In their quest for starting pitching the Padres have dipped in to the bullpen of the World Series champions.
Vista native Trevor Cahill agreed to a one year, $1.75 million deal with his hometown team. On Friday he passed his physical to make the deal official. Cahill appeared in 50 games for the Cubs, all but one as a reliever, in 2016.
Cahill was selected in the 2nd round of the MLB Draft by the A’s out of Vista High School in 2006. He was going to head to Dartmouth before pro ball got in the way so he is a smart guy. Cahill reached the big leagues at the age of 21 and was an All-Star a year later, going 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA and a 4.0 WAR.
He has not enjoyed that level of success since. Cahill was traded to the Diamondbacks and lost his role in the starting rotation. Arizona traded him to Atlanta, who then flipped him to Chicago. It was on the North Side that Cahill reinvented himself as a full-time reliever.
But, much like Drew Pomeranz last year, Cahill has longed to return to the starting rotation. He will get that chance in Spring Training and is a good candidate to re-claim his past success working with Padres Pitching Coach Darren Balsley, a man who has resuscitated the careers of several pitchers including former San Diego State star Aaron Harang and Jon Garland.
The Padres now have at least the following pitchers vying for the five spots in the rotation:
Trevor Cahill, RHP
Luis Perdomo, RHP
Clayton Richard, LHP
Christian Friedrich, LHP
Jhoulys Chacin, RHP
Paul Clemens, RHP
Jarred Cosart, RHP
Tyrell Jenkins, RHP
Robbie Erlin, LHP
Cesar Vargas, RHP
Dinelson Lamet, RHP (not on 40-man roster)
If he does not win a rotation spot Cahill has proven to be an effective reliever so the Padres will get some use out of him.
