Padres sign Freddy Garcia, Tim Stauffer

The San Diego Padres have signed pitchers Freddy Garcia and Tim Stauffer to minor league contracts. Garcia's deal is worth $1.3M (if he makes the team) with $1.25M in incentives. The contract details may seem insignificant, but it shows that the Padres are willing to include incentives in a free agent contract. The reason this is such a big step forward is that old ownership did not approve of incentives in free agent deals, but this means we now are able to do that. We missed out on signing Chris Young (the pitcher) multiple times in free agency because of a reluctance to include incentives.

Freddy Garcia, 36, was 19-14 with a 4.29 ERA over the past two seasons with the Yankees, averaging 127 innings a season. Garcia pitched well in a hitter friendly stadium, in the toughest offensive division in baseball. I'd expect the ERA to go down about 3/4's of a run next season. If he makes the ball club, he would probably be the 5th starter. Garcia has spent his entire career (excluding a dreadful 11 starts for the 2007 Phillies) in the American League, so a switch to the NL will help as well. This is a very smart, no risk, very high reward signing. 

Tim Stauffer, 30, missed most of last season due to shoulder issues. He has been plagued by injuries for his entire career. He was 9-12 with a 3.73 ERA for the 2011 Padres, and was looking to build on it in 2012, but was injured. He is expected to be ready at the end of April. If Stauffer can stay healthy, he will be an excellent addition to the pitching staff.

I do have bad news, it appears Jason Marquis and Freddy Garcia were the two starting pitchers who Josh Byrnes mentioned at the start of the offseason. There is still a small chance you see a trade in spring training, and a smaller chance you see a big trade in spring training.