SAN DIEGO —— Kevin Towers determines who the Padres put on the field, but he can't help feeling like he has hundreds, if not thousands, of unpaid assistant general managers.

By nature, fans are a generally impatient lot, wanting their team to lay out more cash to win more games. This winter, though, the scrutiny directed at the personnel moves of Towers was particularly acute, which was the expected byproduct of fielding a contending team for the first time in six years while attracting more than three million people during the inaugural season at Petco Park. It didn't hurt the arguments of Padres fans that the club largely sat by as National League West rivals Los Angeles, San Francisco and Arizona tossed money around with abandon.

"You hear it a lot: 'Hey, you drew three million fans. Why didn't you go out and throw $100 million at (free-agent outfielder) Carlos Beltran?' " Towers said. "It's just not going to happen here. The organization's philosophy is build a team through scouting and player development, and it's always going to be that way. We're never going to be major players in the free-agent market."

So when the Padres converge on Peoria, Ariz., for the start of spring training —— pitchers and catchers report today, position players on Wednesday —— only the outer shell of support will have changed around the team's core, which includes familiar names like Phil Nevin, Brian Giles, Ryan Klesko, Mark Loretta, Khalil Greene, Trevor Hoffman and Jake Peavy.

How settled is the Padres' personnel? Both Towers and manager Bruce Bochy already have a mental snapshot of their Opening Day roster, with only a couple of positions up for grabs.

"In all my years managing here, this is the most set team I've had," said Bochy, who's entering his 11th season at the helm. "Going into spring training, most of these guys have jobs, and it's their job to lose."

Towers went into the offseason with a goal of minor tinkering to a club that finished 87-75, in third place in the NL West behind the Dodgers and Giants.

The top priority wasn't to bring in fresh blood, but rather to bring back ace left-hander David Wells. The Padres failed to accomplish that, as Wells bolted in December for a big-money contract dangled by the world champion Boston Red Sox. But they believe they found a capable replacement in right-hander Woody Williams, an ex-Padre and, like Wells, a veteran pitcher with a wealth of playoff seasoning.

"In a perfect world it would have been nice to have Woody and Wells both," Towers said. "But if you look at their numbers last year, they're very, very comparable pitchers. And I think Woody will have more success being back in this ballpark."

The Williams signing represented the Padres' only substantial cash outlay of the winter. Williams, who went 11-8 with a 4.18 ERA for St. Louis last season, will make a base salary of $3.5 million, with an opportunity at another $4 million in bonuses. The only other seven-figure contracts doled out by the Padres to new players went to center fielder Dave Roberts ($1.35 million), who's expected to significantly upgrade the team's speed as its leadoff hitter, and utility man Eric Young ($1 million), a free-agent arrival from Texas.

Otherwise, the Padres exercised fiscal restraint in bolstering their bullpen with right-hander Rudy Seanez and lefties Chris Hammond and Dennys Reyes, as well as their bench with outfielder Mark Sweeney. All will earn between $550,000 and $750,000.

The Padres' approach stood in stark contrast to that of three NL West foes.

The Dodgers spent a combined $132 million on J.D. Drew, Jeff Kent, Derek Lowe and Odalis Perez. The Giants shelled out $57.5 million to Armando Benitez, Moises Alou, Omar Vizquel and Mike Matheny. The Diamondbacks, in a desperate bid to turn around a 111-loss team, handed $78 million to Troy Glaus and Russ Ortiz.

"I can't speak for the other clubs," Towers said. "The market kind of went north when I thought it had finally plateaued. I just thank God we were in a position this year that we didn't have to plug a lot of holes.

"It may affect us with some of our (arbitration) guys down the road, but just because other people want to spend crazily doesn't mean that we have to follow suit."

Towers pointed out that the Padres have no financial obligations beyond the 2006 season, which will give them the option of supplementing their homegrown foundation with a big-name free agent or two. In the meantime, they are hoping for more productive years from some hitters who underperformed in 2004, most notably Klesko, who slugged only nine home runs in part because of a shoulder still weakened from surgery.

Klesko will report to spring training in good health, as will Greene (finger) and third baseman Sean Burroughs (knee), both of whom had season-ending operations last September.

"If we stay away from injury, we should win the NL West," Roberts said. "I expect to win the division, and if it's offensive to the other teams, so be it."

The Padres expect to win not just this year, but for many years to come.

"We want to have long-term success," Towers said. "I tell fans, 'Who are your favorite Padres?' Most of their favorite Padres now are Peavy and Khalil. Well, they're players we developed, and we'll continue to develop them.

"(Fans) will be waiting a long time if they really think that, come winter, the Padres are going to be out there going toe to toe with Scott Boras on A-Rod or somebody. It's just not going to happen."

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com