According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres have signed Randy Wolf to a one-year contract.

Wolf, the star of TV’s “Airwolf,” has spent the better part of his career being hurt, having Tommy John surgery in July of 2005. Last season, with the Dodgers, he got hot in May (sounds like a Padre!), posting an ERA of 1.48, but ended his season early after having shoulder surgery in July. Obviously, there’s something about the seventh month of the year that makes Wolf severely hurt himself so I think that the team should get Stauffer/Germano/whomever ready to go around the All-Star break.

He doesn’t have any splits at Petco to really speak of, having only pitched five innings in his sole start there, although he did give up five earned runs. His numbers at Qualcomm are better, with an ERA of 3.42 in 26.1 innings. Although I suppose that’s a dumb point.

Wolf will be slotted in the rotation behind reigning Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy, Young, and Maddux. If he can stay healthy, Wolf will help make this team’s already formidable starting rotation even tougher, especially since Petco is a godsend for pitchers. And Wolf might be joined there by Mark Prior or Matt Clement. Personally, I’d like to see the team get Prior, as I get a real Chris Carpenter feeling from him. Bring him in, get two or three good-to-great seasons out of him, just don’t resign him before he blows his arm out again.

Melvin Update: Incentive Laden? Shaaaa buddy! $4 million base, $9 million if he meets the incentives.  It doesn’t get much better. A 102 career ERA+ back of the rotation starter, with the injury risk minimized by the contract works for me.

Despite the injury, Wolf was one of the most hotly pursued free agents on the market this offseason.

Umm, errr….. Que?

The Padres re-signed Greg Maddux to a one-year deal worth $10M. The deal includes a no-trade clause.

Maddux had an ERA of 4.14 in his first season with the Padres, his best mark since 2004, when he had an ERA of 4.02 with the Cubs.

“He’s still a very successful pitcher,” Black said. “He wins games. That’s the primary thing that I think all of us look at. But also what he brings as far as stability, leadership, wisdom. Those are the intangibles that we notice inside the clubhouse that we feel is also a great attribute that Greg brings to the club.”

As Black clichéd-ly pointed out, Maddux’s value to the Padres might be unquantifiable, which I’m sure makes Brother Melvin happy. There’s been a lot of chitter-chatter about how his 6-or-7,000 years of wisdom were at least partially responsible for Jake’s to be-Cy Young award winning year. Assuming he’s having a similar effect on Young, we’re easily getting our $10M worth before he ever takes the mound.

It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a second half pitcher (first half: 4.27 ERA, second half: 3.97), given that Chris Young slows down (as all giants do) as the season goes on.

And he’s so good at teaching our young pitchers to use the slide step.