The always entertaining Six-Year Free Agent List is up over at Baseball America. This, IMHO, is where Kevin Towers should be focusing the energy he spends on the Rule V draft every year. Most of these guys have mastered Double-A, and many of them have had productive stints in the big leagues.

A ton of former Padres in this year’s crop: Jason Middlebrook, Alex Pelaez, Jorge Velandia, Matt Whiteside, Matt DeWitt, Sir Eugene Kingsale, Jeremy Owens, Brandon Puffer, Jason Shiell, Trenidad Hubbard, Darren Blakely, Courtney Duncan, Aaron McNeal, Jermaine Clark, Brian Tollberg, Eric Owens, Mike Colangelo, Bryce Florie, Scott Sanders (!), Emil Brown, Raul Casanova, Buddy Carlyle, Junior Herndon, Jeremy Fikac, Jose Nunez, Homer Bush, Buddy Carlyle Carlos Reyes, Graham Koonce, Mike Rivera, Clay Condrey, Mark Smith, Luther Hackman, Donaldo Mendez, Kevin Nicholson, Kevin Witt, Mike Wodnicki, Kevin Pickford, Ryan Balfe, Bubba Trammell, Brad Clontz, Bart “Brad” Miadich, Santiago Perez, Julius Matos, plus probably others I’m missing.

Guys who played in the Padre organization in 2004 who are on this list include Bernie Castro, Alex Fernandez, Yamil Haad, Chris Rojas, Todd Sears, Rico Washington, Alan Webb, among others.

“Where are the interesting names?” you’re asking yourself right about now, and I’m glad you are. Here are a few:

• Jack Cust — Minor-league masher without a position. Has hit .220/.331/.390 in 141 big-league at-bats. Age 26. Could be another Daryle Ward type? I can think of worse guys to give a spot at the end of a bench. Some of them are very fast.
• Mario Valenzuela — No big-league experience. Hit .263/.307/.494 at Triple-A last year. Age 28. Former prospect’s shine has dimmed, but he could be useful in an Olmedo Saenz kind of way.
• Jeremy Giambi — Cust with less power and more success at the big-league level. He’ll be 30 next year, and his career line is .263/.377/.430. If he’s healthy, he’s worth a gamble.
• Dan Reichert — Career ERA of 5.55 in nearly 400 innings. Good arm, health and command issues. I’ve long thought a move to the bullpen might be in order. Last year at Triple-A, he posted a 3.70 ERA working strictly in relief. Still only 28. Intriguing.
• Pat Strange — Reichert with less experience. Former top Mets prospect has stalled out at Triple-A. Not necessarily a guy the Padres should be thinking about, but the guy was highly regarded not long ago and he’s just 24. Registered a 5.25 ERA spliting time between the rotation and the ‘pen at Triple-A last year.
• Billy McMillon — Hero of Roberto Petagine fanboys everywhere. Age 33. Sports a career line of .248/.322/.396 in 601 big-league at-bats. Compares well with Joe Vitiello at the same age, for whatever that’s worth.
• Bud Smith — The one name here that excites me more than any other, which probably says more about me than it does about Smith or the entire list of free agents. Padre fans will remember him for the no-hitter he threw at the Q in 2001 while with the Cardinals. Hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2002. Owns a career 4.95 ERA in just over 130 innings. Age 25. Worked all of 16 innings in the minors last year. This kid was a very promising pitcher before injuries struck. Someone should at least be trying to figure out if he has anything left.

Okay, so maybe “interesting” was a bit of an overstatement. But I hope Towers and company are at least taking a look at this list. If you’re going to be thinking outside the proverbial box, it seems to me minor-league free agents would be an excellent place to start. It would be interesting to see a comparison of how minor-league free agents have done historically versus Rule V draftees.

For grins, here is my list of intriguing minor-league free agents from last year. Calvin Pickering resurrected his career in Kansas City (Cust, anyone?). The aformenetioned Saenz had a nice little season with the Dodgers in very limited action. Rudy Seanez and Marcus Thames also enjoyed a fair amount of success at the big-league level.

There you go. In other news, the Red Sox won the World Series. Congrats to them. Now we can start debating the relative merits of, say, John Halama versus Trever Miller. It’s gonna be a great winter…