I was trying to figure out what a Padre was. I didnt really kno

The Oakland As remain on top of the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Oakland has been getting such remarkable pitching, in part from guys off the major league scrap heap, that they have been hard to catch at the top of the list. The Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and San Francisco Giants round out the Top Five. Making the Gillette Move of the Week, the Kansas City Royals jumped from 19 to 10 on the heels of an eight-game winning streak. Further down the list, the Philadelphia Phillies climbed four spots, from 29 to 25. Heading the other way, pitching problems are catching up to the Miami Marlins, who fall from 12 to 19, while the Chicago White Sox drop from 16 to 20 and the slumping New York Mets sink from 21 to 25. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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Klose has a bruised pelvic bone and abdominal muscle problems but team doctors are trying to get him fit in time for the match. Bender has a hamstring injury. Germany is already without half-dozen players, due to injury or bad form.SAN DIEGO - Justin Upton isnt intimidated by hitting in Petco Park.Wil Myers knows nothing about Petco Park.Derek Norris knew nothing about the San Diego Padres, other than Tony Gwynn once played for them.Will Middlebrooks said he was excited to be going from the East Coast to the best coast.The Padres on Tuesday introduced four-fifths of their big haul from general manager A.J. Prellers busy December wheeling and dealing. The news conference came some three weeks after they introduced slugger Matt Kemp, whom Preller calls the starting point in his effort to transform the worst offence in the major leagues into a contender.We think, if you go position by position, we match up against teams in our division, we match up against other teams in the league, manager Bud Black said. Now its a matter of doing it between the lines. Anything can happen in the course of a year but we feel pretty good about it right now.The five stars were obtained in separate deals during mid-December.You want to give your coaching staff a chance, said Preller, who was hired in August. You want to give them guys that if they go out and perform we have a chance to win and have an offensive unit thats championship-calibre.The Padres will control Norris, Middlebrooks, Myers and Kemp for several seasons. Upton is entering the final year of his contract, at $14.5 million.The Padres, whove missed the playoffs eighth straight seasons, had a historically awful offence in the first half of 2014. Although they played better in the second half, they finished at the bottom of the majors with a .226 average, .292 on-base percentage and 535 runs. Their 109 homers were the second fewest in baseball.Black envisions Upton in left, Myers in centre and Kemp in right. All are right-handed hitters, and the hope is theyll wear out left field at Petco Park. Norris, a catcher, and Middlebrooks, a third baseman, also are right-handed hitters.Upton, who was obtained from Atlanta, has 10 homers and a .291 average in 46 career games at Peetco Park, where the spacious dimensions have gotten into some Padres hitters heads.ddddddddddddEverybody says its big. I dont think so, he said. It usually plays pretty fair. Its one of those places where if you hit a home run, its going to be a home run. Ive enjoyed a bit of success here and I enjoy playing here. I think the parks great. Its a great atmosphere. I mean, how can you beat playing in San Diego every day? The new guys are going to love it, the guys who havent played here.Upton had 29 homers and 102 RBIs last season for the Braves.Myers came over from Tampa Bay in an 11-player, three-team trade. He was the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year.Hes never played at Petco Park.Everybody talks about how its a huge park but some of the players Ive talked to said its normal. It plays fair. If you hit it, its going to go. If you dont, its not.Norris was an All-Star last year with Oakland.Asked about his reaction when he found out hed been traded, Norris said: I was trying to figure out what a Padre was. I didnt really know. Growing up watching guys like Tony Gwynn represent this organization, that was about the closest I got to knowing what the organization was. I was happy to be part of something like that.Norris trimmed the bushy beard he sported with the As.Youve got to tame the beast before you can let it go, he quipped. You dont want to show up with it out of control, you know?Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler said hes pleased with what Preller has done.When we brought A.J. in, we found someone who embraced the task, Fowler said. He wasnt afraid of the San Francisco Giants or the Dodgers. He just had this David-Goliath mentality that he wanted to do it. He had this sort of look and this swagger about him.We had confidence he would do what he said he would do and he had priorities set up. We thought wed get maybe 60 per cent of what we were looking at. He basically got everything he set out to do.___Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson ' ' '