The offseason has turned to the holiday season, which is moving us closer to the next season for the San Diego Padres.

Which looks like it might be worse than last season, a long way from the 90 wins in 2010, the "Summer to Celebrate."

When the Padres need to sell us sizzle, all they've done is fizzle. Subtracting players, selling us on a small budget, adding to the anguish of what baseball in San Diego has become.

The promise of a new stadium, which many thought would lead to a bigger budget, free agents and trades, has been replaced with buzzwords, which have surely taken the sting and the enthusiasm of what offseason baseball is supposed to be about. Hot Stove League, bidding wars, trade rumors have been replaced by phrases like development, blueprint, and debt load.

A 91 loss team says goodbye to relief ace Heath Bell, gone for a payday with the Miami Marlins. They shipped out cornerstone young pitcher Mat Latos, dealt to Cincinnati for so-called hot prospects. Those losses followed the trade of setup reliever Mike Adams to the Texas Rangers for (you guessed it) more minor leaguers. All those transactions followed the initial deal a year ago this month, when Adrian Gonzalez headed to the Boston Red Sox, again for key minor leaguers. And all this started when the incoming owner, Jeff Moorad, moved Jake Peavy two summers ago to the White Sox for... guess again, more kids.

See a trend? Understand the philosophy? Where does all this end? When will San Diego stop shipping out its quality players? When will there be some type of reward for long suffering fans, who have now seen six losing seasons in the last nine campaigns?

Shiny Petco Park has a cloud hanging over it. Sure hasn't worked out here in comparison to when Target Field opened in Minnesota, and the Twins payroll rocketed to $96 million in the first year. Miller Park debuted in Milwaukee, which led to a spending spree and playoff appearances. Even two decade losing Pittsburgh kicked its budget up to $65 million when PNC Park opened. And now, the Miami Marlins, moving into the new Orange Bowl Stadium, spent $170 millioon to sign three free agents in one week during the Winter Baseball meetings.

Meanwhile, Padres ownership sits there and give us little hope for 2012, and though they won't say it, they're really leading us to believe that their next chance to be good might be two years from now, if all the kids in the farm system arrive at the same time.

In a winter of discontent, the Padres have removed 14 veteran players, who were part of the opening weeks roster from last spring. In addition, they have let go, traded, released or let walk 13 minor leaguers that were in Tucson and San Antonio.

Yes, they will tell you how Baseball America rated them tops in 'blue chip' prospects in the minor league, 21 at last count, but there's no guarantee they'll make it or be stars.

Gone is the electric stuff of Mat Latos, who gave the team 33 quality starts, and went (23-24) over two full seasons, through good times and bad. Leaving too were 14-game winner Aaron Harang, and back of the rotation starter Wade LeBlanc.

The bullpen was left bare after Bell departed as a free agent, and Adams dealt away, and Chad Qualls was not retained.

The assortment of backups and players gutted from the team included last year's big money failures Ryan Ludwick, Jorge Cantu and Brad Hawpe, that cost the team some $8 million in blown salaries. Much of the depth was cut, though none would compare the likes of Aaron Cunningham, Rob Johnson or Eric Patterson as difference makers.

In the minors, once promising Aaron Poreda, part of the Peavy trade, failed to get the ball over the plate and went to the Pirates. Outfielder Luis Durango-speedy, with a glove, was eventually cut loose. First round pick Nick Schmidt became trade bait in a deal with Colorado.

The off season acquisitions have brought in veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay, a career .280 hitter, who provides David Eckstien leadership in the clubhouse. John Baker, with some power, arrives as a lefthanded power hitter. Huston Street, a strong armed younger closer, came from Colorado. Edinson Volquez, a former 17 game winner, who had elbow surgery and has yet to revert to his early career form, was part of the Latos trade with the Cincinnati Reds, as was promising hitting 1st baseman Yonder Alonso.

The farm system will bear the benefit more from all the offseason wheeling and dealing. That's okay if you're planning to spend time in the heat of Tucson or San Antonio. From all of the past trades, San Diego wound up with 9 young players and three additional draft picks, but you won't see any of them at Petco Park from your box seats this summer.

And if watching the roster getting peeled back was hard, Padres fans now have to deal with the rumors of a possible trade of Anthony Rizzo. You remember him as the cornerstone that came this way out in the Adrian Gonzalez/Boston deal, and now the rumor mill says the Padres are willing to flip him to get more minor leaguers.

Jeff Moorad, the owner, so wants to be liked. But that comes only if your team is winning. No one wants to hear "wait till next year" which never quite seems to arrive. He has taken his payroll, since assuming ownership three years ago, from $36 million to what he says will be $50 million by opening day. Hey, that is still lower than Kansas City and the Pirates, and others stuck in this small market baseball quagmire.

Alarming is the reality Moorad does not have the money to really own this. Disappointing is that former owner John Moores, worth billions, is no longer a player within the ownership ranks. Horrifying is the feeling that this will never get better, and all we will get is the opportunity to watch the Padres trade away more talent next year, as players move closer to free agency or arbitration.

The Friars want to talk the talk, but their money limits seem to say they cannot walk the walk.

The Padres will tell you they want to become the next Tampa Bay Rays, stockpiling tons of young players, hitting on draft picks, using depth to create trades. A painful plan that took them years to polish, before the Rays finally got to a World Series.

The Tampa Bay blueprint looks good. But we are also aware how it has not worked out other places. In the span of just a year and a half, the Pirates dealt away their top nine everyday players, whom they could not afford, and are still losing.

There's another small market team we draw comparisons too. Good young farm system, lots of draft picks, but unable to keep them. They wound up trading away their top 5 pitchers for 21 prospects in return, and they're still not winning. San Diego looks and feels now like that franchise.

Please tell me the Padres are not becoming the Oakland A's. Please tell me this offseason is not leading us to another lousy season of San Diego Padres baseball. The New Year seems to have a distinct feeling like last year, and I don't think fans are willing to wait another year.

Catch Lee 'Hacksaw' Hamilton weekday mornings starting at 10am on XX-1090am