Trying very, very hard to keep politics out of this site. A few quick notes, then we’ll get on with life:

• Geologically speaking, 4 years isn’t a long time. The Earth was here well before we arrived, and it will be here well after we’re gone. God bless the Earth.
• Not that any other state would want me, but I can’t see moving out of California anytime soon.
• Cleaning up one’s own mess is good for the soul.
• Depressed? Try the Serenity Prayer. Not working? How about a drink, instead. Or maybe the Serenity Prayer Drinking Game^TM. One person recites the prayer, pausing at the end of each line, at which time the other person takes a shot. Repeat till you reach the end of the prayer, then switch roles. Alone? Not a problem, just do the whole thing twice.
• If you want to see a guitarist play with a great deal of anger, come see my band this weekend. “Machinehead” by the British band Bush promises to be interesting. There is a part in the middle of that song where I repeatedly hit my guitar above the pickups and let it ring through the amp. I hope I don’t break my hand.

Okay, enough of that. We did what we could, now we hope for the best for our nation. The same, he cleverly transited, can be said of the Padres bullpen.

Trevor Hoffman ($5.0M) and Aki Otsuka ($800K) are under contract. Scott Linebrink is arbitration eligible, and I can’t find any figures for Blaine Neal. The club also will pay Rod Beck and Jay Witasick $350K not to pitch.

The Padres employed a 12-man pitching staff for much of 2004, so it’s conceivable that they could add three more arms to the mix. Hopefully none will be of the “lefty for the sake of lefty” or “hey, look what I found in the Rule V” variety this year.

We’ve already looked at some of the in-house candidates, including right-handers Brian Sweeney, Dennis Tankersley, and Chris Oxspring. Right-hander Brad Baker, and left-handers Mike Bynum and Edgar Huerta could also get looks. And the Pads could always bring back Antonio Osuna, who pitched very well when healthy (especially down the stretch).

What about guys on the free agent market? First off, throw out the former closers (Antonio Alfonseca, Matt Mantei, Troy Percival, Bob Wickman). They’ll all command too much due to their save totals. Actually, Alfonseca hasn’t had a save since 2002 so he might be okay. Mantei might not be that expensive either due to his injury history, but why take the chance?

Then there are the generic middle relievers (Terry Adams, Ricky Bottalico, Doug Brocail, Dave Burba, Cal Eldred, Alan Levine, Ramiro Mendoza, Dan Miceli, Jay Powell, David Weathers). My feeling on these guys is, if you can get one of ‘em cheap enough, go for it. They’re veterans, they know what they’re doing, they can help take the pressure off the higher-leverage pitchers on a staff. From where I sit, these guys are pretty interchangeable and I’d go with whichever one fits in the budget. If that turns out to be none of the above, I wouldn’t sweat it too much.

Next up, the obligatory southpaws (Rheal Cormier, Chris Hammond, Kent Mercker, Steve Kline). All four of these guys pitched very well in 2004. Only Kline will be under 37 years old next season. Unfortunately he also is coming off a 1.79 ERA for a World Series team. Can you say pinstripes?

There is one other left-hander who merits watching, and that is John Halama. He filed for free agency after our look at the available starting pitchers, but Halama has big-league experience as a starter and a reliever. Durable, versatile, consistent. Pretty useful dude. Sort of a left-handed version of Dustin Hermanson (who also wouldn’t be a horrible pickup at the right price).

Of course, I’ve saved the “intriguing” arms for last. One of ‘em is former Padre Rudy Seanez. Still throws hard, still effective when healthy. But he’s basically an older version of Osuna, so why not just re-sign the latter instead? The others I would want to at least take a look at include Chad Fox, Scott Williamson, Esteban Yan, and Jeff Zimmerman. Yan has electric stuff but hasn’t figured out how to use it. The other three have consistently posted great numbers when healthy, which hasn’t been very often.

Who would I target? In alphabetical order, Halama, Hermanson, and Yan. Maybe Fox or Williamson. Whichever of the generic middle relievers is cheapest. I think Halama right now is one of the most useful pitchers available to the Padres. He’s reasonably young, he’s left-handed, he has a good idea how to pitch, he can take the ball in just about any situation. Yan fascinates me because he hits high-90s with regularity. Seems like the kind of kid a good pitching coach could turn into something. Sounds like a project potentially worth Darren Balsley’s time and effort.

So what’s our theoretical pitching staff now? Jake Peavy, Brian Lawrence, Adam Eaton, Hoffman, Otsuka, Linebrink for sure. Then whichever five stick out of Baker, Halama, Lidle, Neal, Osuna, Reyes, Bud Smith, Sweeney, Tankersley, and Yan. Not a lot of world-beaters there, but remember that at the beginning of last year the Pads had Eddie Oropesa, Jason Szuminski, and Ismael Valdez on their staff.

I’m just sayin’…