Another Baseball Stadium Crossed off Bucket List: PETCO Park

San Diego - Whenever I visit an MLB stadium for the first time, it's an opportunity to cross off items from my sports bucket list. As a baseball dork, that consists of visiting all 30 MLB parks at some point in my lifetime.

This past weekend, my list became one park smaller after I attended a game at PETCO Park in San Diego. The Padres lost, 5-2, to the Mets.

Here's my running tally of parks attended:

1. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington: Texas Rangers
2. Kaufmann Stadium: Kansas City Royals
3. Wrigley Field: Chicago Cubs
4. Coors Field: Colorado Rockies
5. Dodger Stadiun: L.A. Dodgers
6. Sun Life Stadium: Florida Marlins (mid '90s)
7. PETCO Park: San Diego Padres

Reflection on Rangers Trading for Alex Rios

Given Chicago's initial asking price, which was somewhere high in outer space between Neptune and Pluto, trading for Alex Rios seemed like a stretch a few days ago for the Texas Rangers. Parting with any package headlined by Jurickson Profar, Leonys Martin or Martin Perez wasn't going to happen. So the Rangers stood pat at the July 31 trade deadline in their pursuit of a bat to replace the recently suspended Nelson Cruz.

It's a good thing that's all Texas did.

Giant Payroll Doesn't Necessarily Translate to Success Anymore in MLB

I noticed a common theme this weekend with some of the top payrolls in Major League Baseball. Two of the top three could very well miss the playoffs (bolded) in 2013.

Take a look at the complete list here. To be clear, we're talking opening day payroll in 2013:

• 1. New York Yankees: $228,995,945
• 2. L.A. Dodgers: $216,302,909
• 3. Philadelphia Phillies: $159,578,214