2013 FanFest took place this past weekend. Dedicated (and interested) friar fans were given a chance to meet with Padres players, staff and a preview of what we can expect in 2013.

Personally, I attended the Cory Luebke and Nick Vincent autograph signing and listened to the player panel that featured Chase Headley, Chris Denorfia and Clayton Richard.

First and foremost, I found it particularly interesting that Clayton was taking part in the panel when he is still in arbitration with the team. I actually took that as a positive sign that both he and the team want to come to an agreement, and they both plan for Clayton to be on the team next season.

Another positive was that Luebke was out signing autographs. Not that his presence next season would be questioned, but he looked healthy. He walked up to the session with a sling on, but the sling was not present during the signing. It’s nice to see improvement upon the bleak situation that we encountered last season.

A few notes from the player session that I attended:

All three players emphasized the team’s chemistry. They said they felt as though it was important to have this kind of chemistry in the clubhouse in order to be successful on the field.

During the chat, Chase said, “You’ve got to put the right personalities in the clubhouse. I love our team. I’m very confident in what we have. I think they did the right thing by keeping us together.”

While, it’s not necessarily what we as fans wanted to see during the offseason, it’s important that the players feel comfortable, since they are the ones who actually have to play on the field- the fans only have to cheer and scream, our chemistry isn’t important.

Overall, Chase told the crowd that he was looking forward to the season.

“It’s going to feel really good to go out there and beat some of those guys with $200 million payrolls.”

I think we all can’t wait to see that.