The Padres have a strong bullpen and they’re going to need one with ancient Greg Maddux and David Wells in the rotation.  Speaking of ancient, 39 year old righty Trevor Hoffman just keeps rolling along.  Hoffman just keeps adding to his save total which sits at 482 which is more than any pitcher in major league history has!  Hoffman was 0-2 with 46 saves, a 2.14 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in 65 games for the Padres last season.  Batters only hit .205 against Hoffman last season and he only walked 13 batters in 63 innings and still managed to whiff 50 batters.  Hoffman is getting by because he really knows how to set up hitters because he’s lost a lot of steam off of his fastball.  Look for him to save 35-45 games this season because the Padres are going to have a pretty good team.

30 year old righty Scott Linebrink is like Trevor Hoffman’s caddy as he sets everything up for him.  Linebrink was 7-4 with 36 holds, 2 saves, a 3.57 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 73 games for the Padres in 2006.  Batters only hit .243 against him (lefties .204) and he only walked 22 batters while striking out 68 in 75.2 innings.  Look for Linebrink to be one of the best set up men in baseball again this season.

23 year old righty Cla Meredith was awesome last season for the Padres after they stole him from the Red Sox.  It’s amazing that they got Meredith, Josh Bard and cash for Doug Mirabelli on May 1st of last season!   What a trade!  Anyways, Meredith was 5-1 with 16 holds, a 1.07 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP in 45 games for the Padres in 2006.  Batters only hit .170 (righties .112) against Meredith last season and he only walked 6 batters while whiffing 37 in 50.2 innings!  Look for Meredith to be good again in 2007, just not quite as good as he was in 2006.

29 year old righty Heath Bell was acquired in the off season from the New York Mets.  He was 0-0 with a 5.11 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP in 22 games for the Mets in 2006.  Batters hit .331 against him last season and he gave up 6 homers in 37 innings.  He did whiff 35 batters so he does have some talent and it will be up to the Padres pitching coach and manager to get him straightened out.

26 year old righty Andrew Brown was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Indians over the winter.  He pitched in 9 games for the Indians and he was 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  He pitched well in the minors as he was 5-4 with 3 holds, 5 saves, a 2.60 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP in 39 games for the Indians AAA team.  He could fit in with the Padres and give them some good innings this year.

26 year old lefty Royce Ring has already been sent to the minors but he’ll be back in the majors at some point.  He was 0-0 with a 2.13 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP in 11 games for the Mets last year.  He held batters to a .156 batting average in 12.2 innings.  Look for him to get a chance with the Padres this season as they will likely start the season without a lefty in their bullpen.

39 year old righty Doug Brocail will probably make the Padres and work early in games.  He was 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 25 games for the Padres last season.  Batters hit .252 against him (righties .228) but he minimizes the damage by throwing strikes as he only walked 8 batters in 28.1 innings last season.

31 year old Scott Cassidy pitched well for the Padres last season.  He was 6-4 with 4 holds, a 2.53 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 42 games for the Padres in 2006.  Batters hit .248 against him with 8 homers and 19 walks in 42.2 innings, but, he whiffed 49 batters.  He will need to keep the ball in the park and throw more strikes if he wants to stay in the major leagues.

Todd Walker was having a rough spring as he was only 9 of 40 (.225 batting average) and he was caught in a numbers game in San Diego.  He will have no problem finding a job soon because of his good lefthanded bat.

The San Diego Padres have signed Greg Maddux and David Wells to fill out the back of their rotation that’s filled with young talent.  25 year old righty Jake Peavy is the leader of the Padres rotation.  He was 11-14 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 32 starts last season for the Padres.  Batters only hit .242 against Peavy last season and he whiffed 215 batters in 202.1 innings.  The Padres hope that Peavy will return to the form he showed in 2004-2005 when he was 28-13 with a 2.61 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 57 starts.  He also whiffed 389 batters in 369.1 innings in those two years.  Look for Peavy to return to dominance this season as he will win between 15-19 games with a sub-3.00 ERA in 2007.

27 year old righty Chris Young was 11-5 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 31 starts for the Padres.  Young held batters to a .206 batting average as he shows great deception because of his size as he stands 6′10″, 250 pounds.  Young did give up a lot of homers (28) but that’s because he pitches up in the zone because of his size.  Young whiffed 164 batters in 179.1 innings which shows how good his stuff is.  Look for Young to win 12-15 games with an ERA of 3.75-4.25 in 2007.

Soon to be 41 year old righty Greg Maddux was signed by the Padres as a free agent.  Maddux was 15-14 last season with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 34 starts for the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.  Batters hit .271 against Maddux but he limited the damage because he only walked 37 batters in 210 innings against him.  Look for Maddux to pitch well again this season as Petco Park will make up for any mistakes Maddux makes.  Look for Maddux to add 14-17 more wins to his career total of 333 wins and he will keep his ERA right around 4.00 in 2007.

43 year old lefty David Wells is back for another season with the Padres.  He was 3-5 with a 4.42 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 13 starts for the Boston Red Sox and the Padres in 2006.  Batters hit .314 against Wells last season but he only walked 12 hitters in 75.1 innings last year to minimize the damage.  Look for Wells to win 10-14 games this season if he stays healthy, and that’s a big if.

27 year old righty Clay Hensley will be the #5 starter on the Padres this season.  He was 11-12 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 37 games (29 starts) for the Padres in 2006.  He only allowed 174 hits in 187 innings last season, but he will need to cut down on his walks (76) to remain an effective starting pitcher.  Look for Hensley to win 10-14 games this season with an ERA of between 3.50-3.99 in 2007.

24 year old righty Tim Stauffer started a game for the Padres last season and he won it by pitching well as he only gave up 1 earned run in 6 innings.  He didn’t pitch well in AAA though as he was 7-12 with a 5.53 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP in 28 games (26 starts) and batters raked him for a .320 batting average.  Look for Stauffer to start the season in AAA ball and only get a call to the Padres if he’s pitching well there.

26 year old righty Mike Thompson was 4-5 with a 4.99 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP in 19 games (16 starts) for the Padres in 2006.  Batters hit .285 against Thompson last season and he gave up 13 homers in only 92 innings.  Look for Thompson to also start the year in AAA and get a call if something happens to one of the Padres starters during the season.

The Padres have claimed 24 year old righty Justin Germano off of waivers from the Phillies.  Germano was property of the San Diego Padres from the 2000 season until July 23rd, 2005 when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Joe Randa.  Germano was 10-6 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 25 games (24 starts) in AAA ball last season.  He also appeared in 2 games (1 start) for the Reds last season and he was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.  Look for Germano to start the year in AAA and get called up to the Padres if someone gets hurt.

The Padres released relief pitcher Mike Adams to make room for Germano on the roster.

36 year old lefty swinging Brian Giles has always said that he would love to play ball on the same team as his brother and now he will get his chance as the Padres have signed Marcus to play 2B.  Brian Giles played in 158 games last season for the Padres and he hit .263 with 87 runs scored, 14 homers, 83 RBIs, 9 stolen bases and a .771 OPS.  Giles played in 158 games in RF and he made 7 errors while showing below average range.  Look for Giles to rebound and hit in the .280’s with 15-20 homers and knock in 90-100 runs in 2007.

26 year old lefty swinging Paul McAnulty will likely make the Padres as a corner outfielder this season.  He played in 125 games in AAA ball last season and he hit .310 with 76 runs scored, 19 homers, 79 RBIs and a .909 OPS.  He also played in 16 games for the Padres and he went 3 for 13 (.231 avg.).  Look for McAnulty to have a decent season off the bench for the Padres if he can handle not playing every day.

28 year old Jack Cust is in camp for another try to make the Padres.  He played in 138 games in AAA ball last season and he hit .293 with 97 runs scored, 30 homers, 77 RBIs, 143 walks and a 1.016 OPS!  He also played in 4 games for the Padres and went 1 for 3 (.333 avg.).  The problem with Cust is that his best position on defense is designated hitter and it’s tough to carry a player on a National League roster that can’t play any defense.  Look for Cust to tear it up in AAA ball and to get a call from the Padres at some point in the season.