Padres sign Brett Tomko

[HollywoodLeo]

FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Padres add Tomko ahead of stretch drive

The Padres, attempting to fortify their pitching staff for the September stretch drive, have signed right-hander Brett Tomko to serve as a long reliever and possible spot starter.


Tomko, 34, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers when Los Angeles signed left-hander David Wells, who had been released by the Padres.

Tomko was 2-11 with a 5.80 ERA with the Dodgers, but experienced relative success with the Padres in 2002, going 10-10 with a 4.49 ERA.


The Padres tried to acquire Blue Jays right-hander Josh Towers in a trade before last Friday's deadline for setting postseason rosters, but the deal never came to fruition.

Feel free to point and laugh, mofo

[FmrFresnan]

Might be a good move, he's got good speed on the fastball and may be able to pitch well in Petco Park.

[realmofotalk]

Yet another ex-Dodger gets DFSDP (designated for San Diego Padres).

[GiantsFanatic]

There should have been a blockbuster trade durring the deadline, Tomko for Wells.

[JayDawg27]

This will only be a good thing if Balsley can help him out, otherwise he will be as useless to us as he was to the Dogs.

[FmrFresnan]

If Balsley can help out Tomko, that will only further strengthen the Padres bullpen. If not, the Padres aren't out that much....

[JayDawg27]

Arent out that much???

Lets see if you say that when they put him in and he blows a game and we lose a game in the NL west lead.

Arent out that much, geez, every game and every pitch matters from this point forward. I hope he doesnt implode on the mound for us.

[FmrFresnan]

Jay, are you in a bad mood today? Are you going to say the same thing about Cla Meredith or Heath Bell if they blow a game down the stretch? Tomko is not that bad of a pitcher in my opinion. I think Balsley needs a little time to straighten him out and I think he'll do fine.

[JayDawg27]

No I'm just saying if it was April or May I would agree with you, but in September with the race as close as it is, in my opinion there isnt enough room for error for him to go out there and blow donkey balls, thats all.

[brewersfan19]

Does this compare to the Brewers trading for Ray King today? haha.

[HollywoodLeo]

Somehow I don't think Brett Tomko will be the first guy Bud Black goes to in a 1 run game.

[JayDawg27]

Who said he was.

[HollywoodLeo]

Nobody.

I'm just saying that if he's not in the close games he won't have very many opportunities to blow a game.

Odds are, he'll either be in there when the Padres are already getting beat by a lot anyways, or when they're winning by a lot and have a lot of room for error.

[JayDawg27]

We'll see... He's a proven big leaguer with a lot more experience than a good portion of our bully and I wont be surprised in the slightest if we see BB go to Tomko before some of the others he has been going to with the exception of maybe Brocail, Bell and Hoffy, thats about it.

Who else is in our BP that you think would be a for sure go to guy before Tomko?

[JayDawg27]

As a matter of fact after listening to XX today, I think they have plans of having Balsley work with him to potentially put him in the 5th starter spot, dont be surprised if this happens.

Tomko can be good when he's on, unfortunately he is off more than he is on, hopefully Balsley can turn that around.