The Padres apparently have found a buy-low replacement for Adrian Gonzalez, as they are reportedly "on the verge" of a deal with free agent first baseman Brad Hawpe.

ESPN.com reported the deal was near completion, filling the Padres' first base hole with a more affordable option than free agents like Derrek Lee or Adam LaRoche.

Hawpe, 31, knows the territory in the NL West. He had spent his entire career with the Rockies until being released in late August and signing a day later with the Rays to finish out the season. It was a tough hear all around for Hawpe, who managed just a .245 average and .758 OPS in 103 games between the two teams.

The Padres will hope he takes a turn back to his All-Star form of a year earlier -- or better yet 2007, when he posted a .926 OPS, 29 homers and 116 RBI to help lead Colorado to the World Series.

The Brewers last won a division title in 1982. They'll likely lose slugger Prince Fielder to free agency next winter. Impressive drafts under Jack Zduriencik years ago have given them enough talent to maneuver in the trade markets and challenge for October. So if not now, when, then, to push for the playoffs? What would another rebuilding plan have meant to Brewers fans, who impressively ranked among the top half in league attendance each of the last four years?

The Brewers are right to go for it now, even if it stings to part with as many prospects as they have this month, even if the Reds and Cardinals still look like the National League Central's top two teams and the Cubs may be ready to rebound.

General manager Doug Melvin's trade for No. 1 starter Zack Greinke on Sunday also makes the patchy neighborhood a lot more interesting. Greinke is a true ace when he's healthy and in good form. Pitchers of his ilk are rare throughout the majors, yet more so within the NL's biggest and most underachieving division. Outside of St. Louis, home to the Cardinals' tandem of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, there were no other true aces in the NL Central before Sunday.

The Jason Bartlett-to-San Diego trade is back, bigger, and finally official.

The Padres on Friday acquired the veteran shortstop from Tampa Bay along with a player to be named in exchange for right-handers Adam Russell and Brandon Gomes, lefty Cesar Ramos and infielder Cole Figueroa.

The trade comes nine days after the teams reportedly agreed on an exchange of Bartlett for Russell and Ramos during baseball's Winter Meetings. Bartlett even told reporters he had been traded -- though it turned out he had merely learned of the proposed deal from media reports -- and his replacement in Tampa Bay, Reid Brignac, took to Twitter to wish Bartlett well as he moved on.

The deal hit a snag, though, with reports that the Rays had concerns about the health of one of the pitchers they were getting back. Both sides then went radio-silent for several days before word of the new, expanded deal emerged Friday.

Orlando Hudson is set to sign with the Padres, according to a reliable source: Orlando Hudson.

The amiable infielder announced during an interview on MLB Network Radio Friday that he planned to sign with San Diego, and the deal likely would become official later in the day. Hudson will get $11.5 million over two years pending a physical, according to FoxSports.com.

The two-year deal represents a welcome change for Hudson, who has had to settle for one-year guarantees the last few years. But persevering is nothing new for the former 43rd-round draft pick, who has played for the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Twins.

A four-time Gold Glove winner at second base, Hudson saw his offensive production slip in Minnesota last season. He hit .268 to match his career low, and his .710 OPS was his worst in nine big league seasons. That could be a troubling sign, especially considering Hudson turned 33 last week, but the Padres will roll the dice.

Baseball players have a knack for injuring themselves in strange ways when they're not on the field, but Padres' closer Heath Bell has taken that art to a new level. While on vacation with his wife in Fiji, he contracted typhoid fever and had to be hospitalized later on the trip when he and his wife were renewing their wedding vows in Hawaii.

On the assumption that most people reading this are only familiar with typhoid in that it's something you get while playing the computer game Oregon Trail, Typhoid is caused by a form of Salmonella and according to Wikipedia, it's generally passed by drinking unclean water that's been contaminated by exposure to other people with the disease.

It's absorbed through the intestines, which makes it a nightmarish flu/fever combination that can progress into a slow heart-rate, delirium, intestinal hemorrhaging and possibly death if left untreated. As a bacterial infection, though, it's fairly easy to treat, and they caught Bell's well before it became serious, so none of this is a worry for him.

Sometime next century when historians try to fathom the American Empire's addiction to spectator sports, the year 2010 will hold fascination for scholars.

Of particularly interest will be the Eastern Time Zone, home to not only the football-mad SECessionists of the South but the voracious baseball barons of the Northeast.

This month alone, the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington D.C.-based Nationals are tossing out $100-million-plus deals like casino chips at the $5 tables.

Word broke on Monday night that the Phillies reached terms with pitcher Cliff Lee for $120 million. A week ago, the Red Sox agreed to pay $302.3 million to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and left fielder Carl Crawford. Those deals came on the heels of the Nationals' $126 million guarantee to outfielder Jayson Werth.

Adrian Gonzalez took out a full-page advertisement in the San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday thanking the Padres faithful for their support over the past five years.

Gonzalez was traded to the Boston Red Sox last week after averaging just a hair more than 32 home runs per season since arriving in San Diego in 2006. He was an All-Star for three of those seasons and won two Gold Glove Awards.

Thanking the fans in this manner seems to be the new tradition. Trevor Hoffman did the same thing in February 2009 after he left the Padres and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. Hoffman had been with San Diego for 15 years.

As exit strategies go, Hoffman and Gonzalez seem to be setting the bar high.

Stay classy, San Diego Padres!

Free-agent infielder Jorge Cantu is drawing strong interest from two NL West clubs -- the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks -- a source told FanHouse.

Cantu finished 2010 in a platoon role with the AL champion Rangers after a July trade shipped him from the Florida Marlins to Texas. He hit .256 with 11 homers and 56 RBI between the two teams last season.

Cantu, who will turn 29 next month, has enjoyed an up-and-down career with stops in Tampa Bay and Cincinnati before he made his way to Florida. He was released by the Reds in December 2007, and responded in the following season by hitting .277 with 29 homers and 95 RBI.

How much were the Padres willing to pay Adrian Gonzalez, the star first baseman they traded to the Boston Red Sox last Sunday?

Gonzalez's agent, John Boggs, told FanHouse that discussions with the club never reached dollar specifics.

"There was never an official offer," Padres CEO Jeff Moorad said.

Both sides revealed this week, however, that the Padres broached an extension in 2009 that would've ranged from $12 million to $15 million per year.

"The idea was that that was a level that we were comfortable going to," Moorad told FanHouse on Friday.