PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Tampa Duo Welcomes Giants’ Move

The proposed sale of the San Francisco Giants to a group from the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., area, was greeted warmly Friday by the Padres’ Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield--both of whom live in that area.

“That’s great,” said McGriff, who lives in Tampa during the winter. “They’ve been waiting for a team for a long time, and now they might have a chance to get it. That’s good for the Tampa area. There’s nothing like major league baseball.”

Said Sheffield: “My family could watch games that way. That would be great to play in front of hometown people. You see other players do it. It would be like the All-Star game, in a sense.”

Sheffield, who lives in St. Petersburg in the off-season, stopped short of saying he would like to play with the Giants if they move.

“It don’t matter,” he said. “Just as long as I’m in the big leagues.”

Said McGriff: “I just always wanted to play in the big leagues. As long as I’m there, I don’t care.”

The biggest thing the move would do to the Padres, according to John Barr, assistant general manager, would be to increase travel.

“We travel over 45,000 miles as it is,” Barr said. “Midwest teams are in the 20,000s and 30,000s.”

Greg Harris made his first start on his rehabilitation assignment with single-A High Desert, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing no runs and two hits against the Stockton Ports. He struck out five and walked one.