The Padres have signed 29-year old righty reliever/starter Micah Owings to a 1-year deal. Owings pitched in 33 games (4 starts) for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 8-0 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He has now pitched in 132 games (68 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 32-31 with 1 save, a 4.91 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Owings is also a lethal hitter. He is 58 for 203 (.286 avg, .820 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 9 homers and 35 RBIs. I really like this addition for the Padres’ bullpen in 2012.

The Padres have made a few big deals and they have signed some free agents over the winter. They have added 10 players that will have a good shot of making a mark for the Padres in 2012 and here’s a look at them:

In the field: The Padres have added 1B Yonder Alonso and RF Carlos Quentin to the starting lineup and that should give the Padres a nice boost offensively. Lefty swinging catcher John Baker and lefty swinging 1B/OF Mark Kotsay are really going to give the Padres’ bench some nice juice. Catcher Yasmani Grandal will probably have to wait a year or two before he is the starting catcher on the Padres and he has a huge upside.

On the mound: Edison Volquez is going to step right into the starting rotation to replace the guy he was traded for (Mat Latos). Volquez has a nice upside and he will benefit big time from pitching his home games at Petco Park. Huston Street was brought in from the Rockies in a deal earlier this winter to replace Heath Bell who signed with the Marlins. He should do a really good job for the Padres in 2012. Andrew Cashner will likely be the top setup man for Heath Bell in 2012. Matt Palmer could be the next guy to step up out of virtually nowhere to revive his career with the Padres. He can start or relieve. Righty reliever Brad Boxberger came over in the Mat Latos deal and he will get a shot to win a spot in the Padres’ pen.

Overall: I think the Padres have improved their team over the winter as they have added some bats that are badly needed. The Padres have improved the bullpen over the winter and Volquez is going to be a very pleasant surprise for the rotation in 2012.

The Padres have acquired 25-year old righty reliever Andrew Cashner and 20-year old lefty swinging outfielder Kyung-Min Na from the Cubs for 22-year old lefty swinging 1B Anthony Rizzo and 22-year old righty starting pitcher Zach Cates. Cashner missed most of last season due to a shoudler injury, but he looks fine now. He pitched in 7 games (1 start) for the Cubs last year and he was 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a 0.66 WHIP. He has now pitched in 60 games (1 start) in his first two years in the majors and he is 2-6 with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Cashner throws his fastball in the mid to high 90’s, so the Padres are going to use him out of the pen in 2012. Kyung-Min Na played in 83 games in rookie+A+AA-ball last year and he was 72 for 269 (.268 avg, .671 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 0 homers, 22 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He has now played in 149 games in his first two years in the minors and he is 109 for 447 (.244 avg, .619 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 0 homers, 33 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Na is likely going to be a long term project.

The Padres have decided that 22-year old lefty swinging 1B Anthony Rizzo wasn’t ready for prime time, so they dealt for Yonder Alonso earlier this winter to replace him at 1B……making him expendable. Rizzo played in 49 games for the Padres last year and he was 18 for 128 (.141 avg, .523 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Rizzo whiffed 46 times last year for the Padres as he often looked like he was going up the plate with a hole in his bat. Rizzo did look good in AAA last year for the Padres. He played in 93 games in AAA-ball for the Padres last year and he was 118 of 356 (.331 avg, 1.056 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 26 homers, 101 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Zach Cates pitched in 25 games (all starts) last season in A-ball and he was 4-10 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. It was his first year in professional baseball.

The Padres have signed 29-year old righty swinging catcher Brad Davis to a minor league deal. Davis played in 101 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 92 of 344 (.267 avg, .704 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 5 homers, 49 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He did play in the majors back in 2010 with the Florida Marlins. Davis played in 33 games for the Marlins that year and he was 23 of 109 (.211 avg, .647 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Davis might get to compete for the backup catcher slot in spring training.

The San Diego Padres have acquired 29-year old righty swinging RF Carlos Quentin from the White Sox for 23-year old righty starting pitcher Simon Castro and 22-year old lefty starter/reliever Pedro Hernandez. Quentin played in 118 games for the White Sox last year and he was 107 of 421 (.254 avg, .838 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 24 homers, 77 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 616 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 529 of 2,100 (.252 avg, .836 OPS) with 321 runs scored, 121 homers, 383 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Quentin will give the Padres some much needed thump in the middle of the batting order. Simon Castro came into last season as the Padres’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America….but he was awful in 2011. Castro pitched in 22 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 7-8 with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Pedro Hernandez wasn’t a highly ranked prospect for the Padres. He pitched in 28 games (18 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball last year for the Padres and he was 10-3 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. I love this move from the Padres end of things as they really didn’t give up much for Quentin.