The team will also have to decide how to structure the position player side of the roster, especially if they determine that Vladimir Guerrero can't play the field. Guerrero's triceps problem is keeping him from throwing, limiting him to DH duties for the time being. One possible fix would be to "deep drop" Howie Kendrick from his position at second base on plays in right field, so that Guerrero would only be making very short throws to a cutoff man. However, Kendrick's arm is average at best. Another solution that's been discussed is using Chone Figgins at second and Kendrick at third to do the same sort of thing with a better thrower. According to sources, there's almost no chance of Guerrero getting back to throwing or throwing well this season, so the decision the team makes could be a very important factor in determining how far they go in October.

As if San Diego didn't have enough bad news, the team is also a bit worried about Greg Maddux's performance on Sunday. He'd had some back problems and never appeared loose or comfortable on the mound. Expect the team to work on Maddux hard, so that they can get one more look at him before the playoffs, not to mention that they first need to make the playoffs.