Okay, so the offseason is just beginning. We haven't even seen the Combine yet, and a lot of the Chargers' needs will be decided by the free-agent moves we do or don't make. Will we re-sign Vincent Jackson? Will Marcus McNeill, Kris Dielman, and Nick Hardwick return? Does AJ break tradition to make a blockbuster move such as signing a Mario Williams or Tyvon Branch?

Time will tell, but based on how our roster is looking right now, here's my premature seven-round mock draft.

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Well, tonight, our old friend Breezy broke Dan Marino's single-season passing record, with not a little help from our other old friend Darren Sproles. It's a bit of a bitter pill to watch these two kicking so much ass with the Saints and wonder where we'd be if we kept them (Drew, slightly less so, because pre-meltdown Philip Rivers has been a nice replacement) while our season has completely and utterly collapsed.

But, despite his untimely departure, we still love him. And so, Drew Brees, from all of your friends and fans back here in San Diego who watched as you were drafted, struggled, were benched in favor of Doug Flutie, reemerged with a Pro Bowl showing, set team records, and took us to the playoffs in 2004: congratulations, big guy. We salute you, and I'm sure that many of us will be rooting for the Saints in lieu of the Chargers to grab this year's Lombardi trophy.

So we've all watched, often through our fingers, and shouted at the top of our foulweather lungs as Management continues to trade away fan favorites for the Rob Johnsons of the world. While the begrudging consensus is that we could be very, very good in a few years, we're still in dire need at two positions: second base and shortstop.

So let's take a look at what could be done to address the most pressing offseason issue. We'll begin after the jump.

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Mike Tolbert and his wife Shianette welcomed their baby girl into the world this morning. According to my sources within UCSD Medical Center, who are extremely reputable, Mikaela Tolbert was born at about 10 AM today. I'm told that Mike looked exhausted-- he was up all night-- but was "very attentive and loving, and a natural at holding the baby." (Let's hope he can start applying this to the football). Will update as things develop; although the baby is slightly premature at 36 weeks, she's healthy and her prognosis is good.

Anyways, though, just thought it was worth noting and saying congrats to the big fella and Mrs. T! (In the same vein-- did anyone ever check into how Tiffany Rivers is doing?)

As we all know, the Chargers are in need of another starting ILB (how dire this need is depends on your opinion of the young and untested Butler/Mouton) and could stand to add depth at OLB too (ditto above with Travis LaBoy and Antwan Barnes). Here's the list of all free-agent 'backers this off-season: http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/freeagents/fa.php?option=LB&y=2011 It doesn't look good. Those that remain generally have one of several problems: -Too expensive, or a player we're likely to be outbid for (Lofa Tatupu, Kirk Morrison) -Doesn't have the pass-coverage skills we want out of the other LB (Morrison, Tim Dobbins, Channing Crowder) -They're over the hill (Keith Bulluck, Julian Peterson) or just not that good (most of this list; it includes such scrubs as Keyaron "Penalty Magnet" Fox, Chargers leftovers Matt Wilhelm and Anthony Waters, and career backups like Bobby Carpenter and Vinny Ciurciu) It's an ugly outlook. Personally, my favorite on this sad little list is Tim Shaw-- he hasn't done much at LB in his pro career, but he's a stud on special teams (30 ST tackles with Chicago in 2010) and was damn good in college too. You know what they say, you can never have too many Penn State linebackers. Haven't seen him play in coverage, but he's also supposed to be very fast and agile. Worth taking a look at, in any case. So, BFTB-- who's it going to be?

So it looks like we're probably set at SS and 2B if all goes well with the Hudson signing and the Bartlett trade. Good? Yes.

The problem is that we don't have a starting first baseman or backup catcher. Moseley is in the mix for fifth starter, but I have a feeling he'll fill the Tim Stauffer "flex" role at long reliever/spot starter, so I'm a bit uncertain there too. Not good.

This glorious list, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors dot com, shows us all the remaining free agents on the market at our positions of need, with stats from last season. Let's hear some thoughts on these guys.

FIRST BASE: (Not a going concern anymore with the signing of Brad Hawpe, but just for funzies...)

Garrett Atkins-- .214/.276/.286, 1 HR, 9 RBI in 140 AB with Baltimore Signed with Pittsburgh

Russell Branyan-- .237/.323/.487, 25 HR, 57 RBI in 376 AB with Cleveland and Seattle

Troy Glaus-- .240/.344/.400, 16 HR, 71 RBI in 412 AB with Atlanta

Mike Hessman-- Sub-Mendoza with the Mets, don't even bother

Nick Johnson-- Sub-Mendoza with the Yankees, don't even bother

Casey Kotchman-- .217/.280/.336, 9 HR, 51 RBI in 414 AB with Seattle

Adam LaRoche-- .261/.320/.468, 25 HR, 100 RBI in 560 AB with Arizona

Derrek Lee-- .260/.347/.428, 19 HR, 80 RBI in 547 AB with the Cubs and Atlanta Too pricey.

Fernando Tatis-- Sub-Mendoza with the Mets, don't even bother

Willy Aybar-- .230/.309/.344, 6 HR, 43 RBI in 270 AB with Tampa Bay

Jorge Cantu-- .274/.320/.446, 11 HR, 56 RBI in 472 AB with Texas

Mark Kotsay-- .239/.306/.376, 8 HR, 39 RBI in 327 AB with the White Sox

Mike Sweeney-- .252/.321/.444, 8 HR, 26 RBI in 151 AB with Seattle and Philadelphia

CATCHER:

Josh Bard-- .214/.276/.357, 3 HR, 10 RBI in 112 AB with Seattle

Bengie Molina-- .249/.297/.326, 5 HR, 36 RBI in 377 AB with San Francisco and Texas

Gregg Zaun-- .265/.350/.392, 2 HR, 14 RBI in 102 AB with Milwaukee

STARTING PITCHER:

Brian Bannister-- 7-12, 6.34 ERA, 77 K, 23 starts/127.2 IP with Kansas City

Jeremy Bonderman-- 8-10, 5.53 ERA, 112 K, 29 starts/171 IP with Detroit

Doug Davis-- 1-4, 7.51 ERA, 34 K, 8 starts/38.1 IP with Milwaukee

Justin Duchscherer-- 2-1, 2.89 ERA, 18 K, 5 starts/28 IP with Oakland

Jeff Francis-- 4-6, 5.00 ERA, 67 K, 19 starts/104.1 IP with Colorado

Freddy Garcia-- 12-6, 4.64 ERA, 89 K, 28 starts/157 IP with the White Sox

Braden Looper-- 14-7, 5.22 ERA, 100 K, 34 starts/194.2 IP with Milwaukee (2009)

Rodrigo Lopez-- 7-16, 5.00 ERA, 116 K, 33 starts/200 IP with Arizona

Kevin Millwood-- 4-16, 5.10 ERA, 132 K, 31 starts/190.2 IP with Baltimore

Carl Pavano-- 17-11, 3.75 ERA, 117 K, 32 starts/221 IP with Minnesota Too pricey.

Brad Penny-- 3-4, 3.23 ERA, 35 K, 9 starts/55.2 IP with St. Louis

Andy Pettitte-- 11-3, 3.28 ERA, 101 K, 21 starts/129 IP with the Yankees Too pricey.

Nate Robertson-- 6-8, 5.95 ERA, 63 K, 18 starts/101.1 IP with Florida

Ian Snell-- 0-5, 6.41 ERA, 26 K, 8 starts/46.1 IP with Seattle

Jarrod Washburn-- 9-9, 3.78 ERA, 100 K, 28 starts/176 IP with Detroit and Seattle (2009)

Brandon Webb-- 0-0, 13.50 ERA, 2 K, 1 start/4 IP with Arizona (2009) Signed with Texas

**A note about Webb. His disastrous 2009 campaign was only one year removed from his 22-win Cy Young season. Lack of a decent sample size in the meantime precludes any ability to judge by his recent performance.

Todd Wellemeyer-- 3-5, 5.68 ERA, 41 K, 11 starts/58.2 IP with St. Louis

Personally, I think Webb, Garcia, and Francis would be excellent candidates for a good year in San Diego, and Branyan or Sweeney would be acceptable at 1B. Zaun might be the best choice for a backup catcher.

Hey everyone, visiting semi-fan (I jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago) and die-hard Padres fan who finds myself in a very unusual situation: The Padres haven't opened with torrential suckage. Naturally, this has gotten hopes high (prematurely, perhaps, but all the same). Also adding to the hope is the statement by our new GM that the Padres will probably look to add at the deadline-- middle infield, starting pitching, and outfielders, the most common name bandied about being that of Roy Oswalt, with some mutters about an Adrian Gonzalez/Dustin Pedroia trade.

Not to rub it in, but you guys haven't been having a banner year thus far-- augmented by key players having slow starts. I'm curious if the Tribe is willing to sell? The Friars recently reloaded their farm system, and I'm sure they'd be willing to deal some projects, especially to acquire a real difference-maker.

I'm sure y'all are sick of hearing people ask to have Grady Sizemore, but I love this guy and think he'd be a great addition--especially if we could snag him at a reduced price due to his recent slump. What kind of recompense would you want if you were to trade him? Just out of curiosity.

Now, this is my first post here, so don't be too harsh-- I'm just checking in on some possibilities. Thoughts?

We just rehired one of my all-time (well, all-time based on how many years I've been following them) favorite Padres, Mark Loretta, as a "special assistant to baseball operations". Now that he's retired, it's a slow countdown for his Cooperstown eligibility. Should he get in? Hell yes. His stats, and how they measure up with the other 17 2B's in the hall, are after the jump.

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So in the comments section of Bolts and Dolts for the Cincinnati game, a bunch of us were going on about how they played "Bro Hymn" by Pennywise, which got the crowd seriously going bananas. Then we started kvetching about how they played "Sweet Caroline", and I put together an entire playlist based on individual players, units, and songs that would just be great to pump up the fans.

Offensive unit: "And The Cradle Will Rock..." by Van Halen. This could also be before kickoffs.

PR17: "Modern Day Cowboy" by Tesla

LT: “Run, Run, Run” by the Who

Sproles: “Fox On The Run” by Sweet

Gates: “Fly Like An Eagle” by the Steve Miller Band

V-Jack: “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult

Floyd: “Swagger” by Flogging Molly. I don’t know, something about his playing style and this song both suggest a bar fight in my mind.

Naanee: “Shaking The Tree” by Peter Gabriel, featuring Yossou N’Dour. I chose this purely because of the Nigerian guest singer.

Kaeding: “Strike Like Lightning” by Lonnie Mack

Robopunter: “ME-262” by BÖC— play the bridge with dropping bombs.

Defensive unit: We'll keep "Seek & Destroy". That's pretty much the best song they play on a regular basis.

Luis Castillo: "Ay Doctor" by Maná

Vaughn Martin: "Brutal" by Black Uhuru

Eric Weddle: "Boom" by P.O.D.

Jammer: "Rocker" by AC/DC

Cro: "Shoot You In The Back" by Motorhead

Front seven: "Wave of Mutilation" by the Pixies

Before kick returns: "Smokin'" by Boston (I can't stand Lenny Kravitz.)

Before kickoffs: Ozzy will do.

For the crowd:

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" by the Cockney Rejects

"Chelsea Dagger" or "Flathead" by the Fratellis

"The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy

"Baba O'Riley" by the Who

"Hells Bells" by AC/DC (if only we could find someone as iconic as Trevor Hoffman to play it for)

"Feed My Frankenstein" by Alice Cooper

And I'm out of ideas. Anyone want to help me out on these?

Over at Cincy Jungle there's a quickie article [Link: http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/10/8/1077254/bengals-have-invited-four-non] about the carousel of long-snappers the Bengals have going, wherein it is mentioned that ex-Texan Bryan Pittman worked out with the Chargers this Tuesday. Has he mentioned retiring yet, or are they looking to replace him? Is Pittman a prospective backup? Or were the scouts just bored one day and screwing with this guy?

That was the question on everyone's lips after a narrow win at Oakland and a disappointing loss at the Murph last week against Baltimore, but as always, an increased sample size yields a better understanding. The Bolts are still finding their groove and it's difficult to tell who they're going to be this season... More after the jump.

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