As you probably know, Saturday was the non-tender deadline. The Pads did not offer 2004 contracts to Mike Matthews, Miguel Ojeda, or Todd Sears. They did offer one to Brian Buchanan. No big surprises there.

Elsewhere in the league, there were some interesting players who became free agents. Several could be useful to the Padres:

Starters

• Jason Johnson (R) Pretty much a league-average pitcher the past three years. Hittable, weak strikeout-to-walk ratio. Averaged just under six innings per start in 2003. Pass.
• Damian Moss (L) One good season, one bad in the bigs. Career strikeout-to-walk ratio is barely break even. Less than five punchouts per nine last year. No thanks.
• Mark Redman (L) Four full seasons in the big leagues: ERA+ 111, 100, 100, 112. Left-handed, local product, consistent. Stepped up his game in 2003. Coming into his own at 29 or a one-year anomaly? Trends are good. This might be a guy the Pads should consider.

Relievers

• Danys Baez (R) Power arm. Can start. ERA+ of 113 over 291 career innings. Better numbers as a reliever. A useful arm for someone. Wouldn’t mind seeing the Padres nab him.
• Valerio De Los Santos (L) League-average pitcher with good stuff. Injury-plagued career. Intriguing gamble, but probably not worth the risk.
• Jeremy Fikac (R) Known quantity. Feel-good story. Gives up too many homers. Hasn’t had much success at the big-league level. Could provide depth at Triple-A and fill in for short periods if someone goes down during the season.
• Braden Looper (R) Another power arm with a career ERA+ of 113 (over 391 innings). Good but not great ratios. Like Baez, has closer experience. Pads probably aren’t looking for another right-hander at this point, and Baez and Looper may be a tad expensive because of their saves last year, but either one would be a good fit if there’s room.
• Scott Sauerbeck (L) Subpar season after brilliant 2002. Success is almost entirely dependent on control. Durable (65+ appearances each of his five seasons). Career ERA+ of 120 over 324 innings. Tough to hit. May not command top dollar due to his relatively poor showing in 2003. Not a bad guy to ink to a one-year deal.
• Scott Strickland (R) Dominant when healthy. Career ERA+ of 134 over 236 innings. Worked just 20 innings last year and is coming off surgery. Depending on the health reports, could be a good gamble. Probably not the best fit for San Diego right now.

Hitters

• Jay Payton Legitimate center field with good hitting skills and some pop. Injuries delayed the start of his big-league career. Could be a good pickup as long as he doesn’t command too much money thanks to his Coors-inflated numbers of a year ago (see Jeffrey Hammonds).

If it were me, I’d go after Redman (who earned $2.15M last year as a member of the Marlins) for the rotation if I didn’t think I could sign Greg Maddux. I’m guessing 2 years for $7M would do the trick. [Editor's note: The Athletics have just re-signed Redman at a reported $12M for 3 years; not a bad deal for either side.] Then I’d ink Payton, assuming he could be had for roughly the apparent going rate of 2 years for $6M. If he insisted on more than two years or more than $4M per, I’d pass. Finally, I’d try to trade Jay Witasick and sign Sauerbeck as the second lefty in the pen.

Places to Visit, Things to Do

• The A-Rod Mess (Baseball Prospectus). I honestly haven’t been paying real close attention to this whole situtation because I’ve been too busy obssessing over such arcane items as the relative merits of Sterling Hitchcock and Ismael Valdes (which we’ll get back to later this week), but regular reader Howard Lynch forwarded me this article by Joe Sheehan. It’s an excellent read, and what Sheehan has to say makes a lot of sense. Owners must hate guys who can present the union’s perspective in such a logical manner and actually distract Joe Fan from the fact that for as much money as players make, there is someone paying their salary who makes a great deal more.
• Baseball Beat A blog with a twist. Where most of us write Monday through Friday, Rich covers the weekends so folks can get their fix while we’re resting. Right now he’s got an interesting look at Mickey Mantle’s place in history and an interview with Aaron Gleeman (blogs must be gaining legitimacy; the purveyors of information are now becoming the information itself).

That’s all for now. More as it happens…