An early look: Who’s on first?

No, I am not going to do an Abbott and Costello routine. The Padres have had, thus far, a busy offseason with a flurry of trades following Josh Byrnes’ takeover of the front office. Barring another major trade, I believe the Padres are just about set with their 40-man roster. They have one opening and it will likely go to a pitcher since they have a surplus of batters on the 40-man roster. When taking a look at the roster, what jumps out at me is flexibility. The biggest weakness appears to be middle infield, but tell me something I don’t know. Here is my prediction of the 25-man opening day roster, acknowledging that some moves could still be made: Pitching (12): Cory Luebke, Tim Stauffer, Clayton Richard, Edinson Volquez, Dustin Moseley, Anthony Bass, Huston Street, Luke Gregerson, Andrew Cashner, Ernesto Frieri, Joe Thatcher, Josh Spence Hitters(13): Nick Hundley, John Baker, Yonder Alonso, Jason Bartlett, Jesus Guzman, Chase Headley, Orlando Hudson, Chris Denorfia, Mark Kotsay, ...