Presley Patiently Awaits His Chance : Padres: Third baseman has seen little action since first seven games. McIlvaine night be looking to trade.

MONTREAL â€”  Jim Presley conceals his anger. He suppresses his bitterness. Yet, as hard as he tries, it’s impossible for him to hide his confusion.

It doesn’t make much sense, does it, Presley asks aloud? Here are the Padres, who shelled out $500,000 in the off-season to acquire him as a free-agent third baseman, and now it’s become apparent after three weeks that they have little plans for him.

Since his first seven games, when he batted .091, Presley has been virtually discarded, buried alive on the bench.

He has played in only two of the Padres’ past 13 games.

“I don’t know what’s going on, I really don’t,� Presley said. “It’s like they want to see what I can do with a 20-game winner once a week. At least that’s what it seems to me.�

Presley smiled mischievously as he spoke, and although the comment was humorous, it was enshrouded by truth. In the past two weeks, he has made two starts. In one start, April 21 against the Dodgers, he got to face Ramon Martinez. In his next start, April 30, Dwight Gooden was on the mound.

“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,� Presley said. “They throw lefties out there, like Terry Mulholland, and I don’t play. Then they throw out guys like Martinez and Gooden, and I’m in there.

“When you don’t play, it’s always though. But once a week, boy, this is tougher.

“You don’t play for a week, and you go from Martinez to Gooden, come on.�

Presley, who has no idea whether he’ll be in the lineup tonight against the Montreal Expos with right-handed starter Oil Can Boyd on the mound, says he can’t go into the manager’s office to protest. He can’t complain aloud in the clubhouse. When you’re batting .071 (two for 28) with three RBIs, and have two errors, it’s tough to generate any sympathy.

“I just want a chance, that’s all,� Presley said. “I didn’t start off strong, but it’s not like I’ve had half the season to prove myself.�

However, the Padres privately are more concerned with his defensive woes more than his bat. He committed 25 errors last season, and had the worst fielding percentage, .930, of any third baseman in the big leagues. The Padres hoped his bat would compensate for his defensive deficiencies, but if he’s not hitting, he’s not playing.

“He’s got to hit to be in the lineup, it’s as simple as that,� Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “His bat has got to carry him.

“It’s not like we’ve given up on him, but we want to keep trying others, too. We want to give everyone a shot at it.�

But while the Padres continue to experiment, starting four different third basemen already, their patience is thinning. The third-base quartet has hit only .115 this season with four RBIs and one extra-base hit. That is why they are shopping.

They’re keeping a close eye on Craig Worthington of the Baltimore Orioles. They’ve taken a look at Gary Sheffield of the Milwaukee Brewers. And now, third baseman Jack Howell of the Angels could be next.

“I don’t like talking about other team’s players,� McIlvaine said, “but we talked to the Angels during the spring, and we may be talking again.�

Howell, 29, the Angels starting third baseman for most of the past four years, has been scrambling to learn other positions after the off-season acquisition of free agent Gary Gaetti. Howell is batting .263 this season with a homer, but he has only 19 at-bats in his utility role.

A defensive specialist, Howell’s biggest weakness is his bat. Although he averaged 20 homers and 60 RBIs a year from 1987-1989, he struggled last season, batting only .228 with eight homers and 33 RBIs in 105 games.

It’s unknown exactly what it would take to acquire Howell, but it’s no secret that the Angels are in dire need of a backup catcher. The Angels had two scouts in New York during the Padre series, but Angel officials deny they were in attendance strictly to scout the Padres.

“We’ll see what happens,� McIlvaine said. “We’ve got time. We’re not going to panic.�