Luke Gregerson News

Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 1:29 a.m. It wasn't quite an eleventh-hour deal. But Kevin Correia's contract agreement with the Padres came close enough to the club-imposed 9 o'clock deadline last night to make the right-handed starter nervous.

Outfielder/designated hitter Jack Cust became a free agent on Saturday after the Oakland Athletics decided not to tender a contract to the 30-year-old. Cust batted .240 with 25 homers and 70 RBI in 149 games for the A's last season, leading the team in home runs, walks and strikeouts .

The Padres finished with a flurry in 2009, going 37-25 over their last 62 games, which ranked fifth among Major League teams over that very same stretch of games.

It was Jed Hoyer's 36th birthday Monday, and the new Padres general manager spent just about every waking hour holed-up inside his suite at the Marriott with a handful of his staff.

" Jed Hoyer is probably not quite as far along as he'd like to be after 61 2 weeks as the Padres' general manager.

OUTFIELDER : New general manager Jed Hoyer heads to Indianapolis looking for a right-handed-hitting outfielder.

Cubs pitcher Carlos Marmol's performance on the field and Mr. T's off-key singing of the seventh-inning stretch off of it are among the candidates for MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards.

Perhaps one of the oddest moments from the 2009 season was the 52-minute delay in the Padres game on July 2 against the Houston Astros at PETCO Park because of a swarm of bees that congregated in left field.

Two guys named C.J. are among the Rangers nominees for the 2009 This Year in Baseball Awards.

Where would the Padres have been in 2009 without the performances of a bullpen that was essentially built on the fly in Spring Training and then tweaked radically during the regular season? The short answer? The Padres' final record might have looked more like that of their 99-loss season of 2008 instead of a season in which they won 75 games and ...

Chase Headley and Kevin Kouzmanoff warm up together before a recent game. One may have to go over the winter because they both belong on third.

Related Terms: Adrian Gonzalez , Brian Giles , Bud Black , Chase Headley , Chris Young , Edgar Gonzalez , Everth Cabrera , Heath Bell , Henry Blanco , Jake Peavy , Kevin Correia , Kevin Kouzmanoff , Kyle Blanks , Luis Rodriguez , Mike Adams , Nick Hundley , Oscar Salazar , Padres , Tony Gwynn Will Padres manage? With Kevin Towers sent packing, ...

A few hours before his predetermined inning Sunday, in all probability the last of his decorated, 21-year career, Randy Johnson said he wouldn't be nostalgic on the mound.

Kevin Kouzmanoff of the San Diego Padres is willing to accommodate the Hall of Fame, to a point.

Randy Johnson made what could be the last appearance of his brilliant, 22-year big league career, pitching one adventuresome inning of relief in the San Francisco Giants' 4-3, 10-inning win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

By his own estimation, Cesar Ramos figures he attended every Dodgers home opener from the time he was 8 to 18, which meant that a shift in plans from where he normally was supposed to be on those sun-splashed afternoons.

San Diego Padres' Kevin Kouzmanoff, center, Adrian Gonzalez, right, and Luke Gregerson high five after the Padres 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a baseball game Wednesday, Sept.

Clayton Richard stopped the Los Angeles Dodgers from clinching the NL West title, throwing seven sharp innings to lead the San Diego Padres to a 5-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Augie Ojeda had three hits and drove in three runs, Chad Tracy hit his second home run in two games and Arizona beat San Diego 7-4 Sunday.

Astros general manager Ed Wade is expected to take his time hiring a full-time replacement for fired manager Cecil Cooper.