Padres Vacate Themselves of Volquez, Bring Up Brach

In a move that was long overdue, Edinson Volquez was designated for assignment today by the Padres. In his place returns relief pitcher Brad Brach. Volquez was due to be a free agent in the offseason and the Padres no longer had any reason to keep him around. With his struggles this season the best that could be hoped for is that he would eat innings (no matter the quality since the team wasn't in a playoff race) and save some young arms. However, as Friday's game illustrated, he could no longer be trusted to even do that.

The Dominican right hander came to the Padres in the Mat Latos trade along with Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger. He has been a reliable player in that he has made his start every 5th game since arriving, but was unable to prove himself to be an asset on the mound the Padres had hoped he would be. At times he would shine, but it was not enough to even keep him on the roster let alone cash in on any trade value the future free agent had. In hindsight, there is a case to be made that the club should have just taken another prospect in the deal instead of gambling on Volquez recreating some his sparkle from an excellent 2008 season.

Brad Brach comes back to the Padres for some redemption during a rough 2013 season. Last year he earned praise from the Padres by becoming the guy that could get the team out of jam. However, early in the season he became the guy creating more jams than he was getting out of. He has been working in Tucson on regaining his old form. Hopefully he will provide quality innings once again.

No word yet on who takes Volquez' spot in the rotation. It will likely either be Tim Stauffer, who pitched brilliantly in relief of Volquez last terrible start, or a call up from the AAA squad to be announced later.