The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups. -Henry Hazlitt

“FCC ruling may let more Cox rivals carry Padres” reads a Union-Tribune headline, sitting atop a story that the Federal Communications Commission will change a rule about what deals Cable companies are allowed to make with content providers. The clause allowed companies to negotiate exclusive deals with content providers, and would render the Padres’ own exclusive TV deal with Cox Communications illegal.

The fact most relevant, is that the Padres voluntarily signed the deal with Cox, and likely received compensation in exchange for exclusivity. Instead, reporter Mike Freeman frames the topic as a matter of the FCC saving the day from evil corporations, referring to the clause in question as a “loophole” when in reality the parties acted within the stated intentions of the legislation.

After one to takes a broader, long term look at such an intervention, the consequences become apparent. In the long term, this may hurt fans more than help them. Such disruption in the affairs of content creators and service providers is a strong incentive to avoid creating content that people enjoy and to stop investing in infrastructure so they may have access to it.

Freeman does not print a direct quote in response from a Cox executive, though one appears near the bottom of a previous piece on the topic. Cox’s response clearly reveals the major hitch in the FCC arguments:

“AT&T has the iPhone and doesn’t allow other wireless providers to offer it to their customers, and DirecTV has exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket,” Ceanna Guerra, a spokeswoman for Cox in San Diego, said in an e-mail response to questions. “We lawfully negotiated and paid for the rights to distribute Padres content when no one else wanted to make the investment, and now because of the success of our vision, AT&T wants the law changed so that it can benefit from our investment.”

A more personal perspective

Imagine if Cox offered The Sacrifice Bunt a large sum of money in exchange for exclusive distribution rights of the blog. Then the FCC informs us we aren’t allowed to make such a deal.

Ray and I work hard, invest our own time, money, and hard work, all of which is done at our own risk, to develop and grow The Sac Bunt’s content and reader base. We should the right to do with it what we wish, no matter how dumb of a deal I’m likely to sign if given the opportunity. The same applies to The Padres, Cox, and anyone else who risks their own resources to provide goods and services to others, in exchange for a voluntary fee.

Cox’s exclusivity is likely to change when the contract is up come 2012.

In July, Padres President Tom Garfinkel told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the exclusivity of the Padres’ deal with Cox may be on the table when the contract comes up for renewal.

“Our goal is to make our broadcasts available to as many fans as possible in the future,” Garfinkel said.

Supporters say the FCC’s actions are necessary to create competition:

AT&T and satellite TV providers have long complained that cable companies are using the loophole to gain a competitive edge. They say local sports such as Padres games are “must have” content for many potential subscribers. By blocking access, Cox has hamstrung its competitors.

Should it be a surprise that those making the case for it such an action are the ones who stand to gain the most? AT&T’s operations in San Diego demonstrate the competition does exist, and will likely have every opportunity to challenge Cox’s exclusivity through the same type of negotiation that occurred when the original deal was signed.

The “need” to intervene

Thanks to our country’s (mostly) market economy, there is no need for government intervention based on the “best interest of the fan”. Why? Because fans are the Padres customers. It’s in the best interest of the Padres to keep the best interest of the fan in mind. If the Padres alienate the fans, the Padres’ lose even more. And since those fans only exist because of the work, investment, and risk of the Padres, it is the Padres who have earned the right to market the team how they choose.

Who knows, perhaps the money the team receives in exchange for exclusive TV rights contributes largely to player payroll. At that point, the decision of what is or is not in the fans’ best interest becomes quite blurry.

Today, the Padres traded Kouz for Sean Gallagher, Craig Italiano, Ryan Webb, and Aaron Cunningham. Sort of.

The more accurate way of saying it is that the Padres traded Kevin Kouzmanoff to the Oakland A’s for Aaron Cunningham and Scott Hairston, the same Scott Hairston they traded last July for the three aforementioned pitchers.

The initial reaction here is positive. While the squashing of the earlier rumor that Gio Gonzalez would be involved deflated things a bit, this is still a good return for a trade from a position of strength. Headley can now move to third, and AJ will (likely) see a lot of playing time with Hairston as his platoon partner in center.

While Kouzmanoff was not the favorite player of The Sacrifice Bunt, it’s still a bit sad to see him go. He may not be a world-beater, but he’s a solid 2.7 win player who could really be something if he could just learn to take a walk every now and then. Good luck, Kouz, and speak fondly of us.

UPDATE: Eric Sogard is on his way to Oakland as well.

But hold on, we’re not done with you yet!

We were waiting for the right time to tell you, and I’d say that this is it, about the brand new Sacrifice Bunt Facebook page! As you may have noticed, our style of in-depth, hard-hitting, and beautifully written baseball analysis doesn’t lend itself so well to breaking news, so we’re branching out. On our Facebook page, you’ll be able to stay up on all of the Padres breaking news with us. Think of it as The Sacrifice Bunt To-Go: you can just wait in the parking lot, and we’ll bring the Padres news to you!

Be a fan. We’d really appreciate it.

All this complaining talking about marketing and creatives got me thinking: how would I promote the team?

First of all, the Padres marketing department is in a tough position. They’ve lost two franchise players over the course of about a year, and will likely lose Adrian Gonzalez via a trade or when his contract expires in November of 2012. Most of their other well known players have been hit by injuries (Chris Young), or are trade candidates (Kevin Kouzmanoff, Heath Bell, [please!]).

Clearly it’s time for a youth movement. But we’ve known that, considering it began halfway through the 2009 season.

Who should the team expect to step forward, not just on the field, but in the eyes of the fans as the face of the franchise?

Some might expect Tony Gwynn to take reigns as team diplomat. Unfortunately, Gwynn has but two things going for him in that regard: his last name, and his 2009 season. Every year from 2004-2008 Gwynn has demonstrated he will never be a starter on a championship team. I hope those in charge have a good think before Franoeuring him into a role for which he isn’t ready.

That leaves three players, each with a chance of becoming stars in Petco Park over the long haul. Though they have yet to prove themselves, Everth Cabrera, Mat Latos, and Kyle Blanks all have bright futures in San Diego, and should be introduced to the public as the future of the Padres.

To do a job for which I’m not being paid, nor was I ever invited to do, I would like to help this effort. As such, I set my creative juices in motion, and present this Cablanktos wallpaper for your viewing pleasure.

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Huge thanks goes out to SD Dirk, who publishes his gorgeous photos on Flickr and licenses them for others to use in their own projects. My work is published under a similar license. Here are his Cabrera, Blanks, and Latos shots.

San Diego based design agency iHook Creative recently announced and published a possible Padres marketing materials for the 2010 season. The team will feature the slogan “SD Stands for San Diego,” “We Take the Words ‘Play Ball’ Seriously,” among others. Big thanks go out to sdpads1 for breaking the news.

Melvin Update: As sdpads1 is kind enough to point out, it’s not 100% clear this will be chosen as the campaign. It seems strange to publish this in a portfolio if not, but we haven’t had confirmation from the club either way.

Melvin Update 2: Thanks again to sdpads1, iHook responded and this is not the 2010 campaign. Again, I know these creatives are tough work, and the jokes here are just good natured fun. The design itself is appealing, and thanks for responding.

These goofball sayings are often easy to make fun of, through no fault of the agency responsible. I’m proud to say that hasn’t stopped me from making jokes before and likely won’t stop me now either.

In case anyone had forgotten what it means to play baseball seriously during the previous non-ballplaying-seriously years, here’s your answer:

That the Padres are a team of low payroll players looking to make and impact and sustain a career in the Major Leagues. This means they’re running the base path, stealing bases, diving for fly balls or better put… PLAYING BASEBALL.

The iHook portfolio goes on to mention the “SD” logo as the official “primary logo,” to go along with its declaration of being the “official brand” if that makes any difference whatsoever. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned this yet, but of all the ideas that don’t involve bringing back the brown, this is one of the best. The “SD” logo is clean, simple, traditional (sort of), and iconic. The plate logo isn’t terrible, but kind of sucks. Good work.

Also, keep the sand jerseys. Just want to throw this in here.

New circular logo, usage unknown

The other big news is a new logo that compliments the “SD” design. There are two marks–actually–both circular in shape. One features a sand colored ring, the other with a white ring on the outside. The text “Padres Baseball – A San Diego Tradition” surrounds the “SD” and is set on top of that ring. No mention on what the use case for these logos will be, but again I like the focus on clean design.

Petco’s giant billboards on the outside of the seating bowl will apparently display the marketing campaign, along with advertising signs around the city. Without any franchise players the team can market long term, this approach makes a lot more sense than the current exaltation of little kids.

Speaking of franchise players, or lack thereof, if you didn’t check out the giant photo at the top of the brand portfolio page, do it now. Lolwut?

Bonus link: Sdpads1 rivals Myron Logan for most Padres blogs started

His new one is called RJ’s Fro. Go check it out.

Just as they did earlier this year, the MLB Network is going team-by-team, breaking down what each club has and needs. Today, they talked about the Padres.

After giving a rundown of the 09 team, they listed off what they see as the team’s “Shopping List”:

• protection for Gonzalez
• innings eater
• leadoff guy

But despite this list, and the idea of protecting him, the focus of the discussion was Adrian and what should be done with him.

On the panel was Joe Magrane, Harold Reynolds, and Ken Rosenthal. Magrane spoke first, stating that Petco is a park that needs nice defense and young pitching, and that Adrian could go a long way to filling those needs. Rosenthal went next, countering, saying that Adrian is signed to an affordable contract and that he wonders what message the team would be sending to the fans if they move him.

Reynolds spoke third, and he said that Rosenthal gave a strong sell. But he also notes that Adrian is an incredibly valuable chip, and that the Padres are in a win-win situation (of sorts).

Rosenthal then claimed Adrian was our Joe Mauer, noting that he’s a homegrown San Diegan, as well as a Mexican-American. Reynolds refuted, stating that the team can not (or will not) sign Adrian to a long-term deal.

Greg Amsinger, acting as moderator for the discussion, ended things by asking the panel if they thought Adrian would be a Padre on Opening Day. Magrane and Reynolds said no, Rosenthal said yes.

And that’s what two former players and a reporter think about the San Diego Padres.

Antonelli’s Blog

Why didn’t someone alert me? I demand answers!

The Padres prospect second baseman, and former first round selection (17th overall) in 2006 has been sharing stories and thoughts with all of the Internet except me.

It’s neat that Matt does the writing thing at Blogspot rather than MLB.com, similar to the format of Paul DePodesta’s work. Those MLB blogs are a cool way to interact with fans, but they feel like MLB’s PR division has sifted out any fun or interesting details.

Take Matt’s thought on the crowd environment at games:

I wished the atmosphere at a baseball game could somehow resemble that of basketball game. It would add an element to the game that is only really present in post season play. I’d love to try and take a page out of Garnett’s book, the way he slams his head into the pad underneath the basket a few seconds before tip off, or skips to the side of the court and yells at the fans to get them to stand up and get excited. I think If I tried something like that before the first pitch of our games someone would call the police and then a shrink.

If Matt tried a stunt like that at PETCO, the first response I would expect is a polite tap on Antonelli’s shoulder and request to “keep the noise level down. Also, no standing!”

The other response might be loud cheers right away that die down by the time the pitch is delivered.

This place is a goldmine of awesome, home movies and photos. Here’s video of Antonelli, Headley, someone I think is Drew Macias, and Callix “gangsta cowboy” Crabbe clowning around a Tuscon rodeo in full cowboy getup.

Antonelli: Someone back there just asked me if I was in the rodeo

Camera Guy: That’s just ‘caus you’re so damn good baby, so are so [fucking] money and you don’t even know it

Antonelli: Oh, I do know it

Also, bribing little kids.

Neyer:

Ken Rosenthal says the A’s aren’t going to flip Hairston. I’m not so sure. They could trade him soon, when his value’s at its highest. Or they could trade him a year from now, when he’s got a .298 on-base percentage and suddenly their young outfielders are looking pretty good by comparison. But I don’t see Hairston in the lineup when the A’s get back into the playoffs.

I agree. Again, did the Padres get the best value for him? We’ll find out in a few weeks.

Blez from A’s Nation:

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that PTBNL is Sean Gallagher.  And if it is, then I still think it’s a good trade.  Gallagher had a lot of potential, but the A’s are chock full of young arms with a lot of potential.  They need to get a right-handed stick that is under salary control for a while who can provide good defense.  This finally plugs that hole and the A’s clearly didn’t have a lot of faith in Gallagher.  We’ll see though.  It also wouldn’t surprise me to see it be someone like Henry Rodriguez.  But we’ll just have to wait to find out.

Blez also makes a lot of sense to me. The Padres have outfielders, the A’s have pitchers. Bing bang boom.

Jack Moore:

Italiano, with his strikeout and walk numbers both high, appears to be on a track to be a relief pitcher.  Webb, based on his minor league track record, appears to be a back-end of the rotation starter.  While these can be valuable pieces, it seems unlikely to me that they can equal the kind of production that Hairston is likely to put up in his next two cost-controlled years.

619 Sports has an interview with Grady Fuson on Webb and Italiano. Not much new info. Webb is 6′6”, and came into his own after a move to the bullpen this year.

Italiano is a hard thrower, though raw, with a “rough delivery” out of high school, and still “something that’s been a work in progress.” “He’s been cleaned up,” but they’ll use him more out of the bullpen.

6/8 Update: Baseball America too. Why the hell not?

Matt Forman:

A’s GM Billy Beane has to be pleased with this deal. In exchange for two (probably three) second-tier minor league arms, Oakland acquired a solid everyday player, albeit an arbitration-eligible one, who is set to earn $1.25 million this season.

In February, we reported on the upcoming movie adaptation of Moneyball, directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Steve Zaillian, and starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane. At the time, I said:

I hope DePodesta … mentions something about this on his blog. Hopefully he can give us a casting scoop on who’s going to play him.

Now we have our answer: Demetri Martin, of Important Things with Demetri Martin and Ang Lee’s upcoming Taking Woodstock, will be playing our favorite special assistant for baseball operations.

David Justice and Scott Hatteberg will also be in the movie, playing David Justice and Scott Hatteberg, respectively.

It’s a real film, Jack.

With great power comes great responsibility.

With all due respect, Trevor who? The Heath Bell era has begun in San Diego. While we’re not even two weeks into the season, Heath (yeah, he’s already on a first-name basis) sits atop the league with his 5 saves, and he’s using this position to fight the good fight against ESPN and the East Coast Bias.

Heath, who grabbed headlines earlier in the offseason when it became public knowledge that he dropped 20 pounds using Wii Fit, took exception to the coverage his and our team received this past Monday, when they spoiled the opener of Citi Field by beating the Mets.

“I saw ESPN’s promo for tonight’s game. They mention the Mets are opening Citi Field, they mentioned the starting time, but nowhere did they mention the Padres. . . .

“I truly believe ESPN only cares about promoting the Red Sox and Yankees and Mets – and nobody else,” said the closer, a former Met. “That’s why I like the MLB Network, because they promote everybody. I’m really turned off by ESPN and ‘Baseball Tonight.’ When Jake Peavy threw 8 1/3 innings on Saturday, they showed one pitch in the third inning and that was it. It’s all about the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets.”

Padres closer Heath Bell sick of ESPN’s East Coast bias

While Heath’s earned himself new fans with his comments, he’s also received backlash:

While I agree that MLB Network is far superior to ESPN concerning televised baseball coverage, this is pretty petty. The reason the Monday night’s game was telecast was because of the Mets opening their new stadium — just like last year when the Nationals did on Sunday Night Baseball. Bell would also be hard pressed to explain how ESPN doesn’t care about the Cubs, Cardinals, Braves, Phillies, Rays, Indians, Angels, White Sox, Twins and Dodgers. They may try to cater to the more popular teams — how dare they worry about ratings? — but it’s not limited to just three teams. Plus, do they actually have an obligation to cover each team equally? Without trying to speak for ESPN, coverage is generally slanted toward teams that matter to the mass audience — not just a small group of die-hards. The Padres simply don’t right now.

—

Simply put, things are going very well for the Padres right now. That’s not likely to continue, so they should be enjoying themselves instead of worrying about ESPN’s coverage. It would behoove Bell to take a page out of the Adam Dunn handbook and not watch or read anything, while remaining indifferent toward media coverage.

Outrageous, you say? While I agree that Monday’s night coverage of the Mets made sense, given that the entire event was built around the opening of that new New York stadium, it shouldn’t water down Heath’s message. Taking what was said about the three teams so literally is silly and a straw man argument.

Isn’t the idea that ESPN doesn’t have a responsibility to cover all teams, and that the Padres should be honored that they’re getting coverage now, the kind of arrogance that has grown undeserved? Not only has the Internet made the so-called experts on ESPN worthless, but the MLB Network has made Baseball Tonight highlights unnecessary? Let us turn to our leader, Heath Bell:

Well- nevermind. Moving on.

Speaking of crushing disappointment from Heath, his entrance music has left something to be desired. He started out at a disadvantage, replacing the man with the most iconic theme song in the history of baseball, but this? Listen:

We at the Sacrifice Bunt are taking it upon ourselves to find Heath’s new, true entrance music. Leave a comment giving your suggestions. Here’s mine:

(warning: pg-13 swagger in this video)

I know it’s usually Melvin’s thing to highlight the ridiculousness of the Union-Tribune’s sports reporting, but I’m the one with the degree in journalism, damnit! 

As you, a devoted reader of the Sacrifice Bunt, knows, Petco Park is the hardest stadium on hitters in the entire major leagues. And it’s not even close. But today, we’ve learned that Nick Canepa’s yet to bookmark us. 

The Padres have just begun their sixth season in Petco Park, and it appears they’ve finally called off the exorcists. Extensive and expensive studies by engineers have revealed the place is an expanse of grass and dirt, with fences along its outer edge. There is no cemetery beneath it. They don’t sell voodoo dolls in the gift shop.

It’s difficult to judge any baseball team after a few days, although it’s apparent to just about everyone who doesn’t believe in witchcraft that these particular Padres aren’t going to arrive in Cooperstown in the same bus. But there are enough new faces probably unaware of the Petco Curse, what with so many of the complainers having grabbed their Tarot cards and left the building.

This is not – not – the Petco Triangle.

No more singing the ballpark blues

Let us be very very clear: Petco hurts hitting. It’s very likely that it is in the hitters head, from Nevin and Klesko on up, but for good reason. From 2004 through 2007, Petco suffocated runs by almost 20%, and 2008 was worse. Any hitter that complains about the effect Petco has on their hitting is well within their right. Which is, presumably, why Canepa didn’t talk to any for his article.

Instead, to help show how the team has truly exorcised the hitting hurting demons, he interviewed Peavy and Black.

“I’m so tired of hearing that stuff,” Padres ace Jake Peavy was saying. “We can win here; we’ve won here. So it’s not a bandbox. Matt Kemp hit one off the batter’s eye against me the other day. Hit it hard. I’m tired of ballpark excuses.

For a little bit of context, here’s what Peavy had to say following Monday’s home opening loss:

“Today’s game was nothing new to me,” Peavy said. “It’s always been this way. I’m not knocking any hitters that we’ve had in the past or our hitters now. We’re just going to play low-scoring ballgames. That’s the makeup of our teams here.”

Exactly. For good measure, Peavy pointed out that the other guys don’t have a problem, and Black backed him up.

“There are ballparks that play bigger than this. Guys will tell you Pac Bell, or whatever it is (now AT&T in San Francisco), is harder to hit in. The guys who’ve been here are not going to let the new guys get in a negative frame of mind. This team has moved past that. It’s not like the Dodgers were batting in Arizona and we were batting here.”

——–

“We don’t need players who have the ballpark in their heads,” Black said. “I feel as though our players are strong mentally, so the ballpark shouldn’t come into their heads. You’re playing a baseball game. Play the game.

“Eighteen players play at the same time. It’s a baseball game. When the wind blows out in Chicago, the same guys are playing. I hear about Safeco outs and Citizens Bank home runs and Great American Ballpark home runs. So what?”

Peavy being Peavy. I want to give Black the benefit of the doubt and say that he’s not telling the hitters to man up, but Canepa didn’t intend for that interpretation. I’d be curious what Edgar Gonzalez, who recently told the North County Times that it’s already Petco 3 – Gonzalez Bros. 0 and counting, thinks about Peavy and Black’s comments. 

If only press passes weren’t so hard to come by.

RAY UPDATE:

Whine and ye shall receive.

The North County Times is reporting that Moorad and new president Tom Garfinkel are looking at bringing in the fences.

Asked on XX 1090’s morning show Thursday about the possibility of moving in the fences, Moorad said he’s scheduled to meet with former president Dick Freeman to get an insider’s perspective.

Everything in this article is pretty ambiguous; it says that Moorad and Garfinkle “want to learn all they can about the outfield dimensions at Petco Park,” though I imagine Alderson knew a good amount without doing anything about it. But the implication is there.

In the comments, I threw in a quote from Adrian showing that he knows what’s up, and the NCT throws in some more:

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez favors bringing in the fences, particularly in the gaps. Gonzalez said he’s fine with the depth in right field but would like the gaps in right- and left-center field to be shortened to 385 feet. The current distances are 400 feet in right-center and 401 in left-center.

Gonzalez said the change not only would result in more home runs, but also would affect the way outfielders chase long fly balls.

“If he catches it, he’ll run into a wall,” Gonzalez said. “He’ll have to deal with the wall. Instead he’s running, he’s running, he’s running, and he catches it and is still short of the wall.”

And, to top things off, here’s a very fun fact:

This winter, Padres researchers discovered that fly balls hit more than 325 feet at Petco result in a .278 average as opposed to a major league average of .405.