go .500 over the last 48 games, San Diego stunned the Atlanta Braves and found themselves in the World Series for the second time in team history. Unfortunately, they found the New York Yankees there, and San Diego did little in October except to fuel the best-team-ever debates in New York and frustrate fans with a tantalizing near-miss.
The 1998 season still goes down as the best in Padres history, with six more wins than ever before and the franchise's third division title. Kevin Brown, acquired in the Marlins' fire sale, went 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA, and Greg Vaughn, nearly traded away before the season, hit 50 home runs in the shadow of McGwire and Sosa and drove in 119 runs in what might have been an MVP season some years. Both are gone, however, as the Padres saw five key players from the NL champions find work elsewhere. Brown signed a $105 million deal with the Dodgers, and Vaughn was traded to the Reds for outfielder Reggie Sanders and infielder Damian Jackson. Outfielder Steve Finley took more money to sign with Arizona, and third baseman Ken Caminiti took less money to return to Houston. The same fans who voted to pay for a new stadium were left wondering what the future held in San Diego. 1999 ForecastIt's unfair to compare the Padres' offseason purge to what the Marlins did after their 1997 World Series season. The Padres made solid offers to Brown and Finley, who may turn out to be overpaid in two or three years. Sanders and pitcher Woody Williams aren't as good as Vaughn and Joey Hamilton, but those trades shouldn't be taken as an indication of a team giving up. The Padres won't be the dominating team that held a 74-40 record in August 1998, but they'll be outside contenders to return to the postseason. Even a tough blow like the loss of catcher Carlos Hernandez for the year to an Achilles' tendon injury this spring could have a silver lining in promising Ben Davis, the No. 2 overall pick in the 1995 draft. San Diego spent $32 million to lock up the game's premier closer in Trevor Hoffman, leaving the only question in town as whether there will be as many games to save this season. If starter Andy Ashby can repeat the career year he had in '98 and if the Padres' new additions can mold around veterans like Tony Gwynn and Wally Joyner, this roster still has postseason potential, despite the off-season exodus of the core of last year's league champs. The Padres won't be in the World Series again in 1999, but they won't be the Marlins, either.
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