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During spring training, Padres manager Bud Black went out of his way to keep his options open.

He hinted, strongly at times, that 22-year-old pitching prospect Mat Latos could open the season at Triple-A Portland.

After all, Latos had struggled over his final five starts of 2009 (0-4, 7.71 ERA) before being shut down early to protect his valued right arm from overwork and allow the pitcher to work with Darren Balsley on some delivery adjustments.

“You never know with those things if they are going to stick over the winter,” Black said of the adjustments Latos and Balsley worked on last September.

They did.

In fact, Latos worked over the winter to strengthen the modifications suggested by Balsley. And during the exhibition season, Latos allowed only three runs on 12 hits over 17 innings while striking out 14.

Click here to read the full article – By BILL CENTER of www.signonsandiego.com

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LaDainian Tomlinson says he believes he has played his last game with the San Diego Chargers.

His comments come after more than a month of saying he did not know what would happen.

The NFL’s most valuable player in 2006 has two years remaining on his contract. He is due a $2 million roster bonus March 5 and would be paid $5 million in total salary in 2010.

Tomlinson tells the newspaper he doesn’t know when the Chargers will release him and that his agent, Tom Condon, might call the club to expedite the process.

Condon didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from the AP.

“All discussions about the future will take place later this month. No decisions have been made,” Chargers spokesman Bill Johnston wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Tomlinson has become one of the most beloved athletes in San Diego history during a nine-year career but his production and speed have been decreasing.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Outfielder Scott Hairston and the San Diego Padres have agreed to a $2.45 million, one-year contract to avoid arbitration.

Hairston had asked for $2.9 million and the team offered $2.1 million. He made $1.25 million last year.

Hairston spent the majority of the last three seasons with the Padres before being traded to the Oakland Athletics on July 5. He was reacquired last month in a deal that sent third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff to the A’s. Three days after that deal, the Padres signed his older brother, Jerry, to a free-agent deal.

The Padres have agreed to terms with all of their arbitration-eligible players.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The embattled Chargers safeties yesterday played, well, the way they’re supposed to.

“We made tackles, we covered the right people and we got pressure on the quarterback,” free safety Eric Weddle said. “ . . . Everyone was doing their job. When everyone does that, you can see what we’re capable of.”

Blitzing at least 10 times among them, the safeties accounted for an interception, a sack and a quarterback hurry. Add in safety-turned-nickel back Steve Gregory’s half-dozen blitzes, interception, sack and hurry, and it was a day to be encouraged by and learn from.

The secondary has acknowledged being out of sync and not trusting each other.


Click here to read the full article – By Kevin Acee and Tod Leonard of UNION-TRIBUNE

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Chargers outside linebacker Shawne Merriman wasn’t pleased to read a comment from general manager A.J. Smith that the team’s play at times this year has been “soft and bewildered.”

The Chargers lost 38-28 at Pittsburgh on Sunday night, falling behind 28-0 and allowing the defending Super Bowl champions to pile up 497 yards of offense. San Diego is 2-2 going into its bye week, and already is two games behind the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

On Wednesday, Smith was quoted in The San Diego Union-Tribune as saying, “Everything is wrong with it right now. I’m not the least bit happy in a lot of areas. I’ve seen us be tough and physical to soft and bewildered.”

Merriman at first declined to comment, which would have been a first in his five-year career.

“I don’t know too much of that. That’s an opinion of a person, and it’s not needed,” Merriman said. “We know that we have to play better. We met for an extra hour and a half as a defense as a whole to discuss what we need to do and things we need to do to get better. And we’re going to make adjustments in this locker room as far as players and our attitudes and getting after people a little more. But all that extra (stuff) is not needed at all.”

Merriman said it would be easier to absorb such talk if it came from a teammate.

“The only opinions that matter to me are the ones in this locker room. Anything else, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

Merriman returned to the lineup this season after knee surgery sidelined him for the final 15 games of 2008, plus two playoff games. He’s been in and out of the lineup this season as he works to regain full strength, and has been affected by a groin injury he said he got from overcompensating for the knee injury.

The Chargers clearly missed Merriman’s spark last year, when they finished 8-8 and won the AFC West in large part because of Denver’s historic collapse. After beating Indianapolis at home in the wild-card round, the Chargers were exposed by the more physical Steelers in losing a divisional-round playoff game in Pittsburgh.

Merriman had 39 1/2 sacks his first three seasons; he’s still waiting for his first sack this season.

Merriman said the Chargers are lacking an attitude.


Click here to read the full article – By BERNIE WILSON of Findlaw.com

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Quite fittingly, the Padres’ season ended four days into October. Fitting, because there was nothing September-ish about the 2009 Padres.

Yes, it was one of the youngest clubs in the major leagues, with fully 19 players qualified as rookies. The only one who wasn’t with the Padres when it came time for September call-ups was left-handed pitcher Cesar Ramos, who started Sunday’s season finale against the San Francisco Giants.
“We were joking that our September call-ups came up in July and August,” closer Heath Bell said. “Everybody they wanted here was already here. Had been for months.”


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Jenkins of Union-Tribune

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The fifth one was the charm for Chase Headley and the Padres on Monday night at PNC Park.

The Padres third baseman had his first career five-hit night and finished a triple shy of a cycle, but it was the fifth and final hit, an 11th-inning double against reliever Jeff Karstens, that led to an 11-6 win and allowed San Diego to head to Colorado having taken three out of four from Pittsburgh.

“He had big hits,” an appreciative manager Bud Black said. “I liked the fact he was getting the ball down the right-field line, getting the head out. He showed straightaway power as well and got the ball down the left-field line for a double, too. That’s hitting, when you go line-to-line with a homer to straightaway center. That tells me he’s seeing the ball. He’s hitting it where it’s pitched.”


Click here to read the full article – By Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com

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The Chargers are inching closer to playing the Baltimore Ravens without three key offensive starters.


Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, center Nick Hardwick and right guard Louis Vasquez all missed their second consecutive practice Thursday, decreasing the chance they’ll play against the vaunted Baltimore defense in San Diego’s home opener.

Hardwick and Tomlinson have sprained ankles, and Vasquez is nursing a sprained knee. On Friday, the Chargers will officially update the players’ status for Sunday’s game.

“The odds go against you,” coach Norv Turner said. “The guys that practice today have a better chance. For the other guys, their chances go down.”


Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of NFL.com

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The Aztec Athletic Foundation and the San Diego State Alumni Association will host a pre-game tailgate and provide packages that include round-trip motor coach transportation to the Rose Bowl to see the Aztecs face off against UCLA on Saturday, Sept. 5.

The official SDSU tailgate will be held at the Brookside Golf Club next to the Rose Bowl, which will include a pre-game buffet meal and appearances by the Marching Aztecs and the SDSU Cheer Squad.
Package options start at $45 for SDSU Alumni Association or AAF members and $55 for non-members. Buses will depart from three San Diego between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. The tailgate will start at approximately 2 p.m. Kick-off is at 4:45 p.m. The game day itinerary is will be released at a later date.

Click here to read the full article – By of Goaztecs.com

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Infielder recovering after getting hit by pitch on Saturday

The news on Edgar Gonzalez, who was hit on the helmet by a Jason Hammel 93-mph fastball on Saturday night, was encouraging Sunday as the infielder was released from the hospital. Following Sunday’s game, Black announced that there was a second set of tests performed on Gonzalez that indicated that he had experienced “concussion symptons” and would likely be placed on the disabled list prior to Monday’s game against the Marlins.

Click here to read the full article – By Sandy Burgin of MLB.com

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