Padres unlikely to add pitching:
Pedro Astacio is out of the picture and the chances of trading for David Wells remain lukewarm at best.
Astacio signed with the Nationals. He'll be taking the injured Brian Lawrence's spot.
"Hensley's always an option for the rotation," Towers said. "We'd like to keep him in the bullpen. A lot will depend on how some of the other relievers look - guys like (Brian) Sikorski and (Doug) Brocail. And it'll depend on how the starters are looking."
Towers also seems excited about trying to get Ashby back. Every picture of Ashby at camp has him giving this huge smile. He says if they assign him to AAA then he will have to make a tough decision about his retirement.
Update [2006-3-1 17:37:14 by jbox]:
The UT also gives us a closer look at the candidates for spot starts.