All but expecting that the Padres will seek his consent to trade him this offseason, left fielder Ryan Klesko vowed to get stronger and help the Padres improve on their results of 2005. Klesko, whose written consent is needed for a trade to any of the 29 other clubs, said he will listen to what the Padres have to say, but that his inclination is to stay because he senses that the Padres have a talent core to retain their National League West title. The 34-year-old, who had a subpar second half but still led the team in home runs with 18, said there's no other city he'd rather be in, and that if a stubborn neck ailment clears, he'll fare better in 2006. "I'd hate to leave," Klesko said yesterday as he cleaned out his dressing stall at Petco Park, where the Padres were eliminated from the division playoffs Saturday by a Cardinals club that won all three games. "I'm probably 80, 90 percent sure I'll stay. If they decided they want to rebuild, then we'll see ? but I think this team is too solid. We have good guys coming back like (Jake) Peavy and (Scott) Linebrink. You're going to have too good a team. "I think everybody's going to come back better and stronger, and hopefully next year we can do a little better than what we did this year." Klesko looms as a pivotal figure to the team's offseason moves because he is guaranteed $10.5 million in 2006, or about 15 percent of the team's Opening Day payroll this year, but appears more suited to a designated-hitter role.