Thanks to a clause in Bobby Jones’ contract which stipulated that the Red Sox would have had to pick up his $6 million option for 2003, Carl Everett isn’t coming to San Diego. I will always be grateful to Jones for this. Everett is a decent ballplayer but he would have pushed Mark Kotsay back to a corner spot, which is a waste. And Everett the citizen is nobody we really need in this neck of the woods, as far as I’m concerned. He’s since been dealt to Texas for Darren Oliver. Maybe he’ll find happiness in Arlington. Good for him. As long as he’s not here.

Elsewhere, the Pads are still shopping Kevin Jarvis and/or Ray Lankford. So far no takers.

And in the Rule 5 Draft the Padres picked up righthander Ryan Baerlocher from the Royals in the Major League phase and Cubs’ outfielder Lavalroe Cash (12th round pick in 1999 draft) in the Triple-A phase. They also lost local first baseman Graham Koonce to the A’s and righthander Juan Mejia to the Cardinals in the Triple-A phase, as well as second baseman John Powers to the Cubs in the Double-A phase.