Vicente Padilla sure does not have many friends

It is noted that the Texas Rangers have placed pitcher Vicente Padilla on waivers. Per Jeff Wilson at the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph, here are some reactions from his (now) ex-teammates.

Marlon Byrd: "About time. It's absolutely a positive for this team. We have to get rid of the negatives to make a positive, and I believe this is a huge positive for this team."

Ian Kinsler to GM Jon Daniels when he heard the news of Padilla's release, "Congrats."

Michael Young on Padilla's habit of hitting batters shortly after giving up a home run exposing his teammates to retaliation from opposing pitchers:"I have a lot of good friends on the Yankees, and they were like, 'One of you guys is going to get hurt one day.' No one wants to see that happen, obviously, but it's the nature of the game. A lot of times we felt like we had a bull's-eye on our back."

Marlon Byrd again: "You have to be a good teammate. You have to help teach younger guys the right things. He wasn't a positive influence on the young guys. You started questioning his character and about how much he cared."

I am sure that this just scratches the surface but apparently Padilla also did not show up for meetings and would escape to the clubhouse during games to surf the Internet.

Frankly, he sounds like a jerk.

I bet that this was about the only time you ever saw players lined up to speak to a reporter.

This reminds me of a guy I once knew. I graduated high school with him and he was a nice guy and all but his major character defect was that he absolutely refused to work instead spending most of his time in the basement of his parents' house smoking pot and reading back issues of Playboy. Actually, this behavior and living arrangement continued into his mid-30's when I lost track of him.

A few years out of high school, me and a few friends gathered up employment applications from local gas stations, pizza places and the Army recruiting office and mailed them to him anonymously. He never said anything about it to us but I am sure that he knew who sent them to him. Actually he was too far gone for this to have any affect on him but he got the message.

I think the Rangers players should mail a copy of the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie to Padilla with a note saying "Maybe this could help you".

It probably wouldn't have any affect on Padilla but at least he would get the message.