This just in: The Baseball America Top 100 prospects. The Padres are well represented, with six players (only the Cubs, with seven, have more).

• 4. Sean Burroughs, 3B
• 16. Dennis Tankersley, RHP
• 28. Jake Peavy, RHP
• 39. Xavier Nady, 1B
• 54. Mark Phillips, LHP
• 77. Jake Gautreau, 2B
• 92. Ramon Vazquez, SS

In other news, despite the presence of Derek Jeter on the cover, All Star Baseball 2003 for the Playstation 2 rocks. Picked it up last night, been playing ever since. Well, except for work. And sleep. And quality time with the wife.

Word from Peoria is that Ron Gant is making a good early impression, while Wiki Gonzalez could stand to lose a few pounds. Phil Nevin is looking comfortable at first base. After initial trepidation, he’s handled the situation with a lot of class. It helps that Sean Burroughs has been deferential to the veterans who’ve been forced to move to accommodate the youngster.

Nevin said something in an interview the other day that I haven’t heard many big-leaguers say. He mentioned that he was grateful for the opportunity the Padres gave him and that there are any number of players in the minor leagues who are as talented as or more talented than those in the Show.

Remember where Nevin has been. He was the number one pick overall in the 1992 amateur draft after a decorated college career at Cal State Fullerton. He then proceeded to talk and hit his way out of Houston and Detroit. By the time he returned to SoCal, as a member of the Angels, he had moved behind the plate in an effort to salvage his career. In spring training 1999, two events occurred that led to what to this point has been Kevin Towers’ shining moment as GM of the Padres. The Angels’ Gary DiSarcina suffered an injury just before Opening Day. On the other side, San Diego lost catcher Carlos Hernandez for the year due to a ruptured achilles tendon. The Angels needed to fill a hole at shortstop, the Pads behind the plate. And thus Nevin was dealt straight up for Andy Sheets.

Nevin found himself in the lineup more often than not in 1999, behind the plate or 90 feet to the left of it, and ended up knocking 24 homers, 15 more than his previous high. He followed that up with 31 and 41 homers the following two years and even made his first All-Star team in 2001. In just a few years, Nevin has gone from underachieving #1 pick to overachieving former first-round bust. It’s a credit to the guy that he’s been able to apply himself and get the most out of his talents. Sure it might’ve been nice to see him figure it out a little sooner, but then, some guys never do get it right.

But getting back to the interview, Nevin understands his place in the big leagues. Yeah, he’s worked his tail off to get to where he is today. But he’s also caught some breaks. And he knows that there a lot of guys working just as hard in pursuit of their dream. Some of them will make it, others won’t. And some of that will be due to talent, but timing and dumb luck will also play a role. Nevin is an All-Star now with a big contract. But to hear him talk, he remembers what it’s like to be struggling just to make it.

I don’t want to read too much into what was said in a single interview, nor do I wish to suggest that a player’s comments are necessarily predictive of any future performance. But I will say this: For a guy coming off a career season at age 31, he sure sounded hungry. Nevin clearly believes he’s got a lot of good baseball left in him. And I think he just might be right.