The Padres have given catcher Nick Hundley a contract extension through the 2014 season, the club announced Tuesday. The new deal also contains a club option for the 2015 season.

Hundley wasn't set to be a free agent until after the 2014 season anyway, so all this deal does is eat up the remainder of his arbitration-eligible years. So it's a hassle neither Hundley nor the club have to go through in the offseason.

This is actually a well-structured contract length for the Padres, because if Hundley outplays his deal -- and we don't yet know the specific monetary terms -- the Padres could exercise the club option for '15. If not, they can let him walk when he would have been a free agent anyway.

The only issue here is just how much they decided to pay Hundley -- because the second-biggest piece in the Mat Latos trade was getting top-flight catching prospect Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is 23 and should be ready for the bigs by either sometime later this season or 2013. If the contract turns out to be more than just a few million bucks a year, it seems like a waste of money -- or resources, concerning Grandal being part of that trade.

Hundley, 28, hit .288/.347/.477 with 9 homers, 29 RBI and 34 runs in 82 games last season. He heads into the 2012 season as the heavy favorite to earn the majority of the playing time behind the plate, though he'll likely sacrifice some at-bats to John Baker. Baker swings from the left side of the plate while Hundley bats right-handed. Plus, Hundley has never appeared in more than 85 games in a single season.