Padres have signed Fernando Rodney

According to Jon Heyman, the Padres have reached an agreement on a Major League deal with closer Fernando Rodney.  If you are a stickler for straight hat bills, you'll hate this.  If you despise flashy post-save celebration routines, you'll rue this decision.  If you were asking for an experienced closer to anchor the bullpen, you'll probably like this move.

Rodney was an All-Star in 2014, when he led the league with 48 saves for the Mariners.  2015 was a down year, as he was awful with Seattle until he was finally DFA'd and subsequently traded to Chicago.  Something changed with that trade, as he was stellar for the Cubs down the stretch.  Here's hoping that the 38-year-old cocked-billed closer still has some fire left in that right arm.

Contract details have yet to be confirmed and nothing has been officially announced yet as it is pending a physical.  The word on the street is that he would make $1.5m in guaranteed salary, with incentives that could max out at $7m.  It's a one-year deal with an option for 2017 (hopefully a team option).

Hopefully this rounds out an unusual bullpen.  A recent Jeff Sanders article projected the 2016 staff.  Besides veterans Rodney and Carlos Villanueva along with incumbents Odrisamer Despaigne, Kevin Quackenbush, Nick Vincent, maybe Brandon Morrow and Brandon Maurer, and the newly acquired Drew Pomeranz, the bullpen figures to be filled out with a mix of rookies like Buddy Baumann and Cesar Vargas and perhaps some of the three Rule 5 picks currently on the roster (Luis Perdomo, Blake Smith, Josh Martin).  There is a deep pool from which to draw, and the competition in Spring Training will be interesting!