Trevor Cahill has agreed to a deal with the Padres

Last week it was reported that the Padres were closing in on a deal with Trevor Cahill. After going to the White House today to meet the President, it sounds like he’ll soon be signing a contract to join the team.

There are two interesting nuggets in Mr. Nightengale’s tweet. First is the contract with a base of $1.75M similar to those of Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard. It’s fair to assume that there are significant incentives built in to it, but at face value it seems that the Padres successfully filled three rotation spots with veteran arms for a total of less than $6M, which is remarkably inexpensive, and still less than what impending free agent Tyson Ross would have been due to receive through arbitration. The other interesting note is that Cahill may have signed with the Padres with an understanding that he will get the chance to reestablish his career as a starter after spending most of the last three years working out of the bullpen. He has the repertoire of a starter and was successful early in his career, so stretching him back out so he can work through a lineup a few times shouldn’t be a tall task.

With Cahill’s impending addition, a space will need to be vacated on the 40-man roster. Current DFA candidates could be relievers Kevin Quackenbush and Keith Hessler, Rule 5 signees Allen Cordoba and Miguel Diaz, and starters Paul Clemens and Jarred Cosart. The tea leaves in front of me suggest that Quack or Hessler could be the odd man out, but there’s always the chance that whoever gets DFA’d clears waivers and can be optioned to AAA. Then again, a trade could be in the works to free up the roster spot.