Padres Announce Promotional Lineup for 2006

2006 features 31 fan giveaways, 17 special events and three opening celebrations
The San Diego Padres today announced the promotional lineup for their 2006 season at PETCO Park, offering family-friendly events, exciting activities and popular premium giveaways. There will be a total of 31 giveaways, including 18 all-fan giveaways, the most in the three-year history of PETCO Park. Additionally, there will be a total of 17 special events as well as three separate Opening Day/Night Celebrations.At every Friday home game throughout the season, fans will receive giveaways including:• Padres Opening Weekend Long Sleeve T-shirts (April 7 vs. Colorado).• Padres Beanie Caps (May 26 vs. St. Louis).• The return of fan-favorite promotions, including Safari Floppy Caps (May 5 vs. Chicago) and Beach Towels (June 23 vs. Seattle).• Padres Replica Road Jersey T-Shirts (June 30 vs. San Francisco).On Saturdays, the Padres and PETCO Park will host special events and activities including five postgame fireworks shows, Park at the Park concerts, the Third Annual Action Sports Day (April 29 vs. Los Angeles) and Fiesta Con Los Padres (June 24 vs. Seattle).Sundays will be directed exclusively toward kids with events including Photo Day and Kids Run the Bases, as well as giveaways such as Trading Cards and Collector Sets, Lunch Boxes and for the first time Brian Giles-in-a-Box.Other core events that return to the promotional schedule include the 10th annual Mexico Opening Night featuring Vinny Castilla T-Shirts for Kids (Sunday, April 9 vs. Colorado), Military Opening Night when the team dons camouflage uniforms for the seventh straight season with this year's version patterned after desert camouflage uniforms (Saturday, April 22 vs. the New York Mets), the third annual Salute to the Negro Leagues (Saturday, May 6 vs. the Chicago Cubs) and a retro day in which the team sports 1976 throwback uniforms (Thursday, August 3 vs. Houston).Fans can purchase single game tickets beginning 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Feburary 25, at the PETCO Park Advance Ticket Windows, over the Internet at www.padres.com, by phone at 1-877-FRIARTIX, at all San Diego area PETCO locations and at the Padres Team Store in Tijuana. The Padres are also introducing seven special ticket "6-Packs," featuring an assortment of attractive divisional and interleague matchups available for purchase by fans beginning Saturday, February 11. Season tickets are available by calling (619) 795-5500, online at padres.com or by visiting the Padres Ticket Office at PETCO Park during regular business hours.

Piazza likely Will be Padre

The Yankees are officially out of the Mike Piazza chase, a certain disappointment to the former Mets catcher. But the San Diego Padres, whose locale appeals to the 37-year-old, remain very interested.According to a major-league official, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman notified Piazza's agent Dan Lozano yesterday that the team would pass on the future Hall of Famer.
"I've got nothing to report," Cashman said.The Yankees intend to carry 12 pitchers, leaving them with 13 position players. With catcher Kelly Stinnett, infielder Miguel Cairo and outfielder Bubba Crosby already tagged as reserves, the last spot likely will go to Andy Phillips, who can spot Jason Giambi at first base. The Yankees ultimately decided that Phillips' defense would prove more useful than Piazza's offense.Piazza relished the idea of serving as the Yankees' part-time designated hitter. But with the Yankees no longer interested, he could find himself in San Diego, for about $2 million.The Padres began negotiations with Lozano about a week ago, according to Padres GM Kevin Towers. Said Towers: "[Lozano] basically said to DH was Mike's preference, but if that didn't work out, he'd really want to be on the West Coast."San Diego has carried on a busy offseason, acquiring Mike Cameron in a trade from the Mets and re-signing free agents Brian Giles and Trevor Hoffman, both for hometown discounts. At catcher, however, the defending National League West champions are unimposing, having lost Ramon Hernandez to Baltimore through free agency. Former Red Sox backup Doug Mirabelli, David Ross and former Yankees backup Todd Greene make up the catching corps."He still thinks he can catch 70 to 80 games," Towers said of Piazza. "We can probably carry three catchers."Piazza could DH in the Padres' nine interleague road games, Towers added, and the GM said that he could even envision Piazza playing "10 to 15 games" at first base during the season. Piazza didn't play first base at all for the 2005 Mets, after struggling greatly there in 2004.Towers said he had largely been playing "phone tag" with Lozano, but negotiations could progress quickly now that the Yankees are out. The Phillies and Toronto also have expressed interest in Piazza.

M's to Play Spring Game vs. Padres in Portland

The Mariners will play a spring-training exhibition game against the Portland Beavers at PGE Park.
The March 31 game is the Mariners' first appearance in Portland since 2002, when Seattle played the San Diego Padres before a sellout crowd of 19,778.
"This game will be a great start to the 2006 season, and it will be a unique opportunity for fans to get an early look at the Beavers as they approach their home opener on April 6," said John Cunningham, president and general manager of the Beavers.
The Mariners finished the 2005 season with a 69-93 record and a last-place finish in the American League West Division.
The exhibition game will wrap up spring training for both teams. The Mariners open the regular season against the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field on April 3.
The Mariners are 1-1 in Portland, with a 5-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at then-Civic Stadium in 1984, and a 3-1 loss to the Padres in 2002.

Who wouldn’t want this guy?

Three messages awaited Kevin Towers when he arrived at the San Diego Padres’ offices Wednesday. They were from co-workers in the baseball-operations office wondering when, exactly, Towers decided to sign Jose Lima.
All of them had read a story from the Dominican Republic in which El Caribe newspaper reported that Lima said he would sign a one-year, $1.7 million contract with the Padres.
Towers laughed. No such deal existed.
“Frankly,” the Padres general manager said, “that would make us look like buffoons.”
Towers wasn’t trying to be callous. It’s just that Lima’s 2005 season with the Royals rivals the Titanic in terms of success, and even in this inflated market for starting pitching, Lima figures to get no more than a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league camp.
Whatever prompted Lima to talk of a deal that didn’t exist, it only makes Joe Klein’s life tougher. He is Lima’s agent. His job is to create a market where none exists so Lima doesn’t resort to playing Pinocchio.
“I don’t think it hurts,” Klein said Wednesday. “I hope not.”
Because Klein has spent months already aiming to convince teams that his client is salvageable goods.
“He’s fun,” Klein said. “He’s sincere. He really is a good guy. He’ll show up to every charity event. He signs autographs.”
All true — and so is the fact that Lima lost 16 games last year.
“You can’t give up on a guy who, at one point in his career, won 21 games,” Klein countered. “He’s shown he can.”
He’s also shown he can pitch like he did in 2005, when Lima’s 6.99 ERA set the record for the worst mark in baseball history for a pitcher with more than 30 starts.
“When people don’t believe in him is when he gets fired up and gets it done,” Klein said. “That seems to motivate him.”
Give Klein this much: He’s trying. He’s unearthing every bit of positive information to offset the specter of last season’s numbers.
Not only can Lima pitch, but if you’re in a pinch for a national anthem singer, he’s your man!
Seriously, it’s not an easy job.
Fourteen years ago, when in the Dominican Republic during the offseason, Klein — real-estate lawyer by trade, sports agent on the side — met Lima, a precocious teenager who had finished his third pro season at Class A Lakeland. They hit it off, and Lima’s been with Klein ever since, through good and bad.
The good: In 1999, Lima went 21-10 with Houston and finished fourth in Cy Young voting. Four years later, after pitching in the independent Atlantic League, Lima went to the Royals midseason and won his first seven decisions. With Los Angeles the next season, Lima notched the Dodgers’ first playoff victory in 16 years.
The bad: He collapsed in Houston, flamed out in his second go-around with Detroit and made history — albeit the bad kind — with the Royals last season.
“We needed somebody to take the ball every fifth day,” Royals general manager Allard Baird said. “We were in a total rebuilding mode. We had young pitchers who had maxed out their innings pitched. We didn’t want them to throw. That’s what factored in. He’d take the ball. And he’d take the bullet.”
Bullets do cost. On top of Lima’s base salary of $2.5 million last season, he earned $1.25 million in bonuses for the number of starts he made. The money has grown even greater this offseason, as pitchers lap up millions in a market inflated particularly for pitchers.
And still, six weeks before spring training starts, Lima remains unemployed and available to every team except Kansas City.
“I see guys who have signed two-year deals and know I’m better than that guy,” Lima said earlier this week from the Dominican Republic, where he won a winter league playoff game for Aguilas on Tuesday. “I know I can get guys out. I believe in myself. I know I’ll go to spring training, bust my (rear) and make a team.”
Klein said his phone calls have yielded at least a couple of bites, including a possible minor-league deal with San Diego. Japan, where Lima is immensely popular, is always a possibility. With baseball’s dearth of starting pitching, Baird believes Lima is bound to get at least a shot at making a team. And Lima — well, it’s easy to figure out what Lima thinks.
“It’s always Lima Time,” he said. “What you see from Lima is what you get.”
If it’s anything like 2005, that’s not good.
So forget that, Klein said. New year, new season.
“And remember this,” Klein said, sounding like he was ready to unleash his most convincing reasoning yet. “He’s only 33.”
In the peddling of Jose Lima, every little thing counts. But only if it’s true.

Shawn Estes agree to one-year deal

Starting pitcher Shawn Estes and the San Diego Padres reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday on a one-year contract.
The left-hander must pass a physical before the deal is completed. Estes was sidelined for two months last season with an ankle injury that limited him to 21 starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He went 7-8 with a 4.80 ERA.
Estes would be the only lefty in the Padres' rotation, although they're known to still be interested in reacquiring David Wells from the Boston Red Sox.
The 32-year-old Estes is 99-89 with a 4.71 ERA in 11 major-league seasons. He has also pitched for San Francisco, the New York Mets, Cincinnati, the Chicago Cubs and Colorado. His best season was 1997, when he went 19-5 with a 3.18 ERA for the Giants.