January 20, 2007
Obligatory David Wells Post
Peter Friberg writes:
No Wells post?
I actually did link to the Wells story in the DirecTV post last night. But here's a direct link:
The Padres and Wells' agent reached preliminary agreement Friday on a one-year, $3 million contract plus incentives that will give the 43-year-old left-hander the chance to earn a maximum of $7 million if he makes 27 starts, sources told FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal.
Padres general manager Kevin Towers said the two sides need to finalize some contract language and Wells must pass a physical. He expects the deal to be finalized by Monday or Tuesday.
The physical is going to say Wells is fine, but remember he spent half of last season on the DL, and he's another year older. He won't walk many batters and may strike out fewer. He's going to say things that are both funny and controversial. I suspect he'll have a few beers. I hope the Padres have a good young pitcher waiting in the wings if David goes down with another back problem.
To be serious for a moment, Wells does not go deep in games anymore. Neither does Maddux. Over the last two years, the Padres strained their very good bullpen by trotting out poor starters. Now, they're going to strain their very good bullpen by trotting out old starters. They may win more games, because the old starters are good, but the strain on the bullpen will be real nonetheless. It's a good rotation, but only because they can afford to receive short outings from 40% of the starters.
Wells oftentimes changes his mind about a deal before signing.
AP reports;
Wells will anchor a rotation that includes Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Clay Hensley and Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner.
But if he does in fact sign on with the Padres, their pitching staff on paper would among the most imposing in baseball and would figure to give San Diego a leg up on the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.