Padres Sign Chad Gaudin

Just hours after the San Diego Padres defeated the San Francisco Giants for the 2nd straight night, Padres' General Manager Kevin Towers added yet another reliever to their bullpen.

The Padres signed 26-year old Chad Gaudin to a minor league contract after he was released by the Chicago Cubs on April 6th.

Gaudin really struggled during Spring Training with the Cubs, allowing 19 earned runs on 26 hits in just 16 2/3 innings. They will still owe him $1.2 million of his $2 million salary in 2009.

The Cubs had obtained Gaudin in the trade that sent Rich Harden to Oakland. Gaudin was 4-2 with a 6.26 ERA in 24 appearances for the Cubs in 2008. He has a career record of 28-25 and a 4.45 ERA in the Major Leagues.

LeBlanc roughed up, Padres lose 9-3

Young left-hander Wade LeBlanc didn't have quite the first start he was hoping for, Padres got into an early hole and couldn't recover.

LeBlanc gave up 5 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits, lasting just 2 2/3 innings. Things didn't get any better for San Diego when minor league reliever Mike Johnston came in to relieve LeBlanc, promptly allowing 6 batters to reach base before finally getting the 3rd out in the 3rd inning. Carlos Guevara went 2 innings, giving up 0 runs on 1 hit, striking out 2 and walking 2.

Offensively for San Diego, Tony Clark upped his spring batting average to .429, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the 5th. Callix Crabbe and Chip Ambres also picked up RBI's for the Padres. Crabbe doubled in Robert Fick in the 3rd, Ambres homered in the 7th his first of the spring.

The A's got big output from Brooks Conrad and Mike Sweeney. Conrad went 2-for-5, hitting a 3-run HR along with an RBI double. Sweeney also homered, a 2-run shot off Padres' starter Wade LeBlanc.

Next up for San Diego, the Padres will travel to Tucscon and Hi Corbet Field to take on the Colorado Rockies. Left-hander Shawn Estes will get the start for San Diego. Jake Peavy will also be on the mound, though he will be pitching in a minor league game at the Peoria Sports Complex. Both games are scheduled to start at 1:05pm. Also, a little less than an hour from now, the Dodgers and Padres will play the final game between the 2 squads from Beijing, China.

Gabe Gross could be in Padres' plan

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Padres are still looking for more left field options, but their talks with the Cubs for Matt Murton fizzled out because the Cubs are wanting major league help in return.

That being said, another name that has popped up as a possibility is Brewers' outfielder Gabe Gross who is also getting interest from the A's and Indians.

As of right now, the Padres have Scott Hairston, Chase Headley, Jody Gerut and Jeff DaVanon vying for the LF opening. I'd imagine that Hairston is the odds on favorite to be the opening day starter, but don't count out Jody Gerut.