SAN DIEGO -- In just over a month, Padres pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training in Peoria, Ariz. General manager A.J. Preller has quite a few questions to answer between now and then.

But this week's Inbox -- the first of the new decade -- centers on a handful of Padres prospects, and how they might fit into the 2020 roster equation.

If MacKenzie Gore is not quite ready, who are the best options for the No. 4 and No. 5 starter spots?
-- Dan K., San Diego

You're smart not to rule Gore out of the rotation race. A year ago, it was Chris Paddack who arrived in Peoria and dominated from the start. By the end of camp, Paddack was an obvious choice for the Opening Day roster, and it's possible that Gore -- MLB Pipeline's No. 4 overall prospect -- is fast-tracked, as well.

Then again, there's a much better group of starting pitchers reporting to Peoria this spring. Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards are both healthy after returning from Tommy John surgery last season. Plus, Paddack and Cal Quantrill arrived on the scene last year, too.

The way things stand, Paddack and Richards are rotation locks. You can probably write in Lamet's name, too (but do it in pencil).

That leaves Zach Davies and Joey Lucchesi as the favorites for the No. 4 and No. 5 spots -- with Quantrill as a serious competitor for a role, too. It's difficult to envision Gore supplanting any of those six right now.

Maybe that’s for the better. The 20-year-old lefty has made only five starts in Double-A. If he were to begin the season in the Minors, the Padres could watch his innings closely as they build him toward a midseason callup.

If winning 85-plus games is priority one, shouldn't the Padres trade Luis Patiño for a greater chance this year?
-- @jgaepi

Yes ... if winning 85-plus games was actually priority one. It isn't. The Padres would love for 2020 to serve as the year they make the leap toward contention, and they'd love to be vying for a spot in the Wild Card game in September. But that isn't Preller's endgame.

As general manager, Preller's job is to balance the club's future with his desire to win now. With one of the sport's best farm systems, the Padres feel as though they're set up nicely for the first half of the next decade. They don't want to sacrifice that plan for an ill-fated run at contention sooner than they should.

Of course, that offers Preller a bit of a juxtaposition. His job probably hangs in the balance in 2020. In that sense, it's in his best interest to trade Patiño, the club's No. 3 prospect, in order to win now. Gore has been deemed untouchable, and Patiño is probably the most highly touted prospect the Padres would be willing to part with.

That said, there's also a very clear case to be made that it's wise to give up a top prospect if it nets you a big-time bat with two years of control -- like a Francisco Lindor or a Kris Bryant. In theory, that kind of trade could make the Padres very good in 2020 and serious contenders in '21.

Will Taylor Trammell and Owen Miller be given the chance to win the center-field and second-base battles, respectively?
-- Mike R., San Diego

They'll both be given a chance. But it probably would take an out-of-this-world Spring Training for either of them to crack the Opening Day roster.

Then again, there's clearly opportunity at both spots. In center field, Manuel Margot, Trent Grisham and Franchy Cordero are all ahead of Trammell in the pecking order. But they all bring different sorts of question marks. Trammell fits nicely into the team's long-term plans -- even if he probably won't earn a callup until midseason.

At second base, meanwhile, Miller isn't quite a lock for a future role like Trammell is. But he has hit at every level he has played, and the Padres clearly could use an impact bat at second base. They don't exactly have an everyday option there, which leaves the door wide open for Miller to seize a big league job this spring.

Is Jurickson Profar an everyday player?
-- @ElFantasmaSD

Profar might end up being an everyday player. But the Padres didn't exactly acquire him for that role. When they shipped Austin Allen and Buddy Reed to Oakland for Profar last month, they envisioned him as something of a platoon second baseman and a do-everything utility man. (He has played all four infield positions and some left field.)

Tentatively, that's still the plan. As things stand, Profar will enter Spring Training as the team's No. 1 option at second base. But he'll have to earn the job in camp, and even if he does, he'll probably share time with Greg Garcia and potentially Miller, Esteban Quiroz and Jake Cronenworth.

There's still a chance the Padres make another addition to that group. But the market is especially thin at second base this winter. Coming off a season in which he batted .218 with a .711 OPS, I'd hesitate to call Profar an "everyday second baseman." But given his strong finish to the 2019 season and the pieces Preller gave up to acquire him, Profar certainly qualifies as the Padres' starting second baseman right now.