PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Padres’ Future Catcher Working Hard to Steal Show in Las Vegas

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, doesn’t profess to have a solution when catcher Benito Santiago and the team part ways--whether it’s during the season in a trade, or in October when Santiago files for free agency.

You just don’t replace the best hitting catcher in the National League, and a three-time Gold Glove winner, without suffering the consequences.

McIlvaine may have a surprise awaiting. His name is Dan Walters, 25, and he can be found on the Padres’ triple-A Las Vegas team.

Walters, platooning with Tom Lampkin at Las Vegas, is batting .370 this season with one homer and 12 RBIs. He has struck out only three times in 46 at-bats.

“We like him an awful lot,” McIlvaine said. “We may find out about him next year. But he’s a potentially a two-way guy. I don’t want to oversell him, but he reminds me a little bit of Greg Olson. Only he’s much bigger, has a better arm, and is a better hitter.

“He’s really making strides.”

McIlvaine is impressed with what he has seen with the entire Las Vegas team. He’s not saying they’re loaded with an abundance of prospects, but he feels for the first time that he finally has depth in his organization.

Phil Stephenson, who’s playing the outfield, is batting .490 with four homers and 16 RBIs. First baseman Guillermo Velasquez is batting .391 with two homers and 14 RBIs. Middle infielder Paul Faries is batting .364.

“I feel much better about our depth,” McIlvaine said. “How should I say this: Our damage control is much better.”

McIlvaine certainly is hoping the Padres have more success building through the farm system than his previous team, the New York Mets, enjoyed in recent years.

Since Jan. 1, 1985, the Mets have produced only three players who were on this year’s opening day roster, easily the worst in the major leagues. The second-worst was Baltimore, who produced seven players.

The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers produced the most, with 17 players apiece.

The bulk of the Mets’ success in the draft occurred when McIlvaine was their scouting director, and in charge of the draft in the early 1980s. They produced 34 major league players which were on this year’s opening-day rosters, second only to the Pittsburgh Pirates with 36.

Padre pitcher Ed Whitson, who has a torn ligament in his right elbow, will schedule an appointment today with Dr. James Andrews to be re-examined.

He’s afraid, however, that he already knows the prognosis before he travels to Birmingham, Ala., for his appointment.

Surgery will be necessary.

“It’s still cracking and popping in there,” Whitson said. “I just want to live a normal life. I’m not worried about baseball. But I tried to play golf the other day, and that even hurt.

“I don’t want my elbow to be useless the rest of my life, but unless I have surgery, I’m afraid of that possibility. I know I can’t go on like this.”