PADRE UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Montreal Expresses Interest in Making Deal for Santiago

Padre catcher Benito Santiago has been placed on waivers, and, according to a highly placed source, the Montreal Expos are contemplating claiming him in an attempt to work out a trade.

The Expos, according to the source, were the mystery team that nearly consummated a trade with the Padres on July 31. In fact, the Padres brought triple-A catcher Tom Lampkin to Los Angeles that day in case a trade was made.

The Padres were willing to trade Santiago, the source said, for triple-A pitcher Kent Bottenfield and Class-A outfielder Rondell White. Yet, the Expos refuse to part with White, their first-round pick in the 1990 draft, and the two clubs were unable to work out a trade involving other players.

If the Expos claim Santiago on waivers and a trade can not be consummated in 48 hours, the Padres can still take him back. But it would also mean they probably could not put him back on waivers for fear of losing him without compensation. The Padres will learn Tuesday or Wednesday whether Santiago was claimed.

Does Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine believe Santiago will be a Padre when the season ends?

“I don’t know at this point,” McIlvaine said. “If we trade him, it depends on what you’re going to get for him.”

The Expos, who are only 3 1/2 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League East, need a catcher to replace the slumping Gary Carter. Manager Felipe Alou, according to one source, desperately wants Santiago.

“I’d just as soon stay here,” Santiago said, “but it’s out of my control. I guess we’ll see what happens.”

The Padres have already slipped four players through waivers, but McIlvaine said one pitcher was claimed. Although McIlvaine refused to divulge his identity, it was believed to be starter Bruce Hurst.

How do you solve the realignment problem in the National League now that the San Francisco Giants appear headed to St. Petersburg, Fla.

It’s easy, according to one National League executive.

“You just move the Texas Rangers to the National League, and the Giants to the American League,” he said. “That solves the problem of the National League having a monopoly of Florida, and gives a great in-state rivalry in Texas with the Rangers and Astros.”

Sounds crazy? Certainly, improbable. But it makes a whole lot of sense.

“It’d be better for us if they stay in place,” McIlvaine said of the Giants, “but there’s little we can do.”

Second baseman Carlos Baerga of the Cleveland Indians is the Ex-Padre Player of the Week.

The Padres, who still cringe that the previous regime parted with him in the Joe Carter deal, now only watch sadly as Baerga tears up the American League. In fact, scouts say the only second baseman better in the American League is some guy named Roberto Alomar.

Baerga entered Saturday’s game batting .313 with 16 homers and 70 RBIs. He’s batting .369 in his last 40 games, and is on pace to become the first Cleveland second baseman to get more than 200 hits since Johnny Hodapp in 1930.

Baerga also has the second-longest consecutive-games streak among active players at 161 games. Cal Ripken has 1,683 consecutive games played in his quest to top Lou Gehrig’s 2,130-game streak.

By comparison, the longest active streak by a Padre belongs to center fielder Darrin Jackson at 30 games.

National League umpire Bruce Froemming, on the turnaround of the Montreal Expos: “This is the same team as May, but the difference is Felipe Alou. He has control of the team. Tom Runnells was a cheerleader. Felipe Alou is a manager.”

Alou, on being considered a strong candidate for the Florida Marlins’ managerial job because of his connection with Marlin GM Dave Dombrowski: “Why would Dave Dombrowski bring me to Miami? He never brought me to Montreal.”

Indeed, Dombrowski hired Runnells. Dan Duquette hired Alou.