When Padres pitchers and catchers report to Peoria on Feb. 18, veteran Jon Garland will be among them.
He started last season with the Dodgers then finished the year with the Diamondbacks. So he knows the NL West pretty well.
He was 11-13 last season. And should benefit from pitching half his games at "pitcher friendly" Petco.
In nine major league seasons (the first eight with the White Sox) he has a 117 - 102 career record. Nice pick up.
Even the guys at 619sports think the $5 million deal was money well spent.
"The fact of the matter is the Padres did roll out a check for $5 million, said Chris Ello. "See people? They are trying to compete."
Should the Padres have spent that money on a player in another position? Well, yeah but Ello said he's happy with the deal.
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"It's kinda like I just went out and bought a really nice car and there's another really nice car across the street and I wish I had both," he said.
Listen to more analysis from 619sports in their podcast.
