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: [...]

According to the U-T, Sterling Hitchcock and Ismael Valdes have passed physicals and been signed to compete with Kevin Jarvis for the number five spot in the rotation. A few items of note: Both were inked to 1-year deals for $800k plus incentives. The two kids, Ben Howard and Dennis Tankersley, are not mentioned as [...]

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 [...]

With Mike Cameron now a member of the Mets and Kenny Lofton angling toward the other New York team, maybe it’s time to consider some other options. Supposedly with Cameron and Lofton off the market, Kevin Towers is now focusing his attention on the rotation. But I hold out some hope that the current outfield [...]

Now that the signing of right-hander Akinori Ohtsuka appears to be imminent, it’s probably a good time to take a closer look at the soon-to-be-former Chunichi Dragon. I don’t know how well stats compiled on the other side of the Pacific translate into MLB equivalents, but bearing in mind that the man makes the stats [...]

Quickly this morning. Padres continue to make moves this off-season, re-signing last year’s interim closer and bullpen savior Rod Beck. He’ll work the eighth inning this year, setting up Trevor Hoffman. Also, Japanese reliever Akinori Otsuka is close to signing. Once he’s in the fold, the Pads are rumored to be looking to add a [...]