PADRES : Templeton Makes the Final Cut

Catcher Brian Dorsett received word after Saturday’s 6-5 Padre exhibition loss to Seattle that he was the final Padre cut of the spring, thus ensuring Garry Templeton a spot on the opening day 25-man roster.

Earlier Saturday, the Padres optioned outfielder Jim Vatcher and pitchers Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg to triple-A Las Vegas.

But the big news came after the game--and it surprised Templeton, the Padres’ all-time leader in games played.

“I didn’t think I’d be here,” Templeton said. “I didn’t think I’d start the season--not with the Padres. I thought I’d be somewhere else.”

The fact that Templeton is a switch-hitter might have saved him a spot with the Padres.

“We didn’t feel like we could carry three catchers right now,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “(Templeton) is a switch-hitter.

“This is the team we’re going to start the season with. It is not etched in stone.”

Dorsett, who will turn 30 Tuesday, said he did not know if he would report to Las Vegas.

“It’s a decision I have to wait to make,” Dorsett said. “I did have the team made, (Riddoch) told me. I played well enough to make the club. My question is, why I didn’t I make it.”

The Padres will open the season with seven infielders--including Templeton, Marty Barrett, and Paul Faries.

Also on Saturday, the Padres assigned pitcher Frank Seminara outright to double-A Wichita after the New York Yankees passed on their right to reclaim him under provisions of the Rule V draft.

So, as of game time Saturday, the Padre roster stood at 27. First baseman Phil Stephenson will be placed on the disabled list either today or Monday, meaning the Padres have one more cut to make by tonight’s deadline to reach the 25-player limit.

The final cut was expected to be infielder Garry Templeton, infielder Marty Barrett or catcher Brian Dorsett.

None of Saturday’s cuts were surprising, although they were more frustrating than usual to those involved simply because the three nearly made it all the way through a big-league camp. The Padres, after a 6-5 loss Saturday to Seattle, wrap up spring training with an exhibition game against the Mariners this afternoon before heading home to get ready for Tuesday’s opener against San Francisco.

“It’s a little frustrating to make it to the very end and then, all of a sudden, you switch to a different team and have to get re-adjusted,” Vatcher said. “It’s a shock to the system more than anything.

“On the other hand, just being with the big-league team this long. . . . I felt real fortunate. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Vatcher, 24, was claimed off the waivers from Atlanta in February, and he nearly made the team with his performance this spring. He batted .308 and impressed Manager Greg Riddoch with his hustle and grit. But . . .

“He played extremely well and impressed everybody in camp,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “But you can have a choice with a 24-year-old. Keep him on the major league team in a limited role, or send him to triple-A, where he will play every day. We chose the latter.”

Said Vatcher: “Greg said he was real pleased with what I’ve done. He said they weren’t expecting me to do anything when they got me, and that they were pleasantly surprised.”

As for Peterson and Rosenburg, McIlvaine said the Padres just didn’t have enough time to see them. The Padres acquired them for Joey Cora and two other players one week ago. Neither got much work this spring--Peterson pitched a total of 11 2/3 innings with the White Sox and Padres, and Rosenburg pitched nine innings, all with the White Sox.

Padre Notes

Fred McGriff, after 69 plate appearances, finally hit his first home run of the spring. It came on a 3-and-0 pitch as McGriff led off the second inning, and it was off Scott Bankhead. . . . Second baseman Bip Roberts, who left Friday’s game with a left hamstring cramp, sat out Saturday--but it was only precautionary. “If this was the season, he could play,” trainer Bob Day said. . . . Bruce Hurst gave up two monstrous home runs in the fourth inning--Ken Griffey Jr. hit one an estimated 435 feet over the right-center field fence, and three batters later, Jay Buhner hit one that hit the base of the scoreboard in left, 474 feet away. . . . Padre Manager Greg Riddoch and a handful of coaches were going to attend a late-night performance of “Splash”--a stage show here--Friday, but didn’t make it when the cabs they had arranged didn’t arrive at Cashman Field to get them.