35-year old righty swinging 2B David Eckstein is back as the likely starting 2B for the Padres in 2010. He played in 136 games for the Padres last season and he was 131 for 503 (.260 avg, .657 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 2 homers, 51 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Padres hope that Eckstein will produce more like his career norms of a .282 batting average with a .706 OPS. Eckstein only made 2 errors in 131 games at 2B for the Padres last season but he showed pretty poor range. The Padres love Eckstein’s hustle which sets a good example for the younger players on the Padres.

33-year old righty swinging Jerry Hairston will likely take some of Eckstein’s playing time away in 2010 as he will serve as the Padres’ super utility man playing all over the field. Hairston played in 131 games for the Reds and Yankees last season and he was 96 for 383 (.251 avg, .709 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 10 homers, 39 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Hairston played in 12 games at 2B last season and he made 1 error there while showing good range.

24-year old righty swinging Matt Antonelli is still considered the Padres’ 2B of the future despite playing horrible last season in AAA. He played in 59 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 37 for 189 (.196 avg, .638 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers and 22 RBIs. Antonelli got a brief taste of the majors in 2008 when he played in 21 games in which he was 11 for 57 (.193 avg, .573 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Antonelli better get his act in gear this season in AAA because the Padres aren’t going to wait forever for him.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: C-

The Padres have signed 31-year old righty swinging catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a 1-year deal worth $1.25 million bucks with a mutual option for the 2011 season valued at $3.5 million bucks. Torrealba played in 64 games with the Rockies last season and he was 62 for 213 (.291 avg, .732 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 2 homers and 31 RBIs. He has now played in 574 games in his major league career and he is 454 for 1,781 (.255 avg, .706 OPS) with 206 runs scored, 38 homers, 235 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Padres as Torrealba will play at least half of the games and maybe most of the games in 2010 behind the plate.

Lefty starting pitcher Dave Dravecky was a darn good pitcher for the Padres. He pitched in 199 games (119 starts) in his six years with the Padres and he was 53-50 with 10 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. His best season with the Padres was in 1983 when he made the N.L. All-Star team. In 1983, Dravecky pitched in 28 games (all starts) in which he was 14-10 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Dravecky is #4 all-time in ERA in Padres’ history (3.12), #6 in WHIP (1.20), #6 in complete games (23) and he is tied for 8th in shutouts (6). Dravecky’s life and career took a downturn after he left the Padres. On October 7th, 1988 he had surgery to remove a desmoid tumor from his pitching arm. That kept him out of the majors until August 10, 1989 when he made it back to the show with the Giants. Five days later he snapped the humerus bone in his left arm on a pitch to Tim Raines. That was the end of his pitching career. On June 18th, 1991 Dravecky had his left arm and shoulder amputated. He kept his head up and wrote a book called “Comeback”. It was a outstanding, uplifting book and I would suggest that anyone who thinks they are going through rough times should read.

Rumors swirled all winter long that the Padres were going to move 27-year old lefty swinging Adrian Gonzalez. The Padres resisted and he will reward them once again in 2010. He played in 160 games for the Padres last season and he was 153 for 552 (.277 avg, .958 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 40 homers and 99 RBIs. His home road splits on homers is what gets other teams really excited about him as Gonzalez only hit 12 homers and home and 28 homers on the road last season. The Padres have no reason to think that Gonzalez won’t give them at least his average season for them which consists of 94.3 runs scored, 32.5 homers and 100 RBIs. Despite making 7 errors in 156 games he is a solid defensive player.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A

The Padres have designated 26-year old righty reliever Mike Ekstrom for assignment to make room on the roster for Jon Garland. Ekstrom pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Padres last season and he was 0-0 with a 6.38 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He also pitched in 42 games (1 start) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 4-2 with a 1.73 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. Ekstrom pitched two years for the Padres working in 20 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. The trade-off of Garland for Ekstrom is huge for the Padres.

UPDATE: The Rays have claimed Ekstrom off waivers.