I had the pleasure of meeting John from Twins Geek last night for dinner. He and one of his readers (whom I know in a completely different circle; I’m always amazed when that sort of thing happens in a city the size of San Diego) invited me out for an excellent steak dinner and some good baseball talk. They’ve convinced me that Jacque Jones would be a solid addition to the Pads, but my idea of what he should cost is a lot different from that of what the Twins evidently think he should cost. Personally, I’d offer up something like Jay Witasick and their choice of Ben Howard or Dennis Tankersley.

Speaking of outfielders, did you notice how quickly Monday’s piece became obsolete? Carl Everett signed with the Expos (2 years, $7.5M), Reggie Sanders signed with the Cards (2 years, $6M), Shannon Stewart re-signed with Minnesota (3 years, $18M; this actually happened back on Dec. 9 but I missed it back then–I still think my analysis was pretty good, if not timely), Jose Cruz signed with Tampa Bay (2 years, $6M), and Jose Guillen is on the verge of inking a deal with the Angels (allegedly for, you guessed it: 2 years, $6M).

So now that we’ve repeatedly and convincingly demonstrated that the Pads most likely are not continuing in their pursuit of a center fielder at this time, let’s turn our attention to the rotation. This can be divided into roughly two categories: the big three up front, and the big mess at the back end.

Once past Brian Lawrence, Adam Eaton, and Jake Peavy, there could be some serious competition for those final two slots. And that’s assuming the Padres don’t make a play for Greg Maddux, potential free agent Freddy Garcia, or one of the other higher profile guys (Kevin Millwood, Sidney Ponson, etc.).

The newest entrant into the fray (NC Times) reportedly will be former Dodger Ismael Valdes (U-T). Probably the best thing that can be said of Valdes at this point is that his peak was better than Francisco Cordova’s. Actually, Valdes was reasonably effective with Texas in 2002. There are worse guys to gamble on (e.g., Cordova) and he’s not costing much (supposedly 1 year at $750k) so I guess it’s not too bad. We’ll look more closely at Valdes if and when the signing is made official.

Meantime, for those scoring at home, here are the current contestants in "Back End of the Padres Rotation" (alphabetical order): Sterling Hitchcock, Ben Howard, Kevin Jarvis, Dennis Tankersley, Ismael Valdes. Although Hitchcock and Valdes technically aren’t under contract with the Pads as of this writing, the early money is on Hitchcock. He’s a veteran, he has previous experience with the ballclub, and he’s a lefty.

Speaking of Jarvis, what the heck is this team going to do with his contract? If they can’t unload him before the season starts, they almost have to pitch him so other teams can see that he’s worth acquiring. Then there’s always the danger that he won’t pitch well enough to have trade value. Or that he’ll pitch just well enough to be taken off the market. Ugh.

If they’re not dealt, Howard and Tankersley can start the season at Triple-A, ready if needed by the Padres or another big-league club. Don’t see a lot of openings in the bullpen either. The one remaining hole there (second lefty) may be filled shortly by Mexican hurler Edgar Huerta, whom Kevin Towers compares to Oliver Perez in terms of stuff.

It’s a nice situation to see the Padres in. With eight or nine (depending on whether Witasick is traded) of the spots on the staff pretty well written in stone, there should be some pretty stiff competition for those remaining two or three openings.

Other News

Couple items of note from Baseball America:

• Pirates, Indians Each Lose Five In Rule 5 Josh Boyd offers his analysis of the Rule 5 draft, including a report on right-hander Jason Szuminski, selected by the Royals from the Cubs’ organization and dealt to the Pads.
• Top 10 Prospects: Complete Index This is more of a heads-up. The Padres’ list isn’t up yet, but is scheduled for release this Friday (Dec. 19). Generally BA does a chat that same afternoon with the person who compiled the list, so you may want to be on the lookout for that.