I keep telling folks Ryan Klesko can hit lefties. Did you see that grand slam yesterday off Jeff Fassero? On a 1-2 pitch, no less. A thing of beauty…

Now, about the Woody Williams-Ray Lankford trade. I have to preface my comments by noting that when Kevin Towers dealt Joey Hamilton to the Blue Jays for Williams back in 1998, I was less than impressed. But Woody has pitched his heart out for the Padres the past 2 1/2 years. He’s not the most dominating guy in the world but he’s definitely a guy you want on your side. Whatever it takes to get the job done, he’ll do it. Great guy to have on a club. I’ll miss him a lot.

But, as we are all too aware these days, baseball is a business. Williams will be 35 next year, and there are many younger, cheaper alternatives within the organization to fill his spot in the rotation. I’m not saying that any of these guys will be as good as Williams — at least not in the short-term — but someone should be able to step up and take his place. Towers has a way of pulling pitchers out of thin air. Brian Tollberg? Kevin Jarvis?

When I hastily threw together my projected 2002 rotation, I neglected to mention several pitchers who will be in the competition for a back-end spot. The front two of Bobby Jones and Adam Eaton are the only real locks. After that, Jarvis will probably be there based on what he’s done this year — his ERA is high, mainly because he gives up a ton of homers, but his peripherals are pretty good. Then it’ll be Tollberg, Brian Lawrence, Carlton Loewer, Junior Herndon, Brett Jodie, and maybe Jason Middlebrook, Dennis Tankersley, Mike Bynum, or Wascar Serrano for the last two spots. Middlebrook and Serrano will also be candidates for the bullpen, and my suspicion is that Tankersley and Bynum will start the year at Portland. This will be a hotly contested battle next spring. If you put a gun to my head (please don’t), I’d say Loewer and one of Tollberg or Lawrence will get the final two spots. But a lot can change between now and Opening Day 2002.

Okay, so it’s pretty clear that, great competitor that he is, Woody Williams wasn’t going to be a big part of the puzzle in what figures to be another rebuilding year for the Pads next season. Which brings us to Lankford. I haven’t seen him play much, and I’m sure he must drive managers crazy with his ridiculous strikeout numbers, but the guy is still reasonably productive, especially when he doesn’t have to face lefties. Like Williams, Lankford will be 35 next year. So, again, he’s not a real big player in terms of the future. But he’s a nice stop-gap solution until the Pads can figure out what to do with their various third basemen (presumably one or more will move to the outfield eventually).

And as stop-gaps go, Lankford’s not a bad guy to have on a ballclub. Especially when it means less playing time for someone like Mike Darr, who is turning into Eric Owens lite, if you can believe such a thing exists. I like Darr, but as a fourth or fifth outfielder, not a regular. As long as it doesn’t mean sitting Bubba Trammell, who clearly has earned a shot to continue starting next year, I prefer seeing the Padres go into 2002 with Lankford and one of the kids at the back of the rotation than Darr and Williams.

It’s a close call, but what it really comes down to, and what I suspect ultimately swayed Towers and company, is the Padres are more well stocked in the high minors with pitchers than with outfielders. Lankford fills a more pressing need than Williams would have. He’s not great but he will provide the second lefty slugger that the Padres have coveted since the aborted Phil Nevin for Jeromy Burnitz trade. And I’m pretty comfortable in saying that the gap between Lankford and Burnitz will be significantly less than that between Williams and Nevin.

Unless, of course, Lankford really is washed up, in which case all bets are off…