Sunday Brunch: Don’t Be Surprised If The Padres Add These Two Players

When teams make changes, no matter what the sport, the new regime likes to bring in their guys and their way of doing things. You see it all the time. The Padres have been doing that. Logan White was brought in from the Dodgers and has already put his imprint on the team with Matt Kemp and minor league free agent signing such as Scott Elbert.

Look for this trend to continue and look for the Padres to possibly add one if not both of the following players: Chad Billingsley and Alexei Ogando. Why?

Well, Billingsley is an ex-Dodger, and if you don’t think they are sniffing around signing him you’re kidding yourself. Yes, they already have Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson, two similar pitchers. In fact, Andrew Cashner has had injury issues in the past as well so a little additional depth isn’t going to hurt. They could structure his contract in a similar form to that of Johnson’s or Morrow’s.

For Ogando, GM A.J. Preller was in Texas when Ogando was added. Ogando was juggled between starter and reliever for Texas throughout his career, including his All-Star season as a starter of 2011. Ogando hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings since 2013 when he started 18 games.  Ogando could give the Padres depth at either starter or reliever depending on how his rehab goes.

When you build a team, it’s all about strength in numbers. The more depth you have the better.  Both Ogando and Billingsley could be depth signings, and if they get anything out of them it’s gravy. It wouldn’t shock me if one or both is in Padres camp.