Suppan gets minor league deal
--RHP Jeff Suppan, who spent all of last season in the minor leagues, signed a minor league deal with the Padres and will attempt to make the team in spring training. Suppan, 37, went 11-8 with a 4.78 ERA in 28 games (27 starts) for the Royals' Class AAA Omaha affiliate in 2011. His last major league action came in 2010, when he went a combined 3-8 with a 5.06 ERA in 30 games (15 starts) for the Brewers and Cardinals.
--RHP Dustin Moseley, 30, signed a one-year contract with the Padres for $2,012,500. Moseley was the last of the 11 arbitration-eligible Padres to reach a contract agreement for 2012 -- meaning the club has again ducked facing any players in arbitration. Moseley was 3-10 despite a 3.30 ERA in 30 starts for the Padres last season. When he went on the disabled list in August to have surgery to his non-pitching shoulder (the shoulder twice dislocated when Moseley was swinging a bat) Moseley had the lowest run support average in the major leagues.
--RHP Micah Owings signed a one-year contract with the Padres as a free agent. Owings will make $1 million in 2012. Owings was 8-0 with Arizona last season with a 3.57 ERA in 33 games (four starts). Since first coming to the major leagues in 2007, Owings is 32-31 with a 4.91 ERA in 132 games (68 starts).
--The signing of Owings means that either Owings or RHP Anthony Bass could start the season as the No. 1 starter with Triple-A Tucson. That could be a blessing in disguise. Until Owings signed, all five projected starters at Tucson -- RHPs Casey Kelly and Joe Wieland and LHPs Robbie Erlin, Juan Pablo Oramas and Jose DePaula -- had no experience above Double-A.
--Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and other members of his staff spent most of the week touring the Padres training facility in the Dominican Republic.
--The Padres will play a spring training game in the home of their Triple-A Tucson franchise on Sunday, March 18, against Colorado. The Rockies used to train in Tucson.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 -- Times in the history of arbitration that the Padres have actually had an arbitration hearing with a player: RHP Joey Hamilton in 1998 and INF Todd Walker in 2007.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"He does bring that element. Micah's versatility raises a lot of possibilities and gives us more and potentially attractive options." -- Padres manager Bud Black speaking on the ability of Micah Owings to hit (a .286 average with nine homers in 203 major league at-bats), making him the perfect long man in the bullpen.
Copyright (C) 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
