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Padres reach deal with lefty

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Thursday, January 6, 2005 11:57 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- After going almost all of last season without a left-hander in their bullpen, the Padres now have two. The team on Thursday agreed to a one-year contract with lefty relief pitcher Chris Hammond, who pitched for the Oakland Athletics in 2004. The deal ---- worth about $750,000, a significant decrease from the $2.4 million Hammond made last year ---- is contingent on him passing a physical early next week.

Hammond, who turns 39 on Jan. 21, was a run-of-the-mill starter for most of his first nine major-league seasons, but he has enjoyed a career rebirth as a reliever since he returned to the major leagues following a three-year absence, 1999-2001.

Claimed off the scrapheap by Atlanta in 2002, Hammond developed into a dominant setup man for Braves closer John Smoltz. That season, he went 7-2 with a minuscule 0.95 ERA while allowing only 53 hits in 76 innings.

Hammond moved on to the New York Yankees the following year and, though his numbers took the expected dip, he again pitched well, finishing with a 3-2 mark and 2.86 ERA. With the Athletics last season, he missed six weeks with a strained pitching shoulder but still was 4-1 with a team-low 2.68 ERA out of the bullpen. Left-handed batters had a low .288 on-base percentage against him, and he allowed only four extra-base hits in 71 at-bats by left-handed hitters.

Hammond joins fellow southpaw Dennys Reyes as the potential complement to the right-handed setup duo of Akinori Otsuka and Scott Linebrink.

The Padres explored a deal with left-handed starter Shawn Estes, who won 15 games for Colorado last year, but decided that their needs were lesser in a rotation that has added Woody Williams and Darrell May this winter.

In other news, the Padres are in negotiations on both one-year and multiyear contracts with Linebrink and third baseman Sean Burroughs, both of whom are eligible for salary arbitration. The Padres detest the arbitration process and try to avoid it whenever possible.

The club also wants to sign ace pitcher Jake Peavy to a long-term deal before the season, but those negotiations are on the back burner.

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.