Padres Trade for Pitching : Baseball: Joey Cora, two others, are dealt to White Sox for Steve Rosenberg and Adam Peterson.

The Padres, distraught over their pitching woes this spring, made a desperate attempt to bolster their staff Sunday night by acquiring left-handed reliever Steve Rosenberg and starter Adam Peterson from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Joey Cora and two minor-league players.

OK, so it’s not exactly like getting Dave Stewart and Dennis Eckersley, the Padres admit, but at the very least, they now have two more candidates for their staff.

Rosenberg, 26, who has a career 5-14 record and 4.82 ERA, will compete for one of two bullpen vacancies. Peterson, 25, who owns a career 2-7 record and 6.01 ERA, will compete with Eric Nolte and Mike Maddux for the fifth starting spot.

In exchange for the two pitchers, each of whom have big-league experience, the Padres traded Cora, minor league first baseman Kevin Garner and minor league outfielder Warren Newson. Cora, 25, a 1985 first-round draft pick, was the only Padre player among the three who had big-league experience.

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, left the team’s spring-training complex before the announcement and was unavailable for comment.

Rosenberg, who just last season was considered an untouchable by the White Sox during trade talks, is the better of the two pitchers, scouts say. A converted starter, Rosenberg appeared in six games in relief last season for the White Sox, going 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

“It’s kind of a new chapter,” he said. “I had a good opportunity here. I can only think of good ones.”

Peterson, once considered a top White Sox prospect, never has been able to make the conversion to the big leagues. He owns a 32-13 record with a 3.15 ERA the past three seasons at triple-A Vancouver, but is 2-7 with a 6.01 ERA in the big leagues.

“This opens a lot of doors for me,” he said. “If there’s a job there, I want to go get it.”

Said one American League scout, who has scouted the five players this spring: “I think San Diego got the best of the trade. Cora is just an extra guy and Garner doesn’t impress me at all.

“The pitchers still have a chance to be good, although right now, I’d have to say they’re more suspects than prospects.

“I would have killed to have Rosenberg, to tell you the truth, but I really didn’t care for Paterson.”

Rosenberg, who has an average fastball but a sharp slider, appeared in six games this spring for the White Sox, yielding a 3.00 ERA and 11 hits in nine innings. Peterson, whose biggest flaw has been his control, owned a 3.86 ERA in four appearances, allowing six hits in seven innings.

Cora, who batted .351 for triple-A Las Vegas last season, has been shopped around the past month, according to sources, until McIlvaine found the deal most suitable for the Padres’ needs. He was not expected to make the big-league team, with the Padres instead planning to keep Paul Faries and either Marty Barrett or Garry Templeton.

Newson, 26, who batted .304 in Las Vegas, was expected to open again in Las Vegas. Garner, 25, the Padres’ No. 1 pick in the 1987 draft, has missed the past two seasons with hepatitis.

The trade leaves the Padres with 35 players in camp, including 17 pitchers, with only eight days remaining before opening day.

It’s hardly a situation the Padres find comforting.

“We have too many questions still remaining for this time of year,” McIlvaine said. “The weather, the flu bug, everything seems to have set us back.

“Usually you’re close to setting your team up at this point, but we’re not at all.

“Right now, we’re still running a tryout camp, I guess.”

Take a look for yourselves:

--They still have no clue as to who will be their fifth starter. They came into camp with five candidates, and all are gone. Calvin Schiraldi and Mike Dunne have been released. Derek Lilliquist was sent to the minors. Dennis Rasmussen and Atlee Hammaker will start the season on the disabled list. The three new candidates: Peterson and Eric Nolte.

“I don’t have any idea who our fifth starter will be,” Riddoch said. “That’s unfortunate. But I have to say that.”

--The have no better idea now than the opening day of spring training whether Shawn Abner is capable of being their starting center fielder. Plagued by a hamstring pull and the flu, Abner has played in only eight games this spring.

“He hasn’t shown us anything,” Riddoch said, “because he hasn’t been unable to perform.”

--They have serious concerns about the bullpen. There still are vacancies, and now, there are worries about Craig Lefferts. Lefferts, who has not pitched in three weeks because of bronchitis and a groin pull, yielded four hits and one run Sunday in one inning during the Padres’ 2-1 defeat to the Cleveland Indians.

“He’s really fallen back,” McIlvaine said. “He’s going to be struggling to be ready by opening day.”

--Their bench remains a mystery, with only infielder Paul Faries (.208, one extra-base hit in 24 at-bats) and outfielder Greg Gross (.182, no extra-base hits in 22 at-bats) certainties to make the team.

“That’s a trouble spot,” McIlvaine said, “and we’re still looking for ways to improve it.”

And if the Padres did not have enough problems, third baseman Jim Presley left Sunday’s game with an ailing right elbow that is expected to keep him out for at least two to three games. Presley, who originally was injured six weeks ago, is scheduled to have a cortisone shot today.

Little wonder then, while appraising the team’s progress, Riddoch said: “I’m not satisfied with it because we don’t have the answers we wanted when we got here.”

Padre Notes

The Padres will ask waivers today on Frank Seminara, according to a source, and hope that no one team claims him, allowing him to return to the Padres. The Padres have decided that Seminara will not make the big-league roster, but in order to option him to their triple-A Las Vegas team, they must pass him through waivers.