The Padres have acquired reliever Scott Williamson from the Cubs for a couple of pitchers in Low-A ball. Williamson isn’t having a great year — his ERA is over 5.00 but he still has pretty nice peripherals. He has a career ERA of 3.22 in over 400 big-league innings but has had trouble staying healthy over the past few years. Basically he’s a younger Rudy Seanez, with higher upside.

I love this deal, especially given the price. Fabian Jimenez and Joel Santo could turn out to be something, but they’re both so far away. Jimenez was ranked #29 in the Padres organization by Baseball America prior to the season, while Santo checked in at #16. As reader Paul points out in yesterday’s comments, there isn’t a lot separating Williamson from, say, Gary Majewski, who cost the Reds two good, young big-leaguers.

As to the notion that Williamson’s presence (he arrives on Monday for the Dodgers series in LA) could signal Scott Linebrink’s departure, I suppose anything is possible, but I’d expect it to take a lot for the Padres to move him. Despite his “struggles” this season (mostly with the longball), Linebrink is one of the most reliable setup men in the game and probably could close for many clubs. The demand for him should be pretty high, and so should the price.

Would Morgan Ensberg be enough? Assuming Ensberg is healthy, the answer would seem to be “maybe.” The Padres essentially would be filling one void by creating another. Conventional wisdom says it’s easier to find good relievers than good third basemen, and the Padres’ recent history appears to bear that out. On the other hand, you don’t move a guy as reliable as Linebrink without careful consideration. The majority of relievers out there are fungible; Linebrink isn’t one of them.

In Ensberg, however, the Padres would be getting a short-term and medium-term solution. This isn’t a Joe Randa rental situation. Ensberg has 19 homers this year and hit 36 last season. He’s 30 years old. A guy like Ensberg could buy some time for the likes of Chase Headley and Matt Antonelli, and give the Padres their first legit third baseman since Phil Nevin manned the hot corner.

The lame, cop-out answer I’ll give is that I could see this one going either way. I think that Ensberg is about what it would cost to get Linebrink, but I’m not sure that the Padres would be willing to create a potential hole in the bullpen. It won’t surprise me if a deal happens, but it won’t surprise me if it doesn’t.

And that, my friends, is about as non-committal as it gets.