Padres Trade Jackson to Tigers

The San Diego Padres traded infielder Damian Jackson and catcher Matt Walbeck to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday for catcher Javier Cardona and outfielder Rich Gomez.

Jackson hit .241 with four home runs and 38 runs batted in, and stole 23 bases last season for the Padres.

“When a trade like this happens, you have to look at it like somebody wanted you, not that you weren’t wanted because you’ll drive yourself crazy,” Jackson said. “We’ll see.”

Jackson, 28, had a .986 fielding percentage at second base. He also has played shortstop and outfield in the majors.

Walbeck, 32, spent almost the entire 2001 season in triple A. He singled for Philadelphia in his only major league at-bat.

Walbeck also has played for Detroit, the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota and the Angels. He had been in the Padre camp as a nonroster invitee.

Cardona, 26, hit .260 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 46 games for the Tigers.

Gomez, 25, hit .269 with 14 homers, 44 RBIs and 26 stolen bases for double-A Erie.

The Padres also announced that right-hander Kevin Jarvis will start the season opener against the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks on April 1.

Jarvis was 12-11 with a 4.79 earned-run average and 133 strikeouts in 1931/3 innings last year, his first with the Padres.

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New York Met catcher Mike Piazza left Saturday’s game at Jupiter, Fla., in the first inning after being hit by a pitch in the left thigh by Britt Reames of the Montreal Expos, and was listed as day-to-day.

“It looked like it hit him on the hipbone and sent a stinger down his leg,” Manager Bobby Valentine said. “He’ll probably play [today] unless he’s sore. It’s a bruise, which is probably better than if he was hit in a muscle or a joint.”

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The Colorado Rockies released veteran catcher Tony Eusebio.

Eusebio, signed to a one-year, $550,000 contract in January, made only one start in 12 days and hadn’t played for five days.

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The Baltimore Orioles put right-hander Calvin Maduro on the disabled list because of a strained muscle in his right forearm, but the team’s fifth starter won’t miss his first turn in the rotation during the regular season.

The move is retroactive to March 22, meaning Maduro would be eligible to return April 6. The rotation calls for Maduro to make his first start of the regular season the next day against Boston.

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Lou Piniella returned to the Mariners after tending to his ill father and the manager immediately announced Seattle’s rotation for the start of the season.

Piniella, who spent the week in Tampa, Fla., with his father, said that Freddy Garcia would start the season opener on April 1 at home against the Chicago White Sox. He will be followed by Jamie Moyer, Paul Abbott and James Baldwin.