All general manager Kevin Towers would say is that Luis Rodriguez, who played well in Greene's injury absence at the end of last season, would likely be starting at short or second in 2009.

Now Eckstein has been penciled in to play second, while Rodriguez is the front-runner at short.

In addition to Eckstein, the Padres had talked about signing two other veterans, Omar Vizquel and Mark Grudzielanek.

Rodriguez hit .287 in 212 at-bats last year and made only three errors in 52 games at short, but he wasn't the only middle infielder the Padres had.

Edgar Gonzalez played 72 games at second base last season. Prospect Matt Antonelli is still regarded as the Padres' second baseman of the future, although he struggled last year (.215) at Class AAA Portland. And the Padres recently signed free agent infielders Travis Denker and Chris Burke, and they acquired Class A shortstop Everth Cabrera from Colorado through the Rule 5 draft.

Now that Eckstein and Rodriguez are the apparent starters, the battle in spring could be for the one and possibly two backup infield jobs.

--Edgar Gonzalez, 30, hit .274 with seven homers and 33 RBIs for the Padres last season, although his defense was not strong.

--Burke, 28, played all four infield positions last season plus both corner outfield spots, although he hit only .194 with two homers in 165 at-bats.

--To keep Cabrera, who can play second and short, the Padres retain to keep the infielder on the major league roster all season.

--Denker was primarily a second baseman with the Giants.

--Antonelli, 23, will now almost certainly start the 2009 season back at Portland.