The Padres are done.
After Saturday night's 3-2 loss to Houston, the Padres are now 5 games behind first-place Arizona in the National League West, and they look about as lively as a tuna fish sandwich.
Yeah, we know they're still in the wild-card race, but take a look at all the other teams battling for the wild card -- Philadelphia, Atlanta, etc. Just about every one of those wild-card teams is better than San Diego, particularly on offense.
And the Padres know they're not a very good team right now. We're starting to see it on the players' faces, too. As soon as the Padres fall behind by a couple runs, you can see that
here we go again look. At this point, you get the sense that even the Padres themselves know their offense sucks.
In addition to their woeful offense, the Padres' plight has been sealed by the fact that the team they're chasing this time around ain't the Dodgers. Everyone knows the Dodgers can always be counted on to fade late in the season, and the Padres -- both the players and the team's management -- no doubt were banking on that again this season.
But somebody forgot to tell the Padres that the Dodgers aren't the only other team in the NL West.
The Padres have seemed woefully ill-prepared to answer what has been an incredible run by the Arizona Diamondbacks in recent weeks. Not to mention a resurgent Colorado team, as well.
You've got to wonder about the clubhouse chemistry of this team. There's been a lot of turnover since the All-Star break. Most recently, the club parted ways with supersize lefty David Wells, a popular yet hefty figure in the clubhouse. It should be noted that the Padres are only 4-6 since the the
Fat Man and his flabby left arm were designated for assignment.
Now that the Padres are dead, fans can turn their attention to more important matters -- only a few weeks until football season.
