MLB Preview: San Diego Padres

Padres Looking to Seize Their Last Opportunity at Contention

The 2007 season was a season of missed opportunities for the San Diego Padres as the club was one strike away from making their third playoff appearance in four seasons. The team only needed to win one of their last three regular season games to clinch a playoff spot, and lost two of those three games in extra innings.

The season is even more disappointing when you consider how much the rest of the NL West has improved, and it's hard not to believe that the Padres window of opportunity may have closed.

Now it's time to answer three questions about the 2008 San Diego Padres.

(1) Will the Padres get any contributions from Mark Prior or Randy Wolf this season?

The Padres had a relatively quiet off-season but did make some headlines by signing Mark Prior to a one year contract. The team also signed the less heralded Randy Wolf to take the 4th slot in the rotation. The team will need to get contributions from one, if not both of these veterans to remain in contention in the NL West.

Prior of course was given a plaque in Coopertown by Cubs fans after energizing the club to within one game of the World Series in 2003. Prior was as dominant as any pitcher in baseball during that season, and has since suffered a myriad of injuries that have kept him out of baseball for over a season. Prior appears as if he will be fully healthy my the middle of May, and if that's the case the Padres may have gotten the biggest bargain in baseball by signing him to a four million dollar contract this season.

The team will have to be cautious with Prior, as the Cubs rushed him back to the mound on numerous occasions, which in the end kept him off the mound for a significiantly longer period of time.

Randy Wolf spent last season with the Dodgers, and got off to a great start as he posted a solid 3.41 ERA during his first 11 starts, but during the 2nd half of the season he suffered some setbacks with the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2005, and his numbers went down considerably.

The Padres are hoping they will get the Wolf from the first half of the season as he posted solid strikeout numbers, and uses a devastating curveball to keep hitters off balance.