Honestly -- is LaDainian Tomlinson really not one of the NFL's 50 best players anymore? (AP photo)

Q & A….My questions, some answers, your reactions…

Jake Peavy told me he’d be willing to defer some future money to help the Padres budget.  Due $11 million this season, $16 million next year, and more beyond, why would the Friars not discuss this?  Deferring dollars, even if you add interest, would have given the club space to go get another arm via trade.  Put the money at the back end of the deal, when the economy is better, and you have a chance to add talent to this roster this year.  The front office never responded.  Why?

Brian Giles has become a popular whipping boy.  His $9 million deal and the $2 million trade kicker has limited his ability to be shopped.  So has his no trade clause.  He did hit .309 last year, though he is batting in the .190s this year.  Why beat him up?  So unfair.

Matt Latos is excelling deep in the minor leagues.  The 7-1 mark with a 1.12 ERA, split between Class A-AA, is pretty impressive.  If Tommy Hanson (Atlanta), Matt Weiters (Baltimore), Gord Beckham (Chisox) and Rick Porcello (Detroit) can make the jump so quickly, why not Latos?  This team needs pitching, the fans need a ray of hope.  Anyone remember where Jake Peavy came from? AA-Mobile.

Darren Balsley is developing quite a reputation for curing pitchers woes.  Kevin Correia, a bust with the Giants, has gone 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA (39 Ks, 3 walks) in 33 innings. Chad Gaudin is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA (28 Ks in 21 innings) in recent starts.  Not a bad job by Padres pitching coach Balsley, a former gas station attendant in Poway.  Wonder if other teams are taking notes

Phil Nevin, who resurrected his career with the Padres after failing as a first-round pick with the
Angels, is managing the Orange County Flyers in the Golden League.  He’s hoping to learn quickly to start a second career.  He was a grinder with the Padres.  Wonder if he grinds on his players?

Matt Clement, the Padres 1993 third-round draft pick who went on to pitch for the Cardinals and Red Sox, has retired after surgery for three tears in his shoulder.  His new job was always his long-range goal.  He’s the high school basketball coach at his high school in Butler, Pennsylvania.  What a neat way to complete the circle don’t you think?

Hidecki Irabu, who shunned the Padres and refused to sign and went to the Yankees, ended up eating himself out of the league.  When last seen he was running a noodle restaurant in Orange County.  Is that him pitching and smoking cigarettes for the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League?  Sure is.  He and Jose Lima, who has pitched for everyone.

Mike Dee, the right hand man for Larry Lucchino as vice president of marketing with the Padres, went to Boston and became the brains behind the Fenway Marketing group.  Guess where he is now?  CEO of the Miami Dolphins, for new owner Steve Ross.

LaDainian Tomlinson is no longer held in high regard by football people around the nation.  Four different injuries in four Chargers seasons.  He is not even rated in the top 50 players by CBS Sportsline.  They had DeAngelo Williams (Carolina), with two good seasons and Michael Turner (Atlanta) with one good season, ranked ahead of Tomlinson at running back.  Honorable mention status was given to Brian Westbrook (Eagles) and Steven Jackson (Rams), both productive.  Are any of those guys mentioned as Hall of Fame candidates?  Tomlinson has 17,000 all purpose yards and 141 TDs.  How dare they diss him?  What LT-BS. What garbage.

Vincent Jackson may have a problem on his hands, a possible NFL suspension, for multiple DUI incidents.  Commissioner Roger Goodell will deal with him once he is done with guys like Vick-Plaxico-Stallworth.  VJ, good player, needs to grow up and not make any more mistakes.  Sitting for two games would solve that.  Right?

The Chargers will bounce back this year.  A year ago this month they opened camp with a ton of players coming off surgeries.  They all recovered but it took time.  Now 12 months later, they are all healthy. Shawne Merriman is making progress and likely ready for opening day.  And there is no longer a Ted Cottrell trying to figure out how to use all this talent.  No problem for new defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.  Are you excited?

L’Roi Glover, the former Aztecs defensive tackle, has retired after a rock solid career with the Rams and Saints.  He might be one of the few guys I know who isn’t trying to take my job in the media.  Glover wants to be an assistant coach and should be considered tomorrow morning for the NFL minority coaching internships.  A retired guy who wants to earn his keep.  Refreshing thought isn’t it?

Chuck Long is tied up in this struggle over money with San Diego State.  If he leaves to go somewhere else, he loses the remaining $1.4M on his deal.  State has given him a job at a desk but no one is quite sure what his project assignments are.  Be a man of your word SDSU, and let him look, and split the salary difference.  Of course there is this.  Why didn’t Long have a typical partial pay clause, that would allow State to get a discount on remaining money if he left?  He could coach, they would not be on the hook for all that cash.  Everyone looks like a loser in this don’t they?

UFL, the new semi-pro league, held its first draft and five ex-Aztecs were picked.  The San Francisco franchise, coached by Denny Green, landed Joe Martin (LB), Marviel Underwood (S) and Femi Ayanbadejo  (FB).  The New York team selected Jasper Harvey (C) and Terrelle Maze (CB).   The league plays six games in October and November.  Who is going to watch the United Football League ^[1]?

Kevin Craft, the former starter at SDSU, and son of ex-head coach Tom Craft, is getting a raw deal at UCLA.  He won the starting job last fall, carried the offense, had little line support, not much of a running back and few healthy receivers.  Now he has been benched after a 20-interception season.  Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow refused to put him in an offense to play to his strength.  A hurry-up, no-huddle package, would have been better than getting hounded and pounded in the pocket.  And then he got skewered by the staff on the sidelines, with enough verbal heat to melt the paint on his helmet.  He hung in there.  Maybe he should never have left here?

Aztecs assistants scattered to the wind after the football staff was let go at the end of a miserable season.  Del Miller is back at Kansas State as an assistant on Bill Snyder’s staff.  Jonathan Himebauch high-tailed it across the border to coach the offensive line of the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.  Toby Neinas is the secondary coach at New Mexico.  Chris Ash is coaching the secondary at Iowa State.  Brian Stark is at Yale, an Ivy Leaguer.   The fact so many did not land other places probably speaks to the lack of talent the group had. Good guys but maybe not a good staff, huh?

Dale Lindsey, a former Chargers assistant who volunteered last year at USD, cannot get away from it.  He is coaching now at New Mexico State.  You can take a blood transfusion to get this coaching bug out of your system can’t you?

Tom DeMarco was a JC transfer into San Diego State where he redshirted as a punter with hopes he could go back to quarterback, where he starred in Palm Springs.  He got swept out and transferred to Old Dominion University, where he will start at QB this year for the FCS Monarchs in the first year of the program.  From walk-on to transfer and getting a starting job on the other coast.  That’s earning your keep isn’t it?

Josh Johnson, the record-setting quarterback at USD, drafted by Tampa Bay, is now boxed in, hoping he does not get left out.  Jon Gruden, who loved his skill and kept him hidden under wraps last year while working with him is now gone.  They have four other QBs listed in front of him now.  How much chance will a Division III guy get with a new staff that doesn’t know him?

NBA basketball is coming here, and not just a preseason Lakers game at the Sports Arena.  The Phoenix Suns are negotiating to hold at least one week of camp at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at the University of San Diego.  Owner Bob Sarver and Craig are long time friends.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they opened these workouts everyday?

Ron Hahn, who ran the San Diego Gulls on behalf of the Sports Arena during those championship years, is talking to the Anaheim Ducks about becoming their affiliate in the top rated American Hockey League, a year from now.  The Ducks cancelled their working agreement in Des Moines with the Iowa Chops, and will send players to multiple clubs this coming winter.  As the AHL expands further west, want to bet we have AHL hockey here next winter? My bet is that it would be a hit.

Jimmie Johnson roared through town working on his foundation and charities.  Isn’t it a shame a place like Cajon Speedway no longer exists in such a big market like San Diego?

LPGA golf, PBA bowling, WTA-ITF tennis.  Can someone explain to me in a market of 2.5M residents, why we are not regular stops on those tours too?

Lee ‘Hacksaw’ Hamilton writes columns twice a week for SDNN.com, and hosts National Baseball Talk shows on XM-175-Home Plate Channel.  He likes to tell people he knows everything about everything.  Answer his questions in our Comments section below.