Padres sign relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit to a two-year deal
By Joel Burdeos
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
San Diego,CA- The San Diego Padres have signed free-agent relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit to a two year, 15.5 million dollar deal according to John Heyman of CBSSports.com.
Benoit deal will be for close to $15M for 2 years with #Padres, once finalized according to @JonHeymanCBS #SDSN
— East Village Times (@SD_SportingNews) December 18, 2013
Benoit posted a 2.01 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 with 24 saves in 67 innings for the Tigers in 2013.
The addition of Benoit fills the void at the back-end of the bullpen that the Padres have had since trading set-up man Luke Gregerson to the Oakland A’s for outfielder Seth Smith. The addition of Benoit also adds insurance for the Padres at the closer position for the often injured Huston Street.
Benoit will join bullpen that includes Huston Street, Dale Thayer, Nick Vincent, Tim Stauffer, Brad Boxberger and Patrick Schuster.
The addition of Benoit will now give the Padres the biggest payroll in franchise history in 2014.
After solid Benoit deal, #Padres still seek lefty reliever. Full expectation is to keep 3B Chase Headley at this point Via-@JonHeymanCBS
— East Village Times (@SD_SportingNews) December 18, 2013
Even with this acquisition the Padres are still on the lookout to acquire another left-handed reliever via trade or free-agency.