The San Diego Padres have claimed 27-year old starter/reliever Samuel Deduno off waivers from the Rockies. Deduno was the Rockies’ #11 prospect heading into last season according to Baseball America. Deduno made his major league debut in 2010 as he worked in 4 games (0 starts) for the Rockies in which he was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Deduno also pitched in 10 games (all starts) in A+AAA-ball last season and he was 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Deduno will get a shot to make the Padres’ pitching staff this spring and I really like the pickup.

The San Diego Padres have inked 28-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Jorge Cantu to a 1-year, non-guaranteed deal worth $850,000 bucks. He played in 127 games for the Marlins & Rangers last season in which he was 121 of 472 (.256 avg, .695 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 11 homers and 56 RBIs. Cantu has now played in 790 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 819 of 2,984 (.274 avg, .766 OPS) with 359 runs scored, 101 homers, 460 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Cantu will likely platoon with Brad Hawpe at 1B for the Padres in 2011. Although I like the signing for the Padres, they are really going to miss Adrian Gonzalez both offensively and defensively with Cantu and Hawpe replacing him.

The Padres have signed 39-year old switch hitting catcher Gregg Zaun to a minor league deal. Zaun played in 28 games for the Brewers last season and he was 27 of 102 (.265 avg, .743 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. He has now played in 1,232 games in his first 16 years in the majors and he is 878 of 3,489 (.252 avg, .732 OPS) with 437 runs scored, 88 homers, 446 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Zaun will battle Rob Johnson this spring for the right to back up Nick Hundley in 2011. If Zaun is healthy, he’s going to win the job.

UPDATE: (3/7/2011) - Gregg Zaun has decided to retire from major league baseball. He said that his shoulder was still bothering him.

The San Diego Padres sign 32-year old righty reliever Chad Qualls to a 1-year deal. Qualls pitched in 70 games (0 starts) for the D-Backs & Rays last year and he was 3-4 with 12 saves, a 7.32 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He pitched extended B.P. last year as he gave up 85 hits in only 59 innings pitched. Qualls has now pitched in 460 games (0 starts) in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 32-26 with 51 saves, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. This is a good gamble for the Padres as Qualls might have just had a bad year, and they might be able to fix him up.

42-year old Roberto Alomar was elected to join Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2011. Alomar started his major league career with the San Diego Padres with whom he played for in 1988-1990. In those three years, Alomar played in 448 games in which he was 497 of 1,754 (.283 avg, .718 OPS) with 246 runs scored, 22 homers, 157 RBIs and 90 stolen bases. Alomar made the N.L. All-Star team in 1990 with the San Diego Padres. Alomar played in 2,379 games in his 17 years in the majors and he was 2,724 of 9,073 (.300 avg, .814 OPS) with 1,508 runs scored, 210 homers, 1,134 RBIs and 474 stolen bases.