Hope those of y’all who celebrate Christmas had a great one. We did, thanks.

The Padres signed a few more veterans this week, catcher Gary Bennett, right-hander Jay Witasick, and outfielder Roberto Kelly.

Bennett doesn’t hit much but has the reputation of being a good handler of pitchers. He, Wiki Gonzalez, and Mike Rivera will be fighting for two jobs. Bennett has the glove, Gonzalez the arm, and Rivera the bat. Gonzalez also has the big contract. This is a competition to watch closely in Peoria. Personally, I have a feeling that Bennett and Rivera will end up splitting time (Bennett working with the kids, Rivera more with the veterans), and Gonzalez will be shipped off somewhere to clear more payroll. We’ll see.

As for Witasick, he absolutely dominated in his first go-round as a reliever for the Padres before being dealt to the Yankees for D’Angelo Jimenez. Although that trade didn’t work out as well as planned, it was still an excellent use of a reliever by a non-contender. Meantime, his second straight World Series debacle notwithstanding, Witasick had another solid season as a member of the Giants. He’s a low-risk signing, he doesn’t cost much, he gives the Padres another option in the late innings (and could close some games early if Trevor Hoffman isn’t ready to go come April), and he could be handy down the stretch if the Padres are in contention or could land more prospects if they aren’t. What’s not to like?

Just for grins, here’s Witasick’s line since being moved full-time to the bullpen:

   IP   H ER HR BB  SO  ERA
148.1 136 47 11 54 160 2.85

I’ve seen worse…

Kelly? As with Brady Anderson, this signing makes very little sense to me. Kelly last played in the big leagues in 2000, when he had 25 at-bats with the Yankees. Arguably his best season came in 1998, when he hit .323/.349/.560 for the Rangers in 257 at-bats. Oh, and Kelly is 39 years old. I really can’t even comment intelligently on this move because frankly I have no idea why the Padres would make it. Personally, I’d rather have Orlando Palmeiro and Chris Stynes than the likes of Anderson and Kelly. If Kelly contributes anything to the Padres in 2003, it will be nothing less than a miracle.