I think I speak for everyone at BTF that Callix Crabbe deserves more playing time.

There are four clubs on pace to score under 600 runs this year. I don't expect any of them to pull it off, though the Giants may come close. The Nats had the lowest scoring offense in baseball in 2007 with 673 runs*:

Team -- R/G -- R/162
SDP -- 3.34 -- 541.54
SFG -- 3.34 -- 541.54
KCR -- 3.61 -- 584.18
WSH -- 3.91 -- 633.71
BAL -- 4.00 -- 648.00
MIN -- 4.24 -- 687.27

* By contrast, every team in the NL in 1968 scored under 600 runs, save the Reds (690) and the Cubs (612). Both of those teams were aided by the highest ballpark factors in the NL.... In 1969, the expansion San Diego Padres scored all of 468 runs.

The first move may be getting rid of Edmonds. The 37-year-old has been ripped mercilessly in several circles as injury-prone and past his prime. Several observers say that he looks slow and lost at times in the outfield.

Huh. Sounds vaguely familiar.

I don't think San Diego's outfield is old enough.

The Padres are a pretty bad team with no real shot at contending in my humble opinion in the next two years at lest with the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and to a less extent, the Rockies so good and young. The Padres should probably think about rebuilding and trading guys like Giles, Maddux, i.e. good players who can help teams but can't carry them, before the deadline would really help them.

I still think they're a decent team off to a horrible start (lots of guys are playing well below expectations, but nobody is really playing over their head). That said, Russlan is correct that, if things don't turn around quickly, the Padres will need to start trading the pieces they can. Wolf could potentially bring a nice haul.

I figured the Pads would be right up there if the offense were to hold up halfway. It's not, and the Pads could be one of the worst teams in the NL if this keeps going. If their godawful offense (tied with the Giants for last place in the league in runs scored) were the extent of the bad news for the Padres, it would be bad enough, but their bullpen is also the worst in the league, with a 2-10 record all by itself. Make that an even 6-6 record and suddenly the Padres are only one game under .500 and in third place all by themselves.

If they would trade Adrian Gonzalez to a hitters' park, my fantasy team that plays in a park-unadjusted league would be thankful. If that means seeing if Kyle Blanks can hit major league pitching, my Diamond Mind team would appreciate it. Kevin, get 'er done.

Watching them the last three days, it's shocking how little talent they have. Kevin Kouzmanoff, cleanup hitter? They should start shopping their useful parts now.

Are we seeing more vets being cut early this year? Thomas, Michaels, Jones, Broussard, Wilkerson and (one assumes) soon Edmonds. And these aren't the NRI-type vets who get cut all the time, we're talking players their teams expected to be full-time or at least 400+ PA kinda guys.

Not that I disagree with those moves necessarily -- I'd definitely have given Thomas more time (though he's carrying an ISO under 100 in Oakland too, so it's not clear the Jays were wrong exactly) and it's hard to imagine that Wilkerson isn't still at least a useful bench player -- but it seems more than usual for "name" players.

Some other "name" guys who must be close to getting the boot:
Shannon Stewart
Kevin Millar
Mike Lamb
Adam Everett
Casey Blake (though what options do they have?)
Juan Uribe (and Cabrera if there was justice)
just about anybody on the Royals
Gary Sheffield (I doubt it)
Jose Vidro (man is Johjima stinking up the joint, well-timed extension!)
Geoff Jenkins
Paul LoDuca & Johnny Estrada
Wily Mo Pena & Austin Kearns & anybody else who's touched the OF grass for the Nats
Reed Johnson, again (that fast start is long gone and the OPS+ is now 66)
Mark Loretta
Brad Ausmus (bad even by his standards)
Darin Erstad (I'm only joking, he'll never get cut)
too many Pirates to mention
Scott Hatteberg
Tadahito Iguchi

I left the Giants off since they've got nothing to replace it. That's something of a laundry list of under-performing vets, though I tried to limit myself to those with less than 2 years left on any contract, guys like Griffey who are icons and others (Delgado) for whom their teams have little choice but to hope they turn it around. But those aren't just slow starts, I think maybe everyone on that list has an OPS+ below 80 -- generally crappy BA and no power to date. Many of them weren't expected to be all that good this year anyway but I think even Houston expected better than 194/194/278 out of Ausmus (who seems to be getting 1/3 of the playing time which must be driving BBC nuts).

And I am joking about Erstad. This is his best season since 2005 and in-line with his performance since 2000, so it's not clear there is a level of suck at which Erstad's scrappiness stops having its magical effect on team chemistry.

Andruw Jones...

Meant to mention Andruw ... left him off because of the long-term contract ... but now I remember it's not long-term. Hmmm... still hard to see a team eating nearly $36 M in salary. But he is sucking.

Cano is also sucking but obviously the Yanks let him play through it -- again, not really any options.