Slowly recovering from Vegas. My draft wasn’t terribly strong but neither was it a disaster. Heckuva lot of fun, though. And I didn’t lose too much money while I was there.

So naturally the Padres wait till I’m out of town to make some moves. In case you missed it, infielder Damian Jackson and catcher Matt Walbeck were shipped to Detroit for catcher Javier Cardona and outfielder Alexis Gomez. Basically this upgrades the Padres’ organizational depth behind the plate and in the outfield. Cardona is a better option than Walbeck should someone need to step in if Wiki’s elbow keeps bothering him. The departure of Jackson also means that both Trenidad Hubbard and Mark Sweeney are all but assured of roster spots with the big club.

Kevin Towers offered some interesting thoughts on his young pitchers. Apparently Jason Middlebrook and Matt DeWitt (!) are first in line for a promotion early in the season. But later in the season, the Pads might dip down to Double-A, where top prospects Jake Peavy, Dennis Tankersley, Ben Howard, and Eric Cyr will be pitching. And when asked which of that group would be first in line, Towers answered Peavy. This according to the U-T.