Rain was falling Saturday morning when Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler, standing on a covered patio at the Peoria Sports Complex, made a declaration.

“A.J. and I have had some conversations recently, and he’s not done,” Fowler said, referring to General Manager A.J. Preller. “I can say that for sure.”

Reminded of the team’s top need, Fowler played along.

“I think the world thinks we could use some pitching,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t disagree with the world.”


About an hour later, word arrived that the Padres should have a new arrival in camp shortly. The club agreed to a one-year contract with right-hander Jered Weaver. According to a source, the deal, which is pending a physical, is worth $3 million and does not contain incentives.

Weaver, soon to be the Padres’ highest-paid pitcher, will join a rotation that has experienced wholesale turnover. Because of an overt rebuilding effort, the likes of James Shields, Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross are long gone. The Padres have since assembled a more anonymous collection that includes a few veteran arms.

“The idea behind the signing (of Weaver) was somebody who can log innings, somebody who still has a lot to prove and wants to pitch,” Preller said.

“He’s always been a winner his entire career. Guys that have been there, been in the postseason, I think from that standpoint he brings a lot to our team and some of the other pitchers that are in that locker room.”


Weaver brings plenty in terms of pedigree, but the 34-year-old is coming off the worst season of an accomplished career. In 31 starts for the Los Angeles Angels, he went 12-12 with a 5.06 ERA, allowing an American League-high 37 home runs. Over 11 seasons in the majors, all spent with the Angels, Weaver is 150-93 with a 3.55 ERA. He made three consecutive All-Star teams from 2010-12.

Fastball velocity has been the most noticeable sign of Weaver’s decline. According to brooksbaseball.net, he averaged just 84 mph on four-seam fastballs last season, down from 91 mph in 2011.

“If he’s healthy, he’s going to throw innings,” Preller said. “That’s his track record, something he’s always done. … Last year, I think maybe he felt like, or other people felt like, he didn’t pitch exactly at the level that he’s been accustomed to, but he still went out and won 12 ballgames.”

“He knows how to get outs,” Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said. “Just the intensity he has on the mound, at this stage of his career, we’re not necessarily bringing guys in like Jered to mentor people. We think he can pitch and pitch well for us.


“But it doesn’t hurt when you have young kids watching and seeing how he competes and what he does in his side sessions and stuff like that. Obviously, guys that have made it as far as he has, they do things right.”

Besides Weaver, fellow veterans Clayton Richard and Jhoulys Chacin, who also pitched for the Angels in 2016, are near-locks for the rotation. Richard and Chacin both signed one-year, $1.75 million deals over the winter. Trevor Cahill, who will attempt to start again after pitching in relief last season, also received $1.75 million.

“Not to guarantee anything — I think, in general, we’ve tried to set the tone that there’s going to be competition throughout — but obviously, when you sign Jered, you sign him with the idea that he’s going to pitch in the rotation for you,” Preller said. “I think we have a lot of guys in that room that have a chance to do that.”

With the addition of Weaver, the Padres have roughly a dozen rotation candidates. The majority have not built up much in the way of big-league track records. The list includes Luis Perdomo, Christian Friedrich, Jarred Cosart, Paul Clemens and Tyrell Jenkins.


“I think it’s going to be a work in progress all spring, honestly, for (Padres manager Andy Green) and Darren,” Preller said. “Hopefully we get to the end of spring and there’s a surplus and there’s a lot of guys who have a chance to pitch in the rotation for us.”

Preller did not discount the possibility of bringing in more help before opening day.

“For the most part, we’re going to evaluate our own guys,” he said. “But we definitely don’t want to close the book here in the next couple weeks to see if we can add something better than what we already have in camp.”

Fowler said he expects the Padres’ 40-man payroll, which will rise to a little more than $70 million with Weaver’s signing, to be “just under” $75 million on opening day, a number that still might be the lowest in the majors.


Fowler addresses team

Fowler addressed the team Saturday before the Padres’ first full-squad workout, which, owing to the weather, was limited to bullpen sessions, some batting practice and indoor cage work.

The owner’s message was delivered to a much younger audience than was present a year ago.

“It’s all about supporting one another, what I’ll call family, whether it’s on the field, off the field,” Fowler said. “I talked about the privilege of being able to play professional baseball. … We talked about grit and playing hard and things like that. We just want them to enjoy what they’re able to do.”

The Padres aren’t expected to contend for at least two more seasons. Since June, they have shifted the bulk of their resources to signing amateur talent, including nearly $80 million on international prospects. Under baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement, the Padres will be capped at about $5 million for each of the next two international signing periods.


“We’ll redeploy the money,” Fowler said. “I think we’ll have a larger pool of money to spend on the domestic signings, and we’ll make the moves that we think we need to make to improve the team.”

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