About the Hitchcock trade, it was virtually assured that he wouldn’t re-sign with the Padres, so the question became whether it was better to eat his salary and take the compensation draft picks, or go out and get some bodies now. It’s a tough call. The two kids Kevin Towers picked up have promise but neither is a top prospect. Darren Blakely is a terrific athlete who gets mixed reviews as a baseball player. Brett Jodie falls into the Brian Tollberg/Brian Lawrence/Junior Herndon mold of finesse righthander. The good news is, Jodie is at Triple-A and pretty close to the bigs. The bad news is, he’s probably a #4 or #5 starter at best, and the Padres have tons of those already.

Brian Lawrence will assume Hitchcock’s spot in the rotation. Fireballer Dave Lundquist will be recalled today to take the injured David Lee’s spot in the bullpen. And if Woody Williams is traded today (most likely to the Cardinals in a deal involving Ray Lankford, yet another player the Padres don’t really need), Brian Tollberg will rejoin the rotation.

Finally, I’ve posted my Top 25 Padres Prospects so go have a look. Enjoy!