Padres sign Jered Weaver to one-year, $3M contract

One of the biggest questions for the Padres going into Spring Training was who would make the starting rotation. Now it looks like the team is closer to an answer. MLB Network's Jon Heyman has just reported that the Padres have come to a deal with veteran right-hander Jered Weaver. This was minutes after his colleague Bob Nightengale tweeted that the team was on the verge of signing Weaver to a one-year contract, pending a physical.

According to Heyman, the deal is worth about $3 million to start, but there is a chance it could be more. The Weaver-to-the-Padres rumor started back in December, following the Padres acquisition of Jhoulys Chacin and re-signing of Clayton Richard. For the past month and a half, Padres fans have been waiting to see if Preller would pull the trigger, especially recently after the Jake Peavy rumors died down (along with the hopes of Peavy fans).

While Weaver will be a good innings-eater for the Padres, he probably won't make the team any more competetive, which won't be a good look to many fans. And it's definitely not good news for the pitchers vying for a rotation spot, assuming Weaver just snatched one. Now only two open spots remain in the starting rotation along with Richard Chacin, and now Weaver.