Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - San Diego Padres fans, get ready for another subpar season from your boys of summer.

With no proven closer, a shaky bullpen and a starting rotation that features two worthy major leaguers, the Padres will celebrate their 40th anniversary with another basement tag in the inconsistent National League West. After winning at least 82 games in four straight seasons, manager Bud Black watched his ballclub battle to a 63-99 finish in 2008. Black, who went 89-74 and lost a one-game playoff against Colorado for the NL wild card in his inaugural campaign in 2007, will have to deal with losing the face of the organization and future Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman.

Hoffman, the all-time saves leader with 554, left town for Milwaukee in the offseason and is expected to earn about $7.5 million with incentives. Hoffman saved 30 games last season for the Padres, while posting a 3-6 record with a 3.77 earned run average, his highest since the 1995 season. The six-time All- Star was a Padre for 16 years and has recorded a 56-66 record with a 2.78 ERA in 930 games. He is expected to be replaced by right-hander Heath Bell, who went 6-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 74 relief appearances in 2008. Bell is a far cry from Hoffman and the Padres will suffer without their top closer.

It didn't help the starting staff either that ace and 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy was rumored to be dealt to the Chicago Cubs. Padres general manager Kevin Towers couldn't pull the trigger on the deal and is left with Peavy, who led the team in wins (10), ERA (2.85) and strikeouts (166) last season. In 27 starts a year ago, the right-hander went 10-11 with one complete game over 173 2/3 innings of work. There is no doubt he will highlight the rotation once again, while Chris Young is the only other starting weapon followed by three other less-than-stellar arms.

While Towers failed to bring in any fresh bats during his time trying to deal Peavy, the only players San Diego signed on for the 2009 campaign worth mentioning are oft-injured outfielder Cliff Floyd and second baseman David Eckstein. Eckstein will flash the best leather in place of fan favorite Khalil Greene, who left the west coast to play shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The lone offensive threat for the Padres is first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The slugging lefty has out up decent numbers in his three-year stint with San Diego and led the club last season in homers (36) and RBI (119). Gonzalez has belted at least 24 homers and driven in 82 runs in each of the previous three years out west. The former Texas Ranger has enjoyed back-to-back 30-homer, 100-RBI campaigns.

Below we take a capsule look at the 2008 edition of the San Diego Padres, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:

2008 FINISH (63-99) - Fifth Place (NL West)

KEY OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: 2B David Eckstein, C Henry Blanco, OF Cliff Floyd, RHP Mark Worrell, SS Everth Cabrera, RHP Jae Kuk Ryu , RHP Kevin Correia, RHP Eulogio De La Cruz, RHP Hector Correa

KEY OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS: RHP Trevor Hoffman, SS Khalil Greene, C Josh Bard, C Michael Barrett, RHP Clay Hensley, LHP Shawn Estes

PROJECTED LINEUP: CF Jody Gerut, 2B David Eckstein, RF Brian Giles, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, LF Chase Headley, C Nick Hundley, SS Luis Rodriguez.

PROJECTED ROTATION: RHP Jake Peavy, RHP Chris Young, RHP Cha Seung Baek, RHP Kevin Correia, LHP Wade LeBlanc.

PROJECTED CLOSER: RHP Heath Bell

MANAGER: Bud Black

INFIELD

Eckstein is penciled in as the starting second baseman and the well-traveled infielder is making San Diego his fifth stop (Anaheim, St. Louis, Anaheim, Arizona). The slick-fielding speedster batted .265 with a pair of homers, 27 RBI and 32 runs with both the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks last year, and can also play shortstop.

Eckstein has logged 38 career games at second base and filled in for injured D'Backs two-bagger Orlando Hudson while with Arizona last season. A two-time All-Star and MVP of the 2006 World Series while with the Cardinals, the experienced Eckstein is a .284 career hitter with a .351 on-base percentage, having also won a World Series with the Angels in 2002.

Shortstop Luis Rodriguez is slated to take over for the departed Greene, and appeared in 64 games for San Diego a year ago. Rodriguez hit .287 with 12 runs batted in, 22 runs scored and 58 hits, but his inexperience will cost him. Rookie Everth Cabrera will also battle for playing time at shortstop. His chances improved when the Padres recently traded infielder/outfielder Chris Burke to the Seattle Mariners.

While Gonzalez will anchor both the infield and offense at first base, Kevin Kouzmanoff will shoulder the load on the hot corner at third base. Kouzmanoff is coming off a career year in which he batted .260 with a career-best 23 homers, 71 runs scored and 84 RBI. He should have better numbers this time around hitting behind of Gonzalez. Second-year backstop Nick Hundley is expected to start behind the plate, and hit .237 with five homers and 24 runs batted in through 60 games last year. If he goes down the Padres still have veteran catcher Henry Blanco, who spent the past four years with the Chicago Cubs. Blanco is career .227 hitter with 52 home runs and 241 RBI.

OUTFIELD

Brian Giles is back again to roam right field for the Padres and hit .306 with 12 homers and 63 runs batted in over 147 games in 2008. Giles had his option picked up by the ballclub in November and owns a career .294 batting average and .404 on-base percentage with 285 homers and 1,055 RBI. From 1999-2002, Giles hit at least 35 homers in every season, but his power has dropped off in recent years. He has not hit more than 15 home runs in any of the last four seasons, despite playing in at least 120 games -- twice playing 158.

Center fielder Jody Gerut is back for his second stint with the Padres. Gerut, who hadn't played in the big leagues since 2005, hit .296 with 14 home runs, 43 RBI and 46 runs scored in 100 contests with San Diego in 2008. Taking his familiar spot in left field will be Chase Headley. Headley is back for his third season in San Diego and contributed a .269 batting average, nine homers, 34 runs and 38 RBI in a career-high 91 games. He appeared in just eight games the year before and is one of the Padres' brightest young prospects.

Veteran Floyd, along with Scott Hairston, and Will Venable will see time as well in the outfield, but are major players off of the bench.

STARTING ROTATION

Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley knows what he's got with Peavy, who will try to stay injury free this season. Peavy missed some time with an elbow problem in 2008 which is the main reason why he had a record below the .500 mark. The staff ace, though, still has to watch his back from the trade rumors that will likely come his way before the trade deadline. A healthy Peavy can only help the pitching-strapped Padres, who recorded an MLB-best 3.93 ERA from 2004 - 2007. Last year the Friars collected a 4.41 earned run average, one of the worst in the National League.

Young also experienced some rough patches in 2008, having missed a myriad of starts after suffering fractures to his nose and skull after a batted ball hit him in the face. He then battled through forearm troubles to finish 7-6 with a 3.96 earned run average in 18 starts. The righty had made no less than 30 starts in each of the previous seasons. San Diego's third starter will be Cha Seung Baek, who went 6-10 with a 4.79 ERA in 22 games (20 starts) after coming over from the Seattle Mariners.

Kevin Correia is saddled in at the fourth spot in the rotation and is coming over after six years with the rival San Francisco Giants. Correia appeared in 25 games (19 starts) last season with the Giants and finished 3-8 with a 6.05 earned run average. The fifth spot will be a battle between Josh Geer and Wade LeBlanc. The two combined to go 3-4 in 10 games (nine starts) a year ago. The Padres will surely suffer in the bottom of their rotation.

BULLPEN

There will be no 'Hell Bells' by AC-DC blaring from the Petco Park speakers before a save opportunity now that Hoffman is with Milwaukee. The Padres can only hope that Spring Training has helped weed out the weak arms in the bullpen, but the main focus will be on closer Heath Bell. Bell has some mighty big shoes to fill and went 6-6 with a 3.58 earned run average over 74 relief appearances last season. The hard-throwing right-hander owns two saves in 236 career trips to the hill. Cla Meredith, Justin Hampson, Mark Worrell and Scott Patterson highlight the rest of the depleted San Diego bullpen.

BENCH

The Padres' bench has just as many question marks as the bullpen. Floyd, Hairston and Blanco are the veterans of the reserves, while Edgar Gonzalez, and Travis Denker will also be at Black's disposal off of the pine.

OUTLOOK

The Padres will struggle this year since they are primarily a young ballclub with a few select veterans. Peavy and Young, as stated earlier, will anchor the suspect rotation barring any sort of injury, while Gonzalez is expected to carry the team offensively once again. Giles is another year older and his services will be needed as well. San Diego may even part ways with Peavy during the season if things go bad right off the start, leaving the fans with a bunch of unproven prospects to cheer on for the future. Bell will be feeling the heat as the team's top closer and will struggle at times replacing a Hall of Famer. Expect another 65-win campaign on the horizon and another last place finish in the National League West for the Padres. Hopefully Black already has his resume updated and ready to go upon his possible firing.