The heady barely surpassing mediocrity lifestyle that was an 85-win-in-a-crappy-division and get bounced out of the playoffs in three games days are ended. Sadly.

Luck and lies. Each has caught up with the team that actually had something in 1998 and probably won’t have anything until 2013 at the earliest.

As they say at the old school essay competition, compare and contrast.

LIES:

1. Our farm system is much better than people give us credit for:

       So bogus. For the last decade, the Padres have had one of the worst farm systems in baseball. Everybody knew it. Turnover was a problem. They kept hiring and firing key scouting personnel and management. Instructional framework was bizarre. Furthermore, the drafts were terrible. Hardly any Padres draft picks have made it to the majors. The Matt Bush syndrome rules. Try to get prospects on the cheap and see what happens. The Padres have had no international presence. It’s a disaster and as we all know — thank you Branch Rickey — the farm system, and development process is the key building block to a succsessful franchise.

2. We will spend what it takes to compete in the middle market bracket:

      Never true. John Moore has penny-pinched for years. Finances are a problem, always have been. My Rancho Santa Fe neighbor borrowed and spent $80 million to buy the club. It is his main — I would say sole, but let’s not get technical — financial resource, income and economic vehicle. So, he’s always looked to save each hay-penny. And that lovely new government issued downtown stadium to draw fans and all notwithstanding, the situation just went from bad to beyond worse. Tammy Wynette breath anybody: D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Yes, once again marital affairs have risen to strike the Friars. Moore’s divorce with his (soon-to-be) ex-wife in community propertyland has meant they need to do something about the franchise. Divide it down the middle Solomon (not Torres, the real one) fans? Not likely. The Padres are the Moores’ main asset and surprise, surprise, the divorce is right out of War of the Roses; not ye olde jolly English kind, but the Danny Devito-Kathleen Turner-Michael Douglas fight-a-thon. This will take maybe years to sort out. Don’t be surprised to see this team for sale within the year. Who knows when financial solvency will return?

      Not really. Team officials always have hyped their players. This tired smoke finally has engulfed their lies. Adrian Gonzales, Jake Peavy and many, many question marks, some of them with exclamation points, that’s all folks. A lot of Triple A-Plus talent. No pitching. Other dumb stuff like giving Jim Edmonds a big contract and then just cutting him. Huh? And now L’affaire Giles. Talk about over-rated at this point. Padres officials even had the temerity to say they kept naked beer-swiggling man around because he was such a good influence on the other players. Huh-Huh-Huh? And they were going to pay him $9 million? Come on. Then, Giles vetoes a trade that would have given him his only World Series opportunity ever not to mention millions of dollars and free agency in two months, and blames people for leaking his name in trade rumors. He has LOSER written all over him. But I digress.

It’s plumb run out for this tired excuse — and by excuse, I mean lots and lots of excuses, more excuses than Maxwell Smart on a good day — of a team. Officials have answers for everything, but the fact is the NL West has been a mediocrity for years and the Padres were lucky to squeak out enough wins to win a few division crowns. They got lucky for several years with bargain basement relievers who blossomed. This luck ran out as most clubs got savvy in their middle relief conceptions and started paying the best of this bunch a little more money than the stngy Padres, always looking to get help on the cheap. Now, the Pads are left with dregs, no help forthcoming from the minors and nothing else in the cupboard either. Since relief pitching was their stregnth and they are just about last in any offensive category, 

HELLO!