“Padres Pitching-Sinkhole-or-Hidden Treasure”

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Padres baseball. Are they Hernando deSoto searching for gold, or are they the old goldpanners picking up gold dust-fools gold in the river?

The search for pitching for the 2017 season is taking them lots of directions.

They are giving (demanding) pitching coach Darren Balsley earn his pay this season.

The latest acquisitions are the former ace of the Angels staff Jered Weaver, he age 34, possessor of neck and shoulder problems.

Weaver slogged thru two bad seasons in Anaheim, finishing up his 20M a year mega contract. He was (19-24) over the last two years. The stats are staggering (61-homers) allowed in a 337-innings span, in which he allowed a total of 458-base runners also over the last two summers.

Yes the fiery Weaver won (150-games) in his storied career in Halos land, but he was a shell of the pitcher he used to be.

The Padres also added 35-year old lefthander Hyun Chih-Kwo, who spent 6-years with the Dodgers. He did not pitch an inning last year, after spending the 2-prior seasons back home pitching in Taiwan. He did have decent years as a long reliever in LA, but not recently.

And if those deals don’t shout ‘desperation’, how about this one?.

The Padres worked out Eric Gagne, now 41, who wants to make a comeback. He hasn’t thrown a fastball in anger in the majors since 2008.

He had 3-brilliant years with the Dodgers…with (152) saves over that time. You do remember the fastball and the (718) strikeouts in (647)innings, but that was before he injured an elbow, lost his velocity, and was named in the HGH-Mitchell Report.

The Padres are searching, or is it scrambling? They now have 38-pitchers in camp in Peoria.

The rule 5-find, the kid pitcher, Luis Perdomo is at the top of the rotation. Weaver may be second man up, then once-promising Clayton Richards, fully recovered from collarbone surgery. Trevor Cahill will attempt to go back into the rotation after finding his slider in the Cubs bullpen. Jhoulys Chacin is hoping to recapture what he once was with the Rockies.

After that, good luck. Chrisitan Friederich returns, but how can you ignore the stat he won just 1-time in his final 16-starts.

Paul Clemens Jared Cosart, journeyman Ty Jenkins, Carlos Fisher, Dodgers reject Zach Lee, White Sox castoff Adrian Rienzo and former National closer Craig Stammen are all part of a group who will get looks in b-games, minor league games, and on back fields.

Padres ownership wants to express excitement about all the young prospects, who might be delivered here in 2019.

This pitching staff will be asked to pitch 162-games in each of the next two summers.

Maybe the Padres uncover a couple of gems. Maybe Balsley waves his magic wand to recaptures health or youth.

Or maybe the search for gold, gives us fools gold on the mound.

The names on the Padres pitching staff roster right now look more sinkhole than hidden treasure.

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