The Padres have signed 35-year old righty starter/reliever Kip Wells to a minor league deal. Wells has not pitched in the major leagues since the 2009 season with the Reds & Nationals. He has pitched in 289 games (212 starts) in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 67-99 with 2 saves, a 4.71 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. This was a low risk signing for the Padres, who have been lucky in the recent past with pitchers like Wells.

The Padres have signed 30-year old righty starter/reliever Anthony Reyes to a minor league deal. Reyes pitched in 3 games (2 starts) in Rookie-ball for the Indians last year and he was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors with the Indians back in 2009. Reyes has pitched in 67 games (52 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 13-26 with 1 save, a 5.12 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Reyes has been sidetracked by injuries as of late as he was once considered a top prospect. This is a low risk/high reward signing for the Padres.

The San Diego Padres have acquired 27-year old lefty reliever/starter Tom Layne from the D-Backs. Not so sure what the D-Backs got for him. Layne has pitched in 6 games (5 starts) so far in AAA-ball for the Padres & D-Backs and he is 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP. Layne has now pitched in 153 games (88 starts) in his first seven years in the minors and he is 38-34 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Not much upside here.

The Padres have dealt 26-year old righty reliever Ernesto Frieri to the Angels for 23-year old lefty swinging 2B/OF Alexi Amarista and 22-year old starting pitcher Donn Roach. Frieri is going to be hard to replace in the Padres’ bullpen. He pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Frieri pitched in 105 games (0 starts) in his four years with the Padres and he was 3-3 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He only gave up 78 hits in his career with the Padres in 108 1/3 innings while whiffing 137 batters….and those are some eye popping numbers.

Alexi Amarista’s best position is 2B, so Orlando Hudson’s days with the Padres could be numbered. Amarista came into this season as the Angels’ #19 prospect according to Baseball America. Amarista has played in 18 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 21 for 77 (.273 avg, .692 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 0 homers, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Amarista has played in 481 games in his six years in the minors and he is 599 of 1,915 (.313 avg, .811 OPS) with 319 runs scored, 20 homers, 239 RBIs and 117 stolen bases. He played in 1 game for the Angels this year and he scored a run without getting to bat. He has played in 24 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 8 for 52 (.154 avg, .432 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 5 RBIs. Donn Roach came into this season as the Angels’ #23 prospect according to Baseball America. Roach has started 6 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 5-0 with a 2.16 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Roach has only walked a stunningly good 3 batters in his first 41 2/3 innings this year. Roach has pitched in 67 games (16 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 14-6 with 2 saves, a 3.97 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.

This was a good deal for the Padres as they got two high end prospects for Ernesto Frieri.

The Padres have signed 28-year old starting pitcher Ronald Bay to a minor league deal. Bay pitched in 28 games (25 starts) in AAA-ball for the Angels last year and he was 8-11 with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has now pitched in 200 games (182 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 73-61 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. If Bay pitches well in AAA-ball for the Padres, he could get his first shot at the show at some point in 2012.