I would expect to see Eckstein hitting in the number two spot for the Padres as he is a good contact hitter and usually puts the ball in play. He does not hit for power, but he will put the ball in play and get on base. Exactly what the Padres need at the top of the order.

Padres Blog

I would have to say that Burke has a better shot of making the team then Prior just because we are unsure if Prior is healthy for the first time since 2006. I’d love for Prior to make the team and be a middle of the rotation starter but right now he has so many question marks it is unkown.

Either way both signings are pretty cheap and exactly what kind of contracts the Padres needed to sign them to.

Padres Blog

Worrell was 3-3 with a 2.15 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings with Triple-A Memphis in 2008. He has 84 Minor League saves since being selected by the Cards in the 12th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

The Padres will have until April 1 to choose the other player in the trade. General manager Kevin Towers said that the player would be just as good as Worrell if not better once they choose the player. It is expected to be another pitching prospect.

With the move it sheds away the huge contract that Greene was to be paid next year. The team will probably be playing under a $40 millon dollar payroll in 2009 so they need to cut all the salary that they can and build for the future.

San Diego Padres

Bard strained his right triceps on Monday, a relapse of the same injury that he suffered last month, also in Denver.

“It’s weird and frustrating with the way the season has gone,” Bard said before the Padres faced the Rockies on Tuesday at Coors Field.

In a season in which Bard has been hampered by injuries, this injury effectively ends his season with 11 games remaining, manager Bud Black said.

“He’s more than likely out for the year,” Black said.

The injury means Bard, acquired in 2006 from the Boston Red Sox with reliever Cla Meredith, has played his last game with the Padres.

A team source indicated Tuesday that the Padres won’t offer him salary arbitration after the season, rendering him a free agent.

With rookie Nick Hundley figuring to get the majority of starts at catcher next season, the Padres will either fill their reserve catcher role internally with someone like Luke Carlin, who started Tuesday, or through free agency.

One option for a backup could be 39-year-old Brad Ausmus, who lives in Del Mar. Ausmus, who played for San Diego from 1993-96, has said this will be his last season in Houston and that he wants to play closer to home.

The Padres’ catching situation is certainly a far cry from where the team was when it broke Spring Training when it had two veteran catchers — Bard and Michael Barrett — it felt comfortable with.

But Barrett missed 41 games earlier this season with a strained elbow ligament and has been out since July 4 with a fractured nose.

“It’s a tough situation,” Black said. “That’s a position we thought we were well covered. It just goes to show you never know.”

Bard suffered a strain of the right triceps taking batting practice at Coors Field on Aug. 8 and missed 13 games. He suffered a similar injury on Monday doing another hitting drill.

Bard, who missed 54 games earlier this season with a high ankle sprain, will now miss more games this season than he’s played in (57). He finishes the season hitting .202 in 178 at-bats with one home run and 16 RBIs.

Bard hit .338 in 93 games with the Padres following the trade from Boston and .285 last season with five home runs and 51 RBIs.

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

San Diego Union Tribune’s Bill Center talked to Padres manager Bud Black about Brian Giles, who could be a free agent after the season.

And do you pick up Giles $9 million option for 2009 or let him walk into free agency with a $3 million buyout?

“Brian still gets it done,” Padres manager Bud Black said last night after the Brewers snapped a four-game losing streak and inched to within four games of the plummeting Chicago Cubs in the National League Central race.

“Brian is a mainstay player.”

While Black thinks Giles is a mainstay, the Padres front office obviously feels differently. Buster Olney says he heard that “the Padres were livid when Giles vetoed the trade that they pursued with the Red Sox in August.”

Will The San Diego Padres buy out Giles after this season? If you believe the rumors that the franchise is looking to cut payroll, then it makes sense that they would.

Coley Ward writes for Umpbump.com. You can reach him here.

The San Diego Padres

8-5-2008

Philadelphia Phillies
Signed INF Tadahito Iguchi

 The San Diego Padres were able to come to terms with their first-round Draft pick, Allan Dykstra, moments before the 9 p.m. PT deadline.

Dykstra was the 23rd pick in this year’s First-Year Player Draft and played his collegiate ball at Wake Forest University. But he is a hometown kid, having played his high school baseball at Rancho Bernardo High School.

“We are extremely excited that we were able to reach an agreement with Allan Dykstra this evening,” said Padres director of scouting Bill Gayton. “It came down to the last hour. We spoke earlier this afternoon, and we had some conversations that obviously picked up as we neared the signing deadline.”

Dykstra was given a $1.15 million signing bonus.

The major hang up with the negotiations came after a team examination raised questions about a hip surgery Dykstra had during his days at Rancho Bernardo.

The examination revealed some issues with Dykstra’s hip, the same one that he had surgery on in high school. He’d developed avascular necrosis, a degenerative hip condition.

But Kevin Towers expressed that the deciding factor in going ahead with signing Dykstra was that his hip issues didn’t prevent him from playing collegiately for the last three years. After feeling comfortable with what his doctors and the Padres’ doctors had to say about his hip, the Padres were able to get the deal done.

“Allan had a strong desire to play for the Padres,” Gayton said. “It was his favorite team, his hometown team and we selected him No. 23 overall, so we certainly didn’t want to run into long-term problems from an organizational standpoint. I mean, you have an extremely talented individual that, hopefully long-term, has a very successful career and we reap the benefits and he does as well.”

Now that he’s signed, Dykstra and the Padres can focus on getting him back into the flow of baseball. When Dykstra was drafted, his college season was already complete as the Demon Deacons did not make the postseason, so he hasn’t been playing competitive baseball for quite some time.

“He certainly missed some time this summer to get a chance to play [with Class A Eugene],” Towers said. “But the key thing is that we got it done and I think it just adds to an already very good 2008 Draft. And now it makes it all that more successful, having Dykstra now as a part of the Padres family.”

Dykstra, who hit .323 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs for the Demon Deacons, is someone the Padres are excited about getting into PETCO Park.

“He has the type of power that plays at PETCO,” Towers said. “This ballpark certainly won’t be able to hold him. It’s hard to find those types of players out there.”

Dykstra will be sent to Eugene upon his arrival but will tentatively arrive at PETCO on Sunday.

“You want to introduce him to professional baseball,” Gayton said. “You’d like him to interact with his teammates and get a feel for the organization, staff and players that are here and are going to be working with him. Hopefully, he’ll be playing with them for many years.”

Ronald Clark is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

2:17pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says Giles would have vetoed a deal to the Rays as well.  Cafardo believes the Red Sox will continue to monitor the waiver wire for a bench bat.  Amalie Benjamin says the Sox weren’t broken up about Giles’ decision, and trade talks didn’t get too far.

12:55pm: It’s official – Giles has blocked the deal.  The window has closed.   You may recall he originally took less to sign with the Padres back in ‘05.

12:35pm: ESPN’s Buster Olney says Giles plans to block a trade to Boston.

Ken Rosenthal wrote yesterday, “the move was apparently designed as a block to prevent the Tampa Bay Rays from claiming Giles, sources say.”

4:34pm: Tom Krasovic has further musings on the Giles situation.  He wonders if the Red Sox could rent Giles for the rest of the season and then let him go back to the Padres as a free agent.

THURSDAY, 11:06am: Interestingly, the Red Sox won the claim on Giles.  Their intent was to block the Rays, according to Ken Rosenthal.  Giles can veto a trade to Boston, and he might simply because his playing time could be reduced.  Also, I have learned that Giles would still be able to veto a straight salary dump.  The Padres can’t use this situation to sneak around Giles’ no-trade clause.

Boston winning the claim means all NL teams passed on Giles, as well as most AL teams.