The Padres have signed 32-year old lefty swinging Eric Munson to a minor league deal. Munson played in only 1 game for the A’s last season and he was 0 for 1. Munson also played in 99 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 93 for 351 (.265 avg, .812 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 13 homers and 68 RBIs. Munson has played in 361 games in his major league career and he is 226 for 1,056 (.214 avg, .683 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 49 homers and 147 RBIs. Munson will more than likely start the year in AAA and get a call from the Padres if the need arises.

The Padres have signed 27-year old righty swinging 2B Josh Barfield to a minor league deal. Barfield played in 17 games for the Indians last season and he was 8 for 20 (.400 avg, .850 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He also played in 73 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 77 for 305 (.252 avg, .602 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 3 homers, 35 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Barfield has now played in 309 games in his major league career and he is 267 for 1,012 (.264 avg, .671 OPS) with 133 runs scored, 16 homers, 112 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. The Padres are hoping that a return to San Diego where Barfield played his best baseball will revive his career.

The Padres have signed 29-year old righty reliever Scott Munter to a minor league deal. Munter pitched in 46 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 4-6 with 1 save, a 4.88 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Munter last pitched in the majors in 2007 with the Giants. Munter has now pitched in 84 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 3-2 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Munter will get a chance this spring to make the Padres’ pitching staff.

The Padres have released 27-year old righty reliever Greg Burke to make room on the roster for Yorvit Torrealba. Burke pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Padres last season and he was 3-3 with a 4.14 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He also pitched in 13 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-0 with 7 saves, a 2.25 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Burke will likely hook on with another team as he didn’t pitch that bad for the Padres last season.

The Padres have signed 31-year old righty swinging catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a 1-year deal worth $1.25 million bucks with a mutual option for the 2011 season valued at $3.5 million bucks. Torrealba played in 64 games with the Rockies last season and he was 62 for 213 (.291 avg, .732 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 2 homers and 31 RBIs. He has now played in 574 games in his major league career and he is 454 for 1,781 (.255 avg, .706 OPS) with 206 runs scored, 38 homers, 235 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Padres as Torrealba will play at least half of the games and maybe most of the games in 2010 behind the plate.