Barrett Gets Offer by Padres : Baseball: Free agent second baseman offered one-year contract.

The Padres have offered a one-year contract to free-agent second baseman Marty Barrett, and unless he has a change of heart, Barrett is expected to accept the offer within a week.

Barrett, 32, an eight-year veteran with the Boston Red Sox, said that he also is mulling offers from the Kansas City Royals and Montreal Expos, but “everything being equal, I’ll be signing with the Padres,” he said.

“I know Kansas City has a good team, and has a good chance to go to the World Series,” Barrett said, “but I think the Padres are a good team too, and they have an advantage with me because of the location. Living in Las Vegas, I couldn’t ask for a better situation.

“I want to show the Padres that I’m still the same player I was two years ago. I know they’re not going to make any promises, but I’m going in with the idea of playing in 150 ball games.”

Barrett, who batted .226 with 13 RBIs in 62 games with the Red Sox in 1990, has a career .278 batting average. He has one year remaining on his contract that will pay him $1.1 million, but the Padres would be obligated to pay only $100,000, the rest being paid by the Red Sox.

“We’ve told him we want him very much,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “His experience will be a big help on the field. I think we’ve got a good chance to get him.”

The expected acquisition of Barrett could move Bip Roberts, the Padres’ 1990 MVP, to either third base, left field, or . . . Kansas City.

The Royals, according to several club sources, still are contemplating the Padres’ standing offer of trading Roberts in exchange for power-hitting outfielder Danny Tartabull. The two clubs have also talked about expanding the trade, with infielder Joey Cora also going to Kansas City, and possibly center fielder Gary Thurman coming to the Padres. The Padres have rejected the Royals’ request of including pitcher Greg Harris in the deal.

“I really don’t know what’s going to happen there,” McIlvaine said. “I think it’s a longshot, but you never know.”

The biggest obstacle in the trade appears to be Tartabull’s reluctance to sign a long-term contract with the Padres until the end of the 1991 season, when he’s eligible for free agency.

In other developments:

--The Baltimore Orioles have rejected the Padres’ trade proposal for third baseman Craig Worthington, in which they offered pitcher Derek Lilliquist, and their choice of pitcher Rafael Valdez or Rich Rodriguez.

--The Padres still have not raised their one-year, $950,000 offer to free-agent pitcher Dennis Rasmussen, and have until Jan. 8 to re-sign him, or lose his negotiating rights until May 1. The Padres refuse to offer him a multi-year contract, and from all indications, likely will allow him to leave.

--Six Padre players remain eligible for arbitration, and have until Jan. 15 to file: Roberts, first baseman Fred McGriff, catcher Benito Santiago, outfielder Darrin Jackson and pitchers Calvin Schiraldi and Wes Gardner.

--The Padres still have outfielder Mike Humphreys on their 40-man roster, although he was the player to be named in their trade with the New York Yankees in December when they acquired Oscar Azocar, first baseman/outfielder. The Yankees have until the end of the month to clear a spot on their roster for Humphreys.

--The Padres find themselves still looking for a head trainer, after being turned down by Dave Tumbas, assistant trainer of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The leading candidate appears to be Ned Bergert, assistant trainer of the Angels.